AP World History
Chapter 28
The New Power Balance
1850-1900
The New Power Balance
Producing lots of steel at
low cost.
New chemicals & synthetic
dyes.
Alfred Nobel – dynamite for
engineering & explosives
The New Power Balance
Industrial chemistry science and technology
interacted daily.
German chemical &
explosives industries most
advanced by 1900.
The New Power Balance
1870s - efficient
generators for industry.
Alleviated pollution.
Huge demand for copper.
The New Power Balance
Advances in shipbuilding
Developed shipping lines
Submarine telegraph
lines
The New Power Balance
Railroads expanded
between 1850-1900 for
industry, business and
government. Used wood but
opened new areas for
agriculture, mining, etc.
The New Power Balance
Between 1850-1913 world
trade expanded tenfold as
freight expense dropped.
Interdependence made them
vulnerable to swings in
business cycles.
The New Power Balance
Between 1850-1914 –
rapid population growth.
European ancestry now at
1/3 of world population.
Why?
The New Power Balance
Drop in death rate
Improved crop yields
Farming newly opened
lands in North America
Canning & refrigeration
The New Power Balance
After 1850, cities grew @
tremendous rate .
Technology changed quality
of life. Cities were divided
into zones.
Air quality worsened.
The New Power Balance
Labor unions developed
from the workers’ “friendly
societies” & sought better
wages, improved working
conditions & insurance for
workers.
The New Power Balance
Socialism – questioned the
sanctity of private
ownership.
Karl Marx – International
Working Man’s Association
The New Power Balance
Victorian Age (r. 1837-1901)
Separate spheres
Education
Legal discrimination
The New Power Balance
Language crucial for
national unity.
Until 1860 – Nationalism =
liberalism. National identity
built on education, colonial
conquests, & military.
The New Power Balance
Prussia took the lead due to
its industrial base &
military.
Otto von Bismarck – Franco
Prussian War victory led to
German unity.
The New Power Balance
Used press and education to
build nationalism.
“Natural selection” and
“survival of the fittest”
justified conquests of
foreign & domesticate
society.
The New Power Balance
International relations
revolved around a united
Germany – loose alliances
with Austria-Hungary and
Russia. Bismarck fired.
Wilhelm II - wanted colonies.
The New Power Balance
France –
to Germany
nationalism was hidden.
Britain – ignored Germany,
busy with the Irish, Crimean
War, Indian rebellion &
Opium War in China
nd
2
The New Power Balance
Nationalism weakened A-H &
Russia.
Ethnic diversity added to
instability of Russia
1861 –Tsar Alexander II freed
peasants from serfdom
The New Power Balance
State industrialization
Middle class remained weak
Temporary constitution and
the Duma ineffective as
Nicholas II reverts to
despotism of the past.
The New Power Balance
U.S. emerges as world’s
leading industrial power.
Growth came at expense of
Amerindian, AfricanAmericans, working women,
& the environment.
The New Power Balance
China denied western
technologies –slowed
intrusion. Japan adopted
western technologies and
progressed.
The New Power Balance
Japanese gov’t encouraged
industrialization. Developed
a constitutional monarchy &
expanded sphere’s of
influence to include Korea,
Manchuria, & parts of China.
The New Power Balance
Japan defeated China in
1894
Japan defeated Russia in
1905
Japan annexed Korea in
1910.
Conclusion
1850 -1914 “Golden Age” for
Europe & North America.
Made improvements in
health, sanitation, advances
in technology, & reforms
that made life better for all.
Conclusion
The framework for all these
changes was the nationstate. Only a few countries
exercised economic,
political, & cultural
dominance in the world.
Conclusion
The success of the great
powers rested on their
ability to extract resources
from nature & from other
societies including Asia,
Africa and Latin America.