Lesson 6 Social Change in Industrialized Countries

Population Growth and Mass Education

The Industrial Revolution gave a great impetus to the development of productivity and contributed to rapid population growth. in the 50 years of the 19th century, the population of England increased from about 9 million to about 18 million. The United States was a nation of immigrants and population growth was even more dramatic. in the 1820s, the population of the United States was about 10 million, and by 1914, there were more than 100 million person-days in the United States.

With the development of the industrial revolution, the ranks of the working class continued to grow. The structure of the labor force changed dramatically, with more and more people abandoning agricultural production and specializing in industry and commerce. At the same time, more and more women came out of their families and became industrial laborers, and their social roles became more and more settled, which created the conditions for the improvement of women's social status. In the early 19th century, Germany implemented education reform to establish a systematic education system consisting of primary schools, secondary schools, and universities, and in 1802, France passed a law to open government-funded secondary schools. The popularization of education raised the level of popular culture and promoted social development in Europe and America.

Urbanization

After the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, with the development of industry and commerce, the rural population continued to flow to the cities, and the scale of cities became larger and larger. By the late 19th century, most British people were living in the cities.

Environmental pollution and the polarization between rich and poor increased

In the process of industrialization, many problems emerged in the western countries, with serious environmental pollution and increased polarization between the rich and the poor. The industrialization process has resulted in a lot of pollution of the environment and the division between the rich and the poor. The industrialization process has resulted in a lot of pollution of the atmosphere and the rivers, and the health of the people is at stake. The capitalists, who had seized most of the social wealth, were getting richer and richer: the workers, who worked long hours every day in the harsh environment, could not make ends meet with the income they received, and were increasingly dissatisfied with the unfair social situation. Soon after the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, workers sabotaged machines to express their anger. As social tensions became more acute, workers' struggles became more intense.

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