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Political revolutions and the complications resulting from industrialization triggered a range of ideological, governmental, and collective responses.
The French and industrial revolutions triggered dramatic political and social consequences and new theories to deal with them. The ideologies engendered by these 19th-century revolutions -- conservatism, liberalism, socialism, nationalism, and even romanticism -- provided their adherents with coherent views of the world and differing blueprints for change. The responses to socioeconomic changes reached a culmination in the revolutions of 1848, but the failure of these uprisings left the issues raised by the economic, political, and social transformations unresolved well into the 20th century.
In the second half of the 19th century, labor leaders in many countries created unions and syndicates to provide the working classes with a collective voice, and these organizations used collective action such as strikes and movements for men’s universal suffrage to reinforce their demands. Feminists and suffragists petitioned and staged public protests to press their demands for similar rights for women. The international movements for socialism, labor, and women’s rights were important examples of a trend toward international cooperation in a variety of causes, including antislavery and peace movements. Finally, political parties emerged as sophisticated vehicles for advocating reform or reacting to changing conditions in the political arena.
Nationalism acted as one of the most powerful engines of political change, inspiring revolutions as well as campaigns by states for national unity or a higher degree of centralization. Early nationalism emphasized shared historical and cultural experiences that often threatened traditional elites. Over the course of the 19th century, leaders recognized the need to promote national unity through economic development and expanding state functions to meet the challenges posed by industry. 3.3.1: Ideologies developed and took root throughout society as a response to industrial and political revolutions.3.3.1.A: Liberals emphasized popular sovereignty, individual rights, and enlightened self-interest but debated the extent to which all groups in society should actively participate in its governance.
3.3.1.B: Radicals in Britain and republicans on the continent demanded universal male suffrage and full citizenship without regard to wealth and property ownership; some argued that such rights should be extended to women.
3.3.1.C: Conservatives developed a new ideology in support of traditional political and religious authorities, which was based on the idea that human nature was not perfectible.
3.3.1.D: Socialists called for the redistribution of society’s resources and wealth and evolved from a utopian to a Marxist scientific critique of capitalism.
3.3.1.E: Anarchists asserted that all forms of governmental authority were unnecessary and should be overthrown and replaced with a society based on voluntary cooperation.
3.3.1.F: Nationalists encouraged loyalty to the nation in a variety of ways, including romantic idealism, liberal reform, political unification, racialism with a concomitant anti-Semitism, and chauvinism justifying national aggrandizement.
3.3.1.G: While during the 19th century western European Jews became more socially and politically acculturated, Zionism, a form of Jewish nationalism, developed late in the century as a response to growing anti-Semitism throughout Europe.
3.3.2: Governments, at times based on the pressure of political or social organizations, responded to problems created or exacerbated by industrialization.3.3.2.A: Liberalism shifted from laissez-faire to interventionist economic and social policies in response to the challenges of industrialization.
3.3.2.B: Reforms transformed unhealthy and overcrowded cities by modernizing infrastructure, regulating public health, reforming prisons, and establishing modern police forces. The reforms were enacted by governments motivated by such forces as public opinion, prominent individuals, and charity organizations.
3.3.2.C: Reformers promoted compulsory public education to advance the goals of public order, nationalism, and economic growth. 3.3.3: Political movements and social organizations responded to the problems of industrialization.3.3.3.A: Mass-based political parties emerged as sophisticated vehicles for social, economic, and political reform.
3.3.3.B: Workers established labor unions and movements promoting social and economic reforms that also developed into political parties.
3.3.3.C: Feminists pressed for legal, economic, and political rights for women as well as improved working conditions.
3.3.3.D: Various nongovernmental reform movements, many of them religious, assisted the poor and worked to end serfdom and slavery.
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