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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 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: • 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
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
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
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
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
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
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