Industrialization and Great Britain’s Hegemony.

New energy sources and transformations in industry and communications

Industrial development began at the end of the eighteenth century in Europe, particularly in Britain, as a slow process
that had different pace of progress and diverse consequences in each region. During the first stage of this process, the
use of steam, hydraulic and coal-generated energy was predominant. These sources of energy were applied in the factories
and to promote the new means of transport (trains and steamboats).
The speed with which the changes were made in the second half of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth
century was expressed in the increase in the production of goods and services, as well as in the expansion of the industry
to new regions. Innovative methods and production like the implementation of mass production within the environment
of the industry increased to product offerings in previously unthinkable quantities.

British hegemony
Great Britain dominated international policy and industrial development during the nineteenth century. The economic
prosperity and political stability achieved made it different from the rest of the European countries. In turn, they allowed
him to reach a privileged place in Europe and to be the only colonial power with possessions in all the regions of the
world.
The expansion of this power was similarly driven by an ideology that supported the superiority of the white race
(white supremacy) and the inferiority of the inhabitants of other continents. Supported by these ideas, some groups
claimed that Great Britain had an obligation to bring civilization to other regions inhabited by "barbarians or
underdeveloped " peoples.
In 1885 when Germany convened a meeting of Europe's most powerful countries in order to establish Africa's
distribution with the Berlin Conference, this continent (Africa) was colonized and exploited in a few decades; The
Europeans shared this continent and began a systematic exploitation of their wealth.

Modernization of Japan
In the mid-nineteenth century, Japan was a country virtually closed to the outside. For centuries the Japanese had
remained isolated without any contact with other peoples. However, its territorial location aroused the interest of great
powers. In 1853, the United States demanded that the Japanese authorities open their ports to foreign trade. Due to the
internal crisis experienced and the absence of a strong government, Japan was forced to grant trade privileges to the
United States and other countries.
This situation prompted a profound change in Japan's political sphere. The old imperial power was restored and
measures were taken to confront the power of the western countries and maintain their independence.

The Emperor Mutsu Hito, of the Meiji dynasty, began a process of modernization with a series of reforms in all
areas, which drastically transformed the life and organization of the island and gave it international prestige.
The impact of modernization also transformed the cultural sphere. Education was one of the key factors for this
process.
Financial Capital
The industrialization required for its development of enormous sums of money, which were in the hands of a small group
of people or institutions devoted mainly to the commercial and banking activities. This group concentrated in their hands
the capital or wealth and made decisions about how, where and with whom to use it.
Financial capital was the basis of industrial capitalism, as this new economic system was called, and a
fundamental support for the expansion of imperialism. The investment banks, which concentrated the capital, were
particularly important in this period and were transformed to adapt to the new circumstances; They expanded the services
they offered and regulated the provision of capital for investment.

Social Changes
One of the most relevant consequences of industrialization was the emergence of employment opportunities and a growing
social movement, mainly in the countries of Western Europe and the United States. Society was transformed, and the
social groups that had emerged during the first stage of the Industrial Revolution grew.
In almost all European countries, workers ' associations were looking to end the abuses of employers and owners
of factories or mines. Then the working class started to establish syndicates that were struggling to improve working
conditions and defending workers in conflicts with their employers. The right to strike was one of the first to be conquered
the labor movement syndicates. As of the decade of 1880, the movement began to be heard by the governments of the
major industrialized nations.

Socialism & Anarchism

The workers ' movement was influenced by socialism and anarchism. The first wanted to put the new production systems
at the service of society. It posed to eliminate the private ownership of the means of production (factories, machines, tools,
land, raw materials) and the creation of the social property. Anarchism shared some of the ideas of socialism, but it
supported the need for the disappearance of authority and the abolition of the State.
These ideologies encouraged the creation of political parties that struggled to change the situation of the working
classes. Little by little, although, in an unequal way among the countries, they legislated on the working conditions of the
workers: reduction of the working hours to an average of 60 hours per week; Regulation of child labor, fixed as age limit
of 12 to 14 years; Accident, sickness and retirement insurance were established.

The Multinational States

A multinational State is a sovereign state which is viewed as comprising two or more nations. Such a state contrasts with
a Nation-State where a single nation comprises the bulk of the population. The United Kingdom, the Russian Federation
and Canada are viewed as present-day examples of multinational States, while Austria-Hungary, the USSR and
Yugoslavia are examples of historical multinational States which have since split into a number of sovereign States.
These empires had imposed their dominance on peoples with different cultures and ethnic origin, so they would
be known as multinational states. The conformation of these empires and the authoritarianism with which they were
governed gave origin to national liberation movements that sought defending the freedom and dignity of the individuals
of these countries. The consequences of these movements were different for each empire, but authoritarian regimes in all
cases became weaker and the union of people or the independence of oppressed groups to form new nations.

Unification of Italy & Germany

From 1850, nationalism, would be related to the interests of the social groups which possessed the political power and
sought the creation of a strong Nation-State, which would show its economic and political power before the other nations.
This movement was linked with the imperialist interests and fomented the rivalry between nations, giving way to a series
of conflicts that resulted in the First World War, at the beginning of the twentieth century. The nationalist movements in
the Italian and Germanic states were the best example of this process, since they resulted in their unification and the
creation of national states: Italy and Germany.

Difficulties in America, North American Civil War

Difficulties consolidating countries in America
After they achieved their independence from Spain, most Latin American countries faced political problems and economic
instability. The new governments had a fragile and insufficient state apparatus, which operated in an unbalanced manner
as they faced both internal disturbances and external threats and conflicts.
For decades, the clash of power between various groups was a constant in the newly emancipated territories.
Although political parties were just beginning to organize, in almost every country there was a bipartisan system in which
they generally faced liberals and conservatives. However, the interests of the warlords were those who marked the course
of each nation's policy; Some of these characters, such as Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, in Mexico, passed from one
party to another according to the circumstances through which the country was going through. Likewise, the chieftaincy
and the electoral fraud were habitual in almost all the region.
The Catholic Church, an institution inherited from the colonial system, maintained its power in many countries,
but in others it was severely questioned. In Mexico and Colombia, for example, they fought to end their privileges and
established the separation between the Church and the State, after a long and bloody struggle.
In the next fifty years, once the most serious political conflicts had been overcome, economic activities in many
countries increased thanks to foreign investment, loans and the establishment of a banking network International. This
led Latin America to rely on the great powers, initially from Britain and later from the United States.
The construction of the Latin American Nation - States did not take place at the same time, nor in the same way;
In Peru, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay the process was not less long than in other countries, but it was not
easy either. In the last decades of the nineteenth century, dictatorial regimes emerged in some countries, as was the case
with Ecuador, Paraguay and Bolivia; These governments concentrated power in the hands of a person and applied a " iron
fist " policy against their opponents; They were generally supported by the army and the dominant groups.

American Civil War 1861 – 1865

In the mid-nineteenth century, Americans had achieved progress that was only comparable to that of European countries.
However, they also went through serious internal problems, such as disagreement over the slavery of the Afro-American
population, the struggle between the northern and southern states, or the huge waves of migrants who came to their
territory incessantly.
The promulgation of a number of laws, such as the ban on the trafficking of slaves from Africa and the decision
to grant them freedom, accentuated the differences between the southern and northern states of that country. The
southerners feared that slavery would be abolished, as it was the basis of their economy, they declared secession or
separation of the country, beginning the Civil war in 1861.
This conflict had serious consequences for the population, as thousands of people were killed and the economic
infrastructure, mainly in the south, was destroyed. After four years of fighting the Southerners were defeated and forced
to accept the release of the slave.

Conflicts in the Transition of the Centuries

Armed Peace
Industrialization had a profound cultural and political impact. In this last area, the governments of the most powerful
nations favored the development of the industry dedicated to producing weapons. In addition, the new means of transport
and communications were put at the service of the war, which was reflected in the speed and capacity to mobilize troops,
to transport material of war and to access in a quick way to confidential information. The decades before the beginning
of the war, are known as Armed Peace because the powers were preparing to confront each other, in Europe an atmosphere
of war dominated the environment.

World War I
The problems in the Balkans led international rivalries to their limits and unleashed the long-awaited confrontation. The
pretext for starting the war occurred when the Archduke of Austria, Francis Ferdinand, was assassinated in Sarajevo in
June 1914. Austria-Hungary made Serbia responsible of the act, and backed by Germany declared war on the country.
Russia, France, Great Britain, Serbia, Belgium, formed the side of “The Allies”; Austria-Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria
and the Ottoman Empire formed the other side called “The Central Powers”. Italy, a former ally of Germans and Austro-
Hungarians, became neutral but later joined “The Allies”.
Most thought that the "Great War", the name that at that time was given to the contest, would end soon. However,
the conflict lasted for four years and the fight took place on two fronts. On the Western Front a line of trenches was built
which hindered the advance of the soldiers of both sides; in the east there was a little more mobility of the military forces.
In 1917 the United States joined the conflict on the side of The Allies, due to German aggressions. Russia, on the other
hand, withdrew due to internal problems. The support provided by the US Army gave new impetus to the Allies and
changed the course of the war, which had been dominated by the Central Powers during the first two years. Exhausted
and cornered, Germany was forced to declare its total surrender, thus the war ended in November 1918 with The Allies
as the winners.
Distribution of Middle East
In 1916, the British government took advantage of the growth of Arab nationalism and agreed with its leader to recognize
the independence of the Arab kingdom in the Middle East, if they rebelled against the Ottoman Empire, which until then
dominated this region. By that same year, England and France secretly signed a series of agreements through which the
lands of the Middle East were distributed. France would maintain dominance over Lebanon and Syria and England over
Iraq, Jordan and Palestine.
At the end of the war, England ignored what was agreed with the Arabs and dealt with France with the lands of
the Middle East, as they had agreed. This distribution was legalized by the League of Nations, and for this they created
the system of "mandates" to govern the peoples that inhabited the zone.

First Social Revolutions in Mexico, China & Russia

While in Europe the warmonger environment dominated and the great Powers were prepared to face a major conflict,
driven by nationalist sentiments and imperialist zeal, in other regions there were countries with serious internal problems
that ended up in revolutionary movements.
In Mexico, discontent with the regime of Porfirio Diaz resulted in the beginning of an armed movement in 1910,
which demanded the fulfillment of the political rights embodied in the Constitution of 1857, in addition to the political
demands there were groups that sought to transform other aspects such as land tenure and the situation of peasants and
workers.
In 1917, a revolution erupted in Russia that resulted in the establishment of a provisional government with
Republican tendencies, but that did not fulfill its promise to end the participation in World War I and to distribute the land
among the peasants. Shortly thereafter, this government was overthrown by the Bolshevik movement headed by Vladimir
I. Lenin.

The Influence of Darwin, Marx and Freud

The changes in the world of ideas and science, both in Europe and in America, were the result of the contributions of
different groups and individuals. Among the characters that had the greatest impact on the scientific and social thought
of this period were the English biologist Charles Darwin, the German philosopher Karl Marx and the Austrian
psychologist and neurologist Sigmund Freud.
Charles Darwin (1809-1882) showed from a very young age his interest in natural history. During a five-year
journey, as part of a scientific expedition, by coasts and islands of Africa, South America, and Australia, he put out
information that allowed him to raise, many years later, the theory of evolution of the species through a slow process of
Natural selection.
Karl Marx (1818-1883) dedicated most of his life to denouncing the injustices committed against the working
class or the proletariat. His thought gave shape to the labor movement. Marxism pushed important changes in the social,
political, economic and cultural spheres during the twentieth century.
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) dedicated his life to the study of the human mind and its functioning, the way in
which the personality and the meaning of Dreams are formed.