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Period: to
Transformation of Class Structure
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Absolutism
The age of absolutism from 1650-1720. An absolute monarch has total control over a state due to a "divine right" from God. Absolutism was characterized by opulence and extavagant displays of wealth. The portrait of Louis XIV is very representative of Absolutism. The portrait showcases the wealth and extravagance of the time, while also signifying the importance of the single strong ruler. -
The Enclosure Acts
The Enclosure Acts closed lands which had formerly been communal transforming the lands into privately owned, fenced-in fields. Oliver Goldsmith wrote "The Desered Village" a poem about how enclosure was negatively effecting rural life and the greed of the wealthy land owners who gained the privatized land. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173557 -
The French Revolution
The French Revolution (1789-1799) was a peoples revolution in which the much larger third estate revolted against the monarchy. The French Revolution was an incredibly important first step in the destruction of Absolutist monarchy and was a revolution led by ordinary people that helped to tear down the previous class structure. The Political Cartoon shows the Third Estate carrying the Clergy and Nobility on his back signifying the imbalance in society. -
The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a time of great progress and transformation but the terrible living and working conditions of men, women and children in the working class stirred up harsh protest becoming a driving force for political and social reform. Charles Dickens novel "Hard Times" presents a realistic description of an Industrial city in the time of the revolution. In his novel Dickens offers a harsh but true description of an industrial workers life. http://www2.uncp.edu/home/rwb/coketo -
State Social Reform
In Germany Otto Von Bismarck was to pushed to provide workers with domestic policies that would serve as some protection against a possible loss of income. Bismarcks interst in social reform stemmed from his need to sway working-class voters away from the Catholic Center Party and the Social Democrats. In 1883 Bismarck created the Sickness Insurance Law that provided worker with up to eighteen weeks of sick pay. -
Scandinavian Social Democracies
In the 1920s the Scandinavian Social Democracies began creating progressive social services for their lower classes. It wasn't until 1948 with the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that the stigma against "unworthy" people (drunks etc.) utilizing the social services ended. http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/
