Modern Europe
History 20600 2MM
July 2020 – Assignment #1
Metternich and Industrialization
Instructions
Answer each of the questions below in a short-answer response of about four to five complete sentences (not bullet points or incomplete phrases). Responses should be typed and double-spaced with one-inch margins on each side using a standard 11 or 12-point font such as Arial or New Times Roman. Each response is worth 7 points.
Questions 1-5 is based on Chapter 5 of Edward Berensen’s A History of Modern Europe
1. Briefly identify some of the factors that enabled Britain to become the first country to begin industrialization.
2. Briefly identify some of the effects of “mercantilist” trade policies on British economic development in the 18th and early 19th centuries.
3. Briefly summarize why wages in Britain were generally much higher than those elsewhere by the
late 18th century.
4. Describe Britain’s “mixed farming” and its effects on agriculture in that country.
5. Describe the social changes that railway construction had on British society by the early 19th century.
Questions 6-11 is based on the Klemen’s von Metternich’s Letter to Czar Alexander of 1820 posted on Blackboard
6. Why does Metternich believe that human beings’ “presumptuousness” contributed to the outbreak of Revolution in France in 1789?
7. What were some of the reasons given by Metternich for the rise in “presumptuousness” in his own era?
8. Why according to Metternich did some members of the aristocracy support the Revolution?
9. What impact does Metternich assign to ideas such as “the Social Contract” in the outbreak of Revolution in 1789?
What according to Metternich are the true basis of government?
Identify three recommendations offered by Metternich on how kings should respond to demands for constitutional government?
Questions 12-15 is based on “The Defense of Laissez-faire” https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1840laissezfaire.asp
12. What according to the 1840 “Defense of Laissez-faire”, does experience show about the effects of economic regulation?
13. What according to this “Defense” should be the goal of economic legislation?
14. Why does the author of the “Defense” see the first British laws regulating child labor in 1802 as a bad?
15. How according to this author should child labor be controlled?
