Saturday, August 29, 2009
This week in class we have read about and discussed the revolutions of 1848 in the nations that will be known as Germany once unified. Theses revolutions have been looked at from a political, economic, and social perspective. In my opinion the changing economy of Germany at that period in history was the trigger for much of the revolution. Therefore, the revolution was economic at its core. The middle class of Germany, which has been defined as anyone of independence who owned land and not just those of the bourgeoisie, would be at the forefront of the revolutions. Their need for economic stability would be the stimulus for political and social changes in Germany. The rise of industrial labor in Germany triggered the demise of the guild system and much of the job market for artisans and craftsmen, therefore their economic toil would cause them to revolt."Proud artisans had their livelihood destroyed by power-driven machinery" (A History of Modern Germany, 74). This job market instability increased the poverty in Germany, and this rise of those in poverty would cause alarm for those of the middle class. The middle class saw their position in society dwindling as those struck by poverty continued to rise. The need to survive causes competition to rise and now that the working classes method of survival was beginning to disappear, their only choice of survival would be to revolt. The middle class was made up of much of the college educated elite. While they had a college education, the social order in Germany did not give them many choices of upward mobility without being of noble birth, so of course they would want to see a change in politics. If they were heads of the government then that would allow them more say and possible power beyond the noble classes of Germany. Therefore I believe that the middle classes instigated revolt in order to maintain and elevate their position in society. So with what "appeared" to be liberal constitutions the middle class was able to slightly change the overall economy of Germany by eliminating nobal priviledges and peasant debt associated through the feudal system. Also with this change in economy, the middle class was able to slightly heighten their position in society by making the working and possibly the peasant class indebted to them through industialization.
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This was very clear and well written. It is very unfortunate that the workers and small business owners had such trouble with the factories. It is very equivalent to today's society where we have the huge companies like Wal-Mart or Target that take away so much of the business from the smaller businesses. The factories could produce a lot more product and keep it very cheap in doing so, which is the same way Wal-Mart operates. What I would like to know is how much money were the factory workers making and if it was enought o support their families. Also you can clearly see that the government was helping certain people keep their reputation and power by allowing them to gain more money versus other well-educated, middle class people that just simply could not climb the ladder in society due to their government.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great alternate look at a revolution. Personally, when I look at revolutions, I think of them as socially based, not necessarily economic based.
ReplyDeleteYou kind of have to feel bad for the poor during that time period. Their way of life is being radically changed and they can't really do much to shape how it does change. Even though the Industrial Revolution is (in the end) a good thing, I still feel bad that the artisans and skilled craftsman had their livelihood ripped from their hands.
A nice analysis of how economic changes affected the middle class and created both anxiety and opportunity for that group. Certainly political changes such as constitutions and the end of feudal privileges opened new doors for the German middle classes but industrialization also posed new problems and threatened old securities and identities.
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