Europe at mid-century (ca. 1850)











Industrialism continues to grow and spread
Second Industrial Revolution brings more rapid change
Rapid urbanization brings new social problems
Failure of the Revolutions of 1848 changes attitudes
about reform and revolution; trend toward democracy
Middle Class joins the system of the status quo; works
for votes and control through elections
Radical movements (socialism, Communism, anarchism)
continue; polarize: mellow and/or more violent
Nationalism continues to grow becoming more
conservative or practical; Liberals and Conservatives
unify on support for nationalism
Emergence of Realpolitik (Era: 1850–World War I)
Unification movements in Italy and Germany taken over
by pragmatic, non-romantics: achieved, ca. 1870
Balance of power stable (to be upset by unification of
Germany and Italy)
Transformed peasantry: Serfdom exists only in Russia
The (Second) Industrial Revolution
Invention
of cheap steel (Bessemer process)
Discovery and development of electricity as
a source of power: dynamo, generator,
electric lighting, etc.
Discovery and development of petroleum as
a source of power: gasoline, kerosene, etc.
Electronic communication: Telegraph,
telephone, radio (wireless), etc.
Invention of internal combustion engine
and the automobile
Invention of the airplane
Second Industrial Revolution













1856-70 Investors protected by Joint Stock Company
laws
1857
Bessemer process for making steel
1869
Suez Canal opens
1873
Major economic recession
1876
Invention of the telephone by Bell
1879
Edison perfects the electric light bulb
1881
First electric power plant built in Britain
1886
Internal combustion engine invented by
Daimler; Daimler and Benz build first
automobile
1895
Marconi invents wireless telegraphy
1890s
Petroleum becomes major source of fuel
1903
First airplane flight by Wright brothers
1904
Panama Canal begun (—’14)
1909
Ford uses assembly line to manufacture first
“Model T”
POOR LAW OF 1834
(1) Workhouses to be built in every parish or in unions
of small parishes;
(2) No able-bodied person to receive money or other
help from the Poor Law authorities except in a
workhouse;
(3) Conditions in workhouses to be very harsh to
discourage people from wanting to receive help;
(4) Taxpayers in each parish to elect a Board of
Guardians to supervise the workhouse, to collect the
Poor Tax and to send reports to the Central Poor Law
Commission;
(5) The 3-man Central Poor Law Commission
appointed by the government and responsible for
supervising the Act throughout the country.
Medical Progress
1796 Jenner introduces smallpox vaccine
1842 First surgery performed using ether
1848 First successful appendectomy
1854-1858 Great cholera epidemics in London and the
“Great Stink”
1864 Louis Pasteur invents ‘pasteurization’
1865 Lister performs first antiseptic surgery; Pasteur
demonstrates airborne microbes cause fermentation
leading to ‘germ theory’
1876 Koch discovers anthrax bacillus
1878 Koch discovers micro-organisms cause infection
1882 Koch discovers micro-organisms cause tuberculosis
1884 Koch discovers micro-organisms cause cholera
1885 Pasteur creates rabies vaccine
1886 First use of steam to sterilize surgical instruments
1894 Discovery of the plague bacillus
1895 Discovery of x-rays
1898 Discovery of malaria bacillus
Theories of Disease
 Demonic Theory (pre-history)
Cause: Demons within the body
Cure: Driving out the demons
 Miasmatic Theory (Middle Ages)
Cause: Bad surrounding air
Cure: Avoidance of the air; changing the air;
stopping the emission of the air
 Humouristic Theory (4th century B.C.)
Cause: Imbalance of the four bodily humours
Cure: Remove bodily fluids by bleeding or purging
to allow fluids to rebuild in balance
 Germ or Pathogenic Theory (19th century)
Cause: Micro-organisms (bacteria, viruses) enter
the body
Cure: Kill or otherwise eliminate the microorganisms; make the body immune to the organisms
(vaccination)
Compte’s LAW OF THREE STAGES
“From the study of the
development of human
intelligence, the discovery arises
of a fundamental law – that each
branch of our knowledge passes
successively through 3 different
theoretical conditions: the
Theological, or fictitious; the
Metaphysical, or abstract; and the
Scientific, or positive.”
Auguste Compte, Positive Philosophy
Social Darwinism
(Spencerism): The view of life
based on Darwin’s biological
observations which justified the
opposition to any social reform on
the basis that social reform
interfered with the operation of the
natural law of the “survival of the
fittest”, using the phrase to
describe the improvement of
society through laissez faire policies
and cut-throat competition.
Literary Realism and
Naturalism
Movement in literature and the arts
of the late nineteenth-century that
united Romantic individualism with
social determinism and sought to
highlight the ills of society.
Influenced strongly by scientific
discoveries, it held that heredity and
environment largely determined the
human condition.
Realpolitik
Pronunciation: rA-'äl-"pO-li-"tEk
Function: noun;
Usage: often capitalized
Etymology: German, from real = actual + Politik =
politics
Definition: Politics based on practical and material
factors rather than on theoretical or ethical
objectives.
Time: Mid-19th century to World War I and . . . .
Examples of practitioners: Napoleon III, Emperor of
France; Camilo Benso di Cavour, Prime Minister of
Piedmont-Sardinia/Italy; Otto von Bismarck,
Chancellor of Prussia/Germany
The Programme of Napoleon III
The “Liberal Empire”: 1852-1870
 Protect
Catholicism
 Rebuild Paris as the model city of the
Industrial Age
 Economy: Build up industry and provide
jobs
 Rebuild pride in French military
 Expand the French Empire
 Gain prestige in Foreign Affairs
 Become the diplomatic leader of Europe
The Rise and Fall of Napoleon III
1848 Elected President of Second Republic
1849 French troops restore Pius IX in Rome
1851 Napoleon takes power in military coup d’etat
1852 Plebiscite proclaims Second Empire: Napoleon III
1853 Haussmann begins re-design of Paris
1853-56 Crimean War
1856 Hosts Paris Conference ending Crimean War
1859 Alliance with Piedmont drives Austria from
Lombardy: France gains Nice and Savoy
1859 Suez Canal begun; completed 1869
1860 Colonization of Indo-China begun
1861 Maximilian becomes Emperor of Mexico with
French support
1866 France fails to gain during Austro-Prussian War
1867 French withdraw from Mexico
1870 Defeated in Franco-Prussian War: resigns
Final steps to Italian Unification
1855 Piedmont-Sardinia enters Crimean War
1856 Cavour makes Italian unification issue at Paris
Peace Conference
1858 Treaty of Plombières: France will aid PiedmontSardinia against Austria in exchange for Nice and
Savoy
1859 War: Piedmont-Sardinia and France against Austria
conquers Lombardy; France gets Nice and Savoy,
Piedmont-Sardinia gets Lombardy
1860 Garibaldi and Red Shirts land in Sicily, conquer
southern Italy
1861 Kingdom of Italy declared; Cavour dies; Naples and
Sicily become part of Italy
1866 Italy allies with Prussia in Seven Weeks’ War;
Venetia ceded to Italy by Austria
1870 Franco-Prussian War: France withdraws troops from
Rome; Italy annexes Rome; Pope protests: “Prisoner
of the Vatican”
Italy and Germany: Phases of Unification
Pre-1800 Fragmentation: Broken into small
sovereign states
1800-1810 Napoleon’s conquests ousts old rulers;
Empire organized re-doing boundaries
1810-1815 Rising Nationalism across Europe in
opposing Napoleon helps bring his defeat
1814-1815 Congress of Vienna restores old rulers
and attempts to halt Nationalism and
Liberalism
1815-1848 Liberals, Romanticists, intellectuals,
students, and others lead Nationalist
Movement
1819-1849 Revolutions fail to bring unification
1850-1860 Rise of new, pragmatic leadership
1860-1870 Realpolitik: Final unification through
compromise, diplomacy, and war
Prussia: Obstacles to German Unification
Desire of
states to
remain
sovereign
DOMESTIC BARRIERS
Industrial
War unifies
profits increase
them for self
cooperation
defense
Zollverein
GREAT POWERS
Russia
No interference in Poland
Britain
No desire to expand colonies
Austria
Defeated in 7 Weeks’ War
France
Defeated in Franco-Prussian War
Final steps to German Unification
1862 Bismarck becomes Chancellor of Prussia
1863 Increases power of Chancellor; Reduces power of
Reichstag
1864 Prussia and Austria defeat Denmark in war over
Schleswig-Holstein
1866 Seven Weeks’ War / Austro-Prussian War
1867 North German Confederation formed
1870 Crisis: Hohenzollern nominated as King of
Spain; Ems Telegram published
1870 France declares war on Prussia; 4 southern
German states join Prussia
1870 France defeated at Sedan; Napoleon III captured
1870 Third Republic of France proclaimed
1871 France surrenders; German Empire proclaimed;
Kaiser William I crowned at Versailles
Consequences of the
Franco-Prussian War
German states unified under Prussian
monarchy as the German Empire
France’s Second Empire ended in defeat
France established the Third Republic
Final unification of Italy with the addition
of Rome and the Papal States
Uprising and defeat of Paris Commune
Loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany leaves
France bitter and wanting revenge
Balance of power upset; Germany
dominates Central Europe
Germany: united, nationalist, militarist,
industrializing rapidly, ambitious
au·toc·ra·cy
Pronunciation: o-'tä-kr&-sE
Function: noun; Plural -cies;
Date: 1655
1. government in which one
person possesses unlimited
power
2. the authority or rule of an
autocrat
3. a community or state governed
by autocracy
Reforms of Alexander II
Pardoned the Decembrist rebels
Abolished serfdom
Loaned money to peasant villages to buy land
Organized new form of local government
Relaxed censorship
Abolished corporal punishment
Instituted trial by jury
Lowered the use of capital punishment
Sponsored industrial growth
Began building railroad to the Black Sea
Reformed judiciary and law code
Reduced military service: 30 years to 25
Emancipation Decree, 1861
From Decree to Revolution
 Created landless peasants from land-bound serfs
 Many landless peasants moved to cities 
 Discontent increased in the cities 
 Control of the provinces taken away from the
landowners
 Created need for new form of local government 
 New local governments kept power in the hands of
the wealthy 
 System offered no outlet for discontent
 Alexander II, the Reformer, assassinated 1881 
 Following Tsars turned reactionary, anti-reform 
 Revolution of 1905 gains were undone: Duma was
only advisory; Membership of Duma was changed
The Pendulum of Russia
Slavophiles
Westerners
• Russia has a European
base and connection
• Russia can copy and
outdo Europe
• Favored by Intellectual
Elite
• Favored by Merchants,
Businessmen
• Favored by Progressives,
Young
• Progressive, reforming
Tsars
• Russia is unique like no
other country
• Russia is its own example
and sets its own pace
• Favored by Russian
Orthodox Church
• Favored by Military
• Favored by Boyars
• Favored by Peasants
• Conservative, reactionary
Tsars
Russia on the Road to Revolution
1855
1856
1861
1863
1864
1874
1879
1881
1894
1904
1905
Alexander II becomes Tsar
Russia defeated in Crimean War
Emancipation of the Serfs
Suppression of revolt in Poland
Reorganization of local government and
reform of judicial system
Military enlistment reduced (25 years 
6 years)
Formation of “The People’s Will”
Assassination of Alexander II;
Alexander III reverses reforms
Nicholas II becomes Tsar
War with Japan begins
Bloody Sunday revolt; Surrender to
Japan: Loss of concessions in Korea
The Progress in Women’s Rights
1857
1865
1869
1878
1882
1894
1901
1903
1907
1910
1914-18
1918
1922
1928
English divorce law revised
University of Zurich admits women
Mill: The Subjection of Women
University of London admits women
Married Women’s Property Act in Britain
Germany: Union of Women’s Organization
France: Nat’l Council of Women
Britain: Women’s Social and Political
Union founded by Emmeline Pankhurst
Norway grants women the vote
British suffragettes adopt radical tactics
World War I: 17 nations pass women’s
suffrage
British women over 30 get vote; Germany
grants women the vote
France defeats bill giving women the vote
Britain grants all women the vote
Women’s Rights and the Great War
Women’s Suffrage through 1920







Pre-war ( before 1914): New Zealand, Australia,
Norway
1915: Denmark, Iceland
1917: Netherlands, Russia, Canada
1918: Britain, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Hungary,
Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Czechoslovakia,
China
1919: Luxembourg, India, British East Africa,
Rhodesia
1920: United States
European nations still without women’s suffrage:
France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Switzerland,
Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Turkey
France: 3rd Republic to WWI
1870
1871
1873
1875
1889
1894
1904
1905
1906
1907
1914
Third Republic established
Paris Commune crushed
Last German Troops withdrawn;
Frances pay $1 billion to Germany
Republican constitution adopted
Boulanger scandal
Alliance with Russia signed
Panama Canal company fails
Dreyfus Affair begins
Entente-Cordiale with Britain
Separation of Church and State
Dreyfus pardoned and released
Triple Entente signed
World War I begins
Britain moving toward Democracy
1867
1869
1870
1871
1872
1875
1881
1884
1885
1903
1909
1911
1912
1914
Second Reform Act extends suffrage
Disestablishment of Church of Ireland
Education Act and 1st Irish Land Act
Purchase of army commissions abolished
Ballot Act instituted the secret ballot
Public Health and Artisan Dwelling acts
2nd Irish Land Act and Irish Coercion Act
Third Reform Act extends suffrage
Fourth Reform Act passed; Gladstone supports
Irish home rule
3rd Irish Land Act
People’s Budget proposed
House of Lords loses veto power
Irish Home Rule passed (after being twice
defeated)
Irish Home Rule suspended due to World War I
Major Assassinations before WWI












1881
1881
1894
1895
1898
1900
1901
1903
1908
1911
1913
1914
Tsar Alexander II of Russia
President James Garfield of US
President Sadi Carnot of Italy
PM Stambulov of Bulgaria
Empress Elizabeth of Austria
King Umberto I of Italy
President William McKinley of US
King Alexander I of Serbia
King Carlos I of Portugal
Russian PM Peter Stolypin
King George I of Greece
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria