Labor Movement, Socialism, and the French Revolution
Home of the Labor Movement
Home of the labor movement: They built their own organizations and claimed the first steps to remedy the injustices caused by capitalism. The proletarians responded by spreading Luddism, attacking and destroying machines. Many workers were executed. Luddism began disappearing when many workers realized that the source of the problem was not machines, but the capitalist system. They started a workers’ association. The first arose among workers in the same factory. English legislation banned the associations.
Unionism: Its origin was the creation of a statewide association, which increased with Robert Owen as a businessman.
Chartism: The germ to form political parties that defend the rights of workers. They demanded universal suffrage, secret ballot, and a salary for the parliament.
Socialism
Utopian Socialism: This doctrine advocated public ownership of the means of production and distribution change. Utopian referred to the proposed models being perfect but unrealistic. Its creators had these common points: bourgeois origin, being philanthropists, and believing in human goodness.
Key Movements and Figures
- Luddite: A social movement that emerged among workers in the 19th century that prevented the introduction of machinery in factories.
- Robert Owen: A U.S. entrepreneur who founded an association called New Harmony. This was a cooperative farm where private property did not exist and was organized democratically. It failed.
- Phalansteries: Agricultural colonies and industrial cooperatives where everyone was free to choose and change work.
- Chartism: A political and social reform movement in the United Kingdom whose name comes from the *People’s Charter*, which reflected its principles.
Marxism and Anarchism
Marxism: An analysis of society and the economy of his time, offering solutions that could be implemented. Karl Marx criticized the capitalist economy and socialist practices. The economy was the foundation of society, from which everything else stemmed. The bourgeoisie appropriated surplus value in capitalist society.
Surplus Value: The benefit beyond that which generates the wages of the worker, and the work is in the hands of the capitalist.
Anarchism: A revolutionary doctrine that defends freedom and rejects all authority. Bakunin’s aim was to achieve the common good by destroying the state, believing that a revolution was necessary to end the state.
The International Workingmen’s Association (IWA)
IWA: It was created in London in 1864 by workers’ associations. They were organized into sections and had a national general council headed by Marx. Internal disagreements led to open confrontation between Marx and Bakunin. Bakunin accused Marx of being dictatorial. Industrial countries supported Marx, and agricultural countries supported Bakunin.
The French Revolution
The French Revolution begins with the onset of the contemporary age and introduced liberalism: separation of powers, limited monarchy, legal equality, class society, and economic liberalism. The engine of the revolution was the bourgeoisie. The revolution spanned 10 years (1789-1799).
Key Assemblies and Conventions
- Constituent Assembly: Measures taken included the abolition of feudalism, suppression of the estates, tithes, and feudal dues. They made a declaration of rights, established a constitutional monarchy, divided the country into provinces and territories, and authorized divorce.
- National Convention: A Republican regime that exercised executive power in France, which began with a constituent assembly.
- Jacobin Convention: Adopted a new constitution that established popular sovereignty and universal male suffrage. It adopted the new calendar that marked the beginning of the republic.
- Girondin Convention: They punished supporters of Louis XVI for treason. The execution of the monarch would give impetus to a European anti-revolutionary coalition.
- Bourgeois Conventions: This marked the end of the most exalted and democratic stage of the revolution. It was a triumph of the bourgeoisie, consolidating the gains of the revolution. Napoleon, successful for the French army, had a great reputation. He starred in a military coup and created the Consulate, formed by three consuls.