Summary HIST 1C: Chapter 23-29 Notes

Western Civ

Chapter 23 (1870­1900ish)
 Leopold II: King of Belgium (1865­1909) who sponsored the takeover of the
Congo in Africa, which he ran with great violence against native peoples
o Initiated competition with France for control of that area, bringing terror
and violence to the native peoples
o Symbolizes the “scramble for Africa” and Europeans going after the raw
materials in Africa escalating tensions in Europe
 Outwork: The nineteenth­century process of having some aspects of industrial
work done outside factories in individual homes
o Industrialization production occurring simultaneously in homes and
factories
 Capital­intensive industry: A mid­ to late­nineteenth century development in
industry that required great investments of money for machinery and
infrastructure to make a profit
o Replaced labor­intensive production, which relied on the hiring of more
workers
o Huge unemployment, more poor workers economic crisis
 Impressionism: A mid to late­nineteenth­century artistic style that captured the
sensation of light in images, derived from Japanese influences and in opposition
to the realism of photographs
o Showed the West’s ongoing borrowing from around the globe, while
responding to the changes brought about by industry
o Also a response to photography, artists trying to distinguish their art from
the photographic realism of the camera
 New unionism: A nineteenth­century development in labor organizing that
replaced local craft­based unions with those that extended membership to all
kinds of workers
o Nationwide groups with salaried managers who could plan a widespread
general strike across the trades, focusing on common goals and also
paralyzing an entire nation through work stoppages
o Had potential for challenging large industries, cartels, and trusts
 Reform Act of 1884: British legalization that granted the right to vote to mass
male citizenry
o Enfranchising many urban workers and artisans and thus further
diminishing traditional aristocratic influence in the countryside
o Liberal and Conservative parties alike established national political clubs
to build party loyalty opened up politics by appealing to many more
voters
o Contributes to the rise of mass politics in Britain
 Charles Stewart Parnell: Irish politician (1846­1891) whose advocacy of home
rule was a thorn in the side of British establishment

, o “Home rule” in exchange for Irish votes remained a heated political issue,
even after Parnell was discredited
 Home rule: The right to an independent parliament demanded by the Irish and
resisted by the British from the second half of the nineteenth century on
o Idea persisted and became a heated political issue in the British
Parliament, sign of the determination to end Ireland’s colonial status
o Issue would become contentious and violent later on
Review Questions:
 What were the goals of the new imperialism, and how did Europeans accomplish
those goals?
o Goals
 Obtain raw materials—shift from slavery in the New World to
administrative control in Asia and Africa
 Get new markets for business
 Increase national pride—conquering foreign territory and
developing wealth through industry appeared to heap glory on the
nation­state. National pride depends on getting something (carving
up of Africa)
o Tried for political control of the Mediterranean, where they could profit
through trade and investment Suez Canal
o Would take control of governments and reshape the economy to produce
specific things that benefits Europeans (Egypt)
 Would flood Asia and the Middle East with cheap goods, driving
artisans from their trades and into low­paid work building
railroads/processing tobacco (beneficial to Europeans)
o Conquest of Africa, and division of the continent at the Berlin conference
 How did empire and industry influence art and everyday life?
o Success in manufacturing and foreign ventures created millionaires and
the expansion of a professional middle class and the development of a
service sector meant that more people were affluent enough to own
property see some of the world, and give their children a quality education
o More migration
o Profits from empire and industrial growth added new members to the
upper class because of their members’ wealth, education, and social status
distinction between aristocrat and bourgeois became blurred, as
monarchs gratefully bestowed aristocratic titles on wealthy businesspeople
and as aristocrats financed global business ventures
o Women devoted themselves to raising children and directing staffs of
servants
o New machinery sped up work to an unrealistic level, but workers did not
receive more money
o Increased welfare state­type programs in new cities