In examining the influence of industrial development on the nineteenth-century European community, I argue that the outcomes were mostly negative. The quick move towards industrial development resulted in substantial societal and socioeconomic upheavals, including exploitative behavior, gentrification, and expanding class inequities. Based on findings from classroom sessions and historical materials including the Sadler Committee paper, I will demonstrate the negative consequences of industrial development on labor laws and quality of life. Furthermore, I will look at the way the rise of the communist ideology, as explained in Karl Marx’s key publication “The Communist Manifesto,” was a reaction to the inequities caused by industrial development, emphasizing its detrimental influence on European civilization.
The shift to industrial development triggered an upsurge of upheavals in European humanity but the advantages went overwhelmingly to the rich and powerful, whereas ordinary people endured oppression and deplorable living circumstances (Sadler, Committee). For instance, the Sadler Committee research gives persuasive documentation of the harrowing life that factory and mineral extraction employees experience, such as exploitation of children, lengthy shifts, and unsafe workplaces. Such situations not solely jeopardized employees’ physical and mental wellbeing but also generated social dissatisfaction and sparked clamor for revolution. The growth of industry caused considerable shifts in gender relations and familial arrangements. As men flocked to cities in search of factory jobs, women and children were progressively lured into the labor market. Although it created money-making possibilities for a few, it likewise exploited women and children and forced them to labor in cruel settings. Women, for instance, often worked in garment factories under harsh circumstances and were paid less than males (Dragostinova, Industrialization and its Discontents). The confessions of workforce members, as well as the Sadler Committee’s conclusions, illustrate the significant disparity that exists between the extravagant lives of the capitalist aristocracy and the miserable situations of the labor force, demonstrating the harmful effects of industrial development on the fundamental components of European civilization (Sadler, Committee).
Additionally, the consequences of industrial growth went past the economy, changing social institutions and accepted practices. The emergence of capitalist industry weakened conventional definitions of social connection and brotherhood, substituting them with abstract market-based relationships (Dragostinova, Industrialization and its Discontents). As an illustration, the encirclement campaign in Britain removed farming populations from their property, compelling them to relocate to cities in pursuit of work. Such displacement of standard occupations and social relationships increased sentiments of estrangement and disorientation within the workforce group, compounding the detrimental effects of industrial growth on European civilization.
Moreover, Karl Marx’s critique in “The Communist Manifesto” explains how capitalist society led to systematic inequities and detachment among the working class. Marx claims that the capitalist method of industrialization fosters exploitative behavior and class strife, impoverishing the average worker population. For example, Marx contends that as capitalism progresses, the wealthy class gains prosperity and authority at the cost of the working class, increasing societal differences and generating an atmosphere conducive to a transformation (Marx, The Communist Manifesto). Most Europeans who lived through the turmoil of industrial growth were drawn to the communistic philosophy because it promised to remedy the inequities and disparities that characterize the capitalist structure. Industrial growth resulted in extensive oppression, and impoverishment, and instability in society, prompting people to doubt the equitable nature of the current capitalist system. Communism proposed a novel model of a community in which the means for producing goods are shared by everyone and the income is split evenly among every person in the population. Such equality in natural concept appealed to individuals considered disenfranchised and exploited by the capitalist structure, offering the possibility of an increasingly fair and just society (Marx, The Communist Manifesto). Furthermore, communism created an atmosphere for united resistance and camaraderie among employed people, allowing them to oppose the control institutions that continued their enslavement.
Furthermore, industry accelerated the gentrification of European metropolitan areas, resulting in overpopulation, environmental damage, and social instability. For instance, expansion of manufacturing hubs like Manchester led to an inflow of farming migrants pursuing work in manufacturing facilities and mills. Nevertheless, the uncontrolled growth of metropolitan regions resulted in insufficient living space, bad sanitary practices, and widespread economic hardship. The hardship faced by the urban proletariat was presented in modern documentation, including Friedrich Engels’ “The Condition of the Working Class in England,” which recorded the awful housing conditions and disparities in society endemic in manufacturing centers (Levack, Effects of industrialization). The wretched urban surroundings generated by industrial growth highlight the transformational system’s detrimental influence on European humanity, heightening societal conflicts and eroding the wage-earning class’s standard of living.
In conclusion, industrialization in the nineteenth-century European continent brought about dramatic change, yet the bigger proportion of the people suffered. Exploitation, disparities, and societal dissatisfaction typified this age, as proven by employee testimonials, investigating committee conclusions, and the study of philosophers such as Karl Marx. The development of Communist ideology as an answer to such inequalities emphasizes the adverse effects of economic growth on European civilization. Notwithstanding its contribution to socioeconomic progress and technology advancement, industrial development adversely impacted lifestyles and income generation of most people, sustaining social disparities and fueling anger among those in the labor force.
References
Dragostinova, T. (2021, February 12). Industrialization and its discontents. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4oyc5dpw_4
Levack. (n.d.). The Industrial Revolution.
Marx, K., & Engels, F. (1848). Manifesto of the Communist Party.
Sadler. (1832). Sadler Committee Report.
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