France Germany and Russia history

Running head: FRANCE, GERMANY, AND RUSSIA HISTORY
The Most Significant Changes That Took Place Within Europe Over The Period From 1500
Through The Cold War.
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FRANCE, GERMANY, AND RUSSIA HISTORY
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Introduction
History of Europe covers, the culture, politics and the economic foundation of the
European continent from the prehistoric times to present. There are many events occurred
during the ancient times in Europe and the world in general. Some of these developments had a
massive impact on the history of Europe while others did not make any difference. Most of the
European countries began building their countries from the early 1500s. It is at these times that
political empires were being founded, most countries strived to archive economic glory through
international trade, colonialism, and industrialization. Due to this fact, there was a significant
dispute over power. Even though many European countries went to great length to maintain and
balance power, there are times that political conflicts spanned out of control and resulted in war.
Many countries were involved in the struggles of power and wealth, but the most affected
countries in the prehistoric times were Germany, Frances and Russia. These three countries
relations date back to prehistory times, and they have had many conflicts. One of the major ones
resulted in the First and the Second World War when German declared war on France that took
place in the year 1914 to 1918 and 1939 to 1945 respectively. With relevant examples, this essay
is going to identify and examine the two most significant changes that took place within Europe
from the year 1500 to 1990 after the cold war.
When discussing Europe history, one cannot fail to mention; the French Revolution and
the World War one. These two significant events bounded many changes that occurred in the
19th Century. The French Revolution was partly pushed through by Napoleon so as to expand
the French empire. It took place from the year 1789 to 1799, and it triggered the global decline of
absolute monarchies replacing them with liberals and republics (Hoffmann & Livesey 2002).
The French revolution is regarded as the most important events in history (Linda and Marsha
FRANCE, GERMANY, AND RUSSIA HISTORY
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2004). On the other hand world, war one split all the world’s superpowers (Willmott 2003) into
two opposing alliances. Of all the changes brought about by these events, the most significant
changes were the industrial revolution and Social Upheaval.
Industrial revolution
The industrial revolution is the period in which countries were adopting new
manufacturing process; from hand production to machines. Industrial revolution occurred from
the year 1760 to around 1820. The change in manufacturing process improved efficiency and
increased the overall yield. It was closely linked to a small number of innovation that began in
the late 18th century (Bond & Gingerich 2003). Most European countries used steam power and
water power to run their machines, they started producing more technical products from
Chemical, Iron, and textile. The textile industries were one of the first industries to adopt the new
production method. Industrial Revolution marks a major change in history; it improved almost
every aspect of daily life in one way or another. Besides that industrial revolution had a
significant impact on the economy of the European Nations.
Economic Effects. In the background of modern Europe in the year between the 1780s
and 1849 was the radical economic reformation that adopted the first wave of the industrial
revolution. The industrial revolution paved the way for a stable economic growth. The
Europeans countries started experiencing significant economic changes, and these changes
resulted in a tremendous increase in population. From the year 1750 to 1800 a fifty to a hundred
percent increase in population was recorded, these were mainly because of the use of the
improved food crops and the decline in epidemic disease. Population growth in this size forced
changes, the poor in society had to other forms of paying job and the rich also had to come up
with new ways of taking care of their large families.
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Before the industrial revolution, most countries had mainly focused on family and
agriculture. Many of the workforces were either employed or self-employed as farmers and land
owners. After the industrial revolution, many towns started embracing manufacturing and mining
activities. As a results new factory areas were established in different distinct regions; many
people started changing jobs and moving to such centers to seek employment. For example,
France set aside areas around Rouen, Lille, Roubaix and Alsace as cotton millers. Also in
Germany area of Aachen, Krefeld and Saxony were reserved for textile manufacturing. The
living standards of the people in this period was also affected, and the poor suffered a severe
reduction in living standards.
Urbanization. The industrial revolution also lead to urbanization, and this was as a result
of growing commercialization, new industrial technology, expansion of roads and the
construction of railways. Urban centers served as marketplaces where manufactured goods could
be traded for either money or other assets. Small villages such as Ruhrgebiet in Germany rapidly
grew into large urban centers. Due to the rapid growth of urban centers, the number of people
started growing steadily producing hardships, for sanitary facilities and housing stocks. The
security of this urban centers started dwindling with time even though the streets were fitted with
gas lighting facilities.
In contrast to the urban centers, the rural life seized to change. It took time for full-scale
technology revolution to take place in the countryside. Nevertheless, people from the countryside
were not left out, and the factory-made tools were able to be spread evenly. They were able to
increase their harvests by using advanced tools such as scythes; Scythes were more productive
than the previously used tool. Large estates began introducing newer equipment, for example, a
seed drills.
FRANCE, GERMANY, AND RUSSIA HISTORY
Social Upheaval
The massive change of economy in Europe resulted in a large-scale social consequence
during the 19th century. The essential aspects of the day to day life change and the concept of
work was rapidly redefined. The weight of the change depended on various factors such as,
social status, working and living status. The heavily hit were the factory workers and the land
laborers. The wage laborers the way of work changed; many people worked under the
supervision of others. Rules were also set on factors such as the textile factories, and this rules
forced the workers to be on time and stay at their station rather than moving around and idling.
The rules were enforced by foremen who worked under direct orders from the owners of the
factory. The intensity of work increased; people had to match their speed with that of the
machine this frustrated most of the workers. The other social classes such as the middle-class
people shifted their nature of work. The factory owners and the wealthy merchants began
changing their work ethics. They increased the work hours to 14 hours a day so as to increase
their profits. They barely gave a thought to the factory workers because they believed that he
who was meritorious and should prosper.
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FRANCE, GERMANY, AND RUSSIA HISTORY
Reference
Bond, E., & Gingerich, S. (2003). The Industrial Revolution – Innovations. The Industrial
Revolution – Innovations. Retrieved January 30, 2011, from Industrialrevolution.sea.ca.
Frey, L., & Frey, M. (2004). The French Revolution. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Hoffmann, S., & Livesey, J. (2002). Making Democracy in the French Revolution. Foreign
Affairs, 81(2), 187.
Willmott, H. P. (2003). World War I. New York: DK Pub.
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