How religion was affected by Industrialization

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How religion was affected by Industrialization

The Communist Manifesto

Great changes took place in the lives and work of people in several parts of the world, resulting from the development of the Industrial Revolution. Just before the outbreak of revolutionary violence in Paris due to the consequences of industrialization, Karl Marx wrote “The Communist Manifesto.” He saw this revolutionary violence as “the opening episode of a worldwide communist revolution.”1 There was no such revolution, however the communist ideals had been brought about and had taken a toll on society. The relationship between economic development and Communist party strength is significant. Also the significance of religion during this period had changed in large part due to this communist “revolution.” Marx’s concentration to radical social change and atheism was spread during industrialization. Labor was of such demand that even priests were converted into paid wage-laborers. The “Communist Manifesto” states, “All that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses, his real conditions of life.”2 Industrialization caused many great changes economically as well as socially. France was dramatically different in many aspects after this revolution. Industrialization caused the communist “revolution” which in turn caused religious issues in France.

The Industrial Revolution was a time in western cultures when the production of goods became urbanized. Spreading from Great Britain, industrialization had become widespread in Western Europe by the mid-1800’s. France, in particular, progressed in the industrialization process from about 1830 to 1850. Industrialization created an enormous increase in th...

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...vided by World Book Online,

http://www.discoveryschool.com/homeworkhelp/worldbook/atozhistory/i/27588.html (25

October 2001)

7. Peter N. Stearns, The Impact of the Industrial Revolution (Englewood Cliffs, New

Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1972) 126, 127, 92-4

8. John H. Kautsky, Communism and the Politics of Development (New York: John Wiley and

Sons, Inc., 1968) 10

9. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, (Houghton Mifflin Company,

2000) http://www.dictionary.com (25 October 2001)

10. John H. Kautsky, Communism and the Politics of Development (New York: John Wiley

and Sons, Inc., 1968) 185, 186

11. Lawrence J. Flockerzie and Dennis M. Doyle, “The Manifesto of the Communist Party”

in Sources from the Humanities, trans. by Samuel Moore (Chicago: Charles H. Kerr

Publishing Company, 1989) 40

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