THE ARISTOCRACY AND THE NEW MIDDLE CLASS

• A landed aristocracy was the dominant class of the continent, socially and politically. The members of this class were united by a common way of life that cut across regional divisions.

• Industrialisation began in France and parts of the German states during the nineteenth century. New social groups came into being: a working-class population, and middle classes.

• Slowly and steadily ideas of national unity among the educated, liberal middle classes gained popularity which led to the abolition of aristocratic privileges.