Question

IALISATION AND SOCIAL CLASSES

The process of industrialization began in Western Europe after about 1700 with bringing

together of large number of labourers near areas of energy and resources to produce

metals, and to operate machines that turned out finished products at a fast pace. By

1900 when big amounts of money began to be required for industry to operate on a

big scale, we see the growth of capitalist industrialization. Capitalism derives from

the word capital, meaning8u
accumulated wealth and property, and those people who

have capital are called capitalists. Capitalists were directly engaged in industrial

production, trading, administration and banking. By 1900 most of Europe, America

and Australia had undergone capitalist industrialisation.

The wealth and property of capitalists came either from trade and commerce or from

expropriating the property of small owners. On the other hand were people-men,

women and children-who worked in factories and who did not have any property and

were dependent for their livelihood on their labour for which they got wages. Be-

tween them was a large majority which even in 1900 was not property less wage

earners, but which could not be called wealthy. Many were members of the salaried

middle classes: teachers, doctors, engineers, clerks, and in other services.

Most people by then also believed that the existence of such classes is normal and

would continue to remain so, and that the majority of people would accept these

inequalities as their situation improved. They saw that the transfer of wealth from

colonies would allow some benefits to go to the working people as well in the Euro-

pean countries. This did happen to some extent by 1900, and most people lived

better than their grandparents had. But there were also difficult periods of

unemployment.

By 1900 Asian and African cities like Bombay Shanghai and Dakar also contained

large numbers of businessmen, shopkeepers and other sections of middle classes, as

well as industrial wage labourers. But population here was greatly outnumbered by

landlords, peasants and agricultural labourers in the surrounding villages.

It is important to keep in mind a few other facts about capitalist societies in 1900.

Much of the raw materials and markets for European economies came from the

colonies, and this relationship was also one of inequality: it was not an equal

trading relationship. Within European societies landlords were no longer the

Answer 1

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