Unit 5: Revolutions

"We have now got our steam engine at work, and it is a very noble machine. It operates with a power and regularity that exceeds our expectations. By applying this new force to our machinery, we are no longer dependent on the seasonal flow of rivers to turn our mills."

—Letter from an English factory owner to a business partner, 1785

The technology described in the passage best illustrates the transition during the First Industrial Revolution toward using which of the following innovations?

"Electricity has now entered the service of mankind. The electric current, generated by dynamo-electric machines, will not only replace gaslight in our streets and homes, but will also provide a clean, cheap, and easily divisible power source for small workshops and large factories alike, transforming the very nature of industrial organization."

—Werner von Siemens, German electrical engineer and industrialist, address to the Berlin Electro-Technical Society, 1883

The technology described in the passage most directly contributed to which of the following changes in industrial production during the late nineteenth century?

“Our empire's silk exports have suffered from poor quality and inconsistent methods. By establishing this model factory in Tomioka, the Ministry of Finance intends to demonstrate to our merchants the superiority of Western steam-powered machinery and centralized organization. The young women recruited here—daughters of the former samurai class—will learn these advanced techniques and return to their home provinces to manage new private mills. Thus, the state will lead the nation into the industrial age, securing our independence through economic strength.”

—Excerpt from a government declaration at the opening of the Tomioka Silk Mill, Japan, 1872

Which of the following historical developments in the nineteenth century is best illustrated by the government's actions described in the passage?

Source: The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America, 1776

"We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do."

Which of the following best describes the primary political goal of the authors of this document?

Simón Bolívar, Venezuelan revolutionary leader, Address to the Congress of Angostura, 1819

"Do not choose that system of government which is the most perfect in theory, but that which is the most appropriate to the nature and character of the nation. Montesquieu says that laws should be suited to the people for whom they are made, and that it is a major coincidence if those of one nation can suit another. He also suggests that laws should bear a relation to the physical characteristics of the country, its climate, its size, and the occupation of its citizens... This is the code we should consult, and not the one written for the United States."

Which of the following statements best explains how the passage reflects the adaptation of Enlightenment ideas in Latin America?

Source: José María Morelos, Mexican revolutionary leader, *Sentimientos de la Nación* (Sentiments of the Nation), 1813

"Sovereignty resides originally in the people, and its exercise in the national representation... The laws should apply to all, without exception of privileged classes. As a good law is superior to every man, those which our Congress dictates should be such that they oblige fidelity and patriotism, moderate luxury and impoverishment, and improve the lot and the education of the poor... Let there be no other nobility than that of virtue, nor other distinction than that of merit."

Based on the excerpt, in which of the following ways did Morelos's goals for a newly independent Mexico differ most significantly from the primary goals of the American Revolution?

Source: Excerpt from the British Factory Act of 1833

"Be it enacted that... no person under eighteen years of age shall be allowed to work in the night, that is to say, between the hours of half-past eight in the evening and half-past five in the morning, in or about any cotton, woolen, worsted, hemp, flax, tow, linen, or silk mill or factory... And that no person under the age of eighteen years shall be employed in any such mill or factory more than twelve hours in any one day..."

Based on the source, which of the following best describes the nature of this response to the Industrial Revolution?

"Our hopes for the future condition of the human race may be reduced to three important points: the destruction of inequality between different nations; the progress of equality in one and the same nation; and lastly, the real improvement of man. ... Will all nations one day approach that state of civilization which the most enlightened, the most free, the most exempt from prejudices, as the French and the Anglo-Americans, have already attained? Will the vast distance which separates these people from the servitude of nations subjected to kings, from the barbarism of African tribes, from the ignorance of savages, little by little disappear?"

Marquis de Condorcet, French philosopher, Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind, 1795

The views expressed in the passage are most directly an application of which of the following Enlightenment principles?

Source: Karl Marx, German philosopher and economist, *Das Kapital*, 1867

"Accumulation of wealth at one pole is, therefore, at the same time accumulation of misery, agony of toil, slavery, ignorance, brutality, mental degradation, at the opposite pole, i.e., on the side of the class that produces its own product in the form of capital."

Based on the passage and your knowledge of world history, which of the following actions would Karl Marx most likely support as the solution to the problems of industrial capitalism?

At the Krupp works in Essen, Germany, during the late nineteenth century, older iron-working processes were rapidly replaced. New steel-making converters and open-hearth furnaces dominated the landscape. Overhead cranes, powered by electrical dynamos, moved heavy steel girders across the factory floor, while electric lighting illuminated the workshops for night shifts. The massive quantities of steel produced here were used to construct railway networks, modern naval vessels, and municipal infrastructure.

Based on the passage and your knowledge of world history, which of the following best explains how the technological innovations of the Second Industrial Revolution differed from those of the First Industrial Revolution?

Source: Eduard Bernstein, German socialist politician and theorist, *Evolutionary Socialism*, 1899.

"In all advanced countries we see the privileges of the capitalist bourgeoisie yielding step by step to democratic organizations. [...] The influence of this factor is felt even in the legislation of today. [...] The factory laws, the constitution of public bodies, the democratization of municipal administration—all these are indicators of a progressive development toward a socialist order that can be achieved through peaceful political struggle rather than a sudden, violent revolution."

Which of the following reactions to industrialization is most directly represented by the arguments in the passage?

The following is an excerpt from a commercial circular issued by Jardine, Matheson & Co., a British merchant firm based in Hong Kong, 1845:

'The expansion of our steamship fleet has allowed us to establish regular communication between the new treaty ports of China and our financial agents in Calcutta and London. By utilizing advanced credit networks and bills of exchange, we can now rapidly purchase tea and silk in the Chinese interior and sell British manufactured woolens and cotton goods. This integrated system of finance and transport ensures that capital can be redeployed efficiently wherever the prospect of profit is greatest.'

Which of the following developments in the nineteenth century is best illustrated by the activities described in the passage?

Source: Sergei Witte, Russian Minister of Finance, secret memorandum to Tsar Nicholas II, 1899.

"Because of our slow pace of industrialization, we are increasingly dependent on the more advanced Western nations for manufactured goods. If we do not develop our own iron, steel, and coal industries, Russia will become merely an exporter of cheap raw materials and agricultural products, while purchasing expensive machinery from abroad. To protect our sovereignty and maintain our standing as a great empire, the state must actively sponsor the construction of railroads, support domestic manufacturing, and encourage foreign capital to flow into our industrial sectors."

Based on the memorandum, Witte’s proposals are best understood as a response to which of the following global developments in the late nineteenth century?

Source: Otto von Bismarck, Chancellor of the German Empire, speech to the Reichstag (German parliament), 1884.

'The real grievance of the worker is the insecurity of his existence; he is not sure that he will always have work, he is not sure that he will always be healthy, and he foresees that he will one day be old and unfit for work. If he falls into poverty, even if only through illness, he is completely helpless... From the state’s point of view, it is necessary to help these people and to show them that the state is not merely an institution for the protection of the wealthy, but one that also serves their needs and interests.'

Based on the passage and your knowledge of world history, which of the following best explains the primary political motivation behind the social reforms described by Bismarck?

Source: Excerpt from the Ottoman Constitution of 1876, promulgated by Sultan Abdul Hamid II.

"All subjects of the Empire are called Ottomans, without distinction, whatever religion they profess. The status of an Ottoman is acquired and lost according to law. All Ottomans are equal in the eyes of the law. They have the same rights and owe the same duties towards the country, without prejudice to religion. All Ottomans are admitted to public service according to their fitness, merit, and ability. Every Ottoman is free to practice his religion, provided that it does not disturb public order or shock public decency."

Based on the passage, which of the following political strategies of multiethnic empires in the nineteenth century does this constitution best reflect?

"In order to find a market for its surplus petroleum, the Standard Oil Company of New York has devised a plan to supply the Chinese market with cheap tin lamps. These lamps, known as 'Mei Foo' or 'Beautiful Companion,' are sold at a nominal cost to Chinese merchants and consumers. By distributing these lamps, the company has succeeded in replacing traditional vegetable-oil lamps with kerosene-burning ones, thereby securing a vast and steady market for American petroleum exports. Through this method of directly cultivating consumer demand and managing international distribution networks, the corporation has established a presence in almost every province of the Chinese Empire."
—Based on commercial reports describing the Standard Oil Company's marketing strategies in China, late nineteenth century

Directly reflecting the description above, the business strategy described in the passage best illustrates which of the following economic developments of the late nineteenth century?

"No man has received from nature the right to command others. Liberty is a gift from heaven, and each individual of the same species has the right to enjoy it as soon as he enjoys the use of reason. If nature has established any authority, it is paternal power; but paternal power has its limits... Any other authority than this does not come from nature. It comes from another source: either the strength and violence of one who has seized it, or the consent of those who have submitted to it by a contract, real or assumed, between them and the one on whom they have conferred authority."

— Denis Diderot, French philosopher, *Encyclopédie*, 1751

Which of the following political developments in the late eighteenth century was most directly inspired by the ideas expressed in the passage?

Source: Namık Kemal, Ottoman journalist and intellectual, essay in the newspaper *Hürriyet* (*Freedom*), 1868.

"The fatherland (*vatan*) is not consisting of some imaginary lines drawn on a map. It is a sacred idea resulting from the combination of noble feelings... Are we not children of the same soil? Do we not breathe the same air? The diversity of religions and languages among the subjects of the Sublime Porte should not prevent us from forming a single body. We must strive to preserve this union, for the progress of our nation depends on our mutual love and shared devotion to the state."

Which of the following nineteenth-century political developments is best illustrated by the passage?

Source: Flora Tristan, French activist and writer, *The Workers' Union*, 1843.

"Workers, you must leave behind your division... Union makes strength. You have numbers on your side, and numbers are a great power. ... I propose a general union among working men and women, without distinction of trade, living in the same kingdom; a union which would have for its goal the construction of Workers' Palaces in every district. In these palaces, children of both sexes would receive professional and moral education, and workers who are sick, injured, or elderly would find shelter and care."

Which of the following best describes how Tristan's proposed solution to the problems of industrialization differs from the perspective of revolutionary Marxists?

Source: Adapted from John Aikin, British physician and writer, *A Description of the Country from Thirty to Forty Miles Round Manchester*, 1795.

"The canal navigations which have been executed in this country within the last thirty years, have contributed wonderfully to the facilitation of commerce. The great advantage of these inland navigations is the facility they afford of conveying heavy and bulky goods—particularly coal, iron-ore, and stone—from the interior parts of the country where they are abundant, to the manufacturing towns and ports where they are consumed or exported. By these means, the price of fuel has been greatly reduced, and new markets have been opened for our domestic manufactures, which were previously restricted by the high cost of land carriage."

Based on the passage, the expansion of the canal system in Great Britain best illustrates which of the following preconditions of the Industrial Revolution?