History 121D2

Gradual processes were taking place at various times throughout

various places on the European continent

Mid-19th century European industrialization was concentrated to
Britain, Germany, parts of France, around Prague, Northern Italy,

and Belgium
Europe was a continent of peasants
The continent is overwhelmingly rural
In 1800, England was already in

industrialization
In 1800, 79% of the population of Britain was rural
Scotland was 83% in 1800
Belgium was 86 % rural
France, Portugal, Prussia, Denmark, the two largest portions of
the

Austrian

Empire,

Russia,

and

the

process

Scandinavia

of

were

early

also

incredibly rural
In 1850, England had hit 50% rural/50% urban
Scotland was 55% rural
Prussia and Denmark were still around 90% rural
Prussia was going to become one of the largest industrial powers

in the near future

Russia and much of the Austrian Empire didnt change much; still

around 95% rural

The US was still around 70% rural in 1850
In Dusseldorf and the Austrian province of Bohemia, the two
most industrialized areas farmers still had rural populations of

45% and 55%

Europe was vastly agrarian
Relations were centered around kinship and power was centered
around land

The main factor of power and wealth was how much land

someone had
Power was mainly established on a provincial level
In 1810-1820, urbanization begins its dramatic rise
In France, Spain, the Italian states, Switzerland, portions of the
western German states, feudalism was abolished by the French

revolution
Very often these areas were conquered by Napoleon
Feudalism was still visible in labor relations on the land
Liberalism prevailed on the land, which meant that in theory,

anyone could farm the land if they had the means to do so

That is a far cry from saying that in these lands the peasants

owned their own property

Peasants were not tied to the land, they could leave and seek

other employment
The eastern lands of the Hapsburg dynasty and the smaller
principalities

of

the

Ottoman

empire

were

not

affected

whatsoever by the French revolution or Napoleon

These Eastern lands retained some form of feudalism
Most peasants were serfs
A medieval system of serfdom enslaves the majority of the

peasants
They were required to work without compensation for their noble
lords, they couldnt farm freely, and they couldnt leave the land

without their lords permission

Economic relations were based on compulsion
In areas like the Russian empire, Transylvania, and in the
Austrian province of Galicia, this compulsion entailed the liberal
use of corporal punishment

In 1813, Prussia drives out the French and institutes a wide

variety of liberal reforms

Romania was the last country to abolish its serfdom in the 1860s
In the West, free market prevailed
In the center, labor relations were largely freed, but peasants still
paid feudal dues to the lords, and they could buy out of these

obligations with a one-time cash payment

In the east, Feudal relations still governed agrarian life
Europes population begins to grow
Famine and disease were historically the large determinants of

the size of populations

Famines start to decrease in size and strength
Europes population went from 140 million in 1800 to 266 million

in 1850; 401 million in 1900

Europes share of world population was 23% in 1850 and around

25% in 1900
Immigration also starts to increase across Europe
Southern and Eastern Europe see the largest numbers of

emigrants
In 1750, North America had 0.1% of the worlds population; by

1900 it was 5.1%

Most of this growth is coming from overseas immigration
Central and South American share of world population 1750 1.5%

to just under 4% in 1900

Population in Europe is increasing, but the birth rate is gradually

declining
There is a huge decline in the infant mortality rate (0-5 years of

age)
The last great European famine was between 1816-1817
Krakatoa erupted in Indonesia in 1816 which led to a cold
summer and a dramatic increase in crop failure

The Irish potato famine in 1846-1847 was combined with a

number of crop failures in Europe

Famine was seen worst where agricultural practices were still

traditional and where revolution was taking place

Corn and potato were the largest changes to the food supply in

the 19th century

They provided much more calories and were less prone to

disease
Prior to the 1840s, the only country to largely industrialize was

England
In 1851, London holds its first international exposition
This is not to say that there was no industry on the continent
Industrial activity was far less important in Europe than

agriculture
You could find steam engines in Europe, but they were limited to

a few regions in a few industries

Most manufacturing and harvesting was still done by hand and

most of the people employed tended to be skilled artisans

Northern and Northeastern France, through Belgium, and into
Northwestern Germany, the German state of Saxony and the
Austrian province of bohemia were largely industrialized and

steam engines could be readily found

Textiles and metalworking were the primary industries that used

steam power
The most common form of manufacturing was a system of
outwork where people worked out of their homes for a merchant

capitalist
The merchant would give his workers the supplies and return to
pick up the goods

Scissors, razors, leather goods, hats, toys, etc. were all made via

this putting-out method

In the first half of the 19th century, this system increases

dramatically
These outward networks only decline in the second half of the

19th century
There were millings of artisans working for small-scale industries
These artisans tended to live in cities and work in male trades
Outworkers were very heavily female
Trades would have a more set career path
Guilds were groups of master organizations
Older guild members typically owned their own businesses
These people even set output prices for their craft
Guilds were abolished in France in 1791 and continued to be

abolished in any area that Napoleon had conquered

Master craftsmen would still create these societies in religious

communities
Revolution sweeps the European continent in 1848 and skilled

artisans were often at the forefront

Seasonal migrants would come work for a period and then return

home
These workers had no skills to sell and were looked down upon

by skilled craftsmen
Domestic service was the largest employer of women in the 19 th

century
In many cities, these unmarried women were coming from non-

rural backgrounds
There is a burgeoning middle class in the 19th century
There is an emerging bourgeois conception of the home and the
hearth and a womens place in it

Given the continued domination of agriculture, the primary

source of land continued to come from land ownership

The nobility sought to return to the level of living they

experienced before the French revolution

No matter where they lived, the language of the aristocracy was

French
The greatest interests were in politics, literature, and the arts
These land-owning families constituted significant political power

and were the elite

In the East, the elite still retained much of their feudal status
In France, there were still 150,000 of these great notables
The upper ranks of the aristocracy were wealthy landowners
Lower than that were the merchant capitalists
And still lower than that were the manufacturers
In the west and the south, membership to the aristocracy was

open to anyone with money

Here you could find ancient noble families, land owning families,
aristocratic families, and people who became wealthy and

bought themselves noble status

Most of these people were vineyard owners
Wealth and power were concentrated in hereditary aristocracy in

the East
Cities were much more scarce as you moved east across the

European continent
There was not a rising merchant or bourgeois class in the East
In Berlin, roughly half of the merchants were Jews
In Galicia, Jews were a large minority, and Bratislava was

dominated by German speakers

Nobilities in the West had been a small proportion of the
population

In the 1840s, fully 6% of the Hungarian population held noble

status
If you count only the Magyar population, then 12-14% held noble

status
In areas which have mass nobility, there is huge income disparity
These areas had a peasant nobility, as the peasants here were

much better off than other peasants

There is a large amount of economically middle class individuals
In the East, that version of the middle class was either lacking, or

made up of outsiders
The growth of the bourgeoisie was arguably the single most

important factor in 19th century European history

This created new forms of government, brought down the power

of the aristocracy, and increased the importance of wealth

Industrialization produced colossal forces that enable

peasants to achieve power

The middle class had broken the monopoly of the machinery of

government
All European rulers must wrestle with this new social class by
new representation or by enacting new legislation, or both

the