18th and 19th Century: Politics and Economics
Economic Liberalism
Adam Smith: In The Wealth of Nations (1776), he claimed that individual work, aiming to obtain maximum personal benefit, is the true source of wealth.
Bourbons: Treaty of Utrecht and Rastatt
Philip V became king, but he renovated and ceded the Spanish possessions.
Political Reforms
- The King held all the power.
- Expelled the nobility and the clergy from power.
- Did not celebrate the Cortes.
- Had secretaries and ministers.
Political and Administrative Centralization
Imposed by Philip V through the Nueva Planta Decrees:
- Decrees of 1707 (Aragon and Valencia)
- 1715 (Mallorca)
- 1716 (Catalonia)
These decrees suppressed the laws and institutions and implemented the Castilian model.
Liberalism
Defended individual liberty, expressed by the rights of the citizens, equality under the law, and the suppression of privileges. It spread among the bourgeoisie and the commoners of cities.
Nationalism
It stated that the nation was the fundamental framework for public life, with its common historic traits, language, culture, and flag. It spread to Greece, Italy, and Germany.
The Spread of Industrialization
- France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, and the U.S.
- Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Japan.
Steamboat
Robert Fulton applied the steam engine to boats. Firstly, these boats were riverboats but were not used for maritime transport until the invention of the iron hull and propeller.
Railway
It was developed when the locomotive was invented; this was a mobile steam engine that pulled cars on rails. The first railways (Great Britain) were used to transport goods in short distances until the invention of the rocker.
Capitalism
Commercial -> Industrial Capitalism
The first industries were initially financed by individual capital, but as they grew, they needed more investments. To obtain them, limited partnerships were created, in which one partner provided the capital and the other administered.
Chartism
(People’s Charter) 1838: The London Workingmen’s Association sent a document to the UK Parliament. They wanted: secret ballot, universal male suffrage, and yearly elections for Parliament.
Socialism (Marxism)
It was developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The objective was to end private property, which is the cause of the problems and differences between: the bourgeoisie (owners) and the proletariat (workers; they have no properties, and they work for little money). The revolution of the Socialist Party, for a dictatorship of the proletariat: Common ownership, where there were no classes and no state.
Anarchism
Founders were Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and Mikhail Bakunin. The objective was to achieve maximum individual freedom; they wanted to eliminate what limits freedom: the state, private property, and religious beliefs. The spontaneous revolution of the peasants and proletariat (workers). If victorious, the state would be abolished, and egalitarian communities with equal production and consumption would be established.
Labor Movement
- 1825: Trade unions are legalized by the British Parliament.
- 1833: Factory Act regulated the number of working hours for children and adolescents.
- 1838: The People’s Charter (the Chartist movement began), which demanded universal male suffrage and secret ballots.
- 1842: Ten Hours Act; it ensured that women and children only worked up to 10 hours a day in textile factories.
- 1847: Mining Act; it prohibited all females and boys under 10 years old from working underground in coal mines. The working day for women was reduced to 12 hours.
- 1848: Marx and Engels published the Communist Manifesto.
- 1864: The First International is founded in London.