IGNOU HISTORY NOTES : History Of Modern Europe (Mid 18th to 20th Centuries)- THE SOCIAL CLASSES IN EUROPE

IGNOU HISTORY Study Notes for IAS, UPSC Exams

History Of Modern Europe Mid 18th to Mid 20th Centuries

THE SOCIAL CLASSES IN EUROPE

Structure

14.0 Objectives
14.1 Introduction
14.2 Integration of Landlords and Peasants into Capitalist Economy
14.2.1 Landed Classes in England
14.2.2 Landed Classes in France
14.2.3 Landed Classes in Eastern Europe
14.2.4 Landed Classes in Central Europe
14.2.5 The Peasantry in Europe
14.3 The Bourgeoisie
14.4 Lower Middle Classes
14.5 The Working Classes
14.6 Political Conciousness
14.7 Let 11s Sum Up
14.8 Key Words
14.9 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

14.0 OBJECTIVES

After reading this unit you should be able to:

• differentiate the processes which brought about the integration of different classes of Europe into the emerging capitalist economy
• emphasize that in different countries thcse processes took different forms, and
• highlight that with the emergence of new classes in Europe a new political consciousness of different classes also came into existence.

14.1 INTRODUCTION

In Unit 15 you will read about the transition to modern class society and how new fornls of
production meant new forins of work. The class society that we are talking about was essentially
an industrial society in which the patterns of life and ethics came to be increasingly dominated
by the dominant capitalist ethos. In this Unit we will talk a little more about the transformation
of classes and class relations. We will also talk about some changes in the pattern of daily life.
There was a great divergence in the rhythm UI change between the industrial and the nonindustrial arcas of Europe, and in general the pace of change was much slower than was earlier
presumed. The years betwserl1750 and 1850 were, however, crucial in making this pace and
direct1011 of change decisive
There are also extenswe debates over the patterns of social change in the different countries.
One aspect of these debates is whether a gencralisation can be made at all regarding this pattern
ofsmergenct. of new class structures in the different countries of Europc. We will see as we go
aloi~g that some gcneralisations call certainly he made with regard to the nature of social classes
evcn given the different chronology of industrialisation and political contexts. but that the!
need to bc qu;~lified iIS compared to the earlier interpretations in rcsearch on these societies. 

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