Chapter+23+(The+Mass+Society+in+an+Age+of+Progress)

//Note: This is taken straight from the Study Guide, AS ALWAYS!//
 * Chapter 23 (The Mass Society in an Age of Progress):**

After 1871 the nations of Europe were preoccupied for a quarter of a century with achieving true national unity, adjusting to the economics of a second industrial revolution, and adapting to the realities of rapid urbanization. Despite the rise and acceleration of international rivalries and animosities, they were simply too busy to fight amoung themselves.

During this period inventions based on steel, electricity, and the internal combustion engine led to a new industrial economy which changed the nature of markets and created a true world economy. Women found new opportunities for gainful employment, yet they were also often seduced into rings of subservience and prostitution. Socialist parties, with a more moderate form of Marxism, began organizing for action through trade unionism and political action. Europe suffered the birth pangs of a new age.

Mass society was born. The European population increased dramatically through better sanitation and diet, yet emigration prevented overcrowding. Class divisions continue to dictate styles of living, and women of the upper strata were encouraged to pursue a cult of domesticity, yet this age also saw the dawn of female conciousness and of birth control. The amount and quality of education increased in order to provide a better-trained work force and a more intelligent voting public, and there arose more oppurtunities to enjoy life through leisure activities. The European nations moved in two opposite directions. In Britain and France liberal parties increased democratic participation in government, while in Germany,Austria, and especially Russia, monarchs held to their powers with stubborn abandon. The times were changing, but it was not clear what the looming new century would bring.