WHAT EUROPEAN SOCIETY WAS LIKE IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY - HISTORY - 2025

European society (English, Swiss and German) in the first half of the 19th century went through many changes framed in the Industrial Revolution and was not left out of the great movement that affected all aspects of human life. The Industrial Revolution began in the second half of the 18th century and had an impact on the world stage for decades.

In European society (and throughout the world) political revolutions were seen, with the advance of imperialism and new ideas of pact with the working class to prevent it from taking over. For this, a restricted system of election of powers was created that later gave way to universal suffrage.

The Industrial Revolution was fundamental to the social dynamics of the 19th century in Europe. Source: Private Collection

Medicine advanced by shedding its past of magic and mysticism to allow the development of science. The large number of wars and revolutions - together with the migrations that this generated - caused such overcrowding that diseases spread and it was necessary to respond; preventive medicine and the public health system were born.

Fields of knowledge and the arts such as architecture, philosophy, painting and music, among many others, were influenced and benefited from the changes proposed by the main representatives of each of these areas.

The 19th century filled the arena with names like Beethoven, Alfred Nobel, Thomas Alba Edison, Nikola Tesla, the Lumiere brothers, Louis Pasteur, and Charles Darwin, among so many who could be named.

What was European society (English, Swiss and German) like in the first half of the 19th century?

English society

England in the 1800s was no more than a rural and agrarian society. All of this changed when Queen Victoria came to power. This monarch was the longest lasting in her reign (64 years, to be exact) and left a legacy of advancement and industrialization in all her domains.

Naturally, these changes did not happen smoothly and with little consequence.

On the contrary, different epidemics ravaged the lands of England, sowing death and desolation in their wake; In addition, there was a shortage of basic products due to lack of production and distribution. All of this led to a huge economic debacle that had to be faced.

If to this we add the many social unrest demanding food, medicine, equal rights and the restitution of certain laws (established during the Napoleonic wars), we will have a not very encouraging outlook for an incipient monarchy. However, time showed that none of these problems represented an insurmountable barrier.

Political and economic spheres

The kingdom of Great Britain was in permanent war during this century, and the form of internal management caused an increase in both tension and conflicts with its colonies in South Africa.

As the century progressed, the bicameral parliament became a more liberal one, with political reforms aimed at extending the right to vote.

In the midst of the Industrial Revolution, England experienced an exponential growth in its requirement for raw materials, such as wood and coal and heavy materials such as iron and steel. This generated that new markets were opened and that more manpower was required.

The creation of railways to previously isolated cities allowed new economies to come into play, which undoubtedly generated feedback and growth.

Swiss society

Switzerland, as we know it today, was the fruit of the union of diverse territories amalgamated by the common interests of their regents.

Since the year 1000 of our era, after the fall of the Empire of Charlemagne and the entry of the territories into the feudal system, Switzerland evolved into a Confederacy that was recognized as independent at the end of the so-called 30 Years War.

In the 19th century, Swiss soil was occupied by French revolutionary troops and a considerable number of battles were fought from which the Helvetic Republic was born, over and above the canton system that prevailed up to that time.

In the middle of the 19th century, and after Napoleon Bonaparte intervened to abolish the Republic, the Federal State of Switzerland was born. He wrote his own Constitution and founded a federal parliament.

German Society

Like its Swiss counterpart, the Germany that is presented to us today was born as a melting pot of conquests, immigrants and invasions of different territories that centuries ago were dominated by empires such as the Roman and, later, by that of Charlemagne.

Once the Carolingian Empire disappeared, the reign of the Saxon dynasty emerged. This lineage controlled different duchies, such as that of Bavaria and others. At the head of these territories was the King of Germany, crowned Emperor of the Germanic Roman Empire.

When the last king of the Empire abdicated, the need to create a single national state began. This was not easy because at that time interests were divided between forming a state with a limited number of territories or integrated by all those German-speaking people.

Over the decades the Congress of Vienna emerged to redefine the boundaries of the nations that made up the dissolved Empire, as well as the Germanic Confederation, the German Parliament, and the German Constitution.

The daily life of European societies in the mid-nineteenth century

Most of the Europeans of that time could be described as Puritans because of their staunch moral values, their fanaticism for work, their initiative for saving and their duties related to faith.

Despite this, there were marked differences and women were relegated to the background, always at home and dedicated to caring for their children. They spoke of social classes and a high or aristocratic class, a middle or bourgeois class and the proletariat appeared.

However, like most societies throughout history, at that time there was a double standard and prostitution, abuse and a myriad of vices occurred in parallel to all this moral discourse.

Optimism

It is striking that in this period of history there was an extremely optimistic view of life. The basis of this was the economic growth product of the Industrial Revolution.

This abundance allowed us to have more time to socialize, travel and learn about other cultures; It is not surprising that places for outdoor meetings, such as the well-known cafes, began to proliferate then.

These changes in the social sphere also echoed personal hygiene, hygiene and clothing customs, for which reason the networks of running water and served water were expanded in most of the main cities.

In those cities the bourgeois - who now devoted time to exercise and elite sports - no longer wore the elaborate costumes and tangled wigs, but did use soap and perfumed waters from the famous German city of Cologne.

References

1. Miranda, P. “Society and work during the XIX century. Social utility as an economic problem ”in Network of Scientific Journals of Latin America and the Caribbean. Retrieved on March 7, 2019 from the Network of Scientific Journals of Latin America and the Caribbean: redalyc.org
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3. "History of Switzerland" in Wikipedia. Retrieved on March 10, 2019 from Wikipedia: es.wikipedia.org
4. "History of Germany" in Wikipedia. Retrieved on March 10, 2019 from Wikipedia: es.wikipedia.org
5. "History of Switzerland" in Swiss Info. Retrieved on March 10, 2019 from Swiss Info: swissinfo.ch
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