Chapter 23
Mass Society in an “Age of Progress,” 1871-1894
Industrial Europe in 1914
1. Fundamental to the growth of industrialization was the development of sources of power, the most important of which was the steam engine.
The principle fuel of the engine was coal found throughout Europe, especially in Britain, Germany, and France. Moreover, the use of steam was
closely tied to the improvement of the mining industry that made possible the expansion of coal production.
2. Developing as a rival to coal in the last quarter of the nineteenth century was petroleum that had the advantage it could be easily stored and
transported. Although available world-wide, in Europe production was generally limited to the reserves in Romania.
3. The invention of an efficient electric generator in 1870 coupled with the discovery of how to transmit electric power over long distances meant
availability of a new alternate, more flexible source of energy. The advantage of electricity, which can be generated by water or wind, was its
availability to countries without large supplies of coal.
4. Key in the production of many of the new machines was steel that previously had been rare and expensive. Improved methods from the 1850s
to the 1870s allowed refining of low-grade iron ores and scrap iron. By the late 1870s a process was developed to remove the phosphorus that
had made the large ore deposits in Europe unsuitable for steel production. With these advances, steel supplanted iron in industrial construction.
5. Accompanying the growth in energy and steel was the chemical industry. New methods were discovered for producing critical scarce items as
well as new ones. Perhaps the most important contribution of chemicals was the production of cheap, artificial fertilizers. A significant growth in
population could now be supported on the base of a fixed amount of land.
6. Between 1870 and 1914 Germany replaced Britain as the industrial leader of Europe. As a late participant in industrialization, Germany had
the advantage of being able to build the latest and most efficient industrial plants. Unfortunately, British businessmen were slow to invest in new
plants and technology.
7. By 1900 there were clearly two economic zones in Europe. Advanced industrialization existed in Great Britain, Belgium, France, the
Netherlands, Germany, the western part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and northern Italy. Characteristics of these areas were a high
standard of living, good transportation, and a relatively healthy and educated population. The areas of little industrialization included southern
Italy, most of Austria-Hungary, the Iberian peninsula, the Balkans, and Russia.
Questions:
1. What were the characteristics of the Second Industrial Revolution?
2. Why was Germany able to surpass Britain in industrial production?
3. Why was electricity important as a new source of energy?
The Industrial Regions of Europe by 1914
 The Growth of Industrial Prosperity

New Products and New Markets
 Substitution of steel for iron
 Growth of chemical industry
 Electricity
 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
 Electric railway in Berlin, 1879
 Internal combustion engine
 Automobile and airplane
 Henry Ford (1863-1947) – mass production
 Zeppelin airship, 1900
 Wright brothers, 1903
 New markets
 Increased wages
 Competition
 Cartels
 Protective tariffs

New Patterns in an Industrial Economy
 Depression, 1873-1895
 Economic boom after 1895
 La belle époque
 Germany replaces Britain as the industrial leader of Europe
 Union of science and technology
 Europe into two economic zones
 Agricultural growth
 Tariff barriers


Women and Work: New Job Opportunities
 Sweatshops
 Increased white-collar jobs creates shortage of male
workers opening up opportunities for women
 Secretaries and teachers
 Prostitution
Organizing the Working Class
 Socialist parties
 German Social Democratic Party (SPD)
 German Social Democrats
 Jean Jaurès (1859-1914)
 Social Democratic Labor Party
 Second International
 Revisionism and nationalism
 Eduard Bernstein (1850-1932), Evolutionary
Socialism, 1899
 Demise of capitalism not near
 Bourgeoisie expanding
 Proletariat improving
 Discarded class struggle
 Evolution not revolution
 Role of Trade Unions
 Develop slowly
 Attach to political parties
Population Growth in Europe, 1820-1900
1. Although the overall population of Europe between 1850 and 1910 increased from 270 million to 460 million, it was an uneven growth. Between
1851 and 1911 there was considerable growth in Germany as the population increased from 33.4 million to 64.9 million. During the same time
period Britain grew from 17.9 million to 36 million; Belgium from 4.5 million to 7.4 million; Netherlands from 3.3 million to 5.8 million; Russia
from 68.5 million to 160.7 million; Italy from 24.3 million to 34.6 million; and Austria from 17.5 million to 28.5 million. The population remained
relatively stagnant in France that saw growth from 33.7 million to only 39.2 million. Significantly, the population of Ireland dropped from 6.5 million
in 1851 to 4.4 million in 1911.
2. The urban population increasingly came to dominate European societies. In Britain urban dwellers constituted 40 percent of the population in
1800. By 1914 the population in Britain was 80 percent urban. During this same period the urbanites grew from 25 percent of the population in
France to 45 percent; in Germany from 25 percent to 60 percent; and eastern Europe from 10 percent to 30 percent. In 1800 there were only 21
cities in Europe with populations over 100,000. By 1900 there were 147 cities over 100,000.
3. In western Europe between 1850 and 1880 the population grew primarily due to a rise in the birth rate. Industrialization created greater
employment possibilities which prompted earlier marriages and thus a higher birth rate. Death rates still remained high due to disease and the
lack of sanitation. In southern and eastern Europe, however, death rates almost canceled out high birth rates.
4. Crowded city life put a premium on the small family. Moreover, after 1880 child labor became less frequent among the working class. When the
children no longer were income producers, parents tended to have fewer of them. It was also about this time that the advanced countries began to
require compulsory schooling. As more years were spent at school, the children became increasingly dependent economically on their parents.
Thus, the child represented an expense. Most probably these conditions and the desire to provide the best for one's children caused a voluntary
limitation of family size.
5. After 1880 a decline in the death rate due to better disease control and sanitation contributed to an increase in population.
6. A booming economy after 1898 and cheap fares after 1900 resulted in mass emigration from southern and eastern Europe to America.
Between 1906 and 1910, annual departures were 1.3 million, many from southern and eastern Europe. Between 1846 and 1932, probably 60
million Europeans left Europe, half of these to the United States.
Questions:
1. What was the relationship between population and industrialization?
2. Why was there population growth in some areas of Europe, stagnation in others, and decline in still others?
Population Growth in Europe, 1820-1900
Anarchist Alternative
 Support in less industrialized and less democratic
countries
 People inherently good but corrupted by state and
society
 Use of assassination
 Emergence of Mass Society
 Population Growth
 Medical discoveries and environmental conditions
 Improved publication sanitation
 Improved diet
 Increased emigration


Transformation of the Urban Environment
 Growth of cities
 Improving living conditions
 Clean water into the city
 Expulsion of sewage
 Housing
 British Housing Act, 1890
 Reformer-philanthropists
 Redesigning the cities
 Defensive walls pulled down
 Great boulevards
 New buildings
 Displaced population

The 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
 The Middle Classes
 Upper middle class, middle middle class, lower middle
class
 Professionals
 White-collar workers
 The Lower classes
 80 percent of the European population
 Agriculture
 Skilled, semiskilled, unskilled workers
 The “Woman Question”: The Role of Women
 Marriage
 Birth control
 Middle-class family
 Domesticity
 Leisure time
 Schooling of sons
 Boy Scouts

 Working-class Family
 Daughters work until married
 1890 to 1914 higher paying jobs made it possible to
live on the husband’s wages
 Limit size of the family
Education and Leisure in an Age of Mass Society
 Mass education in state-run systems
 Personal and social development
 Needs of industrialization
 Need for an educated electorate
 Differences in education of boys and girls
 Teachers
 Increased literacy
Mass Leisure
 Music and dance halls
 Tourism
 Sports
 Recreation
 Professional sports
 Amusement parks
 Sundays
 The National State
 Western Europe: The Growth of Political Democracy
 Reform in Britain
 William Gladstone
 Suffrage

Reform
 Ireland
 Limited land reform
 Home Rule Act, 1914
 Third Republic in France
 Paris Commune, 1871
 Government troops break the commune
 Republican constitution, 1875
 General Georges Boulanger (1837-1891), 1889
 Spain and Italy
 Spanish constitution, 1875


Central and Eastern Europe: Persistence of the Old Order
 Germany
 Prussian military tradition
 Bismarck’s conservatism
 Social welfare programs
 Austria-Hungary
 Problem of minorities
 Russia
 Alexander III, 1881-1894
 Nicholas II, 1894-1917