Chapter 11 Reading Notes
Industrial Revolution
Although the Industrial Revolution started before the French Revolution, industry did not really begin to grow on continental Europe until after the Napoleonic Wars. Thus, it was sufficient to hold off on this topic until after we finished talking about the French Revolution. Nevertheless, it would be impossible to understate the importance of the Industrial Revolution on the political, social, and economic history of Europe, and therefore, we cannot continue on without first understanding the consequences of the Industrial Revolution.
Though it was not a revolution in the political sense, the Industrial Revolution did bring about such massive economic change that it eventually spilled over into all aspects of life. The Industrial Revolution brought changes to the production of wealth, techniques of manufacture, exploitation of natural resources, development of new technologies, formation of capital, and distribution of products to consumers.
The Industrial Revolution started in England in 1780 and then spread to the continent after the end of Napoleon in 1815. Industrialization means to transform from relying on agriculture to relying on manufacturing goods and services. While in the 19th century industrialization was linked to capitalism, this does not always have to be the case.
So why did it start in England? Mostly because of the Agricultural Revolution after the English Civil War. People started using better farming techniques which allowed farmers to produce more food. This allowed the population to get more food, become healthier, and have more children. As a result of the Agricultural Revolution, the population in Europe started to grow. Landowners, particularly, wanted more money from the crops on their land which could only be achieved by using scientific farming techniques. Thus, landowners had to create enclosures where peasants were no longer allowed to farm a communal spot of land as they had during the Middle Ages. In the Middle Ages, everyone in a community had come together to plant a piece of land and take care of it. No one could try new crops or ideas without the consent of everyone else. It was very inefficient; parliament passed the Enclosure Acts to allow large land owners to fence off portions of land to be used for specific crops. Again, the consequences were more food for the general population, but it also ensured that small farmers had no land which led them to become wage earners instead of farmers.
One of the first industries to industrialize was the textile industry because there was an insatiable demand in Europe for cotton cloth from India. It could not be produced cheaply in Europe without machines, and it was expensive to import. Therefore, it industrialized because markets already existed if only more could be produced. Some inventors and inventions that helped in the process of industrialization are as follows:
1702- Thomas Newcomen’s steam engine (pump water out of mines)
1733- John Kay flying shuttle (allowed a single person to weave cloth as opposed to two people)
1760s-spinning jenny
1763- James Watt improved the steam engine and made it useable
1769- Richard Arkwright patented the water frame
1793- Eli Whitney’s cotton gin
Early 1800s- steam engine used for land transportation
1829- George Stephenson’s locomotive
By mechanizing everything, it made it easier if everyone involved in the process were together in the same building. This led to the creation of mills (called factories in America).
Industrialization came with many social consequences as well. People had to move to towns to find work. Some towns, like Manchester, doubled in size in the space of ten years. The towns became over-crowded, unsanitary, and unsafe because they often had no legal rights so they could not organize a police force or a group of people to dispose of waste. Factory workers were considered unskilled labor and were paid very poorly. Factories employed men, women, and children. They had no safety or age restrictions because there was no way of enforcing reform laws equally.
Industrialization also led to some new ideas about economics. Economists such as Adam Smith, David Ricardo, and Thomas Malthus attempted to predict how industrialization would affect people. They are known as Classical Economists because they adhere to the ideas of Adam Smith and laissez-faire capitalism. They believed the government should not interfere in economics at all. Since they all convened in Manchester, they were also known as the “Manchester School” and they had some dismal ideas about how the industrialization would affect the common people. David Ricardo (yes, the same person who came up with comparative advantage) also came up with the idea of the iron law of wages which basically said that factory workers could never rise above the subsistence level (just enough to allow them to live) because if their wages went up, then they would have more children which would take up all their extra money. Another dismal idea was espoused by Thomas Malthus. He believed that the world would soon be overpopulated and everyone would start to starve to death because populations grow exponentially while food supply on grows geometrically. Basically, he believed that if the world population continued to increase, the food supply would not be able to keep up.
The “Isms”
During the time right after the Napoleonic Era, a group of ideas started spreading across Europe that we generally refer to as the “isms”. It is a way of making ideas systematic. By adding –ism on the end of a word, we have a way to compare it to other systematic ideas. People were group by what –ism they believed in.
One –ism was Romanticism, mentioned briefly in the last chapter. This was a movement mainly in literature and art that was in reaction to the Enlightenment. Romanticism stressed the unclassifiable, the unique, the creative, and had an appreciation for life in the Middle Ages, particularly Gothic architecture. Famous Romantic writers include William Wordsworth, Lord Byron, Friedrich Schlegel, Percy Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Victor Hugo, and Chauteaubriand.
The next –ism on the list was known as Classical Liberalism. It emphasized the rights and liberties that all people should possess. Classical liberals would support personal freedoms such as speech, religion, and the press as well as representative governments to give more people the opportunity to participate in their government. The main proponent of this was John Stuart Mill. He believed that governments should be reasonable and fair, should allow for self-government and representation in government, and that governments should be transparent (meaning that the people in a country knew what their leaders were doing and voting for). He also advocated for the rights of man and property. Classical liberals believed these ideals could only be achieved through tolerance, education, and they disliked trade barriers.
A more intense –ism was Radicalism. Radicals wanted to reform everything all at once including laws, courts, prisons, and poor relief. Radicals wanted sweeping changes immediately and were willing to do whatever it took to get those changes. They were also very democratic in that they believed in universal male suffrage. They wanted to have as many freedoms as possible.
A similar, though less extreme, --ism was Republicanism. This –ism also wanted universal male suffrage. They were also anticlerical, seeing the church as being antithetical to democracy and people gaining an equal vote. Republicanism was seen as such a threat to governments that the people involved were often persecuted and so had to meet in secret groups in order to remain safe from the state police.
Another –ism, this one related to economics, was socialism. In socialism, people wanted the government to control the capital as opposed to individuals. This would allow the government to more equally distribute wealth in a country. There were many socialist that had various ideas. Robert Owen was a factory owner who believed in paternalistic capitalism which is similar to socialism. He believed that factory owners needed to look after the welfare of their employees and provide them with things they could not afford on their own such as education and health care. Another socialist, Saint-Simon believed in a planned society. This would be where the government decides what each person should do based on their talents and abilities and then the government distributes wealth accordingly (think of how people are selected for jobs in the movie/book The Giver). Finally, another socialist Fourier believed in utopian socialism which is where people form perfect communities and work together for the good of one another. A few of these societies were tried in France with little success. Some were tried in America, but none lasted for more than 20 years.
An –ism more extreme than socialism was communism. This was the idea that everyone should control the capital (or means of production) in a country and that no one would own anything but rather share everything. This was advocated by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, but was not popular before 1848.
The next –ism that arose was Feminism. Feminism focused on increasing the rights of women in public and private life. All women wanted civil rights and some wanted voting rights for women. Education was the biggest thing pushed for girls because it would allow women more opportunities, particularly the opportunity to read and write. Some people who advocated rights for women were Anne Wheeler and William Thompson who wrote “Appeal on Behalf of Women.” Similarly, Harriet Taylor and John Stuart Mill wrote “The Subjection of Women” which indicated that men and women should be equal. A final feminist of note at this time was Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin (best known by her pseudonym George Sand) who was a prolific author of the day who wrote books with strong female protagonists. She was often criticized by traditionalists for dressing in male clothing and having many affairs with artists and writers.
The next –ism of note was nationalism. As mentioned before, nationalism is kind of like strong patriotism or love of country or love of nation. For example, the Italians did not have a country per se, but they felt a strong sense of unity based on their traditions and language, so they wanted to create their own country. In this time period, nationalism was inherently revolutionary because it attempted to break of the boundaries set by the Congress of Vienna. Nationalism was prominent in the following areas: Germany, Italy, and southern Europe. In Germany, nationalism could be seen in cultural movements intended to unify the German people. For example, Grimm’s fairy tales were collected by the brothers Grimm at this time in an attempt to show the similarities in various German stories and cultural history. Similarly, historian Leopold von Ranke attempted to show the historical superiority of the German people and encourage them to join together. In Italy, the nationalism movement was quite revolutionary. It was known as the Risorgimento or “resurgence” of the Italian way of life. At this time a number of secret societies called the Carbonari were formed to promote nationalist feeling. A man by the name of Joseph Mazzini even tried to overthrow the kingdom of Sardinia, but failed and had to flee to Spain. In southern Europe, nationalism movements were called the Slavic Revival because most languages in that area have a Slavic base. Though this was not initially as revolutionary as the nationalism in Italy, the main goal was to preserve historic culture and languages.
Three more –isms of note are conservatism which attempted to fight all the other forms and preserve the status quo. Monarchism which was extreme conservatism and which wanted everyone to go back to monarchies. Finally, Humanitarianism sought to improve conditions for the average person.
The Dike and the Flood
Right after the Congress of Vienna, the major powers (Great Britain, Russia, Austria, Prussia, and France) had to decide how to handle the new –isms that were for the most part very liberal. These new ideas were seen as a flood that could overrun and destroy the way of life for those in power. Therefore, the major powers decided that had to put up barriers (like a dike) in order to stop this flood of liberal ideas because all concessions to liberalism were seen as revolutionary. Internally, countries reacted very harshly toward liberalism.
For example, in France the period after the Congress of Vienna was known as the “white terror” because the kings were trying to take France back to the way it was before the French Revolution. It was milder under Louis XVIII, but when he died in 1824, Charles X came to power and started to persecute those who had previously been involved in the French Revolution. He also started to pass laws that took France back to feudalism. In March of 1830, the legislative branch in France voted that they had “no confidence in the government” because it was being too oppressing. In July of that year, Charles X passed the July ordinances which restricted freedom. From July 27-29, people erected barricades in the streets of Paris (still not Les Mis). As a result, Charles X abdicated the throne and fled to England. The question remained who should run the government. A compromise was produced by General Lafayette. He suggested that the Duke of Orleans, Louis Philippe, should become the king. He was later referred to as the “citizen king” because he made no attempt to put himself above the people of France.
Poland also wanted more freedoms. After the Congress of Vienna, Poland had been established as a constitutional kingdom with the tsar of Russia as king. Basically, that meant that Poland had no liberties and had to do what Russia said. Secret societies started to be created in order to promote liberal ideas. In 1830, Belgium declared independence from the Netherlands and Russia sent troops to stop the revolution. The troops, however, could not make it through Poland because the Polish people started their own revolution following the example of Belgium. In 1831, Russia crushed the revolution in Poland, but Belgium was saved from the tsar’s troops. Once again we see revolution in western Europe saved by the sacrifice of Poland.
After Belgium gained independence, it was set up with a parliamentary government. In its charter, it was declared to be permanently neutral (forever) because both Great Britain and France feared that it would be used to the other’s advantage. It was also decreed that the five Great Powers could never invade Belgium in the future. Thus, Belgium became a secure and prosperous nation.
The next place liberalism was suppressed was in the German Confederation. Groups known as the Burschenschaft were started as youth clubs at universities where nationalism was beginning to emerge. The clubs originally merely supported the idea of nationalism, but some became very radical and initiated the assassinations of several key German leaders who were trying to suppress German freedoms. As a result of these assassinations, the government passed the Carlsbad Decrees (1819) which got rid of these clubs and also initiated intense censorship.
Russia also had its own liberal uprisings that were brutally suppressed. In December of 1825, Tsar Alexander died and his two brothers Constantine and Nicholas were struggling for the throne. A group of soldiers who had been exposed to western constitutions when they had defeated Napoleon wanted Constantine to become tsar believing that he would be more open to freedoms in Russia. Unfortunately, Constantine had already given the throne to his brother and Nicholas repressed the demonstration of these soldiers in the typical Russian fashion (let’s say there were lots of exiles and death involved). This was known as the Decembrist Revolt.
In Great Britain there was also a flood of liberalism. The two main things that people were concerned about was representation in the House of Commons and the Corn Laws. The prior has been mentioned before; the latter were a series of protective tariffs imposed to stimulate agriculture in Great Britain. Basically, the Corn Laws taxed grain imports coming into Great Britain in order to make sure the farmers in Britain could sell their goods. It made the price of food increase which made the working poor angry. A group of people met at St. Peter’s Field in Manchester to protest the Corn Laws and were violently suppressed by British soldiers (11 killed and 400 injured). Radicals called it the Peterloo massacre. Afterward, a group of radicals attempted to assassinate the entire cabinet while they ate dinner, but the radicals were caught in Cato Street in London in 1820 which coined the term “Cato Street Conspiracy.”
The flood of liberalism broke through for Britain in the early 1830s. There were a group of liberal Tories (most prominent political group in Great Britain at the time) that believed the House of Commons needed reform. So, the Reform Bill of 1832 was passed after much deliberation. The Reform Bill instituted sweeping, though not always equal, changes in Great Britain. The electoral districts were not equal but they were redistributed by region and class. The vote was extended to the middle class (again notice how the bourgeoisie tends to triumph in these reforms). Also, new cities that had been built up as a result of the Industrial Revolution got to send a representative to the House of Commons. The House was broken into Liberal and Conservative parties. These changes brought about many others including slavery being abolished in 1833, the Ten Hours Act in 1847 which ensured that women and children could not work for more than 10 hours a day, and the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 which ensured the progress of industry in Britain as the country became forever dependent on food imports.