Changes in the Society Between the Two World

Wars
1) The Second industrial revolution and the civilization in XX c.
A) On the border between XIX and XX c. Important scientific inventions were made. New
technologies were created. Electricity developed metallurgy and machine building. The
refinement of petrol developed new branches of chemical industry- cosmetics, pharmacy.
Machine building, automobile building, plane building had achievements. Plastics, steel,
nylon, chemical fertilizers, the refrigerator were discovered. Many of these inventions
became popular in the second half of XX c.
B) The Second industrial revolution made the USA, England, France, Germany developed
industrial states. The centre of the European economy was Germany. It made discoveries in
the chemical industry (aspirin, synthetic dyes). In the beginning of XX c. the industrial
upsurge was spread in almost all European states including the agrarian Russia and Italy.
C) The urbanization was connected with industrialization. In the big cities lived millions of
people. The cities had streets with electric lights, homes with lifts, refrigerators, vacuum
cleaners, radios newspapers.
D) The new industrial revolution was maintained by the economic initiative of the monopolies
and corporations. They invested large capital in the new production, scientific work and
construction and the professional preparation of the workers.
2) The industrialization and urbanization changed man of XX c.
A) Man of XX c. Became used to new professions and labour, mass transport and social service,
communications, fashion. The citizen had new entertainments - cinema, sport, system of
communication. There was a new moral and values. The urbanized man had higher
education, new type of home, better life, new attitude to schools, hospitals, donation
organizations.
B) The German professionalist was strict and disciplined. The American citizen preferred his
free personal initiative. The Frenchman was bound to the ideas of the French revolution-
freedom, fraternity, equality. The Japanese specialist had a strong feeling for harmony
between the success of the employer, the professional community and the individual.
3) The development of the social movements.
A) The First World War created the conditions for the activization of the working class. A part
of them participated in the antiwar movement. The events in Russia in 1917 and the long
war caused disunion of the workers’ parties. The social democrats sought compromises and
separated in independent centrist parties. They united in the Socialist International in 1923.
The followers of the Marxist ideology created the Communist International in 1919 under
the leadership of Moscow.
B) In the beginning of the 20-sXXc. the workers’ movement was represented by the
professional unions, gravitating to one or the other side, but mainly to the Socialist
International. Parallelly with them existed an International confederation of the Christian
professional unions under the leadership of the Catholic church. A new movement was the
organized peasant movement, represented by national parties and unions. They united
petty and middle peasants and rural intelligentsia. A movement of the women struggled for
equal rights before the law and the defense of female and child labour. In the beginning of
XXc. Appeared an International alliance for women’s electoral rights.