CHAPTER ONE
THE EMERGING
NATIONS
The Impact of the
Industrial Revolution
The situation of Europe in the mid-19th
century was one of constantly shifting ideas and innovations that dominated the
landscape particularly in terms of technology. The wind of change was constant;
blowing hard and strong. Scientific and technical innovations and changes
abounded by the day.
In mainland Europe, Germany began to make an impact in
heavy industry as the mid-19th century progressed. The spate of
technical innovations spread to the new world. Mainland Europe’s pace of
economic growth quickened so much so, that the nations on the Atlantic seaboard
(Portugal and Spain) that had a history of lagging behind the rest of Western
Europe began to make their own mark in terms of industry and economic growth.
The growth of industry, particularly steel production,
the invention of the internal combustion engine and advances in electrical
engineering drove the pace of industrialization to unprecedented heights on a
dramatic scale. The introduction of the telegraph, steam train, steamships and
other innovations led to a pace of change that was breath-taking. The expansion
in trade and industry cut across, all the way to Japan in the Far East
The trend and
spread, cut across the introduction of more modern and sophisticated production
methods in the textile industry, cloth making, shoe production and significant
growth particularly in the agricultural sector where the planter, harvester and
even combined harvesters were fast becoming a norm. The printing press boomed, unrelenting
in its modernization and innovations.
The fact was that a new dawn had come to Europe and the
people were beginning to enjoy a higher standard of living. Better health
resulted in drastic reduction in infant and maternal mortality. Corporations,
companies and corporate entities began to emerge, requiring more advanced and
sophisticated methods of control in government and the bureaucracy.
The era of the
skilled and trained factory worker had begun, and as the pace of industrial
production increased, the rural-urban migration patterns that had been slowly
emerging over the centuries quickened in pace.
The steady increase in technical innovations and quality
of industrial output also meant that wealth and prosperity saw a dramatic rise.
As the production of goods and services boomed, there was also a dramatic
increase in population growth. The division of labor, methods of automated
manufacturing, mass production systems and other improved methods of
production, began to gain ground.
As businesses grew, the idea of share ownership,
co-operative movements and other modern methods of economic and financial
growth mechanisms began to boom as businesses grew larger, companies expanded
and the working class began to emerge as labor unions increased in numbers.
THE ROLE OF THE
CHURCH IN SHAPING THE AFFAIRS OF THE STATE
The mid-19th century also marked a trend that
resulted not only in the growth of the Evangelical and Orthodox Church but also
the increasing tendency to separate the affairs of the Church from the State.
The pressure for democratic reform coupled with the
increasing enlightenment on the part of the working class saw a greater push
towards regulation, increasing pressure on governments towards separating
issues of politics, business and religion.
Issues of religion were already being pushed from the
public domain to the private. Parliaments were increasingly under pressure to
concentrate on issues of economic and social growth and withdraw from issues of
individual beliefs and religious persuasions.
The Church of
England for instance began to exercise more control on issues of liturgy and
doctrine, and parliamentary approval was no longer required in issues relating
to reform and changes in the common prayer book.
The increasing demand for individual and personal liberties
also made it more ethically popular for individuals to take personal decisions
on the issues of faith and devotion. The corresponding result was an explosion
in the evangelical movement.
While the orthodox Churches began to shrink in terms of
active Church membership, the evangelical churches grew and expanded
particularly in Britain, the Low Countries and Germany. Industrialization also
led to the strengthening of workers demand for representative government and
improvement in workers’ and human rights.
In Italy, the control of the Vatican over the fortunes
and affairs of the Italian city states come under increasing pressure for
review, leading to a redefinition of the whole issue of Italian independence
and nationhood. When the Italian statesman Garibaldi led his peoples, workers
and peasant army to challenge the rule of the Bourbon dynasty over the city
states of Italy, the issue of Church and state control came up once more.
The emergence of Italy as a free and independent nation
under the rule of King Victor Emmanuel was also ushered in with reforms and
agreements with the Vatican to lessen its interference in, and control of the
political affairs of Italy.
All over Europe, monarchies, parliaments and institutions
of control were pressured to become more responsive to the yearnings of the
people than the pressure of the clergy and Church authorities.
Not surprisingly, the birth of freedom and liberal
thinking, also led to the rise of
anti-church doctrines such as Darwin’s theory of evolution, Friedrich Engel’s
and Karl Max’s teachings of workers’ control of the factors of production and
ultimately the instruments of state power.
EMERGING SOCIAL
TRENDS
The changes and innovations in technology led to a change
in the social class order of Europe. While the feudal class remained strong in
some segments of European society, the peasant class remained notable,
particularly in Eastern Europe.
The new social trend led to upward mobile integration for
some of the lower class who began to enjoy the benefits of the improved
economic system. That system enabled them to transport their goods more easily
and quickly to the markets while enjoying more sophisticated methods of trading
and industrial processing which invariably led to increased production and
improved earnings for the emerging middle class.
As the working class grew, the salaried bureaucracy began
to pressure for improved working conditions for the workers. These groups were
only a little bit better off than their colleagues who labored in factories, in
the sense that they were the literate white and blue collar workers and were
able to exert a little more pressure towards the improvement of their working
conditions.
The organized corporate sector sought to limit the power
of the unions by keeping different workers’ groups in separate unions which
lessened the overall pressure for reform and better pay. At the top of the
social structure was a new class of capitalists who worked towards influencing political
direction in terms of improved investments in business, agriculture and in the military.
As individuals prospered, the pace of spending and demand
for consumer goods increased, and this in itself drove the momentum of
industrial growth upward, leading to higher government revenues and increased
spending on infrastructure and municipalities.
The increased pressure on fiscal spending also saw the
beginning of the topsy-turvy movement in economic growth indicators that came
to be described as seasons of booms and stagnations.
The clearly
defined direction of economic growth and expansion brought about the seasons of
economic booms and depression, resulting in difficult and challenging social
conditions hitherto unknown like unemployment and layoffs, that the modern
economic society has become accustomed to.
As people became more prosperous generally, demand for
tangible goods like housing increased. Improved diets and improved lifestyles
became noticeable. As the population also became more literate, a high standard
of living was accompanied by a decline in the birthrate which trend gained
ground particularly amongst the working class.
This in itself was also accompanied by a marked shift in
the rural – urban migration trends that saw farm families becoming smaller
while output increased as agriculture became more mechanized.
As literacy increased, more people were able to afford newspapers
which increased massively in circulation leading to greater political, economic
and social awareness, which in turn led to the increasing tendency towards more
expressive forms of nationalism.
THE FOUNDATIONS OF
A NEW DEMOGRAPHIC ORDER
The demographics of Europe particularly Western Europe
began to change significantly after the middle of the 19th century
for six primary reasons:
1. Extended periods of peace
2. Demarcation of land borders
3. Improvement in Health care
4. Decline in infant mortality
5. Mass migrations to the new world
6. Reduction in family size
Whilst not putting forward this list as being
comprehensively exhaustive, it is important to note that the end of the
Napoleonic wars and the decisions taken in the Congress of Vienna in 1814/1815
went a long way in bringing lasting peace back to Europe.
The treaty saw the emergence of nations in western Europe
such as Germany out of the Prussian states, Russia which annexed much of the
ancient kingdom of Poland, Britain whose overseas holding were expanded, the Bourbon
dynasty which was restored to the French throne in the reign of Louis XVIII.
The treaty helped to restore the balance of power while
firmly delimiting the land borders of the major powers and also ushering in a
season of peace. Coupled with this development was the extension of the life
expectancy of the average European as better drugs and improved medical care
systems began to emerge.
Hospitals, doctors
and nurses emerged in their distinct professional forms as we know them today.
During this time, there was also a noticeable decline in cases of infant
mortality as the system of health care improved while new and more effective
drugs began to enter the market.
This consequently this led to the reduction in the number
of children born to a household as child survival and infant care methods
improved. The decline in family size also was accompanied by the renewed quest
for individual prosperity and a better lifestyle.
At this time, the shift from Blue-collar to White collar
jobs became the norm as more and more people deserted the peasant and feudal
lifestyle in search of jobs in towns and in the newly emerging factories and
industries. Cities began to expand significantly in population so much so that
the rural-urban drift began to be established as a socio-cultural phenomenon.
The basic consequence
was that the demographics of Europe began to change significantly, particularly
among the newly industrializing nations like Germany, France, Italy and Great
Britain. Another major factor in the shift of demographics in countries like
Ireland, Germany and Italy was the large segment of their population
particularly the working class that chose to move their families across the
Atlantic to the Americas particularly the U.S.A.
At the close of
the 19th century over 20 million migrants had crossed the Atlantic
Ocean into the New World thereby denying Europe a significant segment of its
active working class.
THE SCRAMBLE FOR
EMPIRE
As industrialization and scramble for markets
intensified, many European states began to be outward looking in their desire
to expand their markets and acquire raw materials for their industries.
Dramatic improvements in shipping and naval capabilities
meant that armies and military forces could be extended overseas in the search and
scramble for areas of domination and colonization as had been the trend with
the big powers for the previous one and half centuries.
As the individual European nations became more powerful
and prosperous, the instinct was to shift the power play to bases beyond the
continental shelf. As new technologies allowing the steam engine, machine guns
and new techniques in advancement of drug production became more available, the
capacity and desire for territorial expansion surged ahead.
At this time, the emergence of Germany and Italy as
united and powerful nations heated up the power tussle in Europe which before
then was exclusively an Anglo-French affair. The scramble for Africa was so
intense that to avoid war and conflict, the German statesman and Chancellor Otto
von Bismarck called for a conference of the major Colonial powers in Berlin in
1884 in November to February 1885 in order to peacefully demarcate areas of
influence, control and colonization in Africa.
This process led to the complete partitioning of Africa
among the major European nations with the notable exception of Abyssinia, the
only African country to escape colonization in the traditional sense. The major
Colonial Powers; Britain, France, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, and Holland partitioned
major portions of Asia, the Pacific Islands and Africa amongst themselves. They
saw the new colonies as a veritable investment in territories, raw materials,
markets and recruitment grounds for man power in military, economic and
political frontiers.
Many governments were involved in the scramble for
colonies more for the prestige and honor that came with having colonies; in so
much so that many small European states acquired the status of empires and
dominions on account of their colonial holdings.
While Portugal
gained control over Angola and Mozambique, Belgium took over the huge area in
mid equatorial Africa called the Congo region. Germany conquered the present day
Namibia, the Cameroons and Togo land.
Britain on the other hand, held much of the prized
possession in west Africa, southern Africa and the Horn of Africa and together
with France accounted for more than 2/3 of the colonial holdings. The scramble
generated tensions and territorial issues among the colonial powers which often
drew them close to war and conflict.
This led to the
major European powers creating a system of military alliances principally
designed to rein in, and maintain effective control over these newly won lands
and territories. The British colonial holdings in Africa for instance stretched
all the way from South Africa to Egypt and a good portion of the Middle East.
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