Introduction | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 |
Didactics | Learning process | Visual aids
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TO THE RHYTHM OF THE FACTORY
The Development of Industrial Society in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries – On Part Two
Mareike KÖNIG
The industrialisation of Europe in the nineteenth century not only affected all areas of the economy; it also fundamentally changed societies with a lasting effect. Part Two of the textbook succeeds in clearly depicting these changes in all their diversity. The depiction of the economic and societal processes as separate from politics, however, proves to be at times disadvantageous for an understanding of the situation as a whole.
Economic Development (1780–1939)
If a history textbook intends to deal with economic developments, the authors duly find themselves confronted with the challenge to portray solid events without disappearing into a fog of numbers and statistics. The multiple-perspectives approach employed by the Franco-German History Textbook proves to be an advantage in this respect too, as it allows the authors to depict general economic processes together with the specific economic developments of the individual countries, which often took place in succession, without repeating themselves.
The first section of Chapter 15 on economic development focuses on the origins of industrialisation, which are explained using the example of the situation as it was in England at the beginning of the process. Here, industrialisation began earlier due to the formation of capital, the increase in population, England’s open attitude towards technical innovation and the somewhat weaker state regulation of the economy in comparison to the situation on the European mainland. In France it began in 1830; in Germany from 1840, encouraged by technical innovation and the elimination of customs barriers with the founding of the German Tariff Union in 1834. The important position of the railway as the motor of industrialisation is emphasised by an illustration (p. 86).
One of the consequences of these processes was that the factory gradually began to replace the workshop. This did not happen without affecting the organisational structure of work as well as the lives of the employees. Although the Franco-German History Textbook explains this development well by pointing out the devaluation of many manual occupations that had previously been highly reputed, for instance, the section on the ‘Rhythm of the Factory’ (p. 86) and the resulting industrial workforce in the period from 1830 to 1870 does not come to life. The supplementary illustrations and the extract from the factory rules and regulations of a machine factory and iron foundry in Berlin-Moabit from 1844 do little to improve matters. The reason almost certainly lies in the overly strict separation of economic, societal and political processes. Accordingly, the impoverishment of large portions of the population as a result of industrialisation remains unmentioned. The key term ‘pauperisation’ is dealt with elsewhere (p. 22), as is the evolution of the Workers’ Movement. A search in the chapters on the economy for information on contemporary critics such as Karl Marx will remain fruitless. All this may be a result of the textbook’s structure, which deals with politics, economics, culture and colonialism in separate chapters; however, it would have been quite simple to provide at the very least an indication of the relevant chapters in the textbook, thus rendering the connections between its various sections more easily identifiable.
The third part of the chapter on the breakthrough of industrial society explains the technological and structural changes that led to the highpoint of industrialisation. The mobility of the population, the resulting mass communication and the introduction of electricity into the rapidly growing cities are the corner points of the development here. The more dismal aspects of technical development are only briefly mentioned in this section, with reference to the exploitation of nature and the destructive force of technology as became visible during the course of World War I (p. 88). Here too, one will search in vain for references to the exploitation of the human workforce and to the related development of the social security system. Nevertheless, the subsequent dossier on ‘Taylorism and Fordism’ (p. 90f.) clarifies by means of documents the problems that arose from the modern demands on production and also their effects on the workforce. Here, the effects of ‘living in time with production’ become tangible. It only appears strange that the little space available for the explanatory text is used to point out to the pupils that F.W. Taylor was known under the nickname ‘Speedy’ on account of his attempts to optimise the timing of production (p. 90).
The fourth section of the chapter, which works very well, focuses on the economic crises of the Industrial Age. Short, successive paragraphs describe the three greatest economic slumps of this era. There was an economic upturn in 1870/71 following the Franco-German War, due, amongst other aspects, to the flourishing stock market. The Gründerzeit in Germany – and here the reader is pointed towards the relevant paragraph in the political section on p. 52 – became a synonym for this period. It was soon followed by the Gründerkrise, the effects of which, as we know today from research, were in fact far less dramatic than it appeared to the contemporaries at the time.
The huge economic slump following World War I, primarily marked by dramatic inflation, is given as the second crisis. Here, the focus is placed on Germany and the hyperinflation that began from 1923 onwards; the depiction of its causes and consequences, while brief, indeed does justice to their complex nature.
With the third crisis, the global economic crisis of 1929, the focus is shifted to the USA. Here too, the most important economic aspects are explained briefly, yet comprehensibly and appealingly. In some places, however, the consequences of the crisis in European countries remain somewhat hazy, for instance in the claim that ‘the effects on France were evidently less dramatic until 1931’. It is not clear how the pupils should interpret the ‘evidently’ in this sentence, as there is no further indication as to the truth of this assertion.
The protectionist measures of the British government in connection with the global economic crisis are briefly outlined. Reactions in the USA, however, are depicted in more detail by means of two dossiers (p. 94f and ‘New Deal’, p. 96f). Yet the pupils are not informed here of the political reactions in France and Germany. Although these are dealt with elsewhere in the textbook, the omission is striking. A comparison of the political financial measures undertaken by the USA with those of other countries, as is demanded of the pupils in an exercise on p. 97, is quite impossible without further details at this point. In order to fulfil this demand, the pupils would have to follow the relevant signposts towards the chapter on ‘The Crisis of the Democratic Constitutional States’ some 150 pages later.
The chapter is rounded off with a methodological digression on the topic of ‘Understanding and Explaining Statistical Data’ (p. 98f.). Here, pupils are equipped with the necessary armour in order to comprehend the numerous tables and charts that are generally inevitable in a chapter on economics. At the same time, the limits of statistical data are also pointed out, the latter being described as an ‘approximation of reality’ at best (p. 98).
Societies between Continuity and Change (1815–1939)
Chapter Six deals with the fundamental developments of industrial society, including its swift growth in population, the expansion of cities and the emigration of Europeans. This section also opens with a double page of tables and charts that comparatively juxtapose data pertaining to various countries. This is certainly a useful element for teachers preparing their own classes; alongside the direct comparison there is always the opportunity to deal with the development of a particular country under its specific conditions in greater depth.
The first part of the chapter is entitled ‘Demographic Development and Migration (1815–1939)’. The emphasis is placed on the dramatic demographic growth of the European population, which tripled between 1815 and 1940, mostly as a result of the reduced mortality rate due to better living conditions and improved medical care. This is illustrated by the model ‘Demographic Change’, for which a clear explanation has now been found – unlike in the first volume of the Franco-German History Textbook.[1]
The graph demonstrating the demographic change due to the birth and mortality rates in France and Germany between 1815 and 1900, however, is rather more puzzling. The data are taken from two different sources, thus offering the pupils the opportunity to apply the methods of understanding and critically reading such graphs that they learned in Chapter Five. It remains to be seen, however, whether the pupils will manage to explain why the French lines pursue a steady flow whereas the lines representing Germany demonstrate a dramatic zigzag. As the textbook’s chapters on political developments precede those on the economy and society, one can only hope that at least it might occur to a pupil to ask what is in fact meant by ‘Germany’ in reference to the period in question. The graph certainly provides no information in this regard.
The great migration streams of the 19th century are only briefly outlined. Alongside domestic migration (rural exodus), the various emigration waves towards France and Great Britain in the second half of the 19th century are at least mentioned. Whenever the Franco-German History Textbook deals with emigration abroad, it always speaks of a movement towards the ‘New States’. The box containing definitions explains that this term refers to the independent states of America and Oceania (and not the former GDR states, as one might assume from a German perspective).
The mutual cultural influence as a result of emigration is portrayed as a one-way system at one point in the textbook, which is cause for concern: ‘Due to the European presence abroad before World War I, European culture was radiated across and influenced the whole world’ (p. 104). This is neither correct with regard to migration as a process, nor for colonial history; here, the reader is pointed towards the chapter on colonial history from p. 170 onwards. Some comfort is offered by the fact that ‘mutual cultural influence[s]’ in the context of emigration are correctly mentioned two pages later (p. 106). This sentence should certainly not be repeated in its current state in subsequent issues.
The paragraph on migratory movements during the interwar years is somewhat inaccurate. They may be described correctly as predominantly concerning refugees, yet the examples given remain too brief. The text claims, for instance, that the Turks ‘flooded back’ to Istanbul and Asia (p. 104). Where they ‘flooded’ from and why remains a mystery to the pupils. This is where multiperspectivity can only provide a general impression of mobile societies, rather serving to obstruct a more in-depth study. Only the most popular destination of European emigration – America – is described in more detail. A two-page dossier provides a good portrayal of the motives of migrants as well as the policies of the host societies.
The second part of the chapter explores the changes that industrialisation meant for the rural classes: the abolishment of feudalism, dependence on harvests, starvation and fear of violent uprisings, companies of different sizes and with varying organisational structures and, ultimately, migration to the cities. The picture drawn here does justice to the complexity of rural society and its development, if the individual aspects are hardly – and indeed can hardly be – given more depth. The materials have been selected with excellence, including, for example, autobiographical texts written by rural workers and small-scale farmers as well as by an advocate of serfdom in Russia (pp. 108–111).
The dramatic growth of cities as a result of industrialisation and demographic growth is dealt with in the third part of the chapter. The evolution of a new social hierarchy went hand in hand with the urbanisation process, and was primarily influenced by the emergence of new lower classes in the cities as well as by the new upper-middle classes, who enjoyed possession of the economic power. Together with the considerable rise in population, the new social hierarchy sketched out the picture of the modern city. Comprehensive modernisation measures forced the poorer classes into the suburbs, while the renovated areas of the cities were equipped with electric lighting. In this regard, the text tends to focus to France, not least due to the keyword ‘Haussmannisation’, without however, an explicit reference to such. Here, one would hope for a clearer differentiation in which specific developments are not generalised in the portrayal if they in fact only refer to France. The allocation of particular social classes to certain storeys in the new houses, whereby the upper floor with the maids’ rooms was usually reserved for the servants (p. 112), for instance, was a purely French phenomenon. In Berlin, the servants would sleep in the kitchen, as they always had.
The fourth part of the chapter illuminates the changes in social relationships within industrial society. The information we were hoping for in the chapter on economic development now appears: The lives of the emerging workforce, collective labour agreements, strikes, the emergence of trade unions and social security systems are dealt with here. The focus is placed on Great Britain, France and Germany. The differences in the individual countries are well illustrated by a presentation of the data concerning the emergence of unemployment insurance, health insurance and pension schemes. Nevertheless, this section – as does the dossier on women’s voting rights (p. 122) – lacks an explanation for the different speeds of development; this must ultimately be provided by the teacher from a different source. The table portraying the emergence of trade unions and their various organisation structures in the three countries is highly informative (p. 120). The fact that the development of churches and different forms of worship are dealt with in a separate chapter is worthy of praise. Unfortunately there is no more detailed reference to the rise of the natural sciences in the 19th century; information on Darwinism, for instance, is missing here.
Despite the weaknesses mentioned here, a general assessment of both chapters gives a positive verdict. The texts, which have a strong synthesising effect, are comprehensible and usually do justice to the complex issues in question. The complementary materials are very well chosen; they mostly also demonstrate different standpoints and inspire to a more in-depth study of the topics, providing the necessary information for pupils to deal with exercise questions. In some places, however, a reference back to politics and political measures, as well as to society, is missing. And so it happens that the ‘social question’ is named as a key term in the assessment of the section discussed here on page 126, which indeed I believe it is. It is actually dealt with, however, elsewhere, namely in Chapter Four from page 66 onwards. It will be the task of the teachers to provide the missing links between these two chapters and politics.
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[1] Cf. Wolfgang Krieger’s critique of the complicated explanation of the theory behind the demographic change in the first volume of the Franco-German History Textbook: Wolfgang Krieger, Wirtschaftliche, gesellschaftliche und kulturelle Entwicklungen, pp. 76–81, here p. 80.