(^138) › STEP 4. Review the Knowledge You Need to Score High
• The farther east, the faster the process occurred (because innovations could be copied or
purchased, rather than invented and developed); for example, France industrialized at a
faster pace than Great Britain, Germany faster still, and Russia fastest of all.
• The farther east, the more the government was involved (because governments feared the
political and military effects of falling behind their rivals, they invested heavily in indus-
trialization); for example, there was no government involvement in the industrialization
of Great Britain, some in France, more in Germany, and in Russia industrialization was
almost totally government driven.
• In France, government took the form of investment in canals and railroads. Within the
German states, the government also developed protective tariffs on imports and reduced
internal trade barriers (as with the Zollverein union and Frederich List’s National
System) to spur internal economic development.
Uneven Development
By 1850, large-scale industrialization had spread to northeastern France, Belgium, the
northern German states, and northwestern Italy. The southern, central, and eastern areas
of Europe—such as Italy, Poland, and Russia—lagged behind due to insufficient natural
resources and the lack of a commercialized agricultural system that would allow for a
mobile workforce. These areas retained their rural character.
Russia lagged behind until two successive tsars—Alexander III (1881–1894) and
Nicholas II (1894–1917)—determined that Russia should become an industrial power.
In 1892, Alexander III appointed Serge Witte finance minister. Under Witte’s leadership,
Russia became an iron- and steel-producing nation. By the end of the nineteenth century,
factories had arisen in Moscow and St. Petersburg. By 1904, the construction of a trans-
Siberian railroad, which linked the European portion of Russia with the far east of Russia,
was nearly completed.
Social Effects of Industrialization
The Second Industrial Revolution transformed European society in significant ways:• Urbanization increased rapidly, as the population moved into hastily built housing in
cities to be nearer to the factories.
• Families were separated, as the place of work shifted from the home to factories.
• Work lost its seasonal nature, as workers were required to follow a routine schedule.
• The pace of work, driven by machines, increased dramatically.
• The overall health of the workforce declined because of the harsh and unhealthy condi-
tions of the factories.
• The availability of work became unpredictable, as it rose and fell with the demand for
goods.
• Gradually, women who had first been drawn into cities to work in the factories lost their
manufacturing jobs as machines decreased the demand for labor; cut off from their fami-
lies, many had no other option than domestic service, or even prostitution.
• Artisans and craftsmen lost their livelihoods, unable to compete with the lower cost of
mass-produced goods.
• The traditional impediment to marriage, which was the need for land, disappeared and
people began to marry younger.
• A much greater portion of the population could afford factory-made goods.17_Bartolini_Ch17_133-142.indd 138 27/04/18 1:55 PM