Mass Society in an
Age of Progress
FIFI
1871 - 1894
Main Points
► Era
of significant material prosperity and progress
► Second Industrial Revolution reinforces faith in
materialism
► Mass Society emerges with this broad urban,
industrial and economic growth
► Era of increased democracy and the triumph of
liberalism
► New ideas of mass politics, propaganda and mass
press
Growth of Industrial Prosperity
► After
1871, new technology and industrial
developments triggered Second Industrial
Revolution
 First IR focused on textiles, coal, iron and RR
 Second focused on steel, chemicals, electricity,
and petroleum
New Products, New Markets
► Substitution
of steel for iron (Bessemer Process
and Gilchrist Process)
► Chemical production: Germany surpasses GB
(soap, paper, dyes, film)
► Electricity
 T. Edison (1847-1931) and Joseph Swan – light bulb
 A.G. Bell (1847-1922) – telephone, 1876
 G. Marconi (1874-1937) – radio waves across the
Atlantic, 1901
 Transformation of factories to electrical power
► Internal
combustion engine and petroleum power
New Products, New Markets
► Automobile




and airplane
Daimler (1886) engine
H. Ford (1863-1947) – mass production
Zeppelin airship, 1900
Wright brothers, 1903
Evolution of the “Zeppelin”
From the very first Zeppelin
…to the virile progenitors of
heavy metal Zeppelin
…to a
reallybigexplodingGermanZeppelin
…to the Viagra-dependent
Zeppelin!
New Products, New Markets
Marconi’s radio (1901); Daimler’s
internal combustion engine in the
first motorcycle (1885)
New Products, New Markets
►New
markets
 Increased wages and elevated standard of
living
 Competition
►Advertisement
►Tariffs
 Cartels
 Precision tools/interchangeable parts and
assembly line
New Patterns in an Industrial Economy
► Depression,
1873-1895 – falling prices,
business slump
► Economic boom after 1895
► La
belle époque
► German
Industrial Leadership
 Germany replaces Britain as the industrial
leader of Europe
 New areas of manufacturing; emphasis on
scientific and technological education
New Patterns in an Industrial Economy
► Europe’s
two economic zones: Industrial
and Agricultural
 Advance 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
► Development
of world economy caused
many agricultural areas to specialize due to
an abundance of grain
Industrial Regions of Europe by 1914
Women and Work
►
►
►
►
“Right to work”
Ideal of domesticity/cult of domesticity vs. reality of financial
need
Sweatshops and “slopwork” and factory restrictions
White-Collar Jobs
 Increased white-collar jobs created shortage of male workers opening
up opportunities for women
 Secretaries, teachers, clerks, telephone operators, nurses
 Freedom from domestic patterns
►
►
Prostitution
Contagious Diseases Acts of 1870s and 1880s
 Government penalizes prostitutes, not Johns
 Josephine Butler’s “Shrieking Sisters”
 Repeal of the acts in 1886
Women and Work
Female telephone operators; French
prostitutes: “Why didn’t they just wash
the muff?”
Organizing the Working Class
► Growing
numbers of workers – they wanted their
voices heard and developed labor unions and
political parties
► Socialist Parties in Germany
 German Social Democratic Party (SPD) 1875 – most
prominent socialist party – why in Germany?
 Liebknecht and Bebel – Marxist rhetoric
► Socialist
Parties in France
 Variety of socialist parties
 Jean Juares – rejects Marxism in favor of model from
French Revolution
► Effects
of the growth of socialist parties – Belgium,
Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania and
Russia
► Second International (1889) and International
Labor Day 5/1
Organizing the Working Class
►Two
divisive issues: Revisionism and
Nationalism
 Evolutionary Socialism vs. Marxism
►Bebel
and Marxism
►Eduard Bernstein (1850-1932) and
Revisionism
 Nationalism
►“The
working man has no country” (?)
►Many like Marx favored international
approach but nationalism was a powerful
force!
Organizing the Working Class
►Formation of labor unions
 Right to strike
 Replacement of violent upheaval with
collective bargaining
 Strong ties to socialist parties – why?
►Anarchism
 Initially a peaceful movement
 Bakunin’s approach – more violence
 Use of assassination
Contrasting Political Viewpoints
Gradual
change!
VIOLENT
REVOLUTION!
Destroy
the state!
And shoot
someone!
Bebel: “We aim in the domain of politics at republicanism; in the domain of
economics at socialism; in the domain of what is today called religion, at atheism.”
Bernstein: "The Communist Manifesto was correct…but…we see the privileges of
the capitalist bourgeoisie yielding…to democratic organizations…In my
judgment…success lies in a steady advance……than in…a catastrophic clash.“
Bakunin: “If there is a State, then there is domination, and in turn, there is
slavery.”
Emergence of Mass Society
► Population
Growth
 270 mil to 460 mil from 1850-1910!
 Decline in the death rate
►Medical
discoveries and environmental conditions
►Improved publication sanitation
►Improved nutrition
► Increased
US
emigration to urban areas and to
 Opportunity for employment
 Need to escape persecution
Population Growth in Europe,
1820-1900
The Urban Environment
► Growth
of cities / Urbanization
► Urban Reformers and Improved Living
Conditions
 Edwin Chadwick, Rudolf Virchow
►Pointed
to relationship between living conditions and
disease
►Boards of Health established
►Buildings begin to be inspected for problems
►Public Health Act of 1875 in Britain
►Clean water into the city
►Expulsion of sewage
Transformation of the
Urban Environment
► Housing
Needs
 Reformer-philanthropists focused on relationship of living
conditions to political and moral health of the nation
 Victor A. Huber, German reformer – no more SLUMS!
 Octavia Hill – personal investment in housing
 Lord Leverhulme – Port Sunlight and his soap factory
 Ebenezer Howard – Letchward Garden City
 Garden City Movement
► Redesigning
the cities; British Housing Act of 1890
 Construct new buildings, reconfigure spaces
 Cheap modern transportation – urban sprawl, suburbs
 Liberal principles of government don’t hold true
Transformation of the
Urban Environment
Slum housing; Lord Levelhulme’s houses for
his employees at Port Sunlight Village; the
visual concept for the Garden City Movement
Social Structure of Mass Society
►
The Elite
 5 percent of the population that controlled 30 to 40 percent of
wealth
 Alliance of wealthy business elite and traditional aristocracy
 Common bonds
►
The Middle Classes
 Stratification: Upper middle class, middle middle-class, lower
middle-class
 Professionals
 White-collar workers
 Middle class values came to dominate society and culture
►
The Lower classes
 80 percent of the European population
 Agriculture
 Urban working class stratification: Skilled, semiskilled, unskilled
workers
Social Structure of Mass Society
The elite, the urban
poor and the rural
poor
The Woman Question
► There
were increased job opportunities for women
► However,
femininity
many women still aspired to the ideal of
 Marriage was the only honorable and/or available career
 Lord Tennyson’s The Princess:
► Man
is the hunter; woman is his game:
The sleek and shining creatures of the chase,
We hunt them for the beauty of their skins;
They love us for it, and we ride them down.
 Pt. V, l. 147-150.
► Man
for the field and woman for the hearth:
Man for the sword and for the needle she:
Man with the head and woman with the heart:
Man to command and woman to obey;
All else confusion.
 Pt. V, l. 427-431.
The Family and Family Life
► “Cult
of Domesticity” glorified
 Before increased job opportunities, women had to
marry out of financial necessity
 Most women chose to marry, however lowering
illegitimacy, but so did…
► Family
Planning
 Family size limited (contraception – vulcanized
rubber)
 Dr. Aletta Jacob – first birth control clinic in
Amsterdam 1882
 Those who could afford children used birth control;
those who could not often didn’t
 Many spoke out against birth control
The Middle Class Family
► Family
was a central institution
 Men – income
 Women – household, socials – the more idle the
better!
 Domestic Servants – housework/cooking
► 1890
to 1914 higher paying jobs made it
possible to live on the husband’s wages
► Leisure time due to higher wages and
reduced work week
 Holiday traditions
 Gender-based activities, toys for children
The Working Class Family
► Wages
improved to allow younger children
NOT to work, and even more women were
staying at home like middle class
► Consumer goods – sewing machines,
stoves, bicycles – provided goals to work
toward
► Saturday leisure
► Compulsory education removed children
from factories and put them in schools
Education and Leisure
► Schools
 Gymnasium (Secondary Schools)
 Secondary (University) for wealthy and later,
middle class
 Needed compulsory education for informed
voting public and national pride!
 Germany had 1st public education system early
19th century
 By 1870s more school requirements
► Impact
on literacy
► Growth of publications
Education and Leisure
► Second
IR decimated village life of past –
long holidays didn’t mesh with industrial
pace
► Shorter work days/weeks = more leisure!
► Machines to do housework = more leisure!
► Rail travel to resorts and Tourism (Thomas
Cook)
► Music and dance halls
► Organized sports
► Amusement Parks
Early Days of Sport
Rugby in Britain; Football
(Soccer) in Genoa
Ferris Wheel – Old School
The National State:
Western Europe and the Growth of Political Democracy
► With
the exception of Spain and Italy,
parliamentary control of the governments of
western Europe were able to push for liberal
reforms.
► Great Britain and Gladstone’s Reforms
 Reform Act of 1884
 Redistribution Act
 Salaries to members of the House of Commons
The National State:
Western Europe and the Growth of Political Democracy
► Irish
Question
 Act of Union 1801
and the impact of
nationalism
 Gladstone’s attempt at
land reform
 Failure of Home Rule
Bills of 1886 and 1893
 Irish Protestants in
Ulster (N. Ireland) vs.
Catholics
The National State:
Western Europe and the Growth of Political Democracy
► France
in turmoil
 Defeat in the Franco-Prussian War led to the
downfall of Emperor Louis Napoleon III.
 Bismarck required defeated France to choose
their new government by UNIVERSAL MALE
SUFFRAGE, though the French Republicans had
set up a provisional government
 Once put to vote, the French public rejected the
republican government and elected a majority
of monarchists for the new National Assembly!
The National State:
Western Europe and the Growth of Political Democracy
► France
in turmoil
 Radical republicans rebel: Paris Commune
established
 National Assembly brutally puts down the
commune after a month of nasty street fighting
►Louise
Michel and the role of women
►Outcome broadened the rift between middle and
working class already begun in 1848-9 revolutions
The National State:
Western Europe and the Growth of Political Democracy
► France
in turmoil
 Monarchists failure to choose a king
 Ineffective leadership opens door for republic to
prevail
 By 1875, Third Republic born. 1st? 2nd?
 Republicans come to dominate Chamber of
Deputies
 Resistance to the Third Republic and the
Boulanger Affair
The National State:
Western Europe and the Growth of Political Democracy
► Spain
and Italy
 Spain remains conservative and brutally
suppresses outbursts of socialists and anarchists
 Italy, the Ethiopia humiliation, and the rift
between industrialists and working class
The National State:
Central and Eastern Europe and the Persistence of the
Old Order
► Germany
 Established legislature as well as universal male
suffrage, yet still remained an authoritarian and
conservative regime
 Bicameral legislature: Bundesrat and
Reichstag
 Role of Chancellor and persistence of Junkerdominated military hierarchy
The National State:
Central and Eastern Europe and the Persistence of the
Old Order
► Germany: a power struggle
 Bismarck
► Kulturkampf
and playing to liberals
► Bismarck’s conservative backlash in 1878
► Outlawing SDP
► Social Welfare Legislation (?)
► Failure to curb growth of SDP and desire to use undemocratic,
repressive measures to obliterate them
 Kaiser Wilhelm II
► Desire
to rule alone
► Role of Kaiser made secure by Bismarck
► Dissatisfaction with Bismarck’s failure to win over the workers
and stop spread of SDP
► Bismarck’s dismissal in 1890
The National State:
Central and Eastern Europe and the Persistence of the
Old Order
► Austria
 Ausgleich created dual monarchy 1867 with
constitution and parliament, but Emperor
Francis Joseph undermined its authority
 Ethnic minority problem
►Edward
von Taaffe as PM (1879-1893)
►Concessions to minorities ager German-speaking
bureaucracy
►Francis Joseph used Catholicism to keep people
together
►Universal male suffrage 1907
The National State:
Central and Eastern Europe and the Persistence of the
Old Order
► Hungary
 More effective parliament but dominated by
Magyar landowners
 Forced Magyarization
 Ethnic tensions
The National State:
Central and Eastern Europe and the Persistence of the
Old Order
► Russia
 No concessions or liberal democratic reforms
 Assassination of Alexander II made his son
Alexander III reactionary
 Secret police, power of Zemstovs curtailed
 Industrialization would force inevitable change…