5.1 V: The development and spread of global capitalism led to a variety of responses.
A: In industrialized states, many workers organized themselves to improve working conditions, limit hours, and gain higher wages, while others opposed industrialists' treatment of workers by promoting alternative visions of society, including Marxism.
1) One alternative vision of society was Marxism. Marxism was formed by German theorist Karl Marx. Karl Marx is widely known for being one of the first authors of Communist writings. Communism is an idea where the community works together, no one is better than anyone, and the state controls the economy. Marx saw the industrial order as unjust and oppressive. He began to analyze the lives of workers, where he wrote his Communist books. He claimed that the fundamental organization of any society came from the relationships in work. This is called materialism. To put it in simpler terms, it means that a society's structure was built on the relationships between classes that were formed from work.
2) Another alternative vision of society was called Utopian socialism. This was a goal of British and French thinkers to improve society through cooperation and social planning. This would lead to the perfect society, a utopia. To prove their point, they lived in communes where daily life could be organized as it was in the factory. Large groups of people worked together to complete tasks efficiently. Followers also valued technicians and engineers as future rulers of nations.
3) Finally, an alternative view of society was Anarchism. Anarchism is a political idea that society should be stateless. They govern themselves. The state is often looked down upon as unnecessary or harmful to society.
B: In Qing China and the Ottoman Empire, some members of the government resisted economic change and attempted to maintain preindustrial forms of economic production, while other members of the Qing and Ottoman governments led reforms in imperial policies.
1) One example of reforms is the Tanzimat movement in the Ottoman Empire. These reforms were heavily influenced by European ideas to change the empire to a more modern state. It established new institutions that would guarantee the security of life, property, and honor to all subjects, regardless of religion or race. It developed a standardized system of taxation. There was also the development of a new secular school system, the reorganization of the army, and the introduction of new codes of commercial and criminal law.
2) Another example of reforms is the Self-Strengthening Movement in the Qing Empire. It was a movement to modernize China's economic and military sectors. It's aim was to strengtthen China by preserving Qing rule and maintaining traditional Confucian values. The movement was mainly concerned military industrialization and modernization. This was modeled on the West.
C: In a small number of states, governments promoted their own state-sponsored visions of industrialization.
1) One example is the economic reforms of Meiji Japan. When Japan began learning Western industrialization to compete and protect Japan, they reformed a lot. In the 1870s, the reformed government had seen the laying of thousands of miles of railroads and telegraph lines. By the 20th century, they had 32,000 factories, 5400 steam engines, and 2700 machines run by electricity.
2) Another example is in Tsarist Russia. There was a development of factories and railroads there.
3) Finally, Muhammad Ali, ruler of Egypt, developed a cotton textile industry in Egypt. He recognized the need for modern industry and skills. He exempted silk workers from the army and founded engineering schools. Ottoman merchants prospered and hundreds of new jobs opened up for workers who needed money.
D: In response to criticisms of industrial global capitalism, some governments mitigated the negative effects of industrial capitalism by promoting various types of reforms.
1) One reform was state pensions and public health in Germany grew.
2) Another was the expansion of suffrage (women's rights) in Britain.
3) A final reform was that public education spread to many nation states to obtain more skilled workers and a smarter society as a whole.
5.1 VI: The ways in which people organized themselves into societies also underwent significant transformations in industrialized states due to the fundamental restructuring of the global economy.
A: New social classes, including the middle class and the industrial working class, developed.
1) The middle class: In 1751, the middle class, or the Bourgeorisie, was formed. Members of this class had no political power individually, but together, they had a giant voice. An example of this is that the Bourgeorisie started the French Revolution. Merchants made up this class as well and industrialization was particularly important. People in the Bourgeorisie generated a lot of wealth, mostly because of the Industrial Revolution.
2) The industrial working class: This class was known as the Proletariat. They were the wage earning, mass-working class. They did well, okay enough. However, the Proletariat were not tied to the political structure like the Bourgeorisie.
B: Family dynamics, gender roles, and demographics changed in response to industrialization.
1) Family dynamics: Families used to be the basic social unit of society, but since industrialization, they were drifting away from this.
2) Gender roles: In factories, women were especially demeaned. Men dreaded when women were allowed to work in their factories, as it usually meant that owner was saving on wages by cutting some of the men. Women were payed much less than men. Sometimes, in order to work in factories, women had to grant their overseers favors to work. However, most women prefered domestic jobs in the homes of the middle class.
3) Demographics: The birth rate in some areas of the world decreased from before. This was becasue of child labor. Before, families were huge because they wanted to provide children for labor. But, later, machines began to take over child labor, making all those children less useful. So people stopped having so many children.
C: Rapid urbanization that accompanied global capitalism often led to unsanitary conditions.
1) Worker's health in cities deteriorated. The lure of work led to rapid urbanization and urban populations strechted to the breaking point. There was not a lot of housing which facilitated the spread of diseases in cramped living spaces. Sanitary facilities were almost nonexistant. They were extremely humid which nurtured diseases. When these workers crowded together, epidemics of deadly cholera could erupt. Deaths from diseases like tuberculosis and pneumonia were increasing by a lot.
Next time, we'll finally move on to a new section: 5.2. See you then!
Great read. I like how personal you make these posts. It is clear you have done a great deal of research.
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