AP WH 5.8 Reactions to the Industrial Revolution
effects on the working class
factory work was dull, endured long hours, and meager salaries
began to call for reform
political reform
conservatives and liberals in Britain and France incorporated social reforms into their platforms because people who wanted reforms were voting
many Western nations recognized the right to vote for more people in their population
with more of the working class eligible to vote, mass-based political parties arose that aimed to represent the interests of workers
social reform
working class people organized themselves into social societies providing insurance for sickness and social events
educational reform
between 1870 and 1914, the majority of European governments passed compulsory education laws to get boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 12 into school
high-paying jobs became more technical and specialized, and compulsory education prepared children for these kinds of jobs
urban reform
infrastructure of industrial cities unable to keep up with overcrowding caused them to be dangerous and unsanitary
governments passed laws and invested in sanitation infrastructure like sewers
rise of labor unions
labor union: a collective of workers who join together in order to protect their own interests
prior to these reforms, labor unions were illegal in many places
all the power for change was in the hands of wealthy capitalists and factory owners
gave them more power to negotiate and bargain with employers to improve their lives
as unions multiplied throughout Europe and the United States, and to a more limited degree in Asia and Africa, they used their collective power to bargain for higher wages, limited working hours, and improved working conditions
some of these unions turned into political parties that sought to enact reforms for the working class on the highest levels of government
the German Social Democratic Party was formed out of the general German Workers Association, and it advocated for Marxist reform in Germany
aimed to transform the capitalist system of private ownership of the means of production to social ownership
ideological reactions: Marxism
not all people reacting to industrialization and capitalism responded with physical acts like strikes
Karl Marx witnessed first-hand the suffering and injustices the working class endured as a result of a capitalist society
believed that capitalism was by nature an unstable system that couldn’t work in the long run because it created a sharp class division
working class suffered to keep upper class wealthy
argued that the inevitable result would be a violent revolution of the lower classes against the upper classes, creating a classless society
Marx and Friedrich Engles published these ideas in the Communist Manifesto in 1848, calling their approach scientific socialism
Marx argued that history obeys laws just as the physical world obeys the laws of physics, therefore history moves through patterns and stages with its major energy arising out of class struggle
essentially arguing that the intense societal changes brought on by the Industrial Revolution had exacerbated the division between the 2 groups of Marxist classification: the bourgeoise and the proletariat
bourgeoise: those who owned the means of production, like factories and lands, and thus exploited the proletariat for their own benefit
proletariat: working class exploited by bourgeoise
once the proletariat became conscious of that arrangement, they would rise up, revolt, overthrow the bourgeoise, and end class struggle
state-level responses to industrialization
China attempted industrialization
opium in China
in the late 18th century, China continually looked down on British traders
resulted in a trade deficit that British sought to remedy
British started importing illegal opium which was a highly addictive drug from British-controlled India
as the drug began to have serious negative consequences on the Chinese population, Qing authorities cracked down on the illegal trade which led to 2 conflicts known as the Opium Wars
British industrialized military easily defeated the less modernized Chinese forces and forced them to sign unequal treaties that opened several trading ports against their will
by the end of the century, more industrialized nations took advantage of China’s weakness and carved it up into various spheres of influence in which they had exclusive trading rights
Chinese self-strengthening movement
throughout the 1860s and 70s, Chinese authorities responded to this invasion of Western powers with a self-strengthening movement
series of reforms that sought to take some steps toward industrialization while revitalizing traditional Chinese culture
some steps made in modernizing China
full benefits of industrialization were hindered by Chinese conservatives who resisted these developments because the reforms threatened the power of the landowning class
result was a half-hearted program of modernization
Sino-Japanese War
program was put to the test in the Sino-Japanese War
crushing defeat at the hands of industrial Japan
Ottoman modernization
by the middle of the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire was known among Western powers as the "Sick Man of Europe” owing to its continual territorial loss to industrial countries and its inability to raise sufficient tax revenue
had become unwillingly subservient to powerful industrial nations because they had not yet industrialized
therefore, like China, Ottoman authorities decided that a kind of defensive industrialization was necessary
Tanzimat reforms were far more aggressive and transformative that China’s self-strengthening movement
built textile factories
implemented Western-style law code and courts
expansive education systems
reforms were more secular in nature and divorced from the historic Islamic character of the empire
as a result of these reforms, the Young Ottomans seeking widespread political change emerged
desired a European-style parliament and a constitutional government that would limit the power of the absolutist sultans
in 1876, the sultan conceded and accepted a constitution and a parliament
when a potential war with Russia threatened the empire, the sultan rejected any curtailment of his power, lasting for 3 decades
Ottoman reforms and industrialization projects were more effective than China’s but not effective enough to stop the empire from falling apart at the beginning of the 20th century