Age of Social Change in Europe

Introduction

The French Revolution ignited the need for change in the society of other European countries with the ideas of liberty, equality, and democratic rights. The circulation of these ideas all over Europe created hope for people of other countries to raise their voices against the tyrannical, autocratic rulers and inspired them to start nationalist movements in their countries for changing the social structure.

But the ideas of social changes varied across European countries, some wanted transformation of the society at a slow pace whereas others wanted to change the social structure radically. These variations in the approach of the change led to the emergence of different political traditions such as conservatives, radicals, and liberals.

Social change

The social change brought out by the French Revolution spread all over the world and created hope to dramatically change the way in which society was structured. The demand for change in European society invited different political trends, including liberals, conservatives, and radicals.

Liberals

The group of people wanted to have a changed society, in which equality should persist between different religious sects and the nation should be religiously tolerant. They were critics of the excessive control of hereditary rulers. These liberals also believed that the rights of individuals should be protected and they asked for an elected representative form of the government free from the influence of rulers and higher officials in terms of interpretation of the laws by an unbiased judiciary.

Although liberals favoured the idea of equality, they were different from Democrats as they never spoke for the universal adult franchise. They rather wanted the right to vote to be confined to the propertied men of the society and not to women and lower strata(poor).

Radicals

The radical was another section of the society that also asked for a change in the social structure but their approach to change was very different from the Liberal. They wanted the government to be elected by the majority of the population. They promoted the idea that voting rights should be given to women as well, i.e., the women's suffragette movement. They were against the concentration of power in a few hands of the propertied class, therefore, radicals criticized the privileges given to land and factory owners because this was creating a disparity in society. In a way, radicals wanted to have to change the fundamental nature of the social structure.

Conservatives

This section comprised the ruling class, which initially opposed the idea of ‘change’ recommended by liberals and radicals, instead, they preferred the status quo i.e, things should remain the same. But after the French Revolution, they were ready to change but at a slow pace and wanted to preserve some of old institutions with respect to the past.

Hence, this different ideological basis for social change influenced world politics in the nineteenth century.

Social Change in Europe

During the nineteenth century, European society had undergone a change with many socio economic changes. This was due to the coming up of new cities with the development of industries and industrial regions and railways, caused by the Industrial Revolution. On the one hand, this industrialization boosted the European economy and on the other hand, it affected society as well. This resulted in the migration of people to newly formed cities to work in factories. They had to work for long hours with poor wages. Unemployment became common (if the work in the factory was seasonal or duration-based), and this also led to health and sanitation problems.

Seeing the terrible plight of workers, radicals and liberals continuously demanded change, because some of these themselves were the property owners and employers. They wanted the advantages of Industrialization should reach to all sections of society instead of only the propertied ones. And they also believed that a healthy and educated workforce could make the economy more prosperous. But they had problems with the old aristocracy and Conservative regime, which came to power in 1815, and this regime was not letting liberals and radicals, to run their industries the way they wanted. As a result, the revolutionaries from different European countries like France, Germany, Italy, and Russia made efforts to overthrow the prevailing monarchs.

Implications

Two major implications of the social change in Europe, during the nineteenth century, were −

• The rise of Nationalism − The social change in Europe popularized the idea of nationalism. New reforms were introduced for the welfare of the people and their conditions improved. Now the nationalist movements did not remain confined to Europe only. In fact, the development of social changes started occurring in European colonies.

• The coming of Socialism − Socialism started rising in Europe, which saw the existence of private property as the root cause for all social evils. In this system, properties and factors of production were expected to be under collective owners. Here, they dreamt of a classless society. Socialists criticized the capitalists who were only interested in their own profit and not at all bothered about the welfare of workers. Thus, capitalism was seen as exploitative of workers.

Conclusion

Post-French Revolution during the nineteenth century, revolutionary ideas started floating all across Europe. As a result, people started raising their voices to get rid of the old social structure, in which power was associated with a few privileged sections of society. This led to a wave of social change in European countries, where people asked for a change in society in different ways, which came to be known as, liberal, radical, and conservative approaches. And with the coming of the Industrial Revolution, the change in the societal structure speeded up. Ultimately, these changes led to the rise of nationalism and socialism in Europe with the downfall of monarchs and privileged property owners.

FAQs

Q1. What was Industrial Revolution?

Ans. The Industrial Revolution refers to the large-scale production with the establishment of factories and machinery. It led to the transformation in the mode of production from creating goods manually to machinery.

Q2. Why did radicals want a fundamental change in society?

Ans. The radicals constituted the members of the lower section of the society, who had been exploited by the upper section for a very long time. Therefore, they wanted to discontinue such classification of the society, wherein the lower class was always deprived of all kinds of privileges.

Q3. Who propounded Socialism?

Ans. The idea of socialism was propounded by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

Q4. What do you understand by capitalism?

Ans. Capitalism is an economic system in which factors of production and industries were owned by private groups or individuals and not by the state.

Q5. “The social change is necessary”. How far do you agree with this statement? Explain.

Ans. Yes, I agree with this statement that ‘’social change is necessary”. As it is evident from the social change in Europe, that reshaped the social structure of European countries from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century. This change is inevitable and it allows citizens to take a necessary stand against the wrong in society by removing inefficient elements. In a nutshell, societal change empowers citizens, so they can make a better society for future generations.