19th Century Transformations: Industrial Revolutions & Social Movements
19th Century Transformations
Economic and Demographic Shifts
First Industrial Revolution
The 19th century witnessed significant agricultural advancements, leading to increased productivity and surplus. This, coupled with improved hygiene and healthcare, resulted in decreased mortality rates and population growth. The demand for goods and food rose, paving the way for the First Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain and spread across Europe. The invention of the steam engine by James Watt in 1774 revolutionized textile and iron production, leading to the rise of factories and a shift from handicraft workshops. This era also saw the development of the railroad by George Stephenson in 1825, transforming transportation of goods and people. Charcoal served as the primary energy source during this period.
Second Industrial Revolution
The late 19th century saw a crisis in Europe due to overproduction and declining sales, leading to company closures and unemployment. The Second Industrial Revolution emerged to address these challenges, focusing on new industrial sectors like chemicals (explosives, pharmaceuticals), electricity (lighting), and steel. Electricity and oil replaced coal as primary energy sources. Production costs decreased as workers’ work hours were reduced. Companies began to merge, forming monopolies and oligopolies to eliminate competition. Economic imperialism arose as nations sought new markets for raw materials and cheaper labor, leading to the internationalization of the economy and a struggle for control of foreign markets. This period also witnessed the invention of the car and the airplane, with Great Britain, Germany, and the United States emerging as major powers.
The Rise of Capitalism and Economic Liberalism
The capitalist system, characterized by increasing industrialization based on private property and free enterprise, gained prominence during this era. Economic liberalism, which advocated for private property and the free market as a regulatory mechanism, became the dominant economic ideology. The means of production were privately owned, leading to the division of society into two main classes: the bourgeoisie (owners of the means of production) and the proletariat (workers).
The Bourgeois Revolution and Political Transformations
The Bourgeois Revolution
The Bourgeois Revolution was a political revolution inspired by Enlightenment ideals that aimed to dismantle the old regime’s social and economic system and its political absolutism. The bourgeoisie, despite their economic power, lacked political rights. This revolution culminated in 1848, with most absolutist regimes in Europe replaced by liberal ones. Major transformations during this period included:
- United States Independence (1776): The British colonies declared independence and drafted a constitution based on Enlightenment principles.
- French Revolution (1789): A radical revolution that had a profound impact on Europe, spreading revolutionary ideals across the continent.
- Emancipation of Spanish Colonies in America (1810-1825): Influenced by the American and French Revolutions, Creoles (descendants of Spanish colonists) who controlled the economy but lacked political power, led independence movements across Spanish America after Napoleon’s invasion of Spain.
- European Revolutionary Movements (1820, 1830, 1848): Following Napoleon’s defeat, Europe saw a resurgence of absolutism and the old monarchical regime. However, liberal ideals persisted, leading to three revolutionary waves that ultimately established bourgeois power throughout Western Europe.
The Labor Movement and the Rise of Socialism and Anarchism
The Labor Movement
The capitalist system, driven by the bourgeoisie, led to the exploitation and impoverishment of the proletariat. Workers began to organize to address these issues. The first trade unions, known as Trade Unions, emerged in Britain in 1824, with the recognition of freedom of association. The Chartist movement in Great Britain aimed to achieve universal suffrage. Workers’ aspirations were further channeled through socialism, with early proponents known as Utopian socialists. In 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published The Communist Manifesto, which laid the foundation for the establishment of a proletariat-led state. The International Workingmen’s Association (IWA), also known as the First International, was formed to coordinate socialist and labor movements worldwide.
Socialism
Led by Marx and Engels, socialism aimed to achieve political control of the state and establish a dictatorship of the proletariat.
Anarchism
: proposes the complete freedom of the individual and destroy instutuciones that make this impossible, as the state seeks a new company formed by its chief ideologist Bakunin communes. /
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Gerra of independencia1808-1814: The French Revolution marks the end of the social and political system of the old regime, the borders are closed to isolate the country from the revolutionary influence. / When the revolution becomes more conservative Prime Minister Carlos Godoy IV starts a policy to reach out to France that ends in alliance against Great Britain. Godoy 1807 the emperor signed the Treaty of Fontainebleau (allows the passage of French troops on the peninsula due to portugal) / The mutiny of Aranjuez (saw the fall of Godoy and the abdication of Charles IV in his son Philip VII abdicated the crown that Napoleon gave to his brother Jose who becomes king of Spain) / El May 2, 1808 uprising in Madrid that ex tended throughout Spain against the invading French troops. / start the war andin rural guerrilla war Spanish resistance to Napoleon does intervene directly in front of his troops to assure Arméeque Grande French power until 1812 which removed part of his troops in the campaign against Russia the total expulsion of the French in I ruled from Madrid 1814./Jose supported by a Spanish group called (The Gallic thought the French would bring liberal reform to end the old regime)
War results in the population and economic Crevant delaying the incorporation of Spain to the industrial revolicion. /