The German Worker essay
The rapid industrialization of Germany contributed to consistent socioeconomic changes as the nation grow more and more aware of its power. At the same time, the large part of German society, workers, was in the oppressed position, while the upper class held the full control over the political and economic life of the country. The ongoing industrialization was accompanied by the increased exploitation of German workers. However, German workers had grown conscious of their significance for the national economy. They became aware of the fact that without them the upper class was nothing because the upper class was non-productive class, while the national wealth was created by hands of workers. In such a situation, workers naturally felt a profound contempt in relation to representatives of the upper class and they believed that the situation in Germany will change soon as workers expected to play the leading part in further changes which were expected in Germany, while many workers believed in the revolutionary way of changing their oppressed position and the liberation of working people from chains of capitalism.
The wide gap between the upper class and the working class in Germany persisted and made them absolutely different and antagonistic. On the one hand, there was the upper class, which comprised a tiny share of the total population, while the working class comprised the overwhelming majority of the population. Workers felt their quantitative superiority and believed in their ability to change their position for better, as they observed deep transformations in German society and the growing demand on the labor force as the industrialization in Germany boosted.
The life of workers was extremely hard and in many instances unbearable. They had to work hard but got next to nothing, while representatives of the upper class appropriated the lion share of profits brought by the hard labor of German workers. In such a way, unbearable conditions of work juxtaposed to the privileged position of the upper class. Hence, German workers felt a profound contempt in relation to representatives of the upper class since they believed that the latter did nothing but possessed all, while workers worked hard and possessed nothing. The sense of profound injustice in existing German society made German workers eager to rebel against the existing social order to change it for a better one.
German workers saw no future for the upper class but they had no illusions concerning their possibility to join the upper class. Moreover, they were not even willing to become one of them. They just wanted the overall improvement of the position of the working class because this was the class they felt unity with and they could not imagine themselves beyond that class. In fact, workers felt as if they were a nation within the nation. They believed that the existing social order cannot exist for a long time because a few cannot rule by millions of people, whose position is desperate and they have virtually nothing to lose.
Instead, German workers expected to change the existing social order either through social revolution or otherwise. Basically, the revolutionary way of changing the situation was the main way for German workers because they did not believe the upper class would have ever refused from its privileged position and share their wealth with workers. Workers believed they should not share the wealth they created with the upper class. They were aware of the fact that the only thing they need to do was to stop working for the upper class and start working for themselves.
At the same time, German workers had to work hard to earn for living and they could hardly take part in the organized struggle against the oppressing upper-class. They could hardly organize the revolution but they needed to unite their efforts, at least at the local level to confront capitalists and force them to meet the needs of working people. On the other hand, workers see the organized resistance and unionization as the most realistic and proximate way to the improvement of their position in Germany. The unionization and organized struggle at the local level could pave the way to the larger scale organized struggle and probably the revolution in which the working class would overthrow the upper class and eliminate class division of the society. As the position of German workers became unbearable, they grew aware of the necessity to change the existing social order that contributed to the radicalization of the working class. In addition, they were vulnerable to the impact of socialist ideas and ideas of Karl Marx, who promoted the idea of the social revolution and predicted the extinction of the upper-class, while the working class was the major force that would bring the social revolution to victory.
German workers were accustomed to their lifestyle. They elaborated their values, culture and norms which they followed, while norms and values of the upper class were absolutely hostile and strange to them. Hence, they contempt to the upper class was enormous. The common values and culture enhanced the unity of the working class. In addition, massive economic and technological changes inspired workers to expect the soon elimination of the upper class and improvement of their position since they were the only ones who used complex machines, while the upper class did nothing but ripped off profits from exploited workers.
At any rate, German workers understand their economic significance in the life of the entire nation. They were aware of the lion share of the national wealth they produced. On the other hand, their contribution to the national wealth did not correspond to their earnings and the share of the national wealth they received in terms of wages. In such a way, German workers felt their power as the class but they saw no reason for the existence of the upper class, which did nothing but exploited them. Therefore, they believed that they could work without the upper class perfectly, while peasants and other classes could join the working class as the industrialization kept progressing and pushed Germany toward the global leadership as one of the major powers in the world.
Thus, the position of German workers was unbearable and they pleaded for changes urgently because the ongoing exploitation of workers by the upper class was unaffordable for them. Workers felt their unity as the class with the common values, norms and culture. They felt contempt in relation to the upper class and capitalism as the system that brought to the top level of the social hierarchy people, who did nothing for the creation of the national wealth but lived due to exploitation of workers. Hence, workers were ready to the revolutionary struggle to change their position for better.
