Late 19th Cen Western Mind
Late 19th Cen. Western MindThe late 19thC brought about many changes to the world. Along with new indutries, new sources of energy, and new goods; came the Second Industrial Revolution. This in turn led many people to believe that material progress meant human progress, and that advances in science and technology would solve all of socities problems.
Most Westerners in the late 19thC continued to believe in the values and the ideas of the Scientific Enlightenment. Reason, science, and progress were still important ideas that were held on to, but a dramatic change in beliefs and culture challanged many of these assumptions. The new views of a physical universe, alternative views of human nature and behavior, and radical new forms of literature and artistic expression did away with the old beliefs and opened the door to modern conciousness.
Three major ideas of the late 19thC were political democracy, national unity, and social and economic justice.The growth of political democracy in the late 19thC brought about an increase of governmental involvement to more people, by extending the right to vote to all adult males.The next major idea was national unity.Many of Europe’s larger states focused on five themes to help spread national unity: the achievement of liberla practices(constitutions, parliments, and individual liberties); the growth of political democracy through universal male suffrage; organization of mass political parties as a result of a widened electorate; the rise of the socialist, working class party; and the enactment of social welfare measures to meet the demands of the working classes. Through these five themes, governments allowed the people to identify themselves with a nation which they were from,and make that nation stronger by bringing the people closer together. The final major idea of the late 19thC was social and economic justice....
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