APEH : Chapter 23 – The Age of Progress
Reading QUESTIONS
1. Explain what is meant by the “Second Industrial Revolution” and how it differed from the first
revolution in industry. Discuss its impact on European society.
2. What do we mean by the phrase “mass society” and how was the growth of this mass society related to
changes in the urban environment?
3. To what extent did the emergence and development of socialist parties and trade unions meet the needs
of the working classes between 1871 and the end of the century?
4. Discuss the structure of European society between 1870 and 1894. Why do historians focus so much
attention on the middle class during this period?
5. What was the position of women during the second half of the nineteenth century? Had women's
positions and opportunities for self-expression changed any since the previous century? How?
6. Compare and contrast middle-class and working-class families. How do you explain the similarities
and the differences?
7. How were the promises and problems of the new mass society reflected in education and leisure?
8. Between 1871 and 1894, two major domestic political issues involved the achievement of liberal
practices and the growth of political democracy. To what extent were these realized in Great Britain,
France, Spain, and Italy?
9. Was nineteenth century liberalism a hindrance or a help to the development of political democracy in western civilization? Be
specific.
10. How and why did the old order continue to persist in central and eastern Europe?
MAP EXERCISES
1. The Industrial Regions of Europe at the End of the Nineteenth Century. MAP 23.1. Which
parts of Europe were the most industrially developed by 1900 and what areas were the least
developed industrially. How do you account for the differences? Are the causes political,
cultural, social, resource availability, or others? (page 656)
2. Population Growth in Europe, 1820-1900. MAP 23.2. Compare the two maps, one representing the year 1820 and the other the
year 1900. Which regions experienced the greatest population growth? What are the factors that might explain the growth
differences between areas? (page 662)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR THE PRIMARY SOURCES (BOXED DOCUMENTS)
1. “The Department Store and the Beginnings of Mass Consumerism”: What does this document tell us about the growth of a new
mass consumerism? What were the roots or the causes of the mass consumerism of the nineteenth century? Who were these new
consumers and how had their habits of buying and selling changed over time? What were the broader socioeconomic repercussions of
nineteenth century changes in the sites and the scale of European retail trade? (page 654)
2. “The Voice of Evolutionary Socialism: Eduard Bernstein”: Based on the contents of this document, define “evolutionary
socialism.” Why does Bernstein reject the revolutionary socialism of The Communist Manifesto? What broader forces in nineteenthcentury European society came together to promote this type of political thinking? Who had the more accurate vision of the future
development of society? Marx? Bernstein? Neither? Why? (page 659)
3. “The Housing Venture of Octavia Hill”: Discuss the housing venture of Octavia Hill. What did she hope to achieve? Was she
successful? Why and/or why not? What does this document tell you about the new ambitions and civic responsibilities of private
philanthropists in modern European urban society? Is this type of venture common among philanthropists today? Why or why not?
(page 664)
4. “Advice to Women: Be Dependent”: According to Elizabeth Poole Sanford, what is the proper role of women? What particular
social class is she addressing? What forces in late nineteenth-century European society do you believe merged to shape Sanford's
understanding of “proper” gender roles? Was Sanford a merely a product of her own era? Is her advice relevant to today’s society?
Why or why not? (page 668)
5. “The Fight Song: Sports in the English Public School”: Why did organized sports become a central feature of England’s public
(private) schools? What does it say about middle- and upper-middle class educational ideals? What does it say about nineteenth
century society? How would the singing of such songs and the virtues they express work to shape boys' conceptions of “proper”
male behavior, masculine values, and masculinity itself? (page 673)
6. “A Leader of the Paris Commune”: What were the circumstances that led to the Paris Commune of 1871? What does this excerpt
from the memoirs of the Parisian radical feminist Louise Michel tell you about new opportunities for political engagement available
to female and male residents of great European nineteenth-century capital cities during the latter half of the nineteenth century?
(page 675)
7. “Bismarck and the Welfare of the Workers”: What arguments does Bismarck advance for social welfare legislation? How can (and
did) Bismarck benefit politically from these moves toward state protection of workers' socioeconomic interests? Was Bismarck
merely bidding for votes? Why or why not? To what broader forces in nineteenth-century European social and political life is
Bismarck responding through the formulation of these policies? (page 677)
Vocabulary:
4. Thomas Edison and Joseph Swan
5. Graham Bell
6. Guglielmo Marconi
7. internal combustion engine
8. Gottlieb Daimler
9. Henry Ford and the assembly line
10. Wilbur and Orville Wright
11. cartels
13. Second Industrial Revolution
16. Contagious Diseases Acts
17. Wilhelm Liebknect and August Bebel
18. Social Democratic Party
19. Jean Jaures
20. May Day
21. Marxist “revisionism”
22. Eduard Bernstein
23. Michael Bakunin and anarchism
24. Public Health Act of 1875
25. V.A. Huber and Octavia Hill
27. plutocrats
28. Consuelo Vanderbilt
30. Lord Tennyson’s The Princess
31. Aletta Jacob and “family planning”
32. Boy Scouts
33. “yellow press”
37. Reform Act of 1884
38. Irish Home Rule
39. France’s Third Republic
40. the Commune
41. General Georges Boulanger
42. Spanish-American War
43. Cuba and the Philippines
44. the Reichstadt
45. Kulturkampf
46. Bismarck’s welfare legislation
47. William II
48. Magyarization
49. Alexander III and Nicholas II
50. Russification