A History of the European Working Class
The history of the European working class, from the early 18th century to the present day.
Overview
The history of the European working class, from the early 18th century to the present day.
Serge Lalou
Producer
Episodes
1. The Politics of Manufacturing / The Factory (1700-1820)
England, 1820s. After decades of exploitation, the British working class start fighting back.
2. The Barricades (1840-1913)
In continental Europe, Belgium was the only country that adopted the Factory System and economic liberalism, already well established in Great Britain, so the country became heaven for capitalists, but hell for workers. France's industrial revolution, on the other hand, was far slower, without large factories or a massive rural exodus. But it was nonetheless this group of workers that militantly campaigned for better living and working conditions.
3. Life on the Production Line / Chain Time (1914-1939)
By the end of the 19th century, factory owners realized that workers are just as much part of the company's capital as the machines are, and thought of ways to make these human machines work better, with nutrition and exercises. But the production line, invented in Chicago in 1871, did not catch on in the rest of the world until the World War I. Shortly after, the crises of the 1920s and 1930s saw the worker dramatically lose bargaining power.
