I.               Age of Mass Politics

A.     Key Trends

1.     Universal Male Suffrage

a.     Between 1871 and 1914, most European countries extended the franchise to working-class men.

b.     Universal male suffrage led to the creation of mass political parties.

2.     Trade Unions and Socialist Parties

a.     Trade unions gained rights and played an increasingly important role in Great Britain, France, and Germany.

b.     Workers supported socialist political parties in many European countries.

3.     The Welfare State

a.     Demands for reform by socialist parties and labor unions persuaded European governments to begin enacting legislation to help lower classes. These programs laid the foundation for the welfare state.

b.     It is important to note that a desire to counter the growing strength of socialist parties motivated many of the reforms.

B.     Great Britain

1.     Peaceful Reforms

a.     The Franchise Act of 1884 extended voting rights to rural male laborers. By 1914, 80 percent of Britain’s male population was enfranchised.

b.     Parliament laid the foundation for the British welfare state by establishing a system of health and unemployment insurance.

C.     Germany

1.     Social Welfare Programs

a.     During the 1880s, Germany became the first European country to develop a state social welfare program.

b.     Otto von Bismarck’s social welfare legislation included programs for health insurance, accident insurance, and a system of old-age and disability pensions.

c.      Bismarck wanted to prove that a state was a benevolent institution and not an oppressor. He hoped that his social welfare programs would secure the loyalty of workers to the new German empire.

2.     William II (r. 1888-1918)

a.     William I died in 1888 at the age of 90. His grandson, William II, became the new German Kaiser Arrogant and impulsive, William II was determined to rule on his own.

b.     William II forced Bismarck to resign in 1890. During the next 14 years, he expanded Bismarck’s social reforms. At same time, Germany’s economic and military power continued to grow.

D.    Russia

1.     Autocracy and Repression

a.     The assassination of Tsar Alexander II ended Russia’s brief period of reform.

b.     Both Alexander III (r. 1881-1894) and Nicholas II (r. 1894-1917) were committed to the traditional policies of autocracy, orthodoxy, and Russification.

c.      Both tsars encouraged anti-Semitic attacks on Jews. Russia was the last European state to eliminate legal discrimination against Jews.

2.     Political Movements

a.     Russia’s program of rapid industrialization spawned a wide range of political movements.

b.     The Constitutional Democrats or Kadets wanted a constitutional monarchy.

c.      The Social Democrats worked for economic and political revolution. In 1903, the Social Democrats split into two factions. The Mensheviks favored gradual socialistic reform. Led by Vladimir Lenin, the Bolsheviks advocated a communist revolution spearheaded by a small elite of professional revolutionaries.

3.     The Revolution of 1905

a.     Russian losses in the Russo-Japanese War exposed the weaknesses of the autocratic regime and led to increased unrest.

b.     On January 22, 1905, Cossacks opened fire on a peaceful crowd of workers outside the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. The “Bloody Sunday” massacre provoked a wave of strikes and demands for change.

c.      Nicholas II reluctantly approved the election of a Russian parliament or Duma.

d.     Nicholas stubbornly refused to work with the Duma, insisting that it become an advisory rather than a legislative body.