Unit 5: Revolutions from c. 1750 to c. 1900 Notes

Between 1750 and 1900, global trade networks integrated further due to new technologies.
The Industrial Revolution, marked by increased machinery use in production, began in Great Britain and globally increased manufacturing output.
Industrialization led to shifts in international relations, politics, and demography.
Industrializing countries sought resources and markets, leading to control over overseas lands.
Nation-states, with shared culture and independent governance, became more common after 1800, often leading to conflicts.
Industrialization spurred mass migrations for work, diversifying communities worldwide.

The Enlightenment (17th-18th centuries) emphasized reason, individualism, freedom, and self-determination, challenging traditional roles of monarchs and religious leaders.
Thinkers believed reason applied to natural laws would lead to societal progress.
Key Enlightenment ideas:
- Empiricism: Knowledge comes from sensed experience.
- Social Contract: Agreement where people give up some rights for law and order (Hobbes) or can revolt against unjust government (Locke).
- Natural Rights: Life, liberty, and property (Locke).
Philosophes: Thinkers who popularized Enlightenment concepts (e.g., Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu, Adam Smith).
Deism: Belief in a divinity that set natural laws in motion but does not interfere.
Conservatism: Belief in traditional institutions and practical experience over ideological theories.
Utopian Socialism: Vision of ideal communities.
Classical Liberalism: Belief in natural rights, constitutional government, laissez-faire economics.
Feminism: Movement for women’s rights and equality.
Abolitionism: Movement to end the Atlantic slave trade and slavery.
Zionism: Desire for Jews to reestablish an independent homeland.

Enlightenment ideals influenced revolutions (American, French, Haitian, Creole).
American Revolution: Inspired by Enlightenment philosophy and opposition to mercantilism; Declaration of Independence proclaimed unalienable rights.
French Revolution: Slogan of liberté, égalité, et fraternité; causes included economic woes and inequality; led to the abolition of feudalism and the Declaration of the Rights of Man.
Haitian Revolution: Led by Toussaint L’Ouverture; resulted in Haiti becoming the first independent black-led country in the Western Hemisphere.
Creole Revolutions in Latin America: Motivated by creole desires for political power and opposition to mercantilism; Bolivar sought Enlightenment ideals.
Italian Unification: Led by Count di Cavour using realpolitik.
German Unification: Otto von Bismarck used nationalist feelings and engineered wars.
Balkan Nationalism: Desire for independence fueled by contact with Western ideas.
Ottomanism: Attempt to create a more modern, unified state in the Ottoman Empire.

The Industrial Revolution was driven by new technologies and increased mechanization of production.
Agricultural improvements (crop rotation, seed drill, potato) increased productivity and population growth.
The cottage industry system was replaced by factories due to the emergence of technologies like the spinning jenny and the water frame.
Eli Whitney's system of interchangeable parts and the division of labor increased efficiency.
Britain's advantages: access to seaways, coal deposits, resources from colonies, private property protection.
The enclosure movement led to urbanization as farmers sought work in cities.

Industrialization spread from Britain to Belgium, France, Germany, the United States, Russia, and Japan.
Factors facilitating spread: capital, natural resources, water transportation, human capital.
Russia: Focused on railroads (Trans-Siberian Railroad) and exports.
Japan: Adopted defensive modernization, adapting Western technology while protecting its own traditions (Meiji Restoration).
Decline of other regions: British policies stifled shipbuilding and textile production in India.

Coal-powered steam engines (James Watt) provided mobile power replacing water power.
Steamships revolutionized water transportation.
Mass production of iron and steel (Bessemer Process) provided materials for infrastructure.
Second Industrial Revolution: steel, chemicals, precision machinery, and electronics.
Petroleum: Kerosene and gasoline became important energy sources.
Electricity: Led to street lighting and electric street trains.
Communications: Telephone (Alexander Graham Bell) and radio (Guglielmo Marconi).
Railroads (Transcontinental Railroad) linked farmers, manufacturers, customers, and investors globally.

Ottoman Empire: Muhammad Ali modernized the military and industrialized Egypt, but reforms faced challenges.
Japan: Meiji Restoration modernized Japan, abolishing feudalism, established a constitutional monarchy, and industrialized with the support of foreign expertise and private investment.
China: Self-Strengthening Movement aimed to modernize but faced conservative opposition from Empress Dowager Cixi.

Capitalism and laissez-faire economics replaced mercantilism.
Corporations emerged, minimizing risk for stockholders (Alfred Krupp, John D. Rockefeller).
Transnational companies (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation-HSBC, Unilever) operated across national boundaries.
Insurance industry (Lloyd’s of London) grew to reduce risk.
Consumerism promoted leisure activities.

Labor unions advocated for workers’ rights and better conditions.
Legislation: limited child labor and expanded male suffrage.
John Stuart Mill promoted utilitarianism and legal reforms.
Karl Marx advocated for socialism and communism, criticizing capitalism.
Ottoman Empire: The Tanzimat reforms aimed to modernize the Ottoman Empire, but these changes also had varying impacts on different religious groups and social groups, including women.
China: Self-Strengthening Movement sought to modernize but face conservative opposition from Empress Cixi and after her reign gave way to revolution in 1911.
Japan: Some samurai resisted Meiji Restoration reforms.

Urbanization: Rapid growth of cities led to poor living conditions and disease (cholera).
Class Structure: Emergence of working class, middle class, and industrialists.
Factory work: Shift from family-based labor to work outside home.
Children: Child labor in textile mills and coal mines.
Women: Working-class women worked in factories; middle-class women were subjected to the “cult of domesticity."
Environment: Toxic air pollution and water contamination.