Mass Society in an

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Chapter 23 Mass Society in an Age of Progress,
1871-1894
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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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• Working-class Family
• Daughters work until married
• 1890 to 1914 higher paying jobs made it possible
  to live on the husbands 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• Central and Eastern Europe Persistence of the
  Old Order
• Germany
• Prussian military tradition
• Bismarcks conservatism
• Social welfare programs
• Austria-Hungary
• Problem of minorities
• Russia
• Alexander III, 1881-1894
• Nicholas II, 1894-1917