Second Industrial Revolution: Industry and Social Change

The Second Industrial Revolution

Countries involved: USA, Germany, France, Britain, and Japan.

New Industries and New Powers

New power sources replaced coal, namely electricity and oil. During this era, skyscrapers and bridges were built, alongside the development of the electric train, metro, and tram. Key inventions included the telephone and the radio. The chemical industry flourished, producing petroleum, rubber, dyes, artificial coloring, dynamite, and celluloid. Banks became a key element of the economy, acting as lending companies and intermediaries between individuals and businesses.

New Production Systems

• Taylorism: This system divided work into small, specialized tasks. Each worker specialized in a specific task and received a salary proportional to the work completed.
• Fordism: This system passed products from one operator to another through an assembly line.

Impact on Population and Cities

Demographic Growth

• A sudden decrease in mortality.
• An increase in fertility.

Migration to Cities

This demographic shift produced an intense process of urbanization. In the second half of the nineteenth century, new neighborhoods were planned with high-quality houses, orderly streets, and all kinds of services. These areas, which we call suburbs, were where the bourgeoisie and middle classes lived.

Transoceanic Migrations

Most European immigrants migrated to other continents, especially to the Americas (specifically the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Argentina), as well as Australia and New Zealand.

The Emergence of a Class Society

Legal Equality and Real Inequality

People became divided into social classes, and traditional estates disappeared. Social classes were differentiated by wealth, rather than by birth privileges as had happened under the Old Regime. Broadly speaking, we can distinguish between the upper, middle, and lower classes. Before the Industrial Revolution, society was structured by estates; afterward, it transitioned into a class society dominated by the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.

The Decline of the Aristocracy

Aristocracy: A form of government or social structure where power is held by the upper classes of society, which began to lose its traditional dominance during this period.

The Middle and Lower Classes

The Proletariat

Proletariat: These workers labored in factories in exchange for a wage, performing tasks that required little qualification. They received low wages, and women and children especially worked in unsafe environments. They had no social security in case of illness, unemployment, or retirement. Their salaries were entirely spent on everyday expenses; therefore, they were unable to save money.

Agricultural Laborers

Laborers: Farmers working on poorly mechanized estates. Their earnings were scarce, and they lived a miserable life.

The Rise of the Workers' Movement

Key Movements and Ideologies

• Luddism: A movement of workers who protested against poor living conditions by destroying machines, which they blamed for their economic situation.
• Trade Unions: Associations formed by workers to defend their collective rights.
• Marxism: A socialist theory named after Karl Marx.
• Anarchism: An ideology advocating for a society without social classes or laws, where everything belongs to everyone and nothing belongs to anyone in particular.
• The Workers' International (AIT): The International Workingmen's Association.
• The Second International: An organization of socialist and labor parties.