History PDF: A Period of Transition

# Chapter 1: A Period of Transition The period between the end of the Medieval Age and the beginning of the Modern Age is regarded as the Period of Transition. This period differed from country to country depending on the condition of development of that country. In Europe, the Modern Period is sa...

# Chapter 1: A Period of Transition The period between the end of the Medieval Age and the beginning of the Modern Age is regarded as the Period of Transition. This period differed from country to country depending on the condition of development of that country. In Europe, the Modern Period is said to have begun in the 15th century, whereas in India it began in the mid-18th century. ## Developments in Europe * The most significant development was the decline of feudalism. This changed the social, economic and political life of the Europeans. * The Crusades provided an impetus to trade and commerce and increased the trade between eastern and western countries. This contributed to the wealth and prosperity of the people in many European countries. In place of land, money became the new measure of wealth. * As a result of the Crusades and expansion of trade and commerce, the Europeans came into contact with Eastern civilisations. Such contacts kindled their interest in their own Greek and Roman past. Artists and scholars began to rediscover and revive their past in art, architecture, literature and philosophy. * In order to increase commercial contacts with the Eastern countries to earn more profits and to fulfill the consumers' demand for Oriental goods, many voyages were undertaken to discover new routes. The discovery of these routes changed the course of history. * The Church which dominated the medieval society suffered a setback when a number of strong monarchs challenged the temporal (non-religious) power of the Church. Even the common people became dissatisfied with some of the practices of the Church and this dissatisfaction paved the way for Reformation. ## Developments in India * The decline of the Mughal Empire and the emergence of a number of regional kingdoms. * The defeat of the Marathas in the Third Battle of Panipat by the Afghans and the inability of the Marathas to replace the Mughals and establish an all-India empire. * The conquest of India by the British and turning India into a colony of the British. * British policies in India which impacted its culture, economy, society and overall development. ## Sources * **Primary sources:** Provide direct or first-hand evidence about an event. These include official records, i.e., the papers of government agencies at different levels. The records put down by the East India Company give a detailed account of trading conditions during this period. These records also give details about all levels of administration. The British Crown, when it took over the reins of administration, also kept a large number of official records. - Records of European Companies like those of the Portuguese, Dutch and French are useful for constructing the history of the 17th and 18th centuries. They are important primarily from the point of view of economic history, but much can also be gathered about the political set- up in at that time. * **Secondary sources:** These are the sources produced using the primary sources. Whereas the primary sources provide first-hand information, these secondary sources involve generalisation, analysis and interpretation of the original information. These include - Contemporary literary works such as memoirs, biographies, travel accounts which provide glimpses into the history of the period. - Newspapers and periodicals in English and Indian languages. - Paintings, drawings, sketches and engravings of the period. - Photographs, films and audio and video tapes of events and interviews of famous personalities. - Archaeological sources like buildings, monuments and artifacts. ## The Renaissance The term 'Renaissance' means rebirth or revival. The term 'Renaissance' means rebirth or revival that began in Italy in the 14th century. This movement spread to other countries of Europe and later on spread to the other countries of Europe. This movement spread to the other countries of Europe. This movement spread to the other countries of Europe. This movement spread to the other countries of Europe. This movement spread to the other countries of Europe. This movement spread to the other countries of Europe. 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The main target of these movements was the Pope, the highest authority in the Church hierarchy. * The Reformation broke out in a number of countries like England, France, Germany, erstwhile Czechoslovakia, Switzerland and Scotland. Though these movements did not share the *same religious beliefs and rituals, yet they are collectively termed Reformation because they were aimed at reforming the existing Church. * These movements created a split in the Christian Church between those who continued to remain loyal to the Pope at Rome. The former were known as Roman Catholics and the latter as Protestants. ## Causes of the Reformation * People were highly dissatisfied with some of the practices of the Catholic Church- like giving tithes (1/10th of their income), paying Peter’s Pence, to build St. Peter's Church and buying pardon certificates called Indulgences, for the sins committed in this life and after their death, and the practice of giving the Church offices to the highest bidders (simony). * Some corrupt practices like charging fees for every transaction in life, from birth to death, fees for the peace of the soul and fees for the souls of the people dead long ago, fee for the salvation of the soul and pronouncing a marriage lawful or unlawful. Some of the clergymen lacked proper education, lived in luxury, and neglected their religious duties. * Pope's interference in the political affairs was resented by the Kings. * The spirit of new learning and spirit of enquiry developed by the Renaissance broadened the mental outlook of the people and they questioned everything including the authority of the Pope and the Church practices. ## The Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution is the name given to a series of changes that brought about a transition from production by hand to production by machine, from small-scale production to large-scale production, from handmade goods to machine-made goods. Thus, the term 'Industrial Revolution' denotes all those changes that took place in the field of industry during the second half of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century. * Until this period, goods were manufactured at home with hand. However, during the period of the Industrial Revolution, the employer made his workers to use machines in his factory. The employees were paid wages for their labour. The period marked a change from handwork to machine work and from domestic system to factory system of production. * It began in England in about 1750 by mass production of goods; and within a hundred years it brought in revolutionary changes in the political, social and economic life of the people.. ## Reasons for the Beginning of the Industrial Revolution in England * After the Renaissance and the Reformation, the Englishmen began to enjoy the freedom of thought and expression. It was in this atmosphere that the Englishmen thought of new methods of production in different fields. The large number of inventions made by the British scientists, brought about a revolution in industry in England. * England had a large colonial empire. From her colonies she could get raw material at cheaper rates for her factories. These colonies also served as markets for the British manufactured goods. * England had plentiful deposits of iron and coal. The iron and coal mines were situated close to each other. Iron was used in making machines. The coal provided cheap fuel. Both these factors helped in the development of industries. * The incentive to produce more goods was provided by two factors. First, the huge profits of expanding trade provided an impetus to discover new ways of increasing her production. Second, the Napoleonic wars made the English industries quite active. Since these wars were never fought in Britain, the long period of peace in Britain proved useful for the development of new industries. * The Agrarian Revolution preceded the Industrial Revolution in England. As a result, a large number of peasants were free to work in the cities. So many labourers were available in England to be employed in the factories. * In the second half of the 18th century, transport system in England was adequate. James Watt invented the steam engine. The discovery of steam as a source of power, facilitated the Industrial Revolution. In 1813, steam was used to run locomotives. The use of tarcoal and tar enabled the construction of roads in many European countries. This brought about a revolution in transport. * In 1814, George Stephenson designed his first locomotive engine, which was used for hauling coal in the Killingworth colliery. In 1830, the railway train was run with the help of steam. ## Major Inventions * **Flying Shuttle:** In 1733, John Kay invented the Flying Shuttle for weaving cloth. This enabled the weavers to weave twice as fast as before. * **Spinning Jenny:** James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny. This device could be operated by one person and spin as much as eight threads at the same time instead of one. * **Water Frame:** Richard Arkwright improved the Spinning Jenny and invented a weaving frame known as the Water Frame, which was originally run by horse power and later by water power. This was much better than the Spinning jenny, as it could produce tougher thread. * **Spinning Mule:** Samuel Crompton invented the Spinning Mule, which combined the good features of the Spinning jenny and the Water Frame. With this mechanical device, stronger and finer threads could be produced rapidly at a comparatively low cost. * **Automatic Loom:** Edmund Cartwright invented the Automatic Loom or Power Loom. This machine used an automatic shuttle worked by water power. By this invention, textile production was revolutionised, as the speed of weaving became a hundredfold, while prices fell to half. * **Cotton Gin:** The Industrial Revolution spread to the United States of America, where Ely Whitney invented a mechanical device known as the Cotton Gin. This could separate the cotton seeds from the fibres of the cotton ball. * **Sewing Machine:** Elias Howe invented the sewing machine, which gave a tremendous boost to the clothing industry. * **Production of Steel:** Henry Bessemer invented a process for making harder, purer and refined iron known as steel by the removal of impurities. The new process was cheaper and far better than the earlier one. The emergence of steel was an important landmark in the iron industry. * **Steam Engine** In 1769, James Watt invented the Steam Engine. The engine had a separate condenser for cooling the steam, and an airtight jacket for keeping the cylinder continuously hot. It had greater speed, consumed less coal and was economical. It provided steam power for all the textile machinery at a comparatively low price. ## Impact of The Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution also had some negative effects. These included the following: * **The Industrial Revolution gave rise to capitalism.** A few individuals in society became capitalists, the owners of the key means of production. They cornered fabulous wealth, and wielded immense power and prestige. On the other hand, it created a class of workers living in poverty depending entirely on their capitalist employers for bread. * **Industrial capitalists monopolised political power.** Economic power was utilised to seize political power, which in turn brought further economic benefits. In England, outwardly there was democracy, but actually aristocrats or oligarchs ruled. Parliament was controlled by the rich landlords and big capitalists. * **Ruthless exploitation of workers took place in the factories.** They were made to work for twelve to fifteen hours at a stretch. A number of women and children were employed in factories because their labour was found cheaper than that of men. Conditions in the mines were still worse where women and children had to drag carts like the ponies. The employment women and children in the factories and mines often meant that men had no employment. Sometimes all the workers were dismissed unjustly and arbitrarily. * **The workers lived in small tenements,** where there were no facilities for lighting, heating, sanitation and hygiene. Bad food, poor clothing, slum-dwelling and miserable living conditions, made life unbearable for them. ## India’s Struggle for Freedom: Phase 1 ## Rise of Indian Nationalism Nationalism refers to the feeling of oneness and common consciousness that emerges when people living in a common territory share the same historical, political and cultural background, have the same language, cultural values and consider themselves as one nation. * Though India had a long history going back to many centuries, it comprised many kingdoms. The loyalty of the people was towards a particular King or kingdom. The modern feeling of nationalism emerged during the British rule. This was mainly as a reaction to the British rule and the clash of interests of the Indian people with those of the British. * The concepts of nationalism and right of self-determination initiated by national movements in Europe in the 19th century especially the French Revolution inspired the Indian leaders. Besides, the socio-religious reform movements, the spread of modern western education and strong resentment against the British colonial policies played an important role in arousing the nationalist spirit in India. This new awakening gave birth to various political associations which finally culminated in the establishment of the Indian Nationalist Congress (INC) in 1885. In fact, the formation of the INC marked the formal beginning of the organised national movement in India. ## Causes of the Rise of Nationalism * **Economic Exploitation:** Indians realised that the British ruled India to promote their own interests at the cost of welfare of Indians. The economic discontent of different sections of society was as follows: * The peasants were the main victims of British colonial policies. The government took away a large part of their produce in the form of land revenue and other taxes. These exorbitant taxes led the peasants into the clutches of landlords and moneylenders. In case of non-payment of taxes, they were evicted from their land. * The landed aristocracy, which included the taluqdars and the hereditary landlords were deprived of their estates if they failed to produce evidence like title- deeds by which they held their land. * The British economic policies were against the interests of Indian trade and industry. The English East India Company used its political power to destroy Indian handicrafts and industry. India became a source of raw materials for the industries of the company and a market for its finished products. This policy crippled the artisans and craftsmen as they were devoid of their sources of livelihood. * The growth of modern industries led to the birth of a new social class in India - the working class. They were exploited by the factory owners, who were generally Englishmen. ## Early Political Associations To give voice to the growing discontent among Indians, a number regional organisations were formed. The prominent among these were The British Indian Association, formed by Surendranath Banerjee in 1851, The Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, formed by justice Ranade in 1870, The Indian Association and The Indian National Conference, formed by Surendranath Banerjee in 1876, and 1883, respectively. Although these organisations were local in character, they did a pioneering work preparing the ground for the creation of an all-Indian political association, ie., the Indian National Congress in 1885. ## The Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress was formed in 1885 by A.O. Hume, a retired British member of the Indian Civil Service, in consultation with Lord Dufferin, the Viceroy of India and by a group of Indian nationalist leaders. * Lord Dufferin saw a growing political consciousness among the Indians and wanted to give it a safe, constitutional outlet so that their resentment would not develop into popular agitation against the British rule in India. * The first session of the Indian National Congress was held at the Gokaldas Tejpal Sanskrit College, Mumbai from December 28 to 31, 1885 under the presidentship of W.C, Bonnerjee. It was attended by prominent nationalists from all over the country. The prominent among these included W.C, Bonnerjee, Dadabhai Naoroji, Pheroseshah Mehta, Badruddin Tyabji, Dinshaw Wacha, S. Subramania Iyer, P. Anand Charlu, G.G. Agarkar and Rahmatullah Sayani. ## Aims of the Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress represented an urge of the politically conscious Indians to set up a national organisation to work for the freedom of their country. In the early years, the main aims of the INC were. * To promote friendly relations between nationalist political workers from different parts of the county. * To develop and consolidate the feelings of national unity irrespective of caste, religion or province. * To formulate popular demands and present them before the government. * To train and organise the public opinion in the country. ## The Early Nationalist Phase From 1885 to 1905, the Congress was dominated by a group of leaders drawn from the educated middle-class comprising professionals like lawyers, barristers, teachers and officials. These leaders are referred to as the Early Nationalists. Most prominent among these were Sir Phirozshah Mehta, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Surendranath Banerjee and Dadabhai Naoroji. They believed that if they placed their grievances before the government politely, it would certainly try to remove them. Therefore, they followed constitutional methods to achieve their aims. * They discussed various problems facing the country at The Congress annual sessions, passed resolutions concerning them, petitioned the British government to remove them and propagated its views among the people. * They wrote articles in newspapers to carry out a criticism of the government policies and make the Indians aware of them. * They put-up their demands in the form of three P's i.e., Petitions, Prayers and Protests. * Even when they protested against some policies of the government, they remained completely within the constitutional limits. Although the British most of the times did not pay any attention to