Socialism and the Industrial Revolution

1. World History II – September 2012

2.  Industrialization created two new classes
 Industrial middle class Industrial working class
 Good for middle; bad for working – factory conditions,
hours, pay, etc.

3.  This system was called capitalism!
 An economic system based on private ownership of the
means of production (factories, machines, and tools
used to create wealth)
 Free trade and lack of government regulation

4.  People started questioning the merits of capitalism
because only the wealthy seemed to benefit
 They promoted that the means of production should
be operated by the people who did the work or by the
government
 “Utopian Socialism”
 All members of the society would share in the work and
the profits
 Many said this was unrealistic
 Too idealistic
 Wanted to build within existing society

5. Karl Marx (1818 – 1883)
 German philosopher
 moved to Paris, Brussels, London
 Observed the plight of the working class
 Wrote for a series of radical newspapers promoting
socialism
 Frequently borrowed money from his friend and
colleague Friedrich Engels

6.  1820 – 1895
 Son of a wealthy German cotton
manufacturer
 Observed plight of the working class
while managing a factory in London

7.  Economic determinism
 All cultural (social), political, intellectual activities are
the product of the society’s economic organization
 All of history is the struggle for resources
 Class antagonism has been simplified to
 Bourgeoisie – those who own the means of production
(industrial middle class)
 Proletariat – those who sell their labor to the producers
(industrial working class)
 Five Essential Stages of Human Society

8. 1. Primitive hunting and
gathering societies
 no extra wealth
 no private property, social
classes, class struggles, or
even the need for
government
2. Slave societies
 rich ruling class
 oppressed underclass of
slaves

9. 3. Feudal society
 noble class of landowning
lords
 oppressed class of serfs
4. Capitalist society
 rich class of factory owners
(bourgeoisie)
 oppressed class of factory
workers (the proletariat)

10. 5. Socialist society
 run by the workers
 no private property, and thus no social classes or class
conflicts.
 “Dictatorship of the proletariat”