Typically the gains in living standards and political rights of Europeans are presented as flowing from the good graces of industrial capitalism. In reality, as this book proves, it was the massive, militant struggle of millions of average persons who forced concessions such as the welfare state and free elections to Parliament. Without understanding the revolutionary vision and the pressure it placed on European rulers, it is difficult to understand contemporary society.

Autorentext

The Author: Holding a Ph.D. in contemporary European history and an M.A. in politics, William A. Pelz is the author of The Spartkusbund and the German Working Class Movement (1988) and Wilhelm Liebknecht and German Social Democracy (1994) and editor of The Eugene V. Debs Reader: Socialism and Democracy (2000). His articles and book reviews have appeared in the American Historical Review, International Labor and Working Class History, German History, Sozialismus, JahrBuch für Forschungen zur Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung, and International Labor History Yearbook among others.