The Impact of the Second Industrial Revolution on Society
Second Industrial Revolution. Since 1870, all the advances enabled by multiplying machinery and production meant that companies would need large capital to finance new production systems that allow more expensive but cheaper manufacturing processes that control markets. All that money must come from the bank, which will participate in the industry. No fee in cash, but in shares, finding in the end, with banks, business owners. It is an instrument of change, participating in exchange operations, in financial and business concentration: Finance Concentration: Industrial growth is impossible without capital. The capital control banking, investments … secures your money and therefore by controlling everything. Business Concentration: we come to mass production (factory system). But mass production leads to standardized production, thanks to engineer Taylor, who lays down the principle of the 20’s theory of rationalization of work, known as Taylorism. It aims to ensure that each worker changes as little as possible the tool or arrangement or scheme of work, always giving the same function, thereby resulting in greater effectiveness at work. Here comes the production line. It has wide implications because if once there was only the end of the day, for example, 5 pieces, now with this streamlining production will close with 25 pieces. Production has increased and consequently, the goodwill of the employer, which may have more to reduce the cost of marketing and selling, ensuring all production. However, to undercut needs to invest in machinery, for which will require investment in machinery and, consequently, very high expenditure. Thus, industries that do not grow and do not modernize will disappear. To cope with this and not fall, companies merge, facing high investment costs and, incidentally, avoiding competition. There are two types of concentration:
Horizontal – companies engaged in the same activity. They want to avoid competition and also share the market. 
Vertical – companies engaged in various activities. A parent company joins other complementary companies (holding). With all this, it displaces competition, reducing prices and controlling the risks of overproduction, thus obtaining a monopoly. There are new groups: Cartel, trust and holding. Demographic Developments.
Across Europe (nineteenth century), as a result of the progress and improvements brought by the first industrial revolution, there is a continued and sustained growth of the population. It started with 110 million (in the 1st industrial revolution) and ended with 450 million. All this population nevertheless grew even though a large number of them, either by ethnic, political, or economic reasons, had to emigrate to other countries (United States). This migration is without return: those who migrate during this time do not return. They migrate to the U.S., Canada, South Africa … all depending on the linguistic element. In addition to the migration, we still have famines and epidemics (see previous revolutions). You could say that in the 2nd revolution, it will follow the same steps as the 1st, but with a caveat: the 2nd revolution was higher, with more quality and quantity, for good or for evil (the problem of workers worsened, looking for colonies to create materials …). The technical advances found in this second phase of industrial development marked the quality of one’s progress: some bring others (as in the first) but it also opens the door to other procedures previously unthinkable. One of the largest and most innovative features of this second industrial revolution was the replacement of the energy source used to date. The steam gives way to electricity and oil. Electricity. It appears next to oil as an energy source that suppresses vapor. It had been working on a useful scale of manufacture since the 18th century. The big problem was to find a way to generate it in large quantities, which was solved by creating, in 1872, the dynamo gram. Following Edison, this dynamo was moved (as in ancient times) with water mills, thereby creating the reservoirs (future power plants), the first in 1882 in New York. The next problem was … how to transport it? Fixed to Deprez, creator of the high voltage. The applications of electricity were almost endless, and it supplanted steam engines. New features appeared and constituted revolutions, such as the revolution that led to the creation of the Edison bulb. This, at first, was only intended to be used in public places (and some very rich families), but its usefulness changed the way of understanding life and work, freeing man from the dependency cycle of day/night. Electricity was also applied in other areas such as urban transport (metro appearance), telecommunications (wireless telegraphy by Graham Bell), and the electrolysis process … One of its last applications was household electricity, which gradually introduced many fields (washing machines, thermos …). Oil. It was known for years. But its possible applications were found from the second half of the 19th century and with the development of the chemical industry. These new applications arose as a result of demand for new machines. The first well drilled was in Ohio (USA, 1859). However, all the oil is useless, industrially speaking, if it only stays raw. This new process converts it into gasoline, gas, kerosene … This oil production is not complete without the use of elements and appears accordingly, enhanced by the existence of this fuel, internal combustion engines gasoline, patented by Daimler-Benz. Similarly, relying on oil, another inventor, Diesel, created the diesel engine. This engine was not too much in its infancy, that is, although it is widely accepted, technological evolution will be slower (more difficult). Both engines are replaced, little by little, by coal. For example, for boilers, a broad group of people is needed to keep it in operation and a large amount of coal. Now, instead, with their respective motor oil, they use less amount (a deposit) and less personnel, which increases savings. New Industries. Chemical Industry. Like oil, it had been in use previously, but on principles, means were used that were very expensive (only small productions were made very concretely and at very high costs: a lot to little). However, the importance of going slowly and taking the cheapening of the processes makes their production and increase their products more affordable. Its leading products include textile dyes, explosives (mining), compost (agriculture), caustic soda (paper industry), dyes, tars, and synthesis of active ingredients. We are with large companies, chemical industries. In Germany, there is a high chemical production: Hoechst and Bayer, industries that relate to the pharmacy. By mid-century 19th century, as a result of the expansion of the chemical industry, perfumes appeared, and textiles got new fibers that have wide acceptance: both the emergence of nylon and the popularization of paper revolutionized life. Rubber and resin also appeared, resulting in the emergence of tires (Goodyear). Its expansion is related to the proliferation of vehicles on more roads. As major industries, in addition to Goodyear, are Dunlop, Michelin, and Firestone.
Metallurgical Industry. Not just noticed all changes. Their new applications were discovered from the last quarter century. New alloys such as aluminum can reach stainless steel. Both of them have a wide range of implementation, allowing the creation of new inventions and objects that until now have not been created due to the lack of these elements (resistant and rigid).
Electrical Industry. There are two major sections within the electricity industry: electricity production and manufacture of electrical equipment. In regard to the production of electricity, it will be, a priori, a very attractive field for capital investment, which sees it as a great source of benefits (AEG, Phillips, General Electric …). This industry is one that helps with its constant and growing demand, the steel of copper and lead.
The electricity production is zoned. The local industries are, each has its own power plant. Subsequently, and following the processes of industrial concentration in force at the time, large companies will buy all small businesses.
The advent of electricity will make a big difference in the city, especially regarding transport (tram). With power, the radio appears, local radio (medium wave sounds). This allows a certain social group to access information they have never been told or read.
Oil Industry. The oil industry is not a discovery of the moment and has been in use for centuries. But with innovations in the chemical industry, new evidence and new applications were found. The problem arises when we want to extract oil from the deep. This helps the oil industry get into the mining boom in both industries. The first well drilled appears dated from 1855, and in 1862 there were already 1100 companies. The business is to extract and refine it as quickly as possible. The first company was born in Cleveland, Rockefeller’s hand, which will monopolize the business of oil treatment.
Food Industry. The food industry appears in the last third of the nineteenth century, fostered by advances in transport and specialization in agricultural production. Developments in the treatment of metals allowed the use of aluminum instead of iron. The package will appear in French hands Appert, who created sanitized cans sealed inside and out. Industrial refrigerators appeared, allowing food to be brought from other countries. Condensed milk appeared through an electrolytic process. Traditional Industries. The industries from the first industrial revolution had occurred on takeoff, remaining very important sectors of economic frameworks in industrialized countries, but technological developments in other industries interact with them, robbing them of ownership and providing them with new procedures.
Siderurgical Industry. It remains the most important, so important that it marks the industrial potential of a city or country. There are new procedures, such as the Bessemer converter (iron melts very quickly, over a thousand tons a day). The proliferation of metal allows the metal to be used to build ship hulls for military weapons (guns, armored ships …). Moreover, the railway also manages to give a major hitch; the tracks are no longer iron but steel. With the advent of steel, it will be possible to develop a field so far, “immaculate” architecture (an example: the iron architecture – Eiffel Tower).
With all this steel, there will be a greater amount of machinery, which will invade the whole, becoming the symbol of the second revolution, invading the city, lifts, elevators, public … All this made a positive pull on steel making iron production very profitable.
Textile Industry. It seems to stagnate, although once new developments are applied, greater production and therefore progress will be seen. Although this is not eternal, and there comes a time when it stagnates, entering its “low hours,” ceasing to be the engine of economic changes, but these advances have greatly improved and reduced production costs.
Paper Industry. It will experience a series of changes, thanks in part to two factors: technology and chemistry that are complemented by the machine capable of processing large amounts of cellulose. Complementing, at once, with the advances of the press, new ideas, freedom of thought … progress needs paper. We note that:
Until the first industrial revolution, production had grown by “domestic system,” the peasantry had made, first for themselves and then, if too many, for others. With the emergence of cities, this all changes; it passes to the “factory system” means the concentration of labor in a particular point over the capital, with the help of another person outside the workforce (over workshop factory). It appears the market, but not a local market, a global market that tends to specialization (e.g., Argentina – meat). But this is for a system to finance all this (coinciding with the “gold rush” in the USA and Africa) and discarded the ideas of family businesses, since they require large amounts of capital.
There are new business mentalities. New types of entrepreneurs “self-made man, man-of-province-that-just-a-little-comes-to-the-top.” An example is: Rockefeller (oil), JP Morgan (the bank), Astor (real estate), Pernod (spirits) …
There is a transformation in the markets; they no longer have the local character. Reappear with new elements, most modern: the exhibitions, which have an end itself deictic and personal enjoyment.
There are new transport with a series of changes. The ships, for example, will be constructed of metals, motor-driven, with new items that advance navigation: the Suez and Panama canals (interconnecting different oceans), saving time and money.
There are other new transport. Surface transport appears, hitherto unknown: the gasoline or diesel engine (replacing the steam engine). Both engines produce a type of transport that will be developed and popularized slowly. At first, they are prohibitively expensive, until the level of the car rises and makes it a necessary element in the life of citizens.
The birth of aviation takes its first steps with hot air balloons that will gradually be replaced by gas. The zeppelin appears, created by Count Zeppelin (1896). It reached a certain development but was short-lived. However, the great discovery was achieved by the Wright brothers, who wanted to create devices that were heavier than air and could stand on it. Their first attempt (1903) failed. The second attempt (1908) managed to keep the unit in the air for three hours. However, their development does not arrive, as so often, until the First World War, and the war needs to give the jerk.
It appears, on the other hand, the transport of information generated by a new development: wireless telegraphy. This allows a great source of information. In addition, we discuss the emergence of the telephone, radio, and mail (postal universalizing all systems). Major industrial countries. The first industrial revolution in Britain was exalted as the first and undisputed world power, but slowly other powers took over in the second industrial revolution, and the hitherto leader came to occupy a less important role every time. Great Britain. Despite being the pioneer in the first revolution, now in the second, it is slowly losing its hegemonic position. It is verifiable and demonstrable; in 1890, it lost the monopoly. Why? England did not progress with the times, did not introduce technological innovations, and was anchored, not renewing investments … Moreover, while generating protectionist policies in other countries, Britain continued with “open arms” a free trade outdated practice that does not protect against external trade aggressions. Germany. Its first steps began very late, by 1850, from chemistry and electricity. However, all this will give rise to the industrial revolution that will make Germany, in the early 20th century, triple its production of iron and steel and quadruple it, besides having the largest heavy machinery (surpassed only by the United States). It has very competitive pricing. This “miracle” gave birth to companies like AEG, Siemens … All thanks to the existence of capital and support from the now newborn German state. France. Follows the same trend of previous periods of investing abroad preferably; however, in their country, we can emphasize industrial centers: Paris, Marseille, and Lyon. Its only industrial action is very profitable in the steel industry, which is a major producer of iron and the largest supplier, i.e., the leading exporter. Russia. Its revolution starts from 1890, the latest addition to defective. This revolution was initiated by a government minister. It draws foreign capital (French, German, Belgian …). The only problem was that by relying on foreign capital, the industry faced instability when the country ran out of capital. The main industrial centers are located in St. Petersburg and Moscow. The labor surplus came from the urban population (the field does not come because that is as always: a population remains anchored to the field). Most significant in this revolution was the railroad, a symbol of modernity, a way to bring production and a way to late colonization. Spain. It begins industrialization. A negative industrialization because there is no real capital or bourgeoisie. The country continued with its traditional ideas. No work ethic; people live in the village with subsistence farming. The only industrial activities were cotton and iron. Its capital and technology came from outside, especially from England. The problem is political. All the liberal politicians support industrialization, but so that not what builds one destroys the other because he does not like … “start.” USA. At the early 20th century, it holds the lead in the production of iron, coal, and steel, exceeding the English. All thanks to the American industry spilling over their own country (exerts a strong protection). From 1870, the U.S. industry is able to supply its own markets that grow and grow gradually, pulling more and more production. In the late nineteenth century, it passed to the production of capital goods (machines that make machines). Its industry extends from east to west and is always accompanied by the railroad that has three functions: to move people from east to west, lead west to the east, and bring materials for agricultural products of the West, and vice versa. In this industrialization, there is also foreign equity participation, but it disappears after 1880, and all the circulating capital is of American origin. In addition, it develops a very special economic advantage: it has high salaries (to attract European workers), incorporates new lands, and therefore, are given to occupy and exploit. Plots are large (which is not led to agriculture for survival). It offered many advantages, but the principal was always allowed the savings to invest and reinvest. Since 1868, the government set out to develop a policy whereby prices go up and that no credits are kept low. It generates a large concentration of capital (Ford, Dunlop …) that fought hard against competition, creating trusts, generating a large business concentration achieved with price controls, which foster a greater benefit to a maximum savings associated with business-friendly. However, the government will fight against these trusts generated as industrial actors as important as steel, tobacco … In the governments of Wilson and Roosevelt, the laws were tougher anti-trust: the laws which cut free enterprise performance and the excesses of monopoly concentration. However, these measures are useless as these trusts are “disguised” under the Consolidated. It is here in the USA, where new theories are formulated on production: Taylorism, which aims to achieve maximum performance with less fatigue, although it presents a serious problem: to absorb the production, markets have to grow, at least at the pace of production. However, that problem was solved in the hands of Henry Ford. He suggested that making certain products very expensive (and so far for the consumption of only a few) could reach the hands of the humble, the workers: a large mass in power as consumers. This began to turn up the salaries of all employees, which made the worker access to the consumption of products so far out of reach (you get more market). What all this means is that you can continue to produce mass for mass consumption, therefore not falling off at any time; the political reform begins production. Japan. After industrialization, everything comes from the Meiji Revolution (1868 -1912). Previously, we had the “Japan Tokugawa” (social system, political … that has been running since 1601-1868). It was a feudal structure in which the ruling classes got their support through the land (great value). It closed in on itself, refusing, citing religious grounds, to accept everything that came from abroad, and, until 1854, the year in which the U.S. forced Japan to open its ports to foreign trade traffic. The result of all this was a change (the Meiji revolution) of the emperor-Mitsu-Hito. Mitsu Milestone set in 1899, a new constitution that makes the division of powers, particularly in the apparatus centralizing state (thus neutralizing the feudal) land reform and a tax reform. Thus, the state becomes an industrializing force (due to the absence of a middle class). All the capital that the state gets from taxes is invested in industrialization. However, the Emperor, knowing that the state-owned industries fail to decide anything, once they are working, sells to new entrepreneurs. Employers that did not have enough capital needed banks. There were no banks in Japan, but Mitsu-Hito had it solved: creating a state bank with the idea that it would be gradually privatized. Similarly, in the field, there are new innovations that are beginning to create a surplus agricultural population. They migrate to the city to join the industrial workforce. Once everything is privatized, concentrations are generated very special (any family relationship, blood, unites companies, creating “zaibatzu” (family businesses with common interests): Mitsubishi, Mitsui … All the processing advances of mechanization bring generate a double image of prosperity without limits (social optimism, future …) which contrasts sharply with the living conditions of workers, driven by poverty and the ideas of certain thinkers, began to become aware of class and be noted (socialism, communism, anarchism). Different Marxist concepts: The class struggle is a concept or a theory that explains the existence of social conflicts as the result of an alleged inherent central conflict or antagonism between the interests of different social classes. The origins and development of this concept were first postulated by Niccolo Machiavelli, to whom this conflict is rooted in the “types of life-to-vivere” found in political: the people and “big” (which govern). The Chapter IV of Book I of the Discourses on Livy introduces a key topic for the interpretation of Machiavelli’s work: the division of the social policy agenda: (Machiavelli writes) “I say that those who condemn the tumults between the nobles and commoners attack what was the main cause of the freedom of Rome>, and paid more noises and screams these riots were born in the good effects they produced. In every Republic, there are two conflicting spirits, that of the great and the people, and all laws made in favor of freedom arise from the disunity of both. Mode of production is, according to Marxist theory, all the productive forces and relations of people of a given society establish among themselves to produce the goods needed for their development. The term was first used in the prospectus unpublished German Ideology by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Explanation: For Marx, the mode of production of a period is not determined why or how it occurs, but by how it is produced: The method of producing the means of life of men depends primarily on the very nature of livelihoods, which are and must be played. This mode of production should not be considered solely for the purposes of reproduction of the physical existence of individuals. It has become rather a particular way of activity of these individuals, a particular way of expressing their life, a certain way of life for themselves. Individuals are as manifest their life. What are consistent, therefore, their production, both with what is produced and with the mode of how they produce. What the people are dependent on, therefore, are the material conditions of their production.