Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Chapters 4 and 5

In these chapters, The Age of Empire focuses on the politics of 19th century Europe. There was a rise of mass politics and working class. With the growth of proletariats grew the idea of democracy. Suffrage, labor and work laws, and religious movements were discussed in connection with the mass-movements of the period. Mass production, mass media, mass propaganda, and mass parties grew increasingly more-mass. The working classes living in the cities had control of the government because they were the masses, attributing to the capitalist society. There was also a decrease in rural population. Nationalism was also on the rise. Nationalistic ideals were linked not only to one’s country but also to one’s language.

I would be interested to read more about why the potential for Christian politics did not turn into a reality and how much different it would be if it had. I also found the evolution of democracy from Rome to the 19th and 20th centuries until today.

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