HI 112Raffael ScheckColby College

A Survey of Modern Europe

4

The Consolidation of Other Nation States

France after 1871

Modernization and consolidation after 1871

Attack on local dialects Compulsory education Mass draft Branch railroad building Anti-clericalism in the

wake of the Dreyfus Affair Successful democracy

despite instability of governments

Reform in Russia

Defeat also triggers modernization

Abolition of serfdom, 1861

Local parliaments Judicial system National minorities Anti-Semitism Revolution of 1905

Democratization in Britain

Electoral reforms of 1832, 1867, and 1881: gradual extension of the suffrage to almost all adult males

Limitation of the power of the Upper House

Pride in powerful industrial revolution and global empire

But: nationalist tensions, above all in Ireland

Failed Consolidation in Austria-Hungary Division of the Austrian

Empire, 1867 Democratization in Austria

but not in Hungary Separatist nationalisms;

chaos for Austrian democracy

Slow industrialization in Austria

Huge free-trade area but politically unstable

Changes in Society 1850-1914

Overview

Industrial “take-off” on the Continent after 1850

Population Explosion Urbanization and rebuilding of cities Effects on the countryside and on

worldviews

European Population Growth 1800-1900(in millions)

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

1800 1900

Europe

England andWalesRussia

Germany

Urban Growthin 1000s

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

1800 1900

LondonSt. PetersburgBerlinEssen

Growth Rates

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50Europe

Germany

England andWalesRussia

St. Petersburg

London

Berlin

Essen

Urbanization

Growth in royal residences already before 1800, but explosion during industrial revolution

Huge challenges: feeding, housing, policing, hygiene, transportation

Demands large administration

The Tertiary (White-Collar) Sector Huge cities and

consolidated states require large state administrations

Banking, finance, insurance business, services thrive

Job opportunities for many men and women

Consumerism; department stores

The Growth of Organized Labor

Organization in huge industrial areas

Housing shortages Mass strikes Repressive states But: Trade union

movements and socialist parties begin integrating the workers into the state in Western and Central Europe

Still: fear of revolution

Changes in the Countryside

Markets expand, but foreign competition from the U.S. and Russia undercuts agriculture

Farmers demand protective tariffs and become a conservative counterweight to the labor movement

Strategic interests of nation states

Changes in Mentalities

Challenges to organized religion

Dechristianization? Feminization of

religion Upsurge of

individualism

Modernism and Modern Thought

What is Modernism?

Rational, scientific, individualistic, progressive, urbanized form of life in place around 1900 (in the advanced countries)

But it breeds its opposite: irrationalism, nihilism, cultural pessimism

The New Toughness of Mind, 1850-80 Trend to scientific

understanding of all things human (Marx)

Auguste Comte (1798-1857): Positivism

Realism in paiting and literature (e. g. Flaubert)

Charles Darwin (1809-82) and Charles Spencer (1820-1903)

Shock to romantic and religious minds

The Challenge to Rationality

World full of chaotic, destructive wills (Schopenhauer)

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900): call for a “transvaluation of all values”

Naturalism: critique of society and family (Ibsen, Strindberg. Zola)

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): exploring the unconscious

Conclusion

Massive outbreak of irrationalism at the end of the “rational” 19th century

But not a romantic irrationalism in the sense of the richness of feeling - rather: anguish, madness

Search for meaning

The Zenith of European Imperialism

The “New” Imperialism: Facts and Motivations Scramble for colonies 1880-1900 Deeper penetration and higher investment; made

possible by industrial revolution and new technology Feeling of cultural superiority and civilizing mission

(the “white man’s burden”) Nationalism (mass press) Demographic and social arguments Neo-mercantilism Domino effect?

The British Empire

The French Empire

Realities of the New Imperialism

Poor communication and organization

Failure of the settlement idea

Limited economic benefits

Anti-imperialism

Informal Empire

Trading with established but less powerful states; attempts to control their finances and exploit their economies

Examples: Ottoman Empire, China, Latin America, maybe Russia?

The Human and Cultural Cost

Destruction or disruption of cultures

Forced labor under abusive conditions

Divisions within “colonized peoples;” massacres in response to uprisings

Europeanization of the globe?

But also powerful foreign influence on Europe