Life in Industrial Europe

• women in the workforce :

  • unions won shorter workdays , better conditions , age restrictions , etc . in the first industrial revolution

  • women working was controversial :

    • men believed women need to be at home in order to tend to family , bear children , and it was easier to control women when they had no money

  • women wanted new opportunities out of home  ( they were outspoken about this ) which led to the development of trades for women

  • some women found white collar jobs

  • some women took marginal work :

    • 'sweating' / sweatshops - poorly paid outsourced tailor work

  • many women who went to cities turned to prostitution :

    • they preyed upon

    • prostitution was regulated by govt

    • prostitutes who passed diseases were imprisoned ( men weren't penalized )

  • women were not allowed to get jobs in heavy manufacturing so they had to find jobs available in other industries ( ex : secretaries , clerks , typists , nurses , teachers , etc . )

    • these types of jobs represented freedom from social constraints

    • job options were limited but they were opportunities to escape from lower class work

• organizing the working classes :

  • new parties and labor unions in the late 1800s embraced Marxism and socialism

  • the strongest and most influential socialist party was the German Social Democratic Party ( GSDP ) :

    • the GSDP won seats in Reichstag ( the German parliament ) and attempted to pass legislations to improve the condition of the working class ( not working conditions )

• socialist parties unite :

  • the GSDP organized into a loose association with Second International ( another socialist group ) which coordinated actions

  • the GSDP and Second International organized international labor day where socialists around Europe would strike and hold labor demonstrations in order to disrupt the capitalist system

    • cooperation with all socialists was difficult because revisionism and nationalism divided them

• revisionism :

  • socialists divided into 2 groups - pure Marxists and revisionists ( aka evolutionary socialists )

    • pure Marxists believed in the class struggle between rich and poor , and that a violent overthrow would correct the system

    • revisionists believed Marx got some stuff wrong ( because the middle class was growing , the working-class gained new rights , there was a higher standard of living , etc . ) so Marxists should form political parties in order to attempt change from within the system

• nationalism :

  • nationalism hurt the efforts of the Second International because people saw themselves as a member of a nation first and socialists second

  • loyalty to a nation outweighed loyalty to a party because European countries had complicated and hostile relationships

• anarchism :

  • in less democratic and industrialized nations , anarchist movements formed

  • at first , anarchist movements were peaceful but then became violent

  • in anarchism , people are good but the state and society corrupt them so they should abolish state and social institutions

• violent anarchism :

  • anarchists used assassination as the primary instrument of terror

  • despite high profile assassinations , no govts collapsed