Marxism, Anarchism, and Socialism: 19th-Century Social Movements

Posted on Jan 26, 2025 in Geography

Marxist Ideals

  • Proletarian control of the state
  • Liberalism was used to make the bourgeoisie richer
  • Inspired by Lenin and the Russian Revolution
  • Rejection of all types of authority
  • Advocated for a proletarian dictatorship
  • Liberalism was seen as false liberty

Anarchist Ideals

  • Disappearance of the state
  • Society organized from the bottom up
  • Society organized by “free association”
  • The state shouldn’t regulate the economy
  • Sometimes used terrorist-type methods
  • Many rural workers followed this ideology

Shared Ideals of Marxism and Anarchism

  • Internationalism
  • Classless society
  • Disappearance of private property
  • Economic equality
  • Revolution
  • Working together to improve living conditions
  • Egalitarian society

Class-Based Society in the Industrial Revolution

Evolution of the Bourgeoisie

  • Middle Ages: Merchants in cities
  • Modern Era: Still under the noble class
  • Contemporary Era: The bourgeoisie increased in power and were the main protagonists of the revolution

High Bourgeoisie

  • Business: Owned big factories and banks, gaining most of the profits
  • Well-known families: Ibarra, Urkixo, Txabarri, de la Sota

Middle Bourgeoisie

Consisted of individuals in the liberal professions, such as lawyers, journalists, architects, and doctors.

Low Bourgeoisie

Consisted of those in small-scale commerce, low-level employment, etc.

Working Class

Individuals who work for another in exchange for a wage.

  • Types: Industrial proletariat and rural proletariat
  • In the Basque Country: A large rural proletariat existed in the Rivera Navarre area and in Araba. Renting peasants of Gipuzkoa and Biscay can also be included in this class.

Contrasting Ideologies: Liberalism vs. Socialism

Liberalism

  • Working alone to improve your life
  • The market rules society
  • Individual freedom
  • Equality before the law only
  • Profits are for the owners
  • Society based on wealth
  • Everyone works for their own profit
  • Bourgeoisie controls factories
  • Individualism
  • Privileges are the price for the bourgeoisie

Socialism

  • Solidarity among workers
  • Workers must control factories
  • The state rules the economy
  • Profits for the collective
  • Economic equality
  • Classless society
  • Communal society
  • Proletarians control the means of production
  • Collective freedom

The Demographic Revolution

Key factors of the Demographic Revolution:

  1. High birth rates
  2. Slowly decreasing death rates
  3. Decreasing infant mortality
  4. Increased life expectancy
  5. Improvements in agriculture
  6. More efficient use of land
  7. More productive farming techniques
  8. Population growth
  9. Fewer floods
  10. Better harvest yields
  11. Fewer people killed by famine
  12. Overall population decreased

The Rise of Trade Unions

Factors contributing to the rise of Trade Unions:

  1. Emerged first in Britain
  2. Proletarians sought to improve their conditions
  3. Response to industrial revolution
  4. Aimed to address worker exploitation
  5. Sought to improve bad conditions
  6. Workers began to organize
  7. Aimed to reduce working hours
  8. Sought to increase wages
  9. Some adopted radical approaches
  10. Bourgeoisie resisted to protect their profits

Chartism

A movement based on a workers’ charter, which had been sent by a committee of workers to Parliament with various petitions.

Socialists

Proletarians working together to improve conditions. They believed in a classless society, where economic ideas would serve everybody, not just a few.

Communism

Advocated for a society that was communal and controlled, not individualized. Proponents believed the proletariat would eventually dominate the bourgeoisie.

Questions and Answers on the Industrial Revolution

1. The Industrial Revolution changed society quite radically. Which of these changes took place?

From a rural-based economy to an urban-based one.

2. The Industrial Revolution changed society quite radically. Which of these changes took place?

  • The disappearance of a society based on estates
  • The appearance of a new working class called the proletariat

3. As a consequence of the changes that the Industrial Revolution brought about, new social movements emerged. Which ones?

Proletarian movement and the women’s movement.

4. Which of the following are the new social classes that emerged with industrialization?

The bourgeoisie and the industrial proletariat.

5. During the Ancien Régime, which estate did the bourgeoisie and peasants belong to?

The Third Estate.

6. Which of the following expressions best describe the living conditions of the proletariat?

They lived concentrated in very poor suburbs.