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Triumph of the West European Bourgeoisie

Triumph of the West European Bourgeoisie. Section 11.57. Introduction. Mid 1800s was the Golden Age of the Bourgeoisie Older French meaning of the word was: Not nobility Wealth generated from business or profession, or ownership of property After 1830 it took on new meaning:

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Triumph of the West European Bourgeoisie

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  1. Triumph of the West European Bourgeoisie Section 11.57

  2. Introduction • Mid 1800s was the Golden Age of the Bourgeoisie Older French meaning of the word was: • Not nobility • Wealth generated from business or profession, or ownership of property After 1830 it took on new meaning: • Viewed by upper crust as uncultivated, only interested in making money • Viewed by social theorists as “the employer” • Difference between nobility and bourgeois is blurring • Difference between bourgeois and labor is becoming accentuated

  3. Stake in society theory • Those who govern should have something to lose • France -1 in 30 voted • England -1 in 8 • England had tradition of Tory leadership • Tory leadership fought against industrialists (traditionally for landed interests) • Labor class benefited • France the aristocratic interests were less public spirited • less was done to relieve the condition of labor • lost most of its influence by 1830

  4. Influence of the Bourgeois Age • Western Europe continued to accumulate capital • Little of the profit went to labor leaving more in savings of Bourgeois • New financial entities emerge (corporations) • Factory system spread from Britain to the Continent • Output of iron is increasing (a good index for economic growth) especially in England • Railroad building • Exportation of capital • British own $200,000,000 of stock in American companies

  5. The Frustration and Challenge of Labor • Bourgeois Age leads to the estrangement of labor • GB and France= what Marx called a committee of the bourgeois class • Underclass is restless • Radicals and Republicans felt cheated by Rev of 1830 • Forced through reforms in government and did not get the vote • Started to seek extragovernmental means of achieving ends • The labor market (according to the Manchester School) • Governed by ‘natural laws’ • laboring class sells labor • bourgeois class buys labor (wage) • if labor is in demand wages rise • if labor is not in demand wages fall and workers live on relief • Entrepreneurship is only way out of labor class

  6. The Frustration and Challenge of Labor Poor Law of 1834 • Unfavorable to the working poor • Idea was to make relief more unpleasant than any job • Sexes segregated, called ‘Bastilles’ by workers • Did nothing to protect employees from cyclical market forces Left workers with 2 options: • Form labor unions or turn to socialism • Labor unions were illegal in France, barely legal in GB (strikes illegal) • Socialism= alternative economic model • goods are produced for use not sale • people are compensated according to need not according to the requirements of an employer

  7. Socialism and Chartism • In France socialism blended with revolutionary republicanism • Robesspierre’ egalitarianism popular again • In England socialism blended with parliamentary reform (Chartism) Charter of 1838 (of the Chartist) • Anti-capitalistic • annual elections in HOC(to win over the working class) • universal suffrage all adult males • secret ballots • equal electoral districts • abolition of property qualifications for membership in the House of Commons • payment of salaries to elected members of Parliament • Contradicts ‘stake in society’ and property qualifications • Charter is submitted with 3 million signatures and rejected by Parliament (50% of male population) • Chartist movement has limited success • Mines Act of 1842 and Ten Hours Act of 1847 probably would not have passed • Lack of response from the government causes the Chartist movement to turn toward labor movements and unions

  8. By 1848 • no stabilization had been achieved • No international system was created • Europe was fallen into two political camps Western • liberal, national, capitalistic Eastern • autocratic, opposed to nationality, agrarian • West still has unresolved social problems and will soon be faced with revolution

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