Europe and the new World
The effect of the opening up of the new world reached its
peak in the mid-19th century when the tide of emigration to the new
world increased until millions of migrants from Ireland, Western Europe and
particularly Eastern Europe chose to make the journey to the new world
particularly the United States.
The invention of the steamship as the main means of
transport considerably reduced the time of sailing from one month with the sail
ships to two weeks with the steam ship. Newer and more efficient engines
continued to reduce the sailing time until the new world become accessible in
about a week in the early 20th Century.
The effect of the Industrial Revolution and the
consequent boom in economic activity increased the demand for factory and
agricultural workers. Both skilled and semi-skilled workers made the journey
across the middle passage in droves. The migration contributed significantly to
the change in demographics in Europe and the New World.
The shift was particularly noticeable among the adult
male population because this was the segment of the population that was mostly
affected by the exodus. This period also saw a heavy boom in the maritime trade
across the Atlantic between the New World and the Old World.
The rate of industrialization in the Americas increased
significantly during this period, offering better working conditions and life
style improvements for many European families. In fact, by the end of the
nineteenth century, the United States economy grew to become the largest
economy in the world exceeding that of the United Kingdom which hitherto had
been the world’s largest.
The American ‘dream’ was a major pull for emigration for
many Europeans who longed for political freedom and individual rights that
existed in the United States; the world’s best established democracy. In fact
the struggles for democratic reform and strengthening of individual liberties in
Europe were a byproduct of the successful American democratic experiment.
Starting with Great Britain, France, Germany, the Low Countries
and the Scandinavia, more countries began to imbibe the democratic spirit resulting
in the drafting of new constitutions, liberalization of political parties, free
and fair elections and the establishment of a sovereign parliament.
The American experiment in Revolution and democracy had
its biggest pull in France in the late 18th century where a peoples’
Revolution was soon to progress to the establishment of a Republican system of
government with a sovereign national assembly with elected representatives
chosen by the people in free and fair elections. The idea of universal suffrage
was still highly limited at this time as only adult males with properties or
lands were eligible to vote.
CHAPTER 4
MID VICTORIAN
EUROPE
Europe in 1850 was also in the midst of the reign of
Queen Victoria of England. The reign of Victoria also marked the period when
England was at the zenith of its power with her colonies cutting across all the
continents of the world. This was the time when it was said that England was
the empire whose navy ruled the waves as her naval vessels straddled the seas
in all the existing time zones. She was also called the empire whose sun never
sets.
This happened to be also the period when the Industrial
Revolution saw England at the peak of its power. The British navy was said to
rule the waves, meaning England was the world’s greatest sea power.
While the throne of England had stretched back over nine
centuries, the Russian Czars similarly enjoyed a hegemony that had covered
close to a thousand years. In Germany, Friedrich Wilhelm 1, was just about
being crowned Emperor, the Holy See
still exerted hegemony over most of Italy, Portugal and Spain while the
Habsburgs ruled over the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The Sultan still held sway over the Ottoman Empire while
kings and queens ruled over the Low Countries and Scandinavia. Dynastic rule was
still the order of the day while the ideas of democracy and representative
government were still budding.
By this time however, the clamor for freedom, sovereign
parliaments and the right to choose leaders through popular vote was still
fermenting and waxing stronger by the day in Europe. The ideas of state
socialism and state control of the means of wealth and production were also
springing forth in the writings of Karl Max and Friedrich Engels.
As Europe prospered in the mid-19th century,
the need to expand markets and imports grew as well. The Industrial Revolution fueled a drive for raw materials to feed the industries that were coming on
board. This development, invariably led to the exploitation of colonial markets
as well as the expansion of trade with the new world. Maritime trade grew at
this point as trade among nations became an integral part of economic policy.
Self-reliance as an economic way of life increasingly
gave way to specialization and international trade. Increasingly, nations began
to concentrate on goods and services that they were most (favored to produce)
and learning to sell their products, obtain foreign exchange and then buy goods
that their competitors had an edge in producing.
The era of specialization naturally increased trade among
nations and helped to increase the overall output in terms of the gross
national products of the European nations and states.
The modernization of the production system that came with
the system of factory production, the advent of mass assembly, the steam ships,
the specialization of skills in the individual worker, the advent of the
internal combustion engine using petrol and diesel all led to a massive
explosion and growth in the volume of production of goods and services and a
leap in international trade and exports.
The Industrial Revolution coupled with the rise of
maritime trade particularly favored the United Kingdom which had the world’s
largest number of trading ships as well as warships. Great Britain’s massive
investment in ship building was mainly anchored on the fact that she was an island
state with a vast network of overseas holdings. The sea lanes were vital to her
survival in terms of trade and in the protection of her overseas investment.
As the population of the British Isles grew, it became
apparent that the United Kingdom was going to depend more on imports of grains
from the New World and Canada. She also needed a secure base and sources of raw
materials for her expanding industrial base. All these were sourced overseas,
and so for the United Kingdom, the sea lanes came to represent a vital interest
that needed to be protected at all cost.
This invariably led to a massive ship building program for
maritime trade and the Royal Navy. Great Britain became the world’s most
experienced maritime trading nation, with a lot of the facilities and
institutions that have to do with maritime trade being based in London. The
world’s biggest shipping agency and insurance company Lloyds of London was
based in the United Kingdom. This also paved the way for London to become the
world’s leading center of finance for international trade and services.
London city still
hosts today the world’s biggest stock exchange as well as the largest commodity
exchange. The United Kingdom has become the international reference point for
every form of international business that involves the movement of goods from
one nation to the other.
Great Britain’s volume of trading ships and warships gave
her unparalleled influence and power on the high seas and consequently among
the comity of nations. Though never possessing the world’s largest and most
powerful land army, Britain’s unparalleled ability to move and maneuver forces
across the world’s sea lanes, made her the most powerful nation at a time when
power was registered in the ability to
maintain control on the high seas.
France, the world’s second most powerful nation at sea,
but with a long and exposed boundary with Germany was to face strong challenge
and competition from Prussia when Prince Otto Von Bismarck took over as Chancellor.
Bismarck in a series of wars united the German states under Prussia and enabled
Wilhelm I to be crowned Emperor of all Germany, thereafter tension and rivalry
with France mounted.
The reorganization of the Prussian military and
modernization programs of Bismarck paid off when war broke out between Prussia
and France in 1870. The French army was soundly beaten, Paris was temporarily
occupied and Napoleon III captured. France lost Alsace Lorraine to Germany
including a loss of prestige both at home and abroad.
FRANCE IN THE MID
19TH CENTURY
The defeat of Napoleon in 1814 and the decisions reached
at the Congress of Vienna opened a new chapter in the history of France as
Bourbon dynastic rule resurrected with the installation of Louis Napoleon II as
the new Emperor of France.
It was quite obvious that Royalist sentiments were still
very strong in France and many felt that the solution to the problems of France
lay in the abolition of the first Republic and return to the monarchical system
of government. Consequently the ascension of Napoleon II as Emperor was hailed
and welcomed by all in the French National Assembly.
It turned out however that Louis Napoleon, nephew of the
French Emperor had a different character, temperament and leadership qualities
from Napoleon Bonaparte. The only thing they shared in common was the family
name.
The charisma and strategic military prowess that were
dominant qualities of Bonaparte were completely lacking in Louis and
consequently his reign was marked by instability and declining prestige for the
nation and armed forces.
The series of upheavals and unrests that trailed his
administration eventually led to his deposition during the insurgencies of 1848
which subsequently led to the ascension of Napoleon III.
The 1850s and 60s were also a period of acute political
and social tensions as the wind of change continued to blow across Europe. The
demand for political reform was particularly strong at this point as well as
the agitation and clamor for better working conditions.
As
industrialization and reforms continued, there came with it, demand for greater
liberalization of the political process, free and fair elections, enforcement
of individual and human rights coupled with the pressure for the adoption of
the Bill of Rights especially as it related to a more democratic and
representative national assembly.
The working class in particular at this time became
increasingly aware of its rights and privileges and began to demand for
reasonable working hours, six working days, better working conditions and pay.
The writings of Karl Max and Friedrich Engels also helped
to stir the working class towards a more vigorous socialist cum people’s
approach towards socialism and welfare. The introduction of the welfare
policies that are well entrenched in Europe today were laid down at that
period.
France in
particular was inundated with socialist teachings and ideas on governance which
stressed that Government is responsible to the people and must provide for its
citizens. This belief has become ingrained in her economic policies till date. The
French economy was transformed around this time from a purely peasant,
subsistent agricultural base to a modern industrial economy that enabled France
to become one of the richest nations on earth with a strong industrial and
agricultural base by the end of the 19th century.
In the years of Emile Olivier as Prime Minister, layouts
of urban designs and infrastructural blue prints that made France one of the
most beautiful nation in the world, was laid down. The Elyse Palace, the Eifel
Tower, the Statue of Napoleon and the broad boulevards were all laid down at
this period.
The beauty of
Paris and the entire country made France a much sought after country. French
technological innovations also culminated in one of her companies Suez Canal
Company obtaining the concession and lease to build the Suez Canal, under the
army engineers Corps of Colonel Ferdinand de Lesseps in 1875.
France’s ingenuity in urban planning, municipal
developments, landscaping, painting and other expressions of beautiful
realities for both cities and rural places became evident at this time. Paris
took her place among the most beautiful cities in the world. The French Corps
of Army engineers were at this time, acquiring a distinct reputation for
incredible feats in engineering and urban construction comprising bridges,
roads, canals and other infrastructural works.
RUSSIA IN THE MID
19TH CENTURY
Russia in 1850 was under the rule of Nicholas I who was
both a harsh and ambitious and expansionist Czar because of his many campaigns
to win land and territories for the Russian empire. He was also a zealous
religious crusader who felt obliged to fight wars to protect the Russian Orthodox
Church from the incursions of the Ottoman Turks.
His victories
increased Russia’s territories and made room for Russian merchants’ ships to
access the Mediterranean through the straits connecting the Black sea with the
Mediterranean Sea as a result of the concessions made by the Ottoman Turkish
rulers of the region.
However, the Crimean war that broke out in 1853 was to
mark the end of Russian expansion around the Black Sea. Russia’s defeat in the
hands of the Ottoman Turkish empire (aided by Great Britain and France), forced
the Russians to sign a peace treaty in Paris in 1856.
Under this treaty, Russia gave up some of the territories
it had won from the Ottoman Turks in an earlier campaign as well as provisions
forbidding war ships and fortifications on and around the Black Sea. Following
this defeat, the Russians began to look eastward, where she won disputed
territories from China in 1858 and 1860.
Through these victories, Russian gained rights to lands
in China north of the Amur River and East of the Ussuri River. The rebel tribes
in the Caucasian region were also defeated in a series of campaigns in 1864. Russia’s
expansion in central Asia was accomplished in a series of wars fought in 1865-1875.
The defeat of Russia in the Crimean war, made her
officials under Czar Alexander II realize the fact that Russia needed to catch
up with the West in terms of modernization, or she will remain only a second
rate power.
Alexander II then initiated a system of reforms to
modernize the economy, the banking sector and Russian life in general. His
reformist vision extended to land reforms among the peasants, the development
of the complex railway systems that linked European Russia to Siberia.
He also modernized the educational system and granted
limited autonomy to many of the rural and municipal settlements. However, the
seemingly giant strides did not satisfy many who felt that the reforms in
themselves were not adequate to promote social justice.
By this time, the
opposition was divided into two camps. One camp advocated for the adoption of a
socialist system of government while the other wanted Russia to become a
Republic with a constitution. The agitations turned violent and led to an
attempted peasant revolt in 1870 that was crushed. A terrorist group soon
sprang up in the wake of a new group called the anarchists whose main objective
was to destroy the Russian system of government.
Alexander II survived a number of assassination attempts
before he was killed in a bombing incident in St Petersburg in 1881. His son
Alexander III adopted a series of harsh measures designed to curb the
opposition and this policy persisted until the 1890s. He limited press freedom
and kept a rein on the educational system particularly the universities and he
also reduced the powers of the newly created local and rural municipal
authorities.
His policies
seemed intended to favor the aristocrats when he appointed the so-called “land
captains” whose mission was apparently to curtail and suppress the rights of
the peasants. His series of reforms and latter- day initiatives did little to
improve the working conditions of the factory and peasant agricultural workers.
When Nicholas II became Russia’s last Czar, the agitation
for change in the economic and political governance of the country was to reach
new heights. Several political movements and groups were founded and flourished;
all with a view to overthrowing the monarchy. The socialists and the communists
were the most notable, even though there were groups that argued for the
adoption of western style democracy and parliamentary reforms.
Things got to a head, when after a series of bad harvests
and a deterioration of living conditions, workers strikes and other protests
began to rock Russia at the close of the century. As the century came to a
close, the Marxists formed the Russian Social Democratic Party in 1898.
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