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DeMatteo Global HSW
Source A
DeMatteo Global HSW
144
Unit 2: Global History
MAKING CONNECTIONS
NA TURAL RESOURCES
England had an abundance of coal
and iron ore, two of the basic ingredients for industrialization.
FA VORABLE GEOGRAPHIC CONDITIONS
Regents Tip Briefly
describe the major changes
that resulted from each of
the following revolutions.
Commercial Revolution:
As an island
with an irregular coastline, England had many natural harbors. Naviga­
ble rivers served both as transportation routes and sources of power for
factories.
COLONIAL EMPIRE England's colonies provided raw materials
(such as cotton for textile factories) and markets for finished products
(such as fabric and clothing).
CAPITAL Wealthy merchants had money to invest in new busi­
nesses and expanding industries.
LABOR SUPPL Y
The Intellectual Revolution
known as the
Enlightenment:
In the late seventeenth century, Parliament
passed the Enclosure Acts, which fenced off the "common lands"
and deprived small farmers of land. Many of these unemployed farm­
ers went to the cities to work in the factories.
The contributions of various inventors laid the groundwork for
economic growth and the expansion of the Industrial Revolution.
Key Inventions of the Industrial Revolution
I St;~ili~llgille(ln5)Th~first
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Effects of the Industrial Revolution
As the Industrial Revolution spread across Europe and the United
States, it brought about dramatic results.
DeMatteo Global HSW
Western Europe
145
Spread of Industry About 1870
a
100
I
a
I
I
I
200
I
I
300 Miles
I
100 200 300 Kilometers
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
RUSSIA
•
RISE OF THE FA CTOR Y SYSTEM
The method of manufac­
turing goods changed from the domestic system. in which work was
done at home, to the factory system.
•
Major industrial cities
D
Iron ore deposits
Coal fields
MAKING CONNECTIONS
HIGHER STANDARD OF LIVING
Due to the use of new
methods such as mass production, division of labor, and the assembly
line. prices came down and a greater amount and variety of goods
became available to more people.
GROWTH OF CAPITALISM
Capitalism expanded as govern­
ments adopted the idea of laissez faire and gave up much of their con­
trol over economic affairs.
CHANGES IN WORKING CONDITIONS In the early days
of the Industrial Revolution, workers, including children, were sub­
jected to unfair treatment-long hours. low pay, and poor working
conditions. This situation gradually improved due to (I) the rise of
labor unions to bargain with employers and (2) more government
involvement in regulating working conditions. For example. the Sadler
Commission was formed by the British Parliament in 1832 to investi­
gate conditions in the factories. Various pieces of legislation were
passed to end unfair practices. For example, the Factory Act of 1833
put limits on child labor in textile factories.
CHALLENGES TO CAPITALISM Different groups viewed
capitalism as being unjust to the majority of people and developed
alternatives.
History and Society Many
European novelists of the
nineteenth century
addressed the poor living
and working conditions of
those who labored under
the factory system.
Examples include Emile
Zola's Germinal and
Charles Dickens' Oliver
Twist and Hard Times.
Such works helped
encourage reform.
DeMatteo Global HSW
146
Unit 2: Global History
MAKING CONNECTIONS
Alternatives to Capitalism
• Socialism An economic system based on the idea that major indus­
tries should be owned and operated by the government for the good
of the people.
History and Economics
Marx and Engels believed
that the proletariat would
be driven to revolution by
increasingly more frequent
periods of unemployment
and depression.
• Marxism Also known as "scientific socialism." Marxism was
based on the political and economic theories of Karl Marx. He pre­
dicted that a revolution by the workers would bring down capitalism.
His ideas became the basis of communism.
POPULA TlON GROWTH A world population explosion
occurred in the nineteenth century due to a rising birth rate and declin­
ing death rate. This development was caused primarily by an increase
in the food supply and advances in medicine. Such tremendous popula­
tion growth was looked upon with pessimism by many. including
economist Thomas Malthus. He felt the food supply would never keep
up with the population growth. and the result would be poverty and
starvation.
URBANIZA TlON The growth of cities was accompanied by the
development of such modem-day problems as inadequate housing,
crime. and pollution.
Key Concepts: Change,
Power, and Political
Systems
Changes in the European
power structure brought
about by the Industrial
Revolution were reflected
in the expansion of suffrage
in European political
systems throughout the
late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries.
REFORM MOVEMENTS People in every walk of life devel­
oped feelings of empathy toward those who suffered injustices. The
result was not only improvements in working conditions. but the
growth of humanitarianism. Concern for the welfare of all people led
to the abolition of slavery. public education, and improved treatment
of the mentally ill.
EXTENSION OF DEMOCRACY The traditional social struc­
ture changed as a result of the growth of the middle and working
classes. Concentration of these classes in the cities increased their
power and furthered the development of democracy. In England, for
example, the ReforrnBill of 1832 extended suffrage, or the right to
vote, to a large number of the middle class, thereby increasing their
influence in government. By 1918. the right to vote had been extended
to all adult males and, as a result of a feminist movement, all women
were granted suffrage by 1928.
IMPERIALISM
Industrializing countries attempted to gain colo­
nies that would provide them with raw materials and markets. Compe­
tition for trade and colonies led to rivalry and war among the major
Dowers.
DeMatteo Global HSW
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Global Studies - A Review Text
258
© N &N
c. The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution began in England about 1750. England had that
unique combination of conditions that made this economic transformation
possible. An agricultural revolution, which led to better methods of planting
and hoeing (Tull), crop rotation (Townshend), and scientific
breeding of cattle (Bakewell), resulted in an increased production
I~ per person. Better quality agricultural products made it possible
Technology
for fewer people to supply the food needs for the nation. Many of
Va/ the unemployed agricultural workers sought employment in the
newly developing industries.
Other factors leading to industrialization include: excellent access to the
seas, good harbors, coal and iron resources, capital to invest, a positive
government attitude, and worldwide markets. These markets demanded
goods that the English could not supply using the domestic system; creative
men in England began to look for new ways to produce goods, particularly in
the production of textiles, the first area to be affected by the new methods of
production.
Inventor
Invention
Effect
Kay
fi0ngshuffie
Doubled the speed of weavers
Hargreaves
spinning jenny
Could spin 8 to 20 threads at once
Arkwright
water frame
Use of water power; required
development of factories. Could
spin 48 to 300 threads at once
Crompton
spinning mule
Combines jenny and water frame;
could spin fine thread
Cartwright
power loom
First application of power to weaving
Very quickly, new and improved methods of transportation were developed
to speed the movement of goods around the country.
Inventor
Invention
Effect
Watt
steam engine
New source of power usable in
many different places
Stephenson
steam locomotive
Faster land transportation
Telford and
McAdam
hard surfaced
roads
Faster land transportation in all
kinds of weather
Initially at least, there were a number of detrimental effects of the
Industrial Revolution. The Sadler Report on factories and Ashley Report
on mines brought these to the attention of the English people.
DeMatteo Global HSW
Unit 6: Western Europe - Dynamics of Change
259
'
It was not unusual to have young children 5 to 6 years old working 14 to 16
hours in factories where the machines had no safety devices. Poor ventilation,
very warm temperatures, physical punishment for minor errors, and subsis­
tence wages completed the picture. In the mines, conditions were no better.
Possible explosions, lung diseases, back deformities, and miscarriages from
pulling coal carriages through the mine tunnels were frequent.
Eventually, some political leaders began to empathize with the
workers. This led them to investigate conditions. Laws such as the I~
Empathy
Factory Act of 1833, the Mines Act of 1842, and the Ten Hours
Act of 1847 combined to limit the labor of women and children, and ~ eventually men.
Reforms were also sought in the area of political democracy, but it was not
until 1832 that the Great Reform Bill was passed. This lowered the proper­
ty requirements for suffrage to give members of the middle class the right to
vote. It also abolished most rotten boroughs (areas with little or no
population and representation in Parliament) and gave seats in Parliament
to the newly developed or greatly enlarged industrial areas. The workers
were left out of this reform and started the Chartist movement to demand
the suffrage for themselves.
~\
A giant charter or petition was drawn up and presented to Par­ Citizenship
liament. It demanded universal male suffrage, annual elections of ~
Parliament, payment of salaries to Members of Parliament, equal
voting districts, and a secret ballot. Eventually, everything but the call for
annual elections for Parliament became law. Especially important for the im­
provement of democracy were the laws that extended the right to vote.
Reform Bill
Group Obtaining The Right To Vote
1867
1884
1918
1928
1969
City workers
Farm workers
Universal male suffrage and all women over 30
Universal SUffrage
Lowered voting age to 18
DeMatteo Global HSW
260
Global Studies - A Review Text
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N Be N
Gradually, improvements in the standard of living began to reach the
working class, but real progress was not made until after the mid-19th centu­
ry. At least in part, the industrialization of England was brought about by
the sacrifices of the workers. This was because the laissez-faire economic pol­
icy of Adam Smith called for the government to keep its hands off business.
This allowed the businessmen to disregard the safety and well being of the
workers.
D. Socialism
People such as Robert Owen, Karl Marx, and Frederick Engels be­
lieved that the capitalist system was responsible for the evils of the Industri­
al Revolution. They advocated (argued for) alternative economic systems.
Robert Owen was called a utopian socialist. In hopes of proving to other
capitalists that it would be possible to improve working conditions and still
make a profit, he purchased the industrial town of New Lanark, Scotland.
In his factory, he decreased hours, increased wages, and forbade the employ­
ment of young children. (Children were provided with a rudimentary educa­
tion instead.) He built decent housing for his workers and even provided
small garden areas.
I~\
Owen proved he was able to make a profit, but few of his fellow
factory owners followed his example. Later, he invested in a new
enterprise in New Harmony (Indiana, USA) which operated
~ according to the principle, "from each according to his ability, to
each according to his need." Unfortunately, New Harmony was a
dismal failure. Owen's last project was an attempt to organize English work­
ers into one gigantic union.
Empathy
Karl Marx and Frederick Engels proposed a different approach in their 1848
pamphlet, The Communist Manifesto. Marx also wrote the multi-volume
work, Das Kapital, which further expanded on his socialist ideas. Essential­
ly, he used past history and the current conditions in industrializing coun­
tries to predict what might happen in the future.
Marx did not wish to be associated with the utopian socialists. He referred
to his ideas as scientific socialism. He left no clear description of what the
communist society would be. He did indicate that initially, the government
would own the means of production, the dictatorship of the proletariat
would gradually abolish classes, and that eventually the government would
"wither away." However, he gave no indication of how long this process might
take.
Ironically, Marx's predictions may have been responsible for the failure of
his ideas to come true in industrialized countries. Governments slowly began
to act to alleviate poor working conditions, limit the role of big business,
make provision for labor organizations to exist, and decrease "boom to bust"
business cycles.
All of these actions helped to keep the conditions from reaching the stage
that would cause Marx's proletarian revolution.
DeMatteo Global HSW
Unit 6: Western Europe - Dynamics of Change
261
Marx's Idea
Explanation
Criticism
Economic
interpretation
of history
Economic factors
determine the course
of history and those
who control the means
of production will
control the govern­
ment and the society.
Does not account for such
things as the Crusades,
religious wars and the
unifications of Germany
and Italy.
Class struggle
Throughout history,
there have been
the "haves" and the
"have-nots." In a
modern industrial
society the struggle
is between the prole­
tariat and capitalists.
Does not consider the
cooperation between
the proletariat and
capitalists to increase
production or profitsharing arrangements.
Surplus Value
Theory
"Price of Product minus
the Cost of Labor equals
Surplus Value." Here,
Marx says the surplus
value goes to capital­
ist, but should go to the
worker who produces
the value.
Does not provide a
return for the capitalist
who risks his capital and
provides management
seNices.
Inevitability of
Socialism
Over a long period of
time, overproduction
will result in bank­
ruptcies, and depres­
sions will occur.
Conditions will get so
bad that the proletariat
will revolt and establish
a dictatorship of the
proletariat.
This has not come true.
Communism has not gained
control in countries already
industrialized.
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
(1750-1914)
The Industrial Revolution was one of the most significant events
in history. During this period, the creation of new inventions, the
development of the factory system, and the expansion of business took
place. Industrialization changed the way goods were made, but it also
resulted in profound economic, social, and political changes that
affected the lives of people around the world.
The Industrial Revolution began in England in the mid-eighteenth
century. England had certain advantages that helped to bring about
industrialization.
DeMatteo Global HSW
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DeMatteo Global HSW
CHAPTER
15
Origins 01 the Industrial
Revolution
Historians trace the origins of the Industrial Revolution to the agricultural
changes that were initiated starting in the fifteenth century. The Agricultural Rev­
olution set the stage for the Industrial Revolution that took place in the following
centuries. The long-term consequences of the changes in agriculture, such as the
closing of lands to farming and the increased movement of people to the cities,
were major factors in the rise of industrial growth.
In preindustrial times, most people lived in rural farming communities that
had populations of several hundred people. In the countryside, life was harsh for
peasants and their families who were employed in agriculture. Although feudalism
had for the most part ended in Western Europe after the Middle Ages, the life of
the rural peasantry hardly improved. The landlord still reigned supreme and the
economic gap between rich, rural landowners and poor farmers, who composed
the vast majority of the population in the countryside, remained very wide. Never­
theless, an Agricultural Revolution took place in some countries, helping to spur
the Industrial Revolution.
Other factors also fostered the Industrial Revolution. The Age of Discovery led
to a Commercial Revolution that increased the availability of capital, trading
opportunities, natural resources, and labor. The expansion of world trade and the
establishment of colonial empires led to the creation of markets for finished
goods and a need for raw materials. Technological advances made it possible to
produce goods more efficiently and quickly. In addition, the small industries that
developed in textiles and other crafts increasingly converted to the domestic sys­
tem of labor. The mining of coal, often in fields under farmland, provided the
needed energy resource to generate power. The domestic system also was
employed in mining coal fields.
Origins of the Industrial Revolution
DeMatteo Global HSW
313
The Industrial Re~iolution
Begins in reat Britain
The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain in the 1700s. Great Britain
was the nation that combined all of the necessary factors that led to the growth of
industry. These factors made the 1800s a British century, and will be examined in
this chapter. Other nations of Europe and the United States spent the nineteenth
century trying to catch up to Great Britain and duplicating the advances that
made the British the world's first industrial empire.
The growth of industry in Great Britain was, in part, due to the political stabili­
ty of the nation. During the tumultuous years of the seventeenth century, the Eng­
lish beheaded one king and forced another to flee the country. In the 1700s, the
British political situation began to stabilize. Britain did take part in the many wars
of the eighteenth century, particularly against its rival France, but these interna­
tional conflicts led to no battles on English soil. A nationalist political spirit gradu­
ally developed in Britain.
British industry was thus able to grow and prosper without the interruptions
caused by destruction due to warfare at home. In fact, the growth of British indus­
try was assisted by government contracts for cloth to supply the nation's military
- . , Chapter 15 Chronology
1------------­
James Watt
perfects the
steam engine
Beginning of inventions
that helped spur the
Industrial Revolution
.
I
I
1730
1740
I
Edward Jenner
discovers a
vaccine for
small pox
Richard Arkwright
invents the
water frame
John Kay invents
the flying shuttle
l~
I
1750
1760
I
1770
~
m
I
I
1780
1790
I
I
I'
I
1800
~I
James Hargreaves
invents the
spinning jenny
Adam Smith publishes
The Wealth of Nations
314
The impact of the Industrial Revolution
DeMatteo Global HSW
Eli Whitney invents
the cotton gin
Thomas Malthus
writes Essay on
the Principles
of Population
forces. The ordinary citizen, who worked in England's factories and businesses,
profited from the century of peace at home.
Business investment grew in a political climate that supported and encouraged
economic growth. The influence that the increasingly powerful bankers, mer­
chants, and other professional and business groups had in parliament led to laws
that spurred new investment in industry. Throughout this chapter, we will exam­
ine other reasons for Great Britain's transformation to an industrial economy.
The Agricultural
Revolution
During the 1700s and 1800s, agricultural produc­
tion increased in Europe because of innovations that
changed farming methods. A greater food supply was
needed because of an increase in population, particu­
larly in the urban centers that rose as the industrial
economy developed. Rapidly growing urban industrial
centers stimulated the increased production of food
supplies and other farm products.
Small-scale farming declined, in part, because it
The cast-iron jJlow aided fanners in jmparillg the soil for
became more profitable for landowners to push their
jJlanting ill a 11/01'1' efficient mail/lei:
tenants off the land and enclose it to raise sheep for
wool. This enclosure movement led to the migration of farm labor to the cities,
particularly in Great Britain. In addition, scientific and technological advances in
farming equipment and methods led to the creation of large land holdings, which
improved harvests and livestock production.
The Impact of Scientific and Technological Advances
in Agriculture
Crop Rotation Crop rotation changed the method by which farmers kept fields fertile and result­
ed in increased yields. Crop rotation, perfected through experimentation by
Charles Townshend, called for the planting of different crops to allow the soil to
replenish itself. Townshend's idea was to grow turnips and clover to replenish the
soil with nutrients lost in the growing of such cereals as wheat. In addition, the
turnips and clover helped provide feed for animals. Alfalfa, which restored
nitrates to the soil, could be grown and fed to animals. The next season wheat
could again be planted. Crop rotation revolutionized agriculture. It was no longer
necessary to allow fields to lie fallow. More cattle and sheep could be raised for
meat, wool, and other animal by-products. And the diets of more people
improved as meat became available at a lower cost.
New Inventions Lead to Food production also increased because of the invention of machines and tools
Increased Farm that improved farming methods. Jethro Tull symbolized the scientific farmer who
Production used machinery in a well-planted field. Tull planted seeds in a straight row as
opposed to scattering them at random. The seed drill was used by Tull to reduce
seed loss and better control the weed problem. Other innovators perfected the
Origins of the Industrial Revolution
DeMatteo Global HSW
315
iron plow that replaced less-efficient wooden plows.
Still other inventions such as mechanical reapers led
to further gains in the production of food supplies.
These new methods of farming dramatically
changed agricultural production beginning in the
early 1700s. The revolution in agriculture was a key to
the success of the Industrial Revolution. There was a
growing need to feed city workers and an increasingly
urban population. The urban centers depended on
greater farm production of traditional staples such as
wheat and barley. The newly introduced American
crops of corn and potatoes also improved the food
supply as these staples became more popular.
The seed planting machine made it easier for farmers to plant
The small farmer who was concerned with survival
their crops and increased agricultural production.
lacked the resources to expand food production for
markets beyond the village. The harsh struggle to pro­
vide food for the family and pay rent and taxes prevented most farmers from tak­
ing advantage of increasing production by purchasing or renting more land.
Instead the rich, rural landowners and other real estate investors purchased pub­
lic and private lands and created large estates. The open-field system ended as
more land was enclosed. The large landholders possessed the capital to farm by
using scientific methods and thereby increased food production. The efficient
farming methods made large-scale agricultural production more profitable. Live-
The thresher made it possible forfarrners to harvest more crops in a shorter time and cut down on the use of manual labor.
316
The Impact of the Industrial Revolution
DeMatteo Global HSW
stock raising also grew as a result of the enclosure
movement.
The rural laborers were forced off the land and
obliged to seek work in the urban centers. Many of
the displaced farm workers became the labor force in
the manufacturing of textiles and other products.
Industrial
Developments
The growth of textile mills during the Industrial Revolution was
made possible by investment in new machinery and the
increased use of wage labO'!:
The Textile Industry
The woolen industry had existed for centuries in
Great Britain and the Netherlands. In Britain, woolen production was second to
farming in people employed and volume of trade. In the 1700s, the demand for
woolen goods increased. The need for raw wool was one reason for the enclosure
movement. The development of the woolen industry was facilitated by the use of a
method of production referred to as the domestic system.
The Domestic System In the domestic system, workers were most often hired by entrepreneurs to pro­
duce woolens and other finished goods in their homes. Merchants supplied the
raw wool, and paid spinners, weavers, fullers, and dyers to make a product that
could be sold at market for the highest possible price. This method of production
was called the domestic system.
In the domestic system of production, entrepreneurs employed networks of
workers, often groups of families. This more efficient labor system increased the
profitability of manufacturing. The domestic system worked well during the 1500s
and 1600s. Thereafter, it could not keep up with the steady rise in demand for
woolens, cotton cloth, leather workings, lace making, and other goods. Starting in
the 1700s, a series of technological advances revolutionized cloth production. Cot­
ton entrepreneurs found new ways to expand the textile industry.
Inventions Change the Advances in machinery changed cloth production. One of the first innovations
Production Methods of that speeded the weaving of cloth was the flying shuttle. In 1733, John Kay, a
Textiles British clockmaker, developed a weaving process that produced thread at a faster
pace. Weavers became capable of producing wider fabrics using more materials.
Weavers began to use spinner's thread faster than it could be made.
In 1767, James Hargreaves devised the spinning jenny. This machine enabled
one person to spin up to seven threads at once. The spinning machine was steadi­
ly refined. Later models could produce up to 80 threads at a time. In 1769,
Richard Arkwright invented a spinner called the water frame. This machine was
capable of holding up to 100 spindles and used water power to continually run
machines. The water frame also resulted in an increase in cloth production.
In 1779, Samuel Crompton further improved the cotton business by utilizing
the best features of the spinning jenny and water powered frame to devise a
machine known as the cotton mule. In a few short years, workers were able to
produce high-quality cloth in larger quantities. Then, thread was being spun more
Origins of the Industrial Revolution
DeMatteo Global HSW
317
The invention and continual improvement of the loom led to
inClt'ased weaving of cloth and helped further the production of
textiles during the Industrial Revolution.
quickly than cloth could be woven. However, in 1785,
Edmund Cartwright developed a power-driven
machine for weaving called the power loom. Weavers
could now produce up to 200 times more fine cloth
than before.
The new problem in producing cloth concerned
the raw cotton that weavers used in the spinning
machines or power looms. The difficulty in separating
out the seeds led to a shortage of cotton. However, by
Eli 1Vhitney's invention of the cotton gin made it easier to
remove the seeds flOm cotton and stimulated the j)lanting of this 1793, an American, Eli Whitney, invented the cotton
gin. Whitney's labor-saving machine greatly aided the
valuable croj). vv71itney was also resjJomible for the idea of
i)/ tercha ngea ble pa rts in machines.
British cotton industry. The cotton gin cleaned the
seeds from the fibers and the end result was a greater
production of raw cotton, particularly in the United States during the 1800s.
British importations of raw cotton in huge quantities enabled textile production
to expand rapidly.
The Development of New Sources of Power and
Transportation
Abundant Natural Great Britain's rich supply of natural resources and excellent geographical condi­
Resources and Favorable tions aided the start of the Industrial Revolution. Fine harbors and swiftly flowing
Geography rivers helped spur British trade. Access to raw materials and markets enabled
British merchants and entrepreneurs to promote industrial growth. Shipment by
water in a growing British merchant marine allowed overseas commerce to
expand. Raw materials and finished goods flowed continuously on the nation's
water transportation system. In addition, water provided the initial power for the
development of industry.
Great Britain also possessed large supplies of coal and iron that were accessible.
These key raw materials were essential for industrial development. Coal was also
used as a power source to fuel industrial machinery. By the 1760s miners could
use canals to ship coal more cheaply and easily to developing factories.
318
The Impact of the Industrial Revolution
DeMatteo Global HSW
Iron production also improved because of technological changes. In the 1700s
new processes were developed that increasingly made more efficient use of coke
fuel to produce stronger iron. The ability to utilize coal instead of charcoal result­
ed in expanded iron production and more machinery for industry.
The Harnessing of The early textile mills were built near flowing streams and rivers to take advanSteam Power tage of this source of water power. The ability to use the tremendous potential
of steamed water finally became a reality when James Watt first developed the
steam engine in 1785. By building upon earlier innovations, Watt made it possi­
ble for textile machines to be driven by steam engines. The harnessing of steam
allowed entrepreneurs to build factories in more convenient locations. Freez­
ing water during the cold winter was no longer a problem because of steam
power.
Steam power also helped in coal mining. In 1698, Thomas Savery developed a
steam-driven pump that helped in removing water from mines. By the 1700s, Sav­
ery's pump was improved upon by Thomas Newcomen. The innovative New­
comen pump was safer, but it often broke down and required lots of coal to
generate the steam. Watt's steam engine greatly expanded the power of the earlier
steam pumps, did not consume more fuel, and was safe to use.
Capital, Commerce,
and Labor
The Development of Comn1erce
and Capital
James Watts invention of a reliable steam engine resulted in the
increased use o[lllachines to jJIVvide the energy needed duril1g
the IndllstJ1al Revolution.
The Commercial Revolution that began earlier in
the 1500s led to an accumulation of money, or capital.
Overseas trading empires that were financed by joint
stock companies and banks created new wealth. This
capital was reinvested and helped make the growth of
industry possible. Fortunately for Great Britain, the
nation's expanding overseas trading empire enabled
British merchants and bankers to become more pros­
perous. More money became increasingly available
for investment in industry.
In addition, the wealthy land-holding aristocracy
and gentry profited greatly from the new large-scale
farming. Landowners also earned money in overseas
commerce, including the slave trade. The aristocracy
and landed middle class often took advantage of
investment in the growing industries.
The English banking system also began to modern­
ize by the early 1700s. More efficient financial services
such as loans at reasonable interest rates spurred
investmen t in industry. Money became more readily
Origins of the Industrial Revolution
DeMatteo Global HSW
319
available to improve machinery, constnlct factories, and increase production. The
British government assisted in this process by encouraging business investment
with favorable laws passed by Parliament.
The Growing Supply of Labor
One of the crucial factors in the development of industry was the availability of
a large labor supply. The overall rise of European population after the Middle
Ages was slow but steady. Mter the catastrophic demographic, or population, drop
caused by the bubonic plague-a disease spread by black rats infested with fleas
that carried a deadly bacillus-population growth resumed. By the mid-1700s,
Western European population was approximately 135 million, or twice what it had
been four centuries earlier. Within the next century, or by 1850, there was a phe­
nomenal burst of population growth. For a variety of reasons, the number of
Europeans rose to approximately 255 million. The new farming methods led to a
rapid growth of food supplies to feed the expanding urban population.
Advances in medicine led to a declining death rate, particularly from the
dreaded disease of smallpox. In 1796, Edward Jenner discovered a vaccine that
was effective against smallpox. The control of this highly contagious disease, and
other advances such as improved sanitation, resulted in people living longer. The
survival of children through the perilous years from birth through early child­
hood reflected the better living conditions, more abundant food supplies, and
improved health conditions of this period.
In 1798, Thomas Robert Malthus, a British economist, predicted that Europe
was on the brink of another population catastrophe in his Essay on the Principles of
Population. Malthus stated that European population was growing geometrically,
while the available food supply was only increasing arithmetically. This prediction
of dire consequences was based on Malthus's belief that European nations would
soon outstrip their resources. Fortunately for Europe, the Industrial Revolution
enormously expanded the productive capacity of Great Britain and other coun­
tries. It was now possible for the economies of industrial nations to support larger
populations.
In Great Britain, it is estimated the population tripled from 1750 to 1850. By
the mid-1800s, there were about 18 million people living in England. This rapid
population growth spurred industrial progress by adding to the labor force in
Great Britain. Other factors were also at play that made it possible to absorb these
extra workers into the new factories and businesses. The rising demand for manu­
factured products required a growing labor supply. Expanding retail businesses
also employed more workers.
Great Britain's Industrial
Advantages
There was no single reason why Great Britain became Europe's leading indus­
trial power by the nineteenth century. However, Britain did combine all of the
necessary factors for industrial development. England was a politically stable
nation whose government supported economic growth. The nation combined
320
The Impact of the Industrial Revolution
DeMatteo Global HSW
abundant natural resources, a favorable geography, and a business and scientific
climate that encouraged new and innovative ideas. Most of the important inven­
tions and innovative ideas that resulted in an increased capacity for industrial pro­
duction in the 1700s and the first part of the 1800s originated in Great Britain.
The British also developed a banking system, which was capable of supporting
industrial growth and handling the increased amount of financial transactions.
Great Britain had a growing labor supply available for industry because of the
movement of people to urban areas as a result of the agricultural enclosure move­
ment and an increase in population.
During the 1700s and 1800s, British industrial growth profited from all of these
favorable conditions that encouraged its rapid development. Great Britain was
ripe for the economic changes that transformed the nation into the world's first
industrial power. The ideas advocated by Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations
about free enterprise and laissez-faire economics proved to be the correct formula
for British industrial expansion. A noninterventionist government policy was an
important factor in Britain's economic transformation.
Summary
As is often said about periods of history, there was good news and bad news.
The good news was that there was a greater production offood than before. The
bad news was that people were forced off the land and had to uproot themselves
and move to the cities. There is also another example of necessity and invention.
The demand for increasing quantities of textile goods resulted in a series of
inventions that sped up production. This in turn led to the need for more reliable
and greater power, and so Watt developed a much-improved steam engine. This
had an impact on mining operations. Great Britain was fortunate that it was in
a position to lead in this, as it made the country the dominant power in Europe
for the nineteenth century. This also impacted the social situation in England.
Change took place at a rapid rate. The question of whether this is good or bad is
one we will investigate as we go on.
Origins of the Industrial ReVOlution
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321
New Economic Theories
and Ideas
Industrialization brought prosperity and benefits to the European nations that
transformed their economies. The Industrial Revolution also created problems
that resulted from the wide-ranging economic and social changes that it caused in
Great Britain, France, Germany, and elsewhere. In Europe, there were increasing
demands for political and economic reform during the 1800s. Workers' associa­
tions began to develop into labor unions. Slowly, unions became more common­
place, and their right to represent workers was gradually accepted in Western
Europe. As the century progressed, workers rose up in violent revolution to strug­
gle for reforms to improve their job and living conditions.
There were also attempts to reform the political system in Great Britain and
elsewhere in Europe. Political repression, however, became the rule in the post­
Napoleonic Period. Under the leadership of Prince Metternich, at the Congress
of Vienna, 1814-1815, the European continental powers sought to defend
absolute monarchies, prevent liberal reforms, and repress outbreaks of nationalist
movements.
The stable political climate that the Metternich system tried to establish in
Europe did not last long. By 1830, a number of revolutions swept over different
European nations such as Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Italy, and parts of the
Austrian Empire. The Concert of Europe, which the great powers created to pre­
serve the peace, broke down. These revolutions were mainly political in nature
and over issues such as nationalism and demands for democratic reforms. Great
Britain was the exception where reforms were made toward greater democracy
that were evolutionary rather than revolutionary. In France, the July Revolution
brought the middle-class liberals to power under a constitutional monarchy.
New economic theories and ideas about the organization of society were
advanced by reformers and revolutionaries, but it was later, beginning with the
revolutionary movements that took place in 1848, when the deep divisions sepa­
rating the middle-class liberals, who wanted moderate reforms, and the workers
and their intellectual supporters, who demanded radical changes, were revealed.
The widespread poverty and harsh labor and living conditions of the working class
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resulted in criticism of the existing political, social, and economic order and
called for change.
The Growing Call for Reform
Economic Theories
The Industrial Revolution had its earliest impact in Great Britain. Industrializa­
tion led to material progress and higher social status for the British middle class.
The wealthy owners of factories, mills, mines, and: :lilroads were joined by the
middle class in the belief that government should not interfere with business.
Business leaders supported Adam Smith's ideas about laissez-faire economics.
Smith's The Wealth ofNations (see Chapter 12, "The Enlightenment and the Scien­
tific Revolution") also supported the capitalist viewpoint on the value of labor.
Workers had to sell their labor in a free and competitive market. According to
Smith, labor, not money, was the true source of wealth, and a person's motive for
labor was self-interest.
Smith had been the first to explain the relationship between capitalism and
laissez-faire economics. He theorized that an "invisible hand" would guide compe­
1-----------­
. - , Chapter 18 Chronology
Robert Owen
starts his
New Lanark
experiment
in Scotland
Chartist
Movement
begins in
Great Britain
1800
I
,
The Russian
Revolution begins;
Communists
seize power
First Socialist
International
founded
I
I
I
I
I
1825
1850
1875
1900
1925
I
I
I
I
Mettemich at Congress of Vienna
promotes legitimacy and seeks
to repress liberal refomns
~I
Karl Marx and
Friedrich Engels
publish The
Communist Manifesto
First part of Marx's
Das KapitaJ published
DeMatteo Global HSW
tition and free-market pricing and allow for resources to be put to the most pro­
ductive use. By allowing people to act in their own self-interest they would ulti­
mately bring about economic progress and social harmony.
Smith argued that the economy followed the law of supply and demand. With­
out governmental interference, the cheapest and best-made products would
attract consumers. Efficient producers would make more profits, hire more work­
ers, and expand their businesses, thereby benefiting everyone.
The lack of business regulations led to an industrial society of haves and have­
nots in Great Britain and elsewhere in Western Europe. Workers were exploited
and often lived in miserable conditions. There were economists who believed that
the terrible working and living conditions that developed in industrial societies
could not be avoided and were a direct result of overpopulation and an inefficient
food supply.
The Physiocrats
Not all of the philosophers concerned themselves primarily with political ideas.
One group, the physiocrats, looked for natural laws to explain how an economy
could best function. During this period, mercantilism was the most influential the­
ory to which the majority of European governments subscribed in making their
economic policies. The physiocrats argued against mercantilism because they rea­
soned that land, and not gold or silver, was the true measure of a nation's wealth.
The physiocrats supported farming and argued for the removal of restrictions on
trade in order that farmers could sell their products more freely. They believed
that a free market would result in increased trade and more wealth for everybody.
The physiocrats wanted an economy in which the government would give mer­
chants and entrepreneurs a free hand to produce and sell their goods in an open
market. This idea of government noninterference in the economy is called laissez­
faire or let alone.
Adam Smith Adam Smith, an English professor, was the most brilliant defender of the idea of a
free economy. In his book The Wealth oj Nations, first published in 1776, Smith
wrote that a free economy without governmental regulations would produce
greater wealth for a nation. Smith's ideas were based on what he called three nat­
ural laws of economics. They were as follows:
1. The Law oj Supply and Demand: This law would determine the price of any
good that was sold in an open market. Producers would have to adjust their
production to meet the demands of the customers. For example, overpro­
duction would lower the price of a good if people did not want it all.
2. The Law oj Competition: This law would force producers to make better
products at a lower price and drive inefficient and selfish individuals, who
could not work efficiently and meet the demands of their customers, out of
business.
3. The Law oj Self-Interest: This meant that businesses were primarily created to
make profits for their owners. Therefore, the reason for the production of
goods was to make money. Left alone this self-interest guaranteed that there
would be sufficient goods for customers in an open market.
Essentially Adam Smith believed that if these natural laws were left free to oper­
ate without government interference in the economy, a nation would prosper. A
large quantity of well-made goods produced at the lowest possible price was essen­
tial for economic progress. England was the nation that ultimately paid most
attention to Smith's ideas in formulating its economic policies in the late eigh­
teenth and nineteenth centuries.
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Malthus and Ricardo: In 1798, Thomas Malthus, in his Essay on the Principles ofPopulation, took a gloomy
Two Pessimistic view about the workings of the economy. Malthus wrote that misery and poverty
Economic Theories were natural outcomes because population grew at a faster rate than the food sup­
ply. Malthus saw this as a law of nature and was against any interference in this
process. He believed that nothing could be done to prevent natural disasters such
as famine and disease. In Malthus's view these unavoidable outcomes were the
only real checks on unwanted population growth.
Another English economist and banker, David Ricardo, writing twenty years
later, linked the persistence of poverty to what he referred to as the "iron law of
wages." Ricardo, in his most famous work, The Principles of Political Economy and
Taxation, theorized that as the population increased so did the labor supply. Wages
tended to stabilize around the subsistence level. Any rise in the price of labor
would cause the working population to increase to the point that it heightened
competition because of a glut of workers whose market price, or wages, would fall
back to the subsistence level. In other words, increased competition for jobs kept
wages low. Ricardo also stated the value of almost any good was the function of the
labor that produced it. According to Ricardo-like Adam Smith-government
interference would only make matters worse. In addition-like Malthus-Ricardo
theorized that poverty was inevitable.
Bentham and Mill: Ideas There were other people, however, who believed that poverty could be controlled
About Economic if reforms were made. Laissez-faire economic ideas were attacked by these early
Reform reformers. They argued that governments should be required to bring about
changes to improve society. In Great Britain, many of these early reformers were
religious figures or humanitarians who worked to have Parliament pass legislation
to abolish slavery and regulate working conditions.
Other reformers sought to change ideas about government involvement in solv­
ing society's problems. Jeremy Bentham, who developed the idea of utilitarianism,
argued that the true test of any institution or action was its usefulness. Bentham
and his pupil John Stuart Mill believed that a useful government should influence
the distribution of wealth. Mill proposed a tax on income that would allow gov­
ernment to bring the greatest happiness to the largest number of people.
Bentham and Mill criticized laissez-faire economics. They were among those
reformers who were concerned with correcting economic abuses such as monopo­
lies and other business actions that brought harm to society. Utilitarians did not
condemn the capitalist system. Instead they sought to reform it by means of cor­
DeMatteo Global HSW
rective legislation. Bentham and Mill also supported the ideas of a good public
education and the right to vote for men and women. Both men wanted to politi­
cally reform society to serve the needs of the many, as opposed to the few.
The Beginning of Worker Movements
Worker associations also tried to improve the harsh labor conditions and low
wages through protests and strikes. In the 1800s, workers' associations began to
transform into labor unions. Despite the opposition to unions by owners of large
businesses and government laws against worker combinations, laborers continued
to organize to fight for better hours and wages. In Great Britain, workers had to
overcome the Combination Acts of 1799 and 1800 to keep their labor union cause
alive. By the 1820s, British workers gained parliament's acceptance and were
allowed to meet and discuss labor issues such as wages and hours. Labor organiza­
tions also sought to expand political rights of workers and called for reforms in
the qualifications for voting.
In the 1830s, a workers' movement called the Chartist Movement developed in
Great Britain. The Chartists wanted real political reform. They argued for univer­
sal suffrage for men, a secret ballot, annually elected Parliaments, and equal elec­
toral districts. Chartists supported payments for members of Parliament and
opposed property qualifications for office. The Chartists managed to continue as
a force in Great Britain through the 1840s despite the fact that the movement
failed to convince Parliament of the need for political reform.
Socialism
There were some reformers, called socialists, who believed that the capitalist
economic system itself was the real cause of society's problems. Socialism called
for a society in which workers own, manage, and control production. These social­
ists argued that the Industrial Revolution led to a fierce competition by owners of
businesses to make profits, thus causing misery for the working class. Some social­
ists believed that production should be only controlled, and not necessarily
owned, by the government whereas others argued for worker control and owner­
ship. Many of these socialists believed in a political system in which there was a
democratic means of gaining power and promoting their ideas. They respected
the idea of individual values. Other advocates of socialism argued that the govern­
ment should control production and distribution so that people could share
equally in society's abundance.
Utopian Socialism
A number of the early socialists were often referred to as utopians. The utopian
socialists envisioned the creation of an ideal society in which all people would
share equally in its benefits. One of the first of the utopian socialists was Robert
Owen, a wealthy Scottish cotton manufacturer. Owen had experienced firsthand
the misery of the working class in his youth. At age ten, Owen worked in the tex­
tile industry, but by the age of 23, he had become a successful factory owner. Con­
scious of the workers' plight, Owen decided to create an industrial community
where people could work in a more just and healthy environment.
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In 1800, in a Scottish mill town called New Lanark, Robert Owen established
his industrial community. Owen strived to give his workers better working and liv­
ing conditions. Owen did not give production control to his workers, but he did
pay higher wages, provided for education by constructing schools, and offered
affordable and decent housing. The New Lanark experiment was a profitable suc­
cess and encouraged other utopian socialists.
In France, Charles Fourier also worked to create model communities in which
cooperation would replace competition and improve workers' lives. Fourier's
ideas resulted in the establishment of communities known as phalansteries. The
Fourier plan called for an organization of five hundred to two thousand workers
in which each person would do the job for which he or she was best suited and
share in the profits. All of the utopian communities set up in France and later in
the United States that followed Fourier's ideas ultimately failed.
Another Frenchman, Louis Blanc, sought to promote a production system
based on labor-run cooperative workshops that would be financially supported by
the government. In a widely read book, The Organization of Labor, Blanc proposed
the socialization of all major economic services such as banking and transporta­
tion. The cooperative factories were to be operated for and by the workers.
The utopian socialists did not adequately deal with the issue of who controlled
the political system. These socialist reformers had no plan for workers to take con­
trol of political power from the traditional nobility, industrial elite, and middle
class in Western European societies such as Great Britain and France. By ignoring
the reality of actual power, these early socialists left government control in the
hands of a combination of aristocrats and members of the bourgeoisie. These eco­
nomic groups bitterly opposed the idea of giving real political power and authori­
ty over production to workers and their supporters.
Radical Socialism
Other socialists proposed ideas that sought to revolutionize industrial society.
Radical socialists such as Pierre Proudhon and Louis Auguste Blanqui were revo­
lutionaries who called for more drastic solutions to relieve the terrible labor and
living conditions of the working class. Proudhon demanded the abolition of the
state, the government controlled by the aristocrats and bourgeoisie. He called for
the establishment of a dictatorship of the proletariat, or working class, a govern­
ment that would rule in the name of the workers until they were ready to assume
power. Despite these calls and ideas for a more militant approach to achieve social
change, the radical socialists lacked a credible theory of social action to overthrow
the existing order.
Karl Marx and Scientific
Socialism
Karl Marx is credited with developing the theoretical basis for scientific social­
ism, the economic and political philosophy that came to be known as Marxism.
Marx dismissed the earlier theories of socialism, particularly its utopian version, as
impractical. Marx and his close friend and collaborator Friedrich Engels devoted
DeMatteo Global HSW
their lives to the formulation of economic theories and political analysis based
partly on the work of earlier theorists and historians, most notably George Hegel,
David Ricardo, and Louis Blanc; nevertheless the Marxist philosophical method,
dialectical materialism, as fully developed by Marx and Engels, was unquestionably
original. They wrote that the exploited working class would rise up and ultimately
gain control of society. Marx challenged the laws of economics that supported
capitalism. He argued that capitalism was unstable and in the course of history
would eventually self-destruct.
Early Life of Karl Marx
Karl Marx was the son of a prosperous German lawyer who had converted from
Judaism to Christianity to further his career in the legal profession. In Germany,
Marx earned a doctorate in history and philosophy. Beginning in his student
years, Marx gained a reputation as someone with radical views who was deeply
concerned with the miserable working conditions created by the factory system. In
his early writings, Marx blamed industrial capitalism for society's political, eco­
nomic, and social problems.
By the 1840s, Marx's political and religious views led to problems with the Pruss­
ian government. As a result, Marx left Germany and settled for a time in Paris,
where he met and collaborated with Engels. In 1848, they published their socialist
theories in a work entitled The Communist Manifesto (see page 353). This critical his­
torical analysis of society became the basis for scientific socialism or communism.
Marxist Theory of Con1n1unism
Marx dismissed the writings of the utopian socialists as impractical ideas that
would never work. The utopian socialist ideas that existed prior to Marxism were
not based on the premise of the history of the class struggle. There was a funda­
mental belief that society could be reformed by working within the existing eco­
nomic and political systems for change, which would be evolutionary. Instead,
Marx argued for a more practical and scientific analysis of society's problems.
Only then, Marx believed, would socialism become the path for the working class
to follow. Essential to Marx's interpretation of history was the importance he
placed on the idea of class struggle. Marx wrote that the historical process could
be divided into different stages of a political struggle for control of society's eco­
nomic benefits by competing social classes.
Marx stated that the four stages of history were in effect economic conflicts
among the classes to determine ownership of the means of production, labor and
machinery. The social group that controlled production was the ruling class in the
four different stages of history. Marx argued that in all societies throughout histo­
ry, there had been power struggles between two economic groups, the haves and
the have-nots.
In ancient society, Marx declared that production was based on slavery. In the
Medieval West, the principles of feudalism determined production. The industrial
capitalist stage was based on the system of wage labor. In the present stage of
industrial capitalism the struggle to control society was between capitalists, or the
bourgeoisie, and the workers, or proletariat.
Marx saw this division of society into classes as a natural result of existing eco­
nomic forces. According to Marx, the ruling class never gave up control of society
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or production without conflict. Therefore, Marx believed that history only moved
forward because of class struggle. Marx believed this conflict was inevitable and
predicted that the working class or proletariat would rise up in revolution. The
proletariat would ultimately replace the bourgeoisie and take control of the
means of production.
In his interpretation of history, Marx placed emphasis on economic conditions.
According to Marx, society's laws, customs, religions, social systems, and art all
developed in response to existing economic forces. Humanity'S historical struggle
for a better material life and living conditions could only be understood by using
an economic analysis of the factors that determined political and social issues.
Marx's economic interpretation of history was based on the idea that history fol­
lowed scientific laws just as in nature.
In the nineteenth-century industrialized societies, Marx stated the proletariat
suffered because it was exploited by the bourgeoisie or capitalist class seeking to
maximize its profits. Marx allowed for the worker to earn a living wage, but he
believed that the worker, because of the owner's control of the means of produc­
tion, labored more hours than he or she would in order to live. This extra work
was surplus value. Marx wrote that surplus value was the difference between the
price of a good and the wage paid to a worker.
The Communist Manifesto
The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.
Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guildmaster and
journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposi­
tion to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open
fight, a fight that each time ended, either in a revolutionary reconstitution
of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes....
The modern bourgeois society that has sprouted from the ruins of feudal
society, has not done away with class antagonisms. It has but established new
classes, new conditions of oppression, new forms of struggle in place of the
old ones.
Our epoch, the epoch of the bourgeoisie, possesses, however, this distinc­
tive feature: It has simplified the class antagonisms. Society as a whole is
more and more splitting up into two hostile camps, into two classes directly
facing each other-bourgeoisie and proletariat....
The bourgeoisie, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to
all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has pitilessly torn asunder the mot­
ley feudal ties that bound man to his "natural superiors," and has left no
other bond between man and man than naked self-interest, than callous
"cash payment." It has drowned the most heavenly ecstasies of religious fer­
vor, of chivalrous enthusiasm, of philistine sentimentalism, in the icy water
of egotistical calculation. It has resolved personal worth into exchange value,
and in place of the numberless indefeasible chartered freedoms, has set up
that single, unconscionable freedom-Free Trade. In one word, for exploita­
tion, veiled by religious and political illusions, it has substituted naked,
shameless, direct, brutal exploitation.
The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation hitherto hon­
ored and looked up to with reverent awe. It has converted the physician, the
lawyer, the priest, the poet, the man of science into its paid wage-laborers.
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For example, according to Marx, if the workers needed to labor four hours a day
in order to live, they were paid wages for their work during this working time. The
money earned constituted a living wage, although it was basically a subsistence wage.
The employer believed that this was the wage to which the worker was entitled.
However, the factory owner wanted the worker to labor for more than four hours in
order to make profit for the owner. If workers wanted to keep their jobs, they had to
labor ten or more hours a day. These extra hours were not really paid for and result­
ed in the owner stealing hours of labor from the workers. Marx believed that the
worker was exploited in this unequal relationship between capital and labor.
According to Marx's surplus value theory, the capitalists sought to keep as
much of the profit as possible. Marx wrote that this was wrong because the profit
motive resulted in the industrial capitalist paying the workers low wages. On the
other hand, Marx believed that this basic economic injustice was a natural and
inevitable outcome of the present capitalist stage of history.
Marx regarded labor as the only source of productive value or capital. Although
he praised the bourgeoisie for having expanded the material basis of civilization
by industrialization and urbanization, Marx also blamed this ruling class for the
miserable working and living conditions of most of the population. Marx theo­
rized that as capitalist competition continued to increase, profit margins would
shrink. This competition would inevitably result in more people living in poverty.
The contradiction of an industrial society based on the prosperous few and the
poverty of the many would ultimately lead to revolution. Marx wrote, "workers of
the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains."
Marx predicted the inevitability of violent revolution by the workers to seize
economic and political power. He realized that the capitalists would never peace­
fully give up economic and political power. Marx saw the Communist Revolution
first resulting in a dictatorship of the proletariat, or a government that would be
more just and would rule in behalf of the working class. This workers' govern­
ment would bring economic, political, and social justice. Eventually a classless
society would emerge. There would be no need for governments. The govern­
ment would wither away when it was no longer needed to protect the proletarian
revolution.
The Impact of Communism
Karl Marx spent the later part of his life in Great Britain. Marx's large and
needy family was for the most part supported through the generosity of his friend,
Friedrich Engels. The failed revolutions of 1848, in their attempts to promote
political and economic reforms, did not end Marx's work to promote scientific
socialism. In 1867, the first part of his major economic work Das Kapitalwas pub­
lished. In Great Britain, Marx continued his activist role to promote scientific
socialism. Increasingly, this type of socialism became known as communism. In
the 1860s and 1870s, Marx worked and argued with other leading socialist and
trade union activists. He helped found the First Socialist International in 1864.
The International sought to promote the causes of the worker or proletariat in
Europe and the United States.
By the time of his death in 1883, Marx was the most prominent figure in Euro­
pean socialism. In the 1880s, a number of the socialist parties that formed in
European nations adopted Marx's ideas. These socialist parties based their goals
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on Marx's prediction that Communist revolutions would occur in the Western
European industrialized societies or in North America.
Failure of MarxislTI in Western Europe
The socialist parties that followed Marx's ideology in Western Europe did not
experience the inevitable revolution that Marx predicted. In the decades after
Marx's death, most of the industrialized countries initiated economic and social
reforms. In Western Europe, the standard of living rose from the late 1800s into
the early 1900s. Many of the most flagrant abuses seen in the first stages of the
Industrial Revolution were ended.
Governments began to initiate reform that led to improvements in working and
living conditions. Public health improved, and public education became more
commonplace. Labor unions were increasingly allowed to organize. This resulted
in gains for workers in terms of health and accident insurance, unemployment
insurance, higher wages, safer working conditions, and fewer hours. Child labor
abuses were gradually ended in most countries.
Marx underestimated the workers' identification with their own countries.
Nationalism was a strong force in the Western European industrialized societies.
Marx's idea of an international community of the proletariat did not appeal to the
vast majority of industrial workers. The gains made by labor as a result of reforms
caused workers to support their national governments. Most workers hoped to
change the capitalist system through peaceful methods and not by overthrowing
the established order.
Despite the failure of Marx's prediction that Communist revolutions would ulti­
mately occur in Western Europe's industrial societies, his ideas did eventually have
a major impact on the course of human history.
Marxisn1 in Eastern Europe
In the early 1900s, a small group of Communists used Marx's ideas to bring rev­
olution to Russia. Although czarist Russia did not fit Marx's description of an
industrial society where proletarian revolution was inevitable, a determined num­
ber of radical Russian Marxists seized power in 1917. Russia had been primarily an
agricultural society that had not completely shed the traces of feudalism. Never­
theless, the Bolshevik seizure of power in Russia, and the use of Marx's ideas to
create a Communist society, had an enormous impact on the course of historical
developments in the twentieth century.
Marxism did not come to pass in the same way that Marx had predicted it would
in Russia, later in Eastern Europe, or the other places it developed. In part, this
was due to certain weaknesses in Marx's analysis of the capitalist system. Marx did
not foresee the ability of the capitalist system to change and adapt to new condi­
tions. Marx wrote his theories when laissez-faire capitalism was the rule of the day.
He thought that capitalism was a temporary stage and could not predict the vari­
ant forms of state-sponsored capitalism, which developed in the twentieth century.
Marx failed to recognize the pivotal and irreplaceable role played by the capital­
ist class, and the captains of industry, in the creation of an economy that satisfied
the demands of people who wanted to be consumers and have a more material
life. Marx underestimated the role that self-interest played in determining
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economic choices. In addition, Marx could not predict that even when his eco­
nomic theories were put into practice they would be distorted by a ruthless dicta­
torial and essentially nonproductive ruling class and bureaucracy, which exploited
the people in the guise of a benevolent dictatorship of the proletariat.
The Legacy of Socialism and Marxism
The legacy of socialism was not limited only to the ideas of Marx and Engels
and the rise of Communist systems based on totalitarianism. In the twentieth cen­
tury, democratic forms of socialism were developed in Western Europe. In Britain,
Sweden, and elsewhere greater emphasis was given to the democratic means of
gaining government control of important aspects of the means of production to
benefit the public. The democratic socialists gained power through elections and
were respectful of individual values and political rights. They were willing to give
up political power if they lost the support of the electorate.
In the Soviet Union and the other Communist nations, which adopted the sys­
tem of a dictatorship of the proletariat after gaining power through violent revo­
lution or by other nondemocratic means, Marxist ideas interpreted by Communist
rulers dominated the lives of the people. Throughout most of the twentieth cen­
tury, Communist governments believed that they were the best hope of the work­
ing class and prophesied that capitalism would eventually collapse because of its
fundamental weaknesses and contradictions. (See Chapter 31, "Rise of Totalitari­
anism: in Russia, Italy, and Germany.")
Summary
In this chapter, we see a clear connection between historical forces at work and
philosophical thought and debate. Clearly the standard of living of most Euro­
peans was increasing, but there were costs involved. These costs included poor
living and working conditions for most people. Children worked long, hard hours
in factories and mines. Wealth was being concentmted in a few hands. A critical
question was asked by thinkers in the 1800s: was this suffering a necessary result
of the capitalist system? There were thinkers who answered "no. " A group of these
were called utopians because they believed that the government had an obligation
to intervene in order to create a better society. These utopians, some more utopian
than others, wanted to design what to them was a perfect community.
Other thinkers were more harsh in their condemnation of the capitalist system.
They believed that change would only come through the workers rising up and
overthrowing the present system and taking control for themselves. Karl Marx
and his followers had an impact on Europe that we are still feeling today.
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ENRICHMENT
READING
WITH PRIMARY
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DOCUMENTS
MAKES FOR BETTER DISCUSSION AND DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF MATERIAL –
WILL ALSO HELP WITH AP PLACEMENT FOR GRADE 11 ANDS 12
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Marx Predicts
the Workers' Revolution
The modern bourgeois [middle-class] society that has sprouted from
the ruins of feudal society has not done away with class antagonisms. It
has but established new classes, new conditions of oppression, new forms
of struggle in place of the old ones.
Our epoch, the epoch of the bourgeoisie [the middle class], pos­
sesses, however, this distinctive feature: it has simplified the class an­
The Communist Manifesto (1848) was a call to revolution. It
tagonisms. Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two
also claimed to offer a key to the understanding of all human
great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other­
history. According to the views of Karl Marx and Friedrich En­
bourgeoisie and proletariat. *. . .
gels, the history of human development is the story of class
The feudal system of industry, in which industrial production was
struggle, and the nature of all institutions and ideas - political,
monopolized by closed guilds, now no longer sufficed for the growing
economic, social, and religious - is always determined by the ex­
wants of the new markets. The manufacturing system [in the preindus­
ploiting class, made up of those who controlled the means of
trial
period] took its place. The guild masters were pushed aside by the
production. With the coming of the Industrial Revolution, the
manufacturing
middle class. . . .
means of production were taken over by the industrialists. The
Meantime
the markets kept ever growing, the demand ever rising.
Manifesto predicted that they would grow richer and become
Even
manufacture
t no longer sufficed. Thereupon, steam and machin­
fewer in number while the masses would sink into degrading
poverty. Then the workers would rise in revolution, dispossess
ery revolutionized industrial production. The place of manufacture was
the exploiters, and after a transition period of dictatorship es­
taken by the giant, modern industry; the place of the industrial middle
tablish a classless society in which each perso"n would give ac­
class, by industrial millionaires, [the modern bourgeoisie who became]
cording to his ability and each receive according to his needs.
the leaders of whole industrial armies. . . .
Marx and Engels were relatively unknown when they wrote
We see, therefore, how the modern bourgeoisie is itself the prod­
the Manifesto and for the time being their ideas were barely no­
uct of a long course of development, of a series of revolutions in the
ticed. Both were German, the former a journalist and a student
modes of production and of exchange. Each step in the development
of law and philosophy, the latter a well-to-do manufacturer
of
the bourgeoisie was accompanied by a corresponding political ad­
whose fJmily owned a factory in Manchester, England. Condi­
vance
of that class. . . . The bourgeoisie has at last, since the establish­
tions in the 1840's led them to believe that the predicted revo­
ment
of
modern industry and of the world market, conquered for itself
lution was near at hand. This revolution did not materialize,
in the modern representative state exclusive political sway. The execu­
and over the years the position of labor steadily improved in a
tive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common
number of European countries.
affairs
of the whole bourgeoisie.
A specter is haunting Europe - the specter of Communism. All
The
bourgeoisie ... has played a most revolutionary role in his­
the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to [destroy]
tory.
.
.
.
this specter: Pope and Czar, Metternich, ... French radicals, and
In proportion as the bourgeoisie, i.e., capital, is developed, in the
German police spies.
same
proportion is the proletariat, the working class, developed - a class
Communism is already acknowledged by all European powers to
of
laborers
who live only so long as they find work, and who find work
be itself a power.
so
long
as their labor increases capital. These laborers, who must
only
It is high time that Communists should openly, in the face of the
sell
themselves
piecemeal, are a commodity, like every other article of
whole world, publish their views, their aims, their tendencies, and meet
commerce and are consequently exposed to all the vicissitudes of com­
this nursery tale of the specter of Communism with a manifesto of the
petition, to all the fluctuations of the market.
Party itself. . . .
Owing to the extensive use of machinery and to division of labor,
The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class
the
work
of the proletarians has lost all individual character, and ,conse­
struggles.
quently all charm for the workman. He becomes an appendage of the
Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild mas­
ter and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, stood in con­
* proletariat: the class of industrial laborers who make a living working for
stant opposition to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now
other men.
t manufacture: that is, handwork.
hidden, now open fight; a fight that each time ended either in a revolu­
tionary reconstitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the
contending classes. . . .
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machine, and it is only the most simple, most monotonous, and most
easily acquired knack that is required of him. Hence the cost of pro­
duction of a workman is restricted almost entirely to the means of sub­
sistence that he requires for his maintenance. . . .
With the development of industry, the proletariat not only in­
creases in number, it becomes concentrated in greater masses, its
strength grows, and it feels that strength more. The various interests
and conditions of life within the ranks of the proletariat are more and
more equalized, in proportion as machinery obliterates all distinctions
of labor and nearly everywhere reduces wages to the same low level. The
growing competition among the bourgeoisie and the resulting com­
mercial crises make the wages of the workers ever more fluctuating. The
unceasing improvement of machinery, ever more rapidly developing,
makes their livelihood more and more precarious. . . . Thereupon the
workers begin to form combinations . . . against the bougeoisie; they
club together in order to keep up the rate of wages; they found per­
manent associations in order to make provision beforehand for these oc­
casional revolts. Here and there the contest breaks out in riots. . . .
The modern laborer, ... instead of rising with the progress of in­
dustry, sinks deeper and deeper below the conditions of existence of his
own class. He becomes a pauper, and pauperism develops more rapidly
than population and wealth. And here it becomes evident that the bour­
geoisie is unfit any longer to be the ruling class in society and to impose
its conditions of existence upon society as an overriding law. . . . Soci­
ety can no longer live under this bourgeoisie; in other words, its exis­
tence is no longer compatible with society. . . .
What the bourgeoisie therefore produces, above all, are its own
gravediggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally in­
evitable.
In what relation do the Communists stand to the proletarians as a
whole? . . .
The Communists . . . are OIl the one hand - practically - the
most advanced and resolute section of the working-class parties of every
country, that section which pushes forward all others; on the other
hand - theoretically - they have over the great mass of the proletariat
the advantage of clearly understanding the line of march, the condi­
tions, and the ultimate general results of the proletarian movement.
The immediate aim of the Communists is the same as that of all
the other proletarian parties: formation of the proletariat into a class,
overthrow of bourgeois supremacy, conquest of political power by the
proletariat. . . .
The distinguishing feature of Communism is not the abolition of
property generally, but the abolition of bourgeois property. Modern
bourgeois private property is the final and most complete expression of
the system of producing and appropriating products that is based on
class antagonisms, on the exploitation of the many by the few.
In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in
the single phrase: abolition of private property. . . .
Communism deprives no man of the power to appropriate the
products of society; all that it does is to deprive him of the power to
subjugate the labor of others by means of such appropriation. . . .
We have seen ... that the first step in the revolution by the work­
ing class is to raise the proletariat to the position of ruling class. . . .
The proletariat will use its political supremacy to wrest by degrees
all capital from the bourgeoisie; to centralize all instruments of pro­
duction in the hands of the state, i.e., of the proletariat organized as the
ruling class; and to increase the total of productive forces as rapidly as
possible. . . .
The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They
openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible over­
throw of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at
a Communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but
their chains. They have a world to win.
Workingmen of all countries, unite!
Source: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party,
Moscow: Co-operative Publishing Society of Foreign Workers in the U.S.S.R., 1935,
pp.15-63.
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