A History of Western Society, Concise Edition, Volume 2
Fourteenth Edition ©2023
Praised for its easy-to-read narrative and attention to the lives of ordinary people, A History of Western Society, Concise Edition, Volume 2, includes even more tools to engage students and save instructors time. A signature focus on social and cultural history helps students engage wit...
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Bring the history of Western society to life
Praised for its easy-to-read narrative and attention to the lives of ordinary people, A History of Western Society, Concise Edition, Volume 2, includes even more tools to engage students and save instructors time. A signature focus on social and cultural history helps students engage with and think critically about the past. Achieve, a powerful course platform, combines the full e-textbook with a wealth of additional primary sources, tutorials, activities, and assessments that guide students in interpreting primary sources and drawing connections. Achieve can be adopted on its own or in a package with the print book.
“A History of Western Society is a student-friendly, readable text with rich and varied visuals and resources. It is well-organized and thorough–an excellent text, especially for online courses.”
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–Bruce Nye, Front Range Community College
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Table of Contents
The Combined Volume includes all chapters.
Volume 1 includes Chapters 1-16.
Volume 2 includes Chapters 14-30.
Preface
Maps, Figures, and Tables
Special Features
Chapter 14: European Exploration and Conquest, 1450–1650
What was the Afro-Eurasian trading world before Columbus?
The Trade World of the Indian Ocean
The Trading States of Africa
The Middle East
Genoese and Venetian Middlemen
How and why did Europeans undertake ambitious voyages of expansion?
Causes of European Expansion
Technology and the Rise of Exploration
The Portuguese Overseas Empire
Spain’s Voyages to the Americas
Spain “Discovers” the Pacific
Early Exploration by Northern European Powers
What was the impact of European conquest on the New World?
Conquest of the Aztec Empire
The Fall of the Incas
Portuguese Brazil
Colonial Empires of England and France
Colonial Administration
How did Europe and the world change after Columbus?
Economic Exploitation of the Indigenous Population
Society in the Colonies
Population Loss and the Ecological Impacts of Contact
Sugar and Slavery
Spanish Silver and Its Economic Effects
The Birth of the Global Economy
How did expansion change European attitudes and beliefs?
Religious Conversion
European Debates About Indigenous Peoples
New Ideas About Race
Michel de Montaigne and Cultural Curiosity
William Shakespeare and His Influence
LOOKING BACK / LOOKING AHEAD
REVIEW & EXPLORE
Individuals in Society: Catarina de San Juan
Viewpoints: Aztec and Spanish Views on Christian Conversion in New Spain
Evaluating Visual Evidence: Andrés Sánchez Gallque, The Mulatto Gentlemen of Esmeraldas, 1599
Chapter 15: Absolutism and Constitutionalism, ca. 1589–1725
What were the crises and achievements of seventeenth-century European states?
The Social Order and Peasant Life
Environmental, Economic, and Social Crisis
The Thirty Years’ War
State-Building and the Growth of Armies
Baroque Art and Music
What was absolutism, and how did it evolve in western and central Europe?
The Decline of Absolutist Spain in the Seventeenth Century
The Foundations of French Absolutism
Louis XIV and Absolutism
Life at Versailles
Louis XIV’s Wars
The French Economic Policy of Mercantilism
What explains the rise of absolutism in Prussia and Austria?
The Return of Serfdom
The Austrian Habsburgs
Prussia in the Seventeenth Century
The Consolidation of Prussian Absolutism
What were the distinctive features of Russian and Ottoman absolutism?
Mongol Rule in Russia and the Rise of Moscow
Building the Russian Empire
The Reforms of Peter the Great
The Ottoman Empire
What were alternatives to absolutism in early modern Europe?
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Failure of Absolutism in England
The Puritan Protectorate
The Restoration of the English Monarchy
Constitutional Monarchy
The Dutch Republic in the Seventeenth Century
LOOKING BACK / LOOKING AHEAD
REVIEW & EXPLORE
Evaluating Written Evidence: Peter the Great and Foreign Experts
Individuals in Society: Hürrem
Viewpoints: Stuart Claims to Absolutism and the Parliamentary Response
Chapter 16: Toward a New Worldview, 1540–1789
What revolutionary discoveries were made in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?
Contributions from the Muslim World
Scientific Thought to 1500
The Copernican Hypothesis
Brahe, Kepler, and Galileo: Proving Copernicus Right
Newton’s Synthesis
Natural History and Empire
Magic and Alchemy
What intellectual and social changes occurred as a result of the Scientific Revolution?
The Methods of Science: Bacon and Descartes
Medicine, the Body, and Chemistry
Science and Religion
Science and Society
How did the Enlightenment emerge, and what were major currents of Enlightenment thought?
The Early Enlightenment
The Influence of the Philosophes
Enlightenment Movements Across Europe
How did the Enlightenment change social ideas and practices?
Global Contacts
Enlightenment Debates About Race
Women and the Enlightenment
Urban Culture and Life in the Public Sphere
What impact did new ways of thinking have on politics?
Frederick the Great of Prussia
Catherine the Great of Russia
The Austrian Habsburgs
Jewish Life and the Limits of Enlightened Absolutism
LOOKING BACK / LOOKING AHEAD
REVIEW & EXPLORE
Viewpoints: Rousseau and Wollstonecraft Debate Women’s Equality
Evaluating Visual Evidence: Léonard Defrance and the Public Sphere
Individuals in Society: Moses Mendelssohn and the Jewish Enlightenment
Chapter 17: The Expansion of Europe, 1650–1800
Why did European agriculture grow between 1650 and 1800?
The Legacy of the Open-Field System
New Methods of Agriculture
The Leadership of the Low Countries and England
Why did the European population rise dramatically in the eighteenth century?
Long-Standing Obstacles to Population Growth
The New Pattern of the Eighteenth Century
How and why did rural industry intensify in the eighteenth century?
The Putting-Out System
The Lives of Rural Textile Workers
The Industrious Revolution
What important changes occurred in economic thought and practice in the eighteenth century?
Economic Regulation and the Guilds
The Financial Revolution
Adam Smith and Economic Liberalism
How did empire and trade shape new economic, cultural, and social developments?
Mercantilism and Colonial Competition
The Atlantic Economy
The Transatlantic Slave Trade
Identities and Communities of the Atlantic World
The Atlantic Enlightenment
Trade and Empire in Asia and the Pacific
LOOKING BACK / LOOKING AHEAD
REVIEW & EXPLORE
Evaluating Written Evidence: Thomas Malthus on the Limitation of Human Population
Viewpoints: Opposing Views on Guilds and Economic Regulation
Individuals in Society: Rebecca Protten
Chapter 18: Life in the Era of Expansion, 1650–1800
How did marriage and family life change in the eighteenth century?
Late Marriage and Nuclear Families
Work Away from Home
Contraception and Community Controls
New Patterns of Marriage and Illegitimacy
Sex on the Margins of Society
What was life like for children, and how did attitudes toward childhood evolve?
Child Care and Nursing
Foundlings and Infanticide
Attitudes Toward Children
The Spread of Elementary Schools
How did increasing literacy and new patterns of consumption affect people’s lives?
Popular Literature
Leisure and Recreation
New Foods and Appetites
Toward a Consumer Society
What role did religion play in eighteenth-century society?
Church Hierarchy
Protestant Revival
Catholic Piety
Marginal Beliefs and Practices
How did the practice of medicine evolve in the eighteenth century?
Faith Healing and General Practice
Improvements in Surgery
Midwifery
The Conquest of Smallpox and the Birth of Vaccination
LOOKING BACK / LOOKING AHEAD
REVIEW & EXPLORE
Individuals in Society: Rose Bertin, “Minister of Fashion”
Evaluating Visual Evidence: Hogarth’s Satirical View of the Church
Viewpoints: The Case for and Against Female Midwives
Chapter 19: Revolutions in Politics, 1775–1815
What were the factors behind the revolutions of the late eighteenth century?
Social Change
Growing Demands for Liberty and Equality
The Seven Years’ War
Why and how did American colonists forge a new, independent nation?
The Origins of the Revolution
Independence from Britain
Framing the Constitution
Limitations of Liberty and Equality
How did the events of 1789 result in a constitutional monarchy in France?
Breakdown of the Old Order
The Formation of the National Assembly
Popular Uprising and the Rights of Man
A Constitutional Monarchy and Its Challenges
Why and how did the French Revolution take a radical turn?
The International Response
The Second Revolution and the New Republic
Total War and the Terror
The Thermidorian Reaction and the Directory
How did Napoleon Bonaparte create a French empire, and why did it fail?
Napoleon’s Rule of France
Napoleon’s Expansion in Europe
The Grand Empire and Its End
How did slave revolt on colonial Saint-Domingue lead to the independent nation of Haiti?
Revolutionary Aspirations in Saint-Domingue
The Outbreak of Revolt
The War of Haitian Independence
LOOKING BACK / LOOKING AHEAD
REVIEW & EXPLORE
Evaluating Written Evidence: Abigail Adams, “Remember the Ladies”
Viewpoints: Contrasting Visions of the Sans-Culottes
Individuals in Society: Vincent Ogé
Chapter 20: The Revolution in Energy and Industry, ca. 1780–1850
Why and how did the Industrial Revolution emerge in Britain?
Why Britain?
Technological Innovations and Early Factories
The Steam Engine Breakthrough
Steam-Powered Transportation
Industry and Population
How did countries outside Britain respond to the challenge of industrialization?
National and International Variations
Industrialization in Continental Europe
Agents of Industrialization
The Global Picture
How did work and daily life evolve during the Industrial Revolution?
Work in Early Factories
Working Families and Children
The New Sexual Division of Labor
Living Standards for the Working Class
Environmental Impacts of Industrialization
What were the social consequences of industrialization?
The New Class of Factory Owners
Responses to Industrialization
The Early British Labor Movement
The Impact of Slavery
LOOKING BACK / LOOKING AHEAD
REVIEW & EXPLORE
Individuals in Society: Samuel Crompton
Viewpoints: The Experience of Child Labor
Evaluating Visual Evidence: The Dinner Hour, Wigan
Chapter 21: Ideologies and Upheavals, 1815–1850
How was peace restored and maintained after the Napoleonic Wars?
The European Balance of Power
Metternich and Conservatism
Repressing the Revolutionary Spirit
Limits to Conservative Power and Revolution in South America
What new ideologies emerged to challenge conservatism?
Liberalism and the Middle Class
The Growing Appeal of Nationalism
The First Socialists
The Birth of Marxist Socialism
What were the characteristics of the Romantic movement?
The Romantic Worldview
Romantic Literature
Romanticism in Art and Music
How did reforms and revolutions challenge conservatism after 1815?
The Greek War of Independence
Liberal Reform in Great Britain
Ireland and the Great Famine
The Revolution of 1830 in France
What were the main causes and consequences of the revolutions of 1848?
A Democratic Republic in France
Revolution and Reaction in the Austrian Empire
Prussia, the German Confederation, and the Frankfurt National Assembly
LOOKING BACK / LOOKING AHEAD
REVIEW & EXPLORE
Evaluating Written Evidence: The Karlsbad Decrees: Conservative Reaction in the German Confederation
Individuals in Society: Mary Shelley
Viewpoints: Picturing Revolutionary Violence in 1848
Chapter 22: Life in the Emerging Urban Society, 1840–1914
What were the main changes in urban life in the nineteenth century?
Industry and the Growth of Cities
The Advent of the Public Health Movement
The Bacterial Revolution
Improvements in Urban Planning
Public Transportation
How did class and gender reinforce social difference in the nineteenth century?
The Distribution of Income
The People and Occupations of the Middle Classes
The People and Occupations of the Working Classes
Prostitution
The Leisure Pursuits of the Working Classes
Faith and Religion
How did urbanization affect family life and gender roles?
Lifestyles of the Middle Classes
Middle-Class Marriage and Courtship Rituals
Middle- and Working-Class Sexuality
Separate Spheres and the Importance of Homemaking
Child Rearing
What were the most important changes in science and culture?
The Triumph of Science in Industry
Darwin and Natural Selection
The Modern University and the Social Sciences
Realism in Art and Literature
LOOKING BACK / LOOKING AHEAD
REVIEW & EXPLORE
Evaluating Visual Evidence: Apartment Living in Paris
Individuals in Society: Franziska Tiburtius
Viewpoints: Émile Zola and Naturalism/Realism in Western Literature
Chapter 23: The Age of Nationalism, 1850–1914
What were the main features of the authoritarian nation-state built by Napoleon III?
France’s Second Republic
Napoleon III’s Second Empire
How were strong nation-states forged in Italy, Germany, and the United States?
The Unification of Italy
The Austro-Prussian War
Taming the German Parliament
The Franco-Prussian War and German Unification
How did Russian and Ottoman leaders modernize their states and societies?
The “Great Reforms” in Russia
The Russian Revolution of 1905
Reform and Readjustment in the Ottoman Empire
How did the relationship between government and the governed change after 1871?
The Responsive National State
The German Empire
Republican France and the Third French Republic
Great Britain and Ireland
The Austro-Hungarian Empire
What were the costs and benefits of nationalism for ordinary people?
Making National Citizens
The Feminist Movement
Nationalism and Racism
Jewish Emancipation and Modern Anti-Semitism
How and why did revolutionary Marxism evolve in the late nineteenth century?
The Socialist International
Labor Unions and the Evolution of Working-Class Radicalism
Marxist Revisionism
LOOKING BACK / LOOKING AHEAD
REVIEW & EXPLORE
Evaluating Written Evidence: Eyewitness Account of Bloody Sunday
Individuals in Society: Theodor Herzl
Viewpoints: Marxist Revisionism
Chapter 24: The West and the World, 1815–1914
What were the global consequences of European industrialization?
The Rise of Global Inequality
The World Market
Western Pressures on China
Japan and the United States
Western Intervention in Egypt
How was massive migration an integral part of Western expansion?
The Pressure of Population
European Emigration
The Immigrant Experience in the United States
Asian Emigration
How did the New Imperialism change Western colonialism?
The European Presence in Africa Before 1880
The Berlin Conference and the Scramble for Africa
The British in Africa After 1885
Imperialism in Asia
Causes of the New Imperialism
A “Civilizing Mission”
Gender and Empire
European Critics of Imperialism
How did non-Westerners respond to Western expansion?
Impacts and Patterns of Response
The British Empire in India
Reforming Japan
Toward Revolution in China
LOOKING BACK / LOOKING AHEAD
REVIEW & EXPLORE
Evaluating Visual Evidence: European Imperialism at Its Worst
Individuals in Society: Cecil Rhodes
Viewpoints: White Man’s Burden or Capitalist Exploitation?
Chapter 25: War and Revolution, 1914–1919
What caused the outbreak of the First World War?
Growing International Conflict
The Mood of 1914
The July Crisis and the Outbreak of War
How did the First World War differ from previous wars?
Stalemate and Slaughter on the Western Front
The Widening War
In what ways did the war transform life on the home front?
Mobilizing for Total War
The Social Impact of Total War
Growing Political Tensions
Why did world war lead to a successful Communist revolution in Russia?
The Fall of Imperial Russia
The Provisional Government
Lenin and the Bolshevik Revolution
Trotsky and the Seizure of Power
Dictatorship and Civil War
What were the benefits and costs of the postwar peace settlement?
The End of the War
Revolution in Austria-Hungary and Germany
The Treaty of Versailles
The Peace Settlement in the Middle East
The Human Costs of the War
LOOKING BACK / LOOKING AHEAD
REVIEW & EXPLORE
Viewpoints: Poetry in the Trenches
Individuals in Society: Vera Brittain
Evaluating Written Evidence: Peace, Land, and Bread for the Russian People
Chapter 26: Opportunity and Crisis in the Age of Modernity, 1880–1940
How did intellectual developments reflect the ambiguities of modernity?
Modern Philosophy
The Revival of Christianity
The New Physics
Freudian Psychology
How did modernism revolutionize Western culture?
Architecture and Design
New Artistic Movements
Twentieth-Century Literature
Modern Music
How did consumer society change everyday life?
Modern Mass Culture
The Appeal of Cinema
The Arrival of Radio
What obstacles to lasting peace did European leaders face?
Germany and the Western Powers
Hope in Foreign Affairs
Hope in Democratic Government
What were the causes and consequences of the Great Depression?
The Economic Crisis
Mass Unemployment
The New Deal in the United States
The Scandinavian Response to the Depression
Recovery and Reform in Britain and France
LOOKING BACK / LOOKING AHEAD
REVIEW & EXPLORE
Individuals in Society: Sigmund Freud
Evaluating Visual Evidence: Georg Grosz, Eclipse of the Sun, 1926
Viewpoints: The Modern Girl: Image or Reality?
Chapter 27: Dictatorships and the Second World War, 1919–1945
What were the most important characteristics of Communist and Fascist ideologies?
Conservative Authoritarianism and Radical Totalitarian Dictatorships
Communism and Fascism
The Spanish Civil War
How did Stalinism transform state and society in the Soviet Union?
From Lenin to Stalin
Stalin and the Nationalities Question
The Five-Year Plans
Life and Culture in Soviet Society
The Great Purges and the Great Terror of 1937-38
What kind of government did Mussolini establish in Italy?
The Seizure of Power
The Fascist Regime in Action
What policies did Nazi Germany pursue, and why did they appeal to ordinary Germans?
The Roots of National Socialism
Hitler’s Road to Power
State and Society in Nazi Germany
Popular Support for National Socialism
Aggression and Appeasement
What explains the success and then defeat of Germany and Japan during World War II?
German Victories in Europe
Europe Under Nazi Occupation
The Holocaust
Japanese Empire and the War in the Pacific
The Grand Alliance and the “Hinge of Fate”
Allied Victory
LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD
REVIEW & EXPLORE
Evaluating Written Evidence: Famine and Recovery on a Soviet Collective Farm in the Ukraine
Viewpoints: Oratory and Ideology in World War II
Individuals in Society: Primo Levi
Chapter 28: Cold War Conflict and Consensus, 1945–1965
Why was World War II followed so quickly by the Cold War?
The Legacies of the Second World War
The Peace Settlement and Cold War Origins
West Versus East
Big Science in the Nuclear Age
What were the sources of postwar recovery and stability in western Europe?
The Search for Political and Social Consensus
Toward European Unity
The Consumer Revolution
What was the pattern of postwar development in the Soviet bloc?
Postwar Life in the East Bloc
Reform and De-Stalinization
Foreign Policy and Domestic Rebellion
The Limits of Reform
How did decolonization proceed in the Cold War era?
Decolonization and the Global Cold War
The Struggle for Power in Asia
Independence and Conflict in the Middle East
Decolonization in Africa
What were the key changes in social relations in postwar Europe?
Changing Class Structures
Patterns of Postwar Migration
New Roles for Women
Youth Culture and the Generation Gap
LOOKING BACK / LOOKING AHEAD
REVIEW & EXPLORE
Viewpoints: Cold War Propaganda
Evaluating Visual Evidence: “Building the Republic”: Socialist Realism in Postwar East Berlin
Individuals in Society: Armando Rodrigues
Chapter 29: Challenging the Postwar Order, 1960–1991
Why did the postwar consensus of the 1950s break down?
Cold War Tensions Thaw
The Affluent Society
The Counterculture Movement
The United States and Vietnam
Student Revolts and 1968
The 1960s in the East Bloc
What were the consequences of economic stagnation in the 1970s?
Economic Crisis and Hardship
The New Conservatism
Challenges and Victories for Women
The Rise of the Environmental Movement
Separatism and Right-Wing Extremism
What led to the decline of “developed socialism” in the East Bloc?
State and Society in the East Bloc
Dissent in Czechoslovakia and Poland
From Détente Back to Cold War
Gorbachev’s Reforms in the Soviet Union
What were the causes and consequences of the 1989 revolutions in the East Bloc?
The Collapse of Communism in the East Bloc
German Unification and the End of the Cold War
The Disintegration of the Soviet Union
LOOKING BACK / LOOKING AHEAD
REVIEW & EXPLORE
Evaluating Written Evidence: Human Rights Under the Helsinki Accords
Individuals in Society: Margaret Thatcher
Viewpoints: “Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall”
Chapter 30: Life in an Age of Globalization, 1990 to the Present
How did life change in Russia and the former East Bloc countries after 1989?
Economic Shock Therapy in Russia
Russian Revival Under Vladimir Putin
Political Instability and Russian Intervention in the Former Soviet Republics
Economic and Political Transformations in the Former East Bloc
Civil War in Yugoslavia
How did globalization affect European life and society?
The Global Economy
The New European Union
Supranational Organizations
Life in the Age of Social Media
The Costs and Consequences of Globalization
How is growing ethnic diversity changing contemporary Europe?
The Prospect of Population Decline
Changing Immigration Flows
Toward a Multicultural Continent
Europe and Its Muslim Population
What challenges will Europeans face in the coming decades?
Growing Strains in U.S.-European Relations
Turmoil in the Muslim World
The Global Recession and the Viability of the European Union
The New Populism
The COVID-19 Pandemic
Dependence on Fossil Fuels, Climate Change, and Environmental Degradation
Promoting Human Rights
LOOKING BACK / LOOKING AHEAD
REVIEW & EXPLORE
Individuals in Society: Alexei Navalny
Viewpoints: Debating the Impact of Social Media and the Internet
Evaluating Visual Evidence: “John Bull” Supports Brexit
Glossary
Index
About the Authors
Authors
Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
Clare Haru Crowston
Joe Perry
John P. McKay
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