Industrialization and Social Ferment

1830–1850

The nineteenth century was a time of momentous economic and social change as factories sprang up across much of Europe and railroad tracks crisscrossed the landscape. Although Britain initially led the way in industrial growth, the continent soon began to catch up. For the middle classes, industrialization opened a door to new riches and prestige. By contrast, for the men, women, and children who labored in factories and mines, it meant little more than a life of drudgery, poverty, and often extreme physical hardship. The first two documents that follow expose industrialization’s effects on the everyday world, from the grueling regime of factory work to the demands of running the ideal middle-class household. The third and fourth documents demonstrate that, as industrialization picked up pace, people became increasingly aware of its human costs and the need to address them. Some social critics promoted reform within existing governmental structures; others sought to abolish them completely, giving rise to one of the most significant ideological consequences of the new age, the birth of communism. Yet the immediate impact of communism was far less visible than the intensity of nationalist fervor unleashed by the revolutions of 1848, as the fifth document suggests. Against this backdrop, Europe’s place in the world also underwent a shift. As the final document reveals, Europeans adopted new political and economic strategies overseas that laid the foundations for imperialism.