5.8 Reactions to Industrial Revolution and State-Level Responses

Factory work was monotonous and involved long hours (e.g., 13 hours a day) with low pay.
This led to calls for various reforms.

Western nations were expanding voting rights, leading to the rise of mass-based political parties.
These parties aimed to represent the interests of workers.
Existing parties (e.g., Conservatives and Liberals in Britain and France) had to incorporate social reforms into their platforms to appeal to the working class voters.

The Industrial Revolution led to harsh living conditions for the working class.
Workers organized social societies to provide insurance for sickness and social events to alleviate the bleakness of their lives.

Between 1870 and 1914, many European governments passed compulsory education laws for children aged 6-12.
Compulsory education prepared children for increasingly technical and specialized jobs in the Second Industrial Revolution.

Industrial cities faced overcrowding and lacked proper infrastructure, leading to unsanitary and dangerous conditions.
Governments invested in sanitation infrastructure like sewers to address these issues, though this led to river pollution.

Labor unions are collectives of workers who join together to protect their own interests.
Before reforms, labor unions were often illegal, leaving power in the hands of wealthy capitalists.
Labor unions allowed workers to collectively negotiate for higher wages, limited working hours, and improved working conditions.
By the end of the 19th century, British labor unions had nearly 2,000,000 workers, while German and American unions had about 1,000,000 each.
Some unions transformed into political parties advocating for reforms on behalf of the working classes.
The German Social Democratic Party, formed from the General German Workers Association, advocated for Marxist reform and the transformation of private ownership to social ownership.

Karl Marx believed that capitalism was inherently unstable and created a sharp class division.
Marx argued that the working class (proletariat) would eventually revolt against the upper class (bourgeoisie), leading to a classless society.
In 1848, Marx and Friedrich Engels published "The Communist Manifesto," outlining their theory of Scientific Socialism.
Marx believed that history followed patterns and stages with class struggle as the major driving force.
The Industrial Revolution exacerbated the division between the bourgeoisie (owners of means of production) and the proletariat.
Marx argued that the proletariat would become conscious of their exploitation and overthrow the bourgeoisie in a revolution, leading to a classless, socialistic society.

In the late 18th century, China resisted British traders, leading to a trade deficit for Britain.
Britain began importing illegal opium from British-controlled India, leading to addiction and negative consequences in China.
Qing authorities cracked down on the opium trade, resulting in the Opium Wars.
Britain's industrial might allowed them to defeat China and force them to sign unequal treaties, opening trading ports.
Other industrialized nations took advantage of China's weakness, carving it into spheres of influence with exclusive trading rights.
China initiated the Self-Strengthening Movement in the 1860s and 1870s to modernize while revitalizing traditional culture.
The reforms were hindered by Chinese conservatives who feared the loss of power for the landowning class, resulting in a half-hearted modernization effort.
The Sino-Japanese War exposed the failure of the Self-Strengthening Movement due to China's defeat by industrialized Japan.

By the mid-19th century, the Ottoman Empire was known as the "sick man of Europe" due to territorial losses and inability to raise tax revenue.
Like China, the Ottomans became subservient to industrial nations and recognized the need for defensive industrialization.
The Tanzimat reforms were implemented to build textile factories, implement Western-style law codes and courts, and create expansive, secular education systems.
The Young Ottomans emerged, seeking a European-style parliament and a constitutional government to limit the power of the Sultan.
In 1876, the Sultan accepted a constitution and parliament but later rejected it to consolidate power when war with Russia threatened.
The Ottoman reforms and industrialization were more effective than China's but ultimately couldn't prevent the empire's collapse in the early 20th century.