Changes in Europe Between 1870-1939

The period between 1870-1939 was an era of radical change for East and Central Europe. Throughout the early part of the period, this region developed in response to the Industrial Revolution, with most of the countries becoming peripheral to the core nations of Western Europe. The period of development ended with World War I. The interwar era was characterized by reconstruction, fueled by foreign capital. The redrawing of national boundaries during the early interwar period left East and Central Europe in the throes of societal conflict, a prelude to World War II.

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

Related Essays

Dissolution of Soviet Union: Effect on Europe .... have been profoundly altered by changes in Germany's .... economy thrived and became the leader in Europe. Relations between Norway and Germany have always revolved .... (2850 11 )

August Rodin .... the copies in various cities throughout Europe and on .... all led to protracted embroilments between sponsors and .... fracases over money, demands for changes in the .... (4603 18 )

BRITISH REFORM ACTS OF 1832 AND 1867 This resea .... It alone in Europe avoided revolution in 1848. .... the notion of forming an alliance between the aristocracy .... 1867 were prompted by the enormous changes which took .... (2347 9 )

The Society of Mutual Autopsy .... His distinction between Apollonian and Dionysian tendencies in .... social and intellectual orthodoxy in Europe and America .... upon the vast panoply of changes from the .... (1811 7 )

Guerrilla Warfare .... of thorough going social and economic changes after the .... was, how ever, strongest in Europe, especially so .... and 1919, but the dissension between socialists and .... (7267 29 )

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

Category: History - C