Europe in the Belle Époque, 1871–1914519to the census of 1910, the dominant German popula-
tion of Austria constituted less than 24 percent of the
total population, and the Magyar population of Hun-
gary added slightly more than 20 percent; that is, the
majority of the people living in the Austro-Hungarian
Empire were neither Austrian nor Hungarian. More
than 10 percent of the empire was Polish, inhabiting
the northeastern provinces of Galicia and Silesia. The
northwest contained a large Czech population (nearly
13 percent) in the provinces of Bohemia and Moravia;
adjacent regions in the Hungarian portion of the em-
pire held large Slovak, Ruthenian, and Romanian popu-
lations (16 percent of the empire). In the south, the
Habsburgs still governed an Italian minority (2 percent)
and expansion into the Balkans had acquired a large
population of southern Slavs—Slovenes, Croats, Bosni-
ans, and Serbs—(nearly 13 percent). The ethnic mix-
ture of the empire was further complicated by religious
divisions: Slightly more than three-fourths of the popu-
lation were Catholic (including splinter churches), with
large minorities of Protestants and Orthodox Christians
(nearly 9 percent each) plus significant populations of
Jews (4 percent) and Moslems (more than 1 percent,
concentrated in the Balkans). The Jewish population of
the Austro-Hungarian Empire represented more than
26 percent of the world population, second only to
Russia’s 37 percent; Vienna had a Jewish population of
175,000 and Budapest was the largest Jewish city on
earth with 203,000 Jews (23 percent of the city). The
ethnic divisions of the empire made the dual monarchy
a volatile society, and the consequences of this would
soon be tragedy for Europe.
The Rise of Trade Unionism
and Socialism
In addition to nationalism, the Belle Époque faced the
problem of responding to the consequences of continu-
ing industrialization. A second industrial revolution
during the later nineteenth century shared many char-
acteristics of early industrialization. It saw rapid popula-
tion growth, steady urbanization, and an agricultural
revolution sufficient to feed the cities. But many
changes also were evident in the new industrialization.
The European economy overcame the dominance of
Britain. Germany (and the United States) matched
British industrialization, and many countries were suffi-
ciently industrialized to compete effectively. The foci
of industrialization also changed: Steel replaced iron at
the center of heavy industry, electricity began to re-
place steam as the source of industrial power, and new
industries such as the chemical industry challenged the
preeminence of textiles (see illustration 26.4).
The population boom that accompanied industrial-
ization affected the entire continent of Europe, but it
had special importance in central Europe. In 1800 the
states that later formed Germany had a combined pop-
ulation of 18.5 million people. This was larger than the
population of the Austrian Empire, the Italian states, or
even Great Britain, but it provided few competitive ad-
vantages. France dwarfed the German states with a
population of 26.9 million. By 1900, however, the Ger-
man Empire had experienced the population explosion
and grown to 56.4 million, while neighboring FranceIllustration 26.4
The Second Industrial Revolution.
European industrial growth in the late
nineteenth century was characterized by
the growth of new industries such as the
chemical industry, by the increasing use
of steel instead of iron, and by the arrival
of new sources of power such as electric-
ity. The era of practical electrical power
began in the 1880s, but steam remained
the dominant source of power into the
twentieth century. This photograph of a
German factory shows a moment in the
transition to electrical power: Light bulbs
are being mass-produced, but they are
still being handmade by glass-blowers,
then individually inspected.