Industrial Revolution Free Response Essay

Explain how the Industrial Revolution influenced the rise of conservative and liberal philosophies and explain how those philosophies competed with or related to nationalism in Greece and Germany.

The industrial revolution was a historic period in Europe during the time of 1815 to 1848. The major place affected by the industrial revolution was initially England. Other countries, such as France, were not being as industrialized as England was. Factories were allowing workers to work jobs that did not require much skill. Conservatism and liberal ideas, that is, wanting a reign of aristocracy and the idea of doing what is good for the people, prospered because of the Industrial Revolution. Although the Industrial Revolution is thought of as influencing conservatism and nationalism, it influenced the rise of liberal philosophies more than the rise of conservative philosophies; meanwhile nationalism in Greece and Germany contradicted conservative philosophies but was in accordance with liberal ideas.

Liberalism during the time period between 1815 and 1848 was when the people wanted a government like a democracy; they wanted to have a say and they wanted to be kept in mind. Liberal thinkers looked out for the good of the common people. Liberalism was a direct result of the Industrial Revolution because at the end of the industrial revolution, laws were made to protect the rights of workers, and workers were ordered to only work 10 hour shifts. Laws were made on how long children and women could work. Laws also arouse on the amount of money that workers in factories could or should be paid. These laws were made in order to protect all people and maintain their rights. Liberalism is the same idea in that the rights of the people in the state should be a priority. The end of the Industrial Revolution gave leeway to liberal philosophies because people continued to be considered and their opinions continued to matter.

Conservative philosophies were not as much influenced by the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution did give leeway to conservative philosophies, but it did not majorly lead to the idea that the aristocracy should always be the ruling power. It is true that wealthier people owned factories where poor and lower class people worked, but these cotton lords had restrictions because laws were made in order to protect the rights of their workers. They did not maintain complete control over worker’s pay or hours. These conservative philosophies also contradicted nationalism. Conservative believers wanted the aristocracy to rule the state. They believed everything should be done for the aristocracy, and the upper class should be the ones with the power. Nationalism is the want for independent states to rule themselves and have their own government. This is the opposite of conservatism; instead of being rules by the aristocracy, the nationalist thinkers wanted to have an autonomous state that ruled itself and was in control of what happened to their own individual state.

Nationalism was in accordance with liberal philosophies. Liberal thinkers wanted the good of the people to be considered. Nationalist people wanted separate autonomous states that ruled themselves. If there is a state ruling itself, then the good of the people can be the first priority because the ruling forces are making the decisions for their state, and ultimately, for themselves as well. Liberal thinkers would more likely be inclined to want to be ruled by a government of their own state than an aristocracy that has little or no relation to them in order to receive what it is that they deserve. Nationalism is a result of liberal philosophies.

The Industrial Revolution led to nationalism, conservatism, and liberalism, but it did not affect all of these things equally. Liberalism was affected the most, and therefore nationalism was also a result. The period from 1815 to 1848 was a distinct time of change and improvements in Europe. The Industrial Revolution led to changes in Europe and ultimately led to outbreaks and revolutions whose impacts would later cause World War I.

First Draft of Formal Outline

Thesis:

West Germany would have been a stronger country had the Berlin Wall not been knocked down in 1989 because it had to subsidize East Germany's economy.

Definitions:

East Germany - the former independent nation created in 1949 from the area of Germany occupied by the former Soviet Union after World War II. It was reunited with West Germany after the fall of its communist government in 1990.

West Germany - After being defeated in World War I, Germany was taken over in the 1930s by the Nazi dictatorship that led to a policy of expansionism and eventually to complete defeat in World War II. Germany was occupied for a time by the victorious Allies and was partitioned. The western part (including West Berlin), which was occupied by the US, Britain, and France, became the Federal Republic of Germany or West Germany.

Berlin Wall - a fortified and heavily guarded wall built on the boundary between East and West Berlin in 1961 by the communist authorities, chiefly to curb the flow of East Germans to the West. It was opened in November 1989 after the collapse of the communist regime in East Germany and subsequently was dismantled.

USSR - a former federation of communist republics that occupied the northern half of Asia and part of eastern Europe; capital, Moscow. Created from the Russian empire in the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution, the Soviet Union was the largest country in the world. After World War II, it emerged as a superpower that rivaled the US and led to the Cold War. After decades of repression and economic failure, the Soviet Union was formally dissolved in 1991. Some of its constituents joined a looser confederation, the Commonwealth of Independent States

Types of Sources:

Secondary Sources – I have a book specifically on the Berlin Wall that can be used also as a primary source because it had pictures from the years that the Berlin Wall was up. Another book I have to use is A History of Berlin. I have another book about the Berlin Wall that deals with the construction of the wall and what happened after the wall was knocked down. Another book to be used is The Second World War, focusing on WWII that I may use to explain and analyze how Germany was before the Berlin Wall was put up and then knocked down.

The Second World War – John Keegan

The Berlin Wall – Cindy Mur

The Berlin Wall: A World Divided – Frederick Taylor

Primary Sources: I have photographs to use as primary sources. I am also using primary source websites, one being the Chronology of International Events, which was issued by the Department of State in 1941. I also have a speech by John F. Kennedy.

http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/events/events.html

http://www.bartleby.com/33/21.html

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupName=bel71807&tabID=T003&searchId=R2&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=1&contentSet=GALE|CX2687500116&&docId=GALE|CX2687500116&docType=GALE&role=

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/germanunification.html

http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/History/History-idx?type=article&id=History.BackgrndDocs&did=History.BackgrndDocs.i0127&q1=west%20germany

http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/History/History-idx?type=article&id=History.omg1951April&did=History.omg1951April.i0022&q1=west%20germany

1. Allied parties agreed to divide Germany and its capital into four separate zones.

- West Germany was controlled by France, Great Britain, and the United States

- East Germany was controlled by the USSR, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, making it a Communist country.

- West Germany was able to have advanced technology and up-to-date living situations because it

was controlled by advanced countries.

- East Germany did not see the advances in technology prevalent in the United States and Great Britain.

2. The United States Secretary of State, George C. Marshall, suggested Western support for the rebuilding of Europe.

- Marshall thought that food should be supplied, along with other products.

- President Harry S. Truman agreed that an economically recovered Europe would be more politically

stable and would therefore have a less chance of becoming completely Communist.

- West Germany would have to give up money and put forth products to subsidize East Germany’s

economy and get them up to par with the rest of the world.

3. East Germany was a “struggling social experiment” (Taylor).

- The West was booming in pursuit of political freedom and a higher standard of living.

- Between 1945 and 1961, around two and a half million people fled to West Germany.

- East Germany was losing educated professionals and skilled workers.

4. East Germany was governed by people wanted to control every aspect of the East German’s lives.

- “The state was all-powerful, determining where people could live, where they could go to school..etc” (Richie).

- These people were unstable and could not fend for themselves, being governed so closely by ruling powers.

- These people were used to being controlled and may not know what to do with freedom that West Germany experiences.

5. “And let us hear at that time from the two and one-half million refugees who have fled the Communist regime in East Germany. (JFK)

- This displayed that the people were voting for Western-type freedom.

6. German people were hesitant about the unification of East and West Germany.

- “Anxiety concerning the possibility of German reunification has been voiced, from time to time”

(http://chnm.gmu.edu/1989/items/show/324).

- These fears cannot be dismissed because that would be like concentrating too much on

“demarcation” propaganda statements from East Germans.

7. West Germany was not in a good geographical area to be fighting East Germany and its controller.

8. West Germany itself bounced back from an economic decline in 1949.

- Steal industry was prevalent in West Germany.

- February 1951 – economic policy reached a turning point with the Federal Government’s decision

to suspend trade liberalization.

- It was ruled by up-to-date and modern countries, while East Berlin was ruled by Communists who

did not have technological advancements, and East Germans were lucky to have clean water.

Revised Thesis for Term Paper

West Germany would have been a country with a better economy had the Berlin Wall not been knocked down in 1989 because it had to subsidize East Germany's economy.