Chapter 23
Mass Society in an “Age of
Progress,”
1871 - 1894
Timeline
The Growth of Industrial Prosperity: New Products
& New Markets
Mass Society
In the late 19th century, human progress was measured with material
progress and consumption of material goods
Europeans began to value leisure activities and the weekend (free from
work)
Lower and middle class began to take trains to amusement parks and the
beach
Mass Politics
After 1871, the focus of European life became the national state
Growing sense of nationalism and popularity of sports
Extension of universal male suffrage leads to nationalism to influence
the masses
First Industrial Revolution
Textiles, railroads, iron, and coal
Second Industrial Revolution
Steel, chemicals, electricity, and petroleum
Possible Test Question
In late nineteenth-century Europe, human progress
was increasingly identified with
War.
Economic inequality.
Material progress or greater consumption of material
goods.
Sport.
Spiritual beliefs and practices.
Possible Test Question
By 1871, the focus of Europeans’ lives had
become
Their weekends.
Their schools.
Their favorite sports teams.
The national state.
Their church.
Substitution of steel for iron
1860 – Britain, Germany, France, Belgium produced
125,000 tons of steel
1913 – the total rose to 32 million tons
Chemicals
Germany led the market in production of dyes &
photographic plates
Electricity (powered 2nd Industrial Revolution)
Thomas Edison (1847-1931) and Joseph Swan – light
bulb
Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) – telephone, 1876
Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937) – radio waves across
the Atlantic, 1901
Used for transportation – railways, streetcars, subways
Transformation of factories
Possible Test Question
Between 1860 and 1913, western European
steel production went from
5000 tons to 1 million tons.
35,000 tons to 2 million tons.
50,000 tons to 15 million tons.
125,000 tons to 32 million tons.
10 million tons to 100 million tons.
Internal Combustion Engine (1878-Gas & Air)
Automobile and airplane
• Henry Ford (1863-1947) – mass production (assembly line)
• Zeppelin airship, 1900
• Wright brothers, 1903 (1st passenger air service 1919)
New markets
Focused on consumer goods for domestic markets
Prices of food and manufactured goods decreased
Increased wages
Competition for foreign markets
Tariff
• Reaction against free trade to guarantee domestic markets for
their own industries
Cartels
• Companies worked together to fix prices & set production
quotas
Larger factories
• Assembly lines
Possible Test Question
The first internal combustion engine
burning a mixture of gas and air was
produced in
1798.
1838.
1858.
1878.
1898.
An Age of Progress
New Patterns in an Industrial Economy
Economic Patterns, 1873 – 1914
Depression, 1873 – 1895
Economic boom, 1895 – 1914
German Industrial Leadership
Germany replaces Britain as the industrial leader of Europe
New areas of manufacturing (chemicals, electrical equipment)
Industrialized later, so they invested in modern equipment
Encouraged scientific & technical education
Possible Test Question
Germany began to replace Britain as Europe’s
industrial leader by the early twentieth century
largely due to
Britain’s careless and radical changes made to its
industries.
Germany’s cautious approach and doctrine of “sticking
to what works” in industry.
Britain’s reliance on cartels to invest large sums of
money in new industries.
Germany’s development of new areas of manufacturing
including chemicals and heavy electric machinery.
Britain’s loss of empire during and after the Boer War.
European Economic Zones
Advanced industrial core of Great Britain, Belgium
France, the Netherlands, Germany, western part of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire, and northern Italy
Little industrial development in southern Italy, most of
Austria-Hungary, Spain, Portugal, the Balkan
kingdoms, and Russia
Surplus grain and cheap transportation caused a sharp
drop in agricultural prices.
The Spread of Industrialization
Industrialization in Russia and Japan
Japan’s government took the lead in promoting industry
Emergence of a World Economy
Europe was importing goods from around the world
Foreign countries were used as markets for the surplus
of manufactured goods
Possible Test Question
The Second Industrial Revolution
experienced
A drop in agricultural prices.
The shift from a three-field to a two-field crop
rotation system due to better chemical
fertilizers.
The emergence of a new class of agricultural
production leaders called coloni.
A sharp increase in agricultural prices.
To stabilize agricultural prices at the level
attained in 1850.
Map 23.1: The Industrial Regions
of Europe by 1914
Women and Work: New Job Opportunities
Women sought the “Right to work”
Ideal of Domesticity – working class organizations
supported traditional roles for women
Sweatshops – subcontracting work out to women at home
White-Collar Jobs
Increase in white-collar jobs created a shortage of male workers
opening up opportunities for women (After 1870)
Expansion of service sector jobs - secretaries, teachers & nurses
Freedom from domestic patterns
Prostitution
Many lower class women became prostitutes in big cities as a way
to survive
London – 1885 – an estimated 60,000 prostitutes
Contagious Diseases Acts in the 1870s & 1880s
• Called for inspection of prostitutes for venereal diseases
• Acts were repealed over complaints that men were not being checked
Possible Test Question
Employment opportunities for women during the
Second Industrial Revolution
Changed in quality and quantity with the expansion of
the service sector.
Declined dramatically as prostitution became illegal.
Increased greatly with working-class men pushing their
wives to work outside the home.
Declined when piece-work was abandoned as
inefficient and “sweatshops” were outlawed.
Declined because labor unions forced governments to
restrict most employment opportunities to men only.
New Jobs for Women: The
Telephone Exchange
Organizing the Working Class
Trade Unions
First half of the 19th Century
Trade Unions functioned as mutual aid societies
Late 19th Century
Formed labor unions and political parties based on
ideas of Karl Marx
Trade unions are increasingly aligned with socialist
parties
Socialist Parties
German Social Democratic Party (SPD)
• Largest German political party by 1912
Growth of socialist parties – spread to other European
countries
Second International – united socialist organization
• Struggled due to internal differences
• Two divisive issues: nationalism and revisionism
Possible Test Question
The trade union movement prior to World War I
Was strongest in France after the dissolution of the
Second International in 1890.
Occurred despite trade unions being banned by most
state governments.
Varied from state to state, but was generally allied with
socialist parties.
Was primarily for unskilled laborers, especially the
New Model unions.
Focused entirely on wages and working conditions
negotiated directly with employers without any
government involvement in the process.
Evolutionary Socialism (Revisionism)
• Eduard Bernstein (1850-1932)
 Member of the German Social Democratic Party who
spent years in exile in Britain
 Argued that Marx had made fundamental mistakes and
socialists needed to stress cooperation and evolution rather
than class conflict and revolution
 Stressed the need to work through democratic politics to
create socialism, not revolution.
The Problem of Nationalism
Variation of socialist parties from country to country
Focused on issues in their own countries instead of a unified
workers movement
The Role of Trade Unions
National variations
• German unions were the strongest
Unions and political parties
The Anarchist Alternative
More popular in less industrialized nations (Italy, Spain, Russia, &
Portugal) where people saw no hope of peaceful political change
Initially believed that people were inherently good but got
corrupted by the state and society
Socialist parties and trade unions became less radical so some
people turned to anarchism as a means for a social revolution
Michael Bakunin
• Russian anarchist who advocated violence to dissolve state
institutions
Possible Test Question
Anarchist movements were most successful in
Industrialized countries like Great Britain and
Germany.
Toppling national governments through assassinations.
Restoring legitimacy to radical movements through
peaceful dialogue with political opponents.
Less industrialized and less democratic countries where
ordinary people could see no hope of peaceful political
change.
Countries with revolutionary traditions like France.
“Proletarians of the World, Unite”
Emergence of a Mass Society
Population Growth
1850 270 million
1910 460 million
Population growth
1850-1880 – caused by increasing birth rate
After 1880 – caused by declining mortality rate
• Medical discoveries and environmental conditions
 Smallpox vaccination
• Improved publication sanitation
 Reduced deaths from diarrhea, dysentery, typhoid fever, cholera
• Improved nutrition
 Better nutrition & food hygiene
 Faster shipment of food
 Pasteurization of milk
Emigration
Economic motives
• Oppressed minorities went to other countries (especially U.S)
Political motives
• Lower class citizens seeking more freedom
Possible Test Question
Between 1850 and 1910, European
population
Increased from 270 million to 460 million.
Actually decreased slightly.
Increased from 45 to 60 million.
Stagnated, causing severe problems for the
development of leisure industries.
Declined significantly because of the pollution
engendered by increasing urbanization.
Table 23.2: European Emigration,
1876 – 1910
Map 23.2:
Population
Growth in
Europe,
1820-1900
Transformation of the Urban
Environment
Urbanization of Europe
Migration from rural to urban
1800 – 21 European cities with a population of 100,000+
1900 – 147 European cities with a population of 100,000+
People moved to the cities for job opportunities
Improving Living Conditions
Reformers: Edwin Chadwick and Rudolf Virchow
Pointed to relationship between living conditions and disease
Buildings begin to be inspected for problems
Public Health Act of 1875 in Britain
•
•
•
•
Clean water into the city
Private baths (Hot water) became accessible to people in 1860s
Shower appears in 1880s
Sewage System
Housing Needs
Reformer-philanthropists focused on relationship of
living conditions to political and moral health of the
nation – built homes for the poor
Government support – increase in regulations
Demolition of old, unneeded urban defensive walls and
new, wider streets
Octavia Hill rehabilitated old homes and built new ones
designed to give the poor an environment they could
use to improve themselves
Redesigning the Cities
Major European cities were redesigned after the
example of Paris in the 1850s
Construction of streetcars & commuter trains created
suburbs
Possible Test Question
Reforms in urban living included all of the
following except
The development of pure water and sewerage systems.
Model homes built for the poor by wealthy
philanthropists.
The demolition of old, unneeded urban defensive walls,
replaced by wide avenues.
A concerted effort to clean up all polluted rivers and
lakes.
Some increases in governmental regulations.
Working-Class Housing in London
The Social Structure of the Society
The Upper Classes
5% of the population that controlled 30 to 40% of wealth
Plutocrats – aristocrats who made their money on investments in
railroads, public utilities, government bonds, & businesses
Alliance of wealthy business elite and traditional aristocracy
Common bonds – wealthy middle class kids admitted to elite
schools
The Middle Classes
Upper middle class, middle middle-class, lower middle-class
Professionals (law, medicine, civil service)
• New professionals – engineers, architects, accountants,
chemists
White-collar workers (product of the 2nd Industrial Revolution)
• Sales reps, bookkeepers, bank tellers, telephone operators,
secretaries, department store clerks
Middle-class values came to dominate
• Concerned with traditional Christian values and work ethic
Possible Test Question
The middle classes of nineteenth-century Europe
Were composed mostly of shopkeepers and
manufacturers who barely lived above the poverty line.
Offered little opportunity for women in improving their
lot.
Were very concerned with propriety and shared values
of hard work and Christian morality.
Viewed progress with distrust as they did not wish to
lose their economic gains.
Were sinking in economic and social security because
of the increase of plutocrats.
The Lower classes
80 percent of the European population
Agriculture
• Many were landholding peasants – sharecroppers,
laborers
Urban working class: Skilled, semiskilled, unskilled
workers
• Skilled artisans – cabinet makers, printers, jewelry
makers
• semiskilled artisans – carpenters, bricklayers,
factory workers
• Unskilled laborers – day laborers, domestic services
A Middle-Class Family
The “Woman Question”: The Role of Women
Traditional Values
Marriage the only honorable and available career
Decline in the birth rate in part to some birth control
1840s-invention of vulcanized rubber made birth control an option
Elizabeth Poole Sanford encouraged women to avoid being selfsufficient. Thought women should embrace domesticity and
dependence on their husbands.
Middle-Class and Working-Class Families
Glorified Domesticity
Domestic ideal for the family emphasized togetherness with time
for leisure
Stressed functional knowledge for their children to prepare them
for future roles.
Daughters of working class families worked until married
1890 – 1914: higher paying jobs made it possible to live on
husband’s wages
• Limit size of the family
• Reduced work week
Possible Test Question
For Elizabeth Poole Sanford, women should
Avoid being self-sufficient.
Strive to become equal to men.
Accept their roles at home until new
governmental reforms were instituted.
Make it known to their husbands that they were
dissatisfied.
Take employment outside the home to become
economically self-sufficient.
Education in the Mass Society
Expansion of Secondary Education
Universal Elementary Education
States began to offer public education
By 1900, most were free and compulsory at the primary level
States assumed the responsibility for teacher training
Liberal Beliefs About Education
Personal and social development
Needs of industrialization
Differences in education of boys and girls
• Girls - less math & science, more domestic skills
• Boys – humanities plus carpentry & military drill
Political motives
• Need for an educated electorate
• Instilled patriotism and nationalized the masses
Female Teachers
Increased Literacy from mass education
Growth of Newspapers
Possible Test Question
By 1900, most European educational systems
Were free and compulsory at least at the primary level.
Were expensive to operate, and charged high tuition.
Were backward and lacked good teachers.
Still taught a “medieval” variety of subjects.
Had declined because of lack of governmental interest
and support.
Mass Leisure
Amusement Parks
Music and Dance Halls
Thomas Cook (1808-1892)
Pioneer “father” of mass tourism
Offered vacations to Europe
Sports
Boy Scouts (1908) “The real boy scout is not a sissy.”
Became organized with rules
Professional sports leagues emerged
Boys were encouraged to play sports to toughen them
up
Possible Test Question
A new development in the age of mass
leisure was
The newspaper and novel.
The excessive consumption of alcohol.
The theater.
Carnival.
Professional sports.
Western Europe: The Growth of Political
Democracy
Reform in Britain: William Gladstone
Reform Act of 1867: Suffrage extended
English Reform Bill of 1884
• Gave English agricultural workers the right to vote
Redistribution Act of 1885: Reorganized the election
boroughs
Salaries paid to members of the House of Commons,
1911
• More people could run for office
Charles Parnell (1846-1891)
•
•
•
•
Leader of the Irish representatives in Parliament
Called for Home Rule for Ireland
This would have established a separate Parliament for Ireland
English conservatives voted against home rule
 Resulted in terrorist attacks by the Irish
Possible Test Question
The English Reform Bill of 1884
Enfranchised women.
Gave English agricultural workers the right to
vote.
Did not dramatically increase the size of the
electorate.
Increased the total number of members in the
House of Commons.
Increased middle-class representatives in
Parliament.
Reform in France
Louis Napoleon’s 2nd Empire ended with his defeat in the FrancoPrussian War
Universal male suffrage in 1871 enforced by Bismarck
• People elected a new National Assembly
Radical republicans formed an independent government in Paris
known as the Commune
• Fighting broke out between the Commune and the National Assembly
• National Assembly massacred thousands of members of the Paris
Commune
• Brutal suppression of the Paris Commune created a split between the
working class and the middle class
Establishment of the Third Republic, 1875
Monarchists, Catholic clergy and army officers opposed the Third
Republic
General Georges Boulanger - leader of a proposed coup d’etat
• Lost the courage to carry it out and fled the country
• Boulanger crisis rallied French citizens to the republic
Possible Test Question
Splits between the French working and
middle class
Were largely solved by the liberal reforms of
the Third Republic.
Enabled the Third Republic to elect a new
monarch in 1875.
Led a strong parliamentary system of
government.
Were further widened by the brutal suppression
of the Paris Commune in 1871.
Ended in light of continued Prussian threats to
France’s national survival.
Italy
Had pretensions of great power status
Sectional differences in Italy
Italians were loyal to their family, towns and
regions, but not their country
Chronic turmoil beyond the government’s
control
No universal male suffrage
Italy & Spain
• Both remained second rate European powers
Central & Eastern Europe: Persistence of
the Old Order
Germany
Trappings of parliamentary government
1871 constitution
Emperor commands the military in Prussian tradition
Bismarck’s conservatism
• Used coalitions to get what he wanted & then he dropped them
• Kulturkampf - “struggle for civilization” an attack on Catholic
Church
• Tried to weaken Social Democratic Party by passing
antisocialist law
• Tried to woo workers from socialism by passing social welfare
programs
Possible Test Question
Which statement best applies to Germany under
chancellor Otto von Bismarck?
Prussia lost much of its influence on state politics.
Coalitions were used by Bismarck to get what he
wanted and then he dropped them.
Socialism was almost completely stamped out by the
Prussian army.
Almost all regional differences disappeared under the
charismatic leadership of Bismarck.
The emperor became merely a figurehead and lacked
any political power and influence.
Austria-Hungary
Austrian constitution of 1867 (in reality it was
still an autocracy)
Problem of minorities worsened with universal
male suffrage, 1907
Russia
Alexander III, 1881-1894: Overturns reform
and returns to repressive measures (autocracy)
after assassination of Alexander II
Nicholas II, 1894-1917: Believed in absolute
rule
Possible Test Question
The policy pursued by Russia’s Alexander
III and Nicholas II after the assassination of
Alexander II was a policy of
Liberalism.
Nationalism.
Socialism.
Militarism.
Autocracy.