Industrial revolution and The working class political movements.
Key elements of industralisation. 1
Textile industry: technological innovations.
Iron and steel production: new machinery.
Transport: steam engine.
Industralisation in Europe. 2
During the 19th century Industrial rev, spread to other countries. This took place because these countries had: abundant reservers of iron and coal, growing populations that demanded more goods and well-developed railway networks to facilitate transport.
Liberalism and Capitalism. 3
Economic liberalism: Is the theory based on Adam Smith ideas that defended freedom of production and free trade.
Industry Capitalism: System that puts in practise the ideas of economic liberalism.
Characteristics: served the interests of wealthy capitalists and business owners. Aimed to produce profits in business. Increas of social inequalities.
Class-based society. 4
Origins in the political and economic changes during the revolutions of late 18th century. The privileges of the cleregy and the nobility were abolished and the state system dissapear. Industrial revolution increased the importance of wealthy bourgueoisie. New social group: The workers of the fabrics: Proletariat. Was divided in three groups: Upper class, nobility and wealthy bourgueoisie. Middle class, civil servants, lawyers, doctors, small merchants, artisans and farmers with own lands. Working class, proletariat and agricultural labourers.
Social class was determined by profession and wealth. Society was open. All citizens were equal under the law. Economic inequalities.
Working class political movements. 5
The bourgeois capitalists lived great but proletariat lived in terrible conditions, accidents were very common, they worked 14-16 hours a day, children and women often work, low salaries but many people wanted to work, workers didn´t had the right to protest or go on strike, no social insurance.
The proletariat in Great Britain began to organised themselves against the factorry owners and the government.
Luddities; hostile to new technology because they thought that machinery took jobs from workers. Ther often protested destroying machines in the factories.
Trade unions: associations of workers that demanded improving of conditions in work and helped their member in case of accident or illness.
Chartist movement: demanded political changes to improve working conditions.
Left-wing ideologies. 6
Promoved interests of working class.
Marxism. Developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in their book "The Communist Manifesto" and in Marx book The Capital.
Class struggle, defended that each worker should earn the same money as they produce.
Dictatorship of proletariat: proletariat would take political power. Once in power workers would controll economy and they would distribute wealth equally among the society, there would not be private property.
Comunism: society in which everyone would be equal.
Anarchism: Developed by Mikhail Bakunin proposed a ideal society based on: Individual freedom: People had to fight against any authority or institution that limited their freedom.
Direct actions: people had to defend their interests and fight for their freedom.
Iwa/First internacional: brought together workers organisations from many countries and made a meeting to encourage the collective ownerships.