Age of Empire 5-8

In chapter 5 Hobsbawm begins to discuss how industrialization caused social changes in the industrialized countries. It was now easier than ever for people to find jobs since no skills were necessary for labor. People were simply put into factors and taught how to do a simple task to produce a finished good. These people were oppressed though because of how easily they could be replaced due to the lack of skill now involved. Because of this oppression labor unions and organizations began to form and demand more rights such as a minimum wage, 8 hour work day, and safer working conditions. These ideas took hold in some countries, like Russia, much more strongly than others and their government was eventually created around these ideas.

In chapter six Hobsbawm discusses the emergence of nationalism throughout Europe and the rest of the world. This lead to these countries becomig more militarized and would eventually errupt into the first world war. What I found interesting about this part is that in my Russian history class we learned that any time the majority of the population was unhappy, the Tsar would lead the country into a war to make people unite and stop being so angry. This brings the argument that these countries began to become more nationailistic in order to help calm the growing anger of the working class people who were being treated very poorly. This is also a good question is nationalism an effective way of causing peopel to forget their major troubles and unite? or is it just delaying the inevitable?

The next chapter talks about the bourgeousie and their new role in society. They began developing the leisure lifestyle and this allowed for things such as sports, fashion, and eventually consumer technology. These people were the first to be able to afford cars, enjoy movies, and live sort of how we live today. This also allowed for women to begin fighting for rights and becoming more independent in these societies. The last section talks about how women became more free and began to express themselves. This chapter is great for showing how women rose up and eventually gained the right to vote and become more independent and free.

This part of the book was interesting because it showed a lot of the background for major events in the early 20th century. Events such as the first world war, womens suffrage, and the social movements of the working class are much easier to invision after seeing the reasons for their cause. I also think the push for nationalism while trying to keep the working class in line is very interesting, after learning about it in Russia I did not realize that most of Europe and even the United States also took part in these methods of keeping people from starting an uprising. Do you think that wars such as Iraq were used in this way at all? Also how big of an impact do you think the bourgeosie of the early 20th century had in shaping the way we live today?