Revolutionary Ideologies (HIST 1301 History)

LIFE AND LABOR IN THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD HIST 1301 | History Revolutionary Ideologies Union organisation evolved independently of politics in both the United States and Britain. Union development, however, was fueled by political ideology in areas like Germany, France, and Russia. Socialism was the main political philosophy that shaped their development. These days, socialism is a political philosophy that supports government control of the means of production. The nineteenth century saw a variety of variants of socialism, each slightly different. The only things that brought people together were their opposition to laissez-faire capitalism, their desire to better the lot of the impoverished, and their conviction that the government ought to handle issues brought on by industrialization and capitalism. Utopian socialism, centred on achieving social perfection, predominated during the beginning of the nineteenth century. Ideal communities built on collaboration and sharing were described by French visionaries such as Henri de Saint-Simon and Charles Fourier. They frequently supported radical ideas like women's rights, free love, and community housing—all of which were thought to be extreme at the time—in their quest to fully transform society. A few reformers attempted to build utopian settlements using these principles. For instance, British textile entrepreneur Robert Owen attempted to implement some of these concepts in the town of New Harmony, Indiana, and the British village of New Lanark, where the workers of his father-in-law's textile mill resided. The people lived in comfortable homes, put in eight hours a day at work, and reared their kids together. Scientific socialism had mostly supplanted utopian socialism by the middle of the nineteenth century. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels popularised the phrase "scientific socialism," which was first used by French economist and philosopher Pierre-Joseph Proudhon to describe the organisation of society in accordance with the laws of reason. The Communist Manifesto, which Marx and Engels wrote in 1848—a year marked by political uprisings across Europe—contains their theories. These revolutions led to the establishment or expansion of men's voting rights in Prussia and France. Men had utilised the right to vote to transform their country by the end of the nineteenth century in both France and Germany (which merged with Prussia in 1871 to become the most powerful German-speaking state). The socialist worldview expounded by Marx and Engels was widely adopted. Marx and Engels thought that conflicts between opposing social classes were what led to historical transformation. During the industrial revolution, the bourgeoisie, who controlled the mines, factories, and railroads that produced riches, and the proletariat, who were the oppressed labourers, would fight it out for control of these means of production. Marx and Engels thought that when the oppressed bourgeoisie revolted and toppled their oppressors, capitalism would be destroyed. At that point, everyone would be treated equally and all property would be owned jointly. Conflicts and divides based on class would disappear. Known as Marxism, this theory served as the foundation for the worldview of those identifying as socialists in the latter part of the 1800s. Marx never made an effort to apply his ideas in real life. Nonetheless, a great deal of labourers used his theories as a foundation for creating political parties and organising unions throughout the Second Industrial Revolution. The International Workingmen's Association (IWA) was established in London in 1864 by socialists. Marx was among the many various kinds of socialists who belonged to the IWA, and disagreements on a wide range of topics quickly developed. While some socialists supported using force to bring about change, others supported using more nonviolent, democratic methods. Social Democrats are a term used to describe people who supported nonviolent tactics. The German Social Democratic Party was one of the biggest and most powerful political parties that supported social democracy. Established in 1875, it promoted legislation aimed at bettering working-class lives, and several members were elected to the German parliament. Reducing the amount of hours people worked was one of their main objectives, and they actively participated in the formation of many trade unions and the enactment of legislation protecting workers. Comparable parties emerged in other nations. 1879 saw the founding of the Federation of the Socialist Workers of France (FSWF). In 1889, the Social Democratic Party of Austria was established. These parties and those that favoured more radical action fought for the support of the working class. The French Workers' Party was founded in 1880 to offer an alternative to the FSWF's preferred, more gradual route to socialism. When it was founded in 1898, the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party brought together several minor socialist groups. In 1902, the Socialist Revolutionary Party was founded in Russia and began assassinating government leaders. Marx's focus on industrial workers was disregarded, and it also attempted to organise peasants. When the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party was established in 1898, the majority of socialist organisations in Russia that had a more traditional Marxist stance joined it. In 1917, the revolution-promoting Bolshevik wing of this party took over the Russian government. The role that the government should play in creating the ideal socialist state was another point of contention among socialists. Marx acknowledged that a government of the workers would be necessary to run society up to the point at which class distinctions and equality were eliminated, but he also suggested that government would finally vanish. A few socialists were afraid that this new administration would only serve to establish another set of oppressors to rule over the populace. They adhered to anarchism, the belief that there should be no government. The Russian revolutionary Mikhail Bakunin was a leading anarchist of the nineteenth century. In 1868, Bakunin became a member of IWA. He disagreed with Marx, nevertheless, over how much of the government should be involved in implementing socialism. His disagreement with Marx resulted in his expulsion from the IWA at its Fifth Congress in 1872. The majority of middleclass and upper-class people disliked and were afraid of socialist and anarchist groups. They felt that by keeping their nations strong and competitive, fostering economic growth, and offering products and services at fair rates, business owners contributed significantly to society. As a result, individuals had a right to get what they considered to be a just reward for taking on the financial risks associated with doing business. They had to pay lower wages than their employees would have preferred in order to do that while maintaining cheap costs. Further, opponents of socialism and anarchism contended that employees had the freedom to accept the terms of their jobs or quit if they were unhappy. Businesses would not take on the financial risks that were essential to the health of the economy if they were prohibited from making a profit. People wouldn't have any motivation to work if they were prohibited from acquiring private property. Nobody profited from acts of violence or property devastation. Workers would be better served by pursuing education, developing frugal and self-discipline habits, and working to improve their own and their children's circumstances than by falling for the falsehoods of demagogues who advocated betraying bosses and conjured up idyllic visions of paradises for workers.