Changes in Europe Between 1870-1939

Politically, the period between 1870 and 1918 was characterized by international stabilization. Alliances between the so-called central powers--Germany, France, and Austria-Hungary--were forged using the diplomacy of Germany's Otto von Bismarck. Tensions began festering, however, as a rising number of German elite, opposed to a foreign policy of stabilization, supported Pan-Germanism.

In terms of economics, Europe found itself in the midst of what has been dubbed a "double revolution," during the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution in England and the socio-political revolution in France occurred rapidly and simultaneously during the first half of the 19th century. The result of these simultaneous developments was the transformation of the European world system.

The industrialization of Western Europe had a profound impact on Eastern Europe. To sustain its rapid development, the West required incr

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the autocratic political system, the rule of militaristic absolutism, came to seem ever more flagrant anachronisms." As a result of capitalistic development, a transformation of the class structure occurred in Eastern European society. To the ruling elite was added a new bourgeoisie sector, consisting mainly of German-Jewish financiers and industrialists. Foreign-born groups were added to the gentry middle classes. To the intelligentsia, which had formerly consisted of professional civil service individuals, was added Jewish middle-class entrepreneurs. Changes were also evident in the peasant societies of Eastern Europe. With industrialization, the fate of peasantry was questionable. They were hampered in rising in social class by the military-official gentry. Most of the peasants were landless, without political power, and unable to attend school or obtain professional employment. This transformation of class structure created a social crisis in Eastern Europe: "This inevitability of crisis resulted in no small measure from the discouraging effects of failure and partial success, than from the impossibility of making any progress at all." The East European social crisis soon turned radical. One of the ideologies of
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Approximate Word count = 3413
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page)