Industrial Revolution and Impact on European Society and Reaction - Coursework Example

Industrial Revolution and Impact on European Society and Reaction, Romanticism (1815-1850 Great Britain was undoubtedly “the First Industrial Nation.” Her overseas Empire, including the colonies in the East and West Indies, and North America, provided raw supplies and manufactured goods for trade and also served as captive markets for domestic goods. The stability of overseas trade was guaranteed by Britain’s naval power, which prevented war-time disruptions, and the old commercial fleet for transport. Growth in population, higher standards of living, and urbanization, increased domestic mass consumption. The engineering innovations, such as the flying shuttle, seed drill, spinning jenny, water frame, and the steam engine increased the speed of production, while reducing the cost. The English government, emerging as a democracy from past tyrannical government control, allowed the domestic economy to function with few restrictions, and encouraged both technological change and a free market. Contract and property rights were guaranteed and a prosperous middle class, free from feudal structures, participated in the economy. Britain’s transport revolution, characterized by the improvement in road, rail and river facilities, facilitated the cheap transport of raw materials to the factories, and manufactured goods to the markets. The agricultural revolution saw the adoption of new crop and farming technologies, consolidation of small units of land into large holdings, and led to an agricultural surplus and the movement of resources from agriculture to industry. The establishment of a stable, centralized Bank of England, along with many private banks, helped to mobilize funds, arrange credit and provide capital for the industrialists. The availability of abundant coal deposits and other minerals, the government policy to encourage domestic economic interests and the relatively high education level of the population, all contributed to make Great Britain the cradle of the Industrial Revolution, in contrast to her continental rivals. 2. The early years of the Industrial Revolution were undoubtedly detrimental in their effect on family life. In the earlier era of small family farms, and cottage industries, the family stayed together and work was part of home life. With the advent of the factories, and the movement of villagers to the towns, living conditions became cramped and unsanitary, leading to epidemics. Factories were also ill-ventilated and cramped. Increased number of men worked outside the home for long periods. Likewise, even married women with children worked full time in factories. Low wages, harsh punishments and hazardous work environments were the norm. The Industrial Revolution’s dependence on coal drastically increased pollution and exposure to lung diseases in factories and coal mines, and led to a marked physical deterioration in all workers. This was further aggravated by malnutrition, due to the consumption of cheap, fried or stale food - while farming had at least provided the family with food for its own needs, food was expensive in the industrialized cities. Women were paid substantially lower wages than men in the factories. Child labor was an evil of the Industrial Revolution. Children were employed as they were more productive than unskilled adults, and made to work long hours at low wages. Children employed in coal mines, pushing or pulling coal carts, grew up stunted in growth. Working hours often extended to more than ten hours a day, in a working week of six or seven days. Later, the Factory Acts brought about vast improvements in living and working conditions. 3. The political structure of Great Britain at the time of the Industrial Revolution was particularly suited to the emergence of the ‘middle-class.’ The strengthening of democracy, and the curtailment of the absolute rights and privileges of the monarchy and aristocracy, led to the participation of the middle-classes both in the political structure and in the economic system. Unlike the old nobility, the pursuit of money through commerce and manufacture was socially acceptable to this class. This made the middle-class the pioneers of the mercantile and capitalist movements of the Industrial Revolution, with the businessmen, the industrialists and the bankers forming the ‘upper’ middle class, and the clerks, managers and salaried professionals of the banks, insurance companies, shipping and railways, the ‘lower’ middle-class. Large scale industrialization and urbanization, and the expansion of the local government, also saw the emergence of public servants, teachers and lawyers. The prevalent middle-class culture emphasized the virtues of thrift, self-reliance and responsibility. Social and economic success could be achieved through hard work and intelligent endeavor. Family life and moral values were also stressed. The core middle-class belief was that merit, and not aristocratic privilege, could lead to success. 4. The Congress of Vienna was convened by Austria, Russia, Prussia, and Great Britain, from 1 November 1814, to 8 June 1815, after the defeat of Napoleon. The important delegates were Austria’s Prince Klemens von Metternich, Russia’s Nesselrode and Rasoumoffski, Prussia’s Prince Karl von Hardenberg, Britain’s Lord Castlereagh and Arthur Wellesley, and France’s Talleyrand. The main objectives of the Congress were the establishment of a new balance of power in Europe, which would maintain peace between the Great Powers, and the maintenance of the status quo, by preventing political revolutions. The important provisions of the Congress were Britain’s retention of Trinidad, Malta and other colonies, which made her the largest colonial power and gave her control of the seas. Prussia received half of Saxony, and significant parts of Westphalia and the Rhine Province. Austria regained all lost territory, and was also given Tyrol and Salzburg in Germany, and Lombardy and Venice in Italy. A new German Confederacy replaced the old Holy Roman Empire. Russia retained Finland and Bessarabia and control of Poland. The kingdom of the Netherlands, comprising of Holland and Belgium, was ratified under the House of Orange. The neutrality of Switzerland was guaranteed. Norway was integrated with Sweden. Louis XVII was restored in France, which lost all the territory gained by Napoleon, but received French Guiana, Guadeloupe and Martinique. Ferdinand VII was restored in Spain. The Congress may be said to have achieved the maintenance of peace between the Great Powers, because there were no major conflicts, involving all the powers, until 1914. However, the objective of restoring traditional governments and maintaining the status quo, was only partially successful, as liberalism and nationalism emerged in Europe. 5. Liberalism contested the tradition that it was inheritance which legitimately conferred power. The goal of liberalism was to achieve equality of opportunity in the eyes of the law. The main causes of liberalism was the creation of a new ‘middle-class,’ by the Industrial Revolution, whose growing influence and wealth demanded more say in political and economic structures. The ideas of the Enlightenment, such as the sovereignty of the people, and the rights of the individual, also contributed to the liberal revolution. It established the Rule of Law as supreme, and diluted the absolute rights of the monarchy. Nationalism emerged from Romanticism and Liberalism in the nineteenth century, as an essentially middle-class movement. It connotes the urge to establish a system of government based on the mass support of all classes of people, and not just confined to the traditional aristocracy. The legitimate state is based on the people, not the monarchy or God. It includes the concepts of national identity and the equality of all citizens who owe allegiance to the nation. Nationalism was sometimes defined in ethnic terms, as in Germany. Socialism was a product of the Industrial Revolution, which witnessed the exploitation of the working classes. Inhuman, crowded, unsanitary living conditions, hazardous work places, twelve-hour week-long work, low wages, and pollution were the norm. The capitalist economy’s cycles of ‘boom and bust’ exposed people to sudden unemployment and poverty. In this scenario, socialism emerged with the call to replace rampant capitalism with a democratically controlled economy run for the benefit of all. The goal of early socialism was a prosperity distributed cooperatively among all people. 6 Romanticism was a reaction to the Enlightenment and the French Revolution and also to the Industrial Revolution. It connoted the search for direct communication with nature, and the concept of humans as unique individuals. It emphasized the national culture, including the simple, natural expressions in the vernacular language and local folklore. Romanticism was exemplified by the works of Goethe, who advocated imagination and experience, William Wordsworth and his stress on communion with nature, Shakespeare’s ‘commercial’ dramas, the medieval culture and mystique of the Gothic romance, the exoticism of Lord Byron, the sentimentalism of Rousseau, and the music of Beethoven. Religious imagery flourished in art. Individualism was the ruling attitude, and this led to the bold indulgence of personal taste in art by the new middle-class, creating a free market for entrepreneurship by writers, artists and musicians. Sensitivity to, and a celebration of, nature was the dominant characteristic of Romanticism. Works Cited. Burt, Roger. (2001). British Industrialization in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries. Retrieved on 1 April 2009 from < http://people.exeter.ac.uk/RBurt/exeteronly/HEC1010/Lecture3.html > Bloy, Marjie. The Congress of Vienna, 1 November 1814 — 8 June 1815 Retrieved on 2 April 2009 from < http://www.victorianweb.org/history/forpol/vienna.html > Brians, Paul. (1998). Introduction to 19th-Century Socialism. Washington State University. Retrieved on 2 April 2009 from < http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/hum_303/socialism.html > Brians, Paul. (1998). Romanticism. Washington State University. Retrieved on 2 April 2009 from < http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/hum_303/romanticism.html > Galbi, Douglas. Factory Workers in the British Industrial Revolution. Retrieved on 1 April 2009 from < http://www.galbithink.org/fw.htm > Halsall, Paul. Internet Modern History Sourcebook. Nationalism. Retrieved on 2 April 2009 from < http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook17.html > Loftus, Donna (2001). The Rise of the Victorian Middle Class. BBC History. Retrieved on 1 April 2009 from < http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/middle_classes_02.shtml > Suffolk Community College. HS-12 Course Readings. The Liberal Revolution. Retrieved on 2 April 2009 from < http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/westn/liberal.html > Read More