The Impact of Industrialzation on Weavers

Testimony from Silesian Prussia in the 1830's

The most seriously affected by the competetion of cheap machine production were the weavers. Flax was now spun on machines just like cotton. The ruined village flax-spinners sought work in weaving linen. But even here, the possibilities for the expansion of linen-weaving were limited by the introduction of mechanical looms. There was an excess of laborers; the wages sank far below subsistence level. Despite labor-days of 12, 14, even 16 hours, the mass of the population lived in great misery. A contemporary reported:

For seven years or more, the poor unfortunatates haven't been able to come by even a single piece of clothing; they cover themselves with rags, their cottages are falling down because they can't pay the costs of maintanence; the failed harvests in potatoes, particularly in the past two years, have forced them to turn to the cheapest wild or fodder-potatoes and to cattlefeed for sustenance; meat only comes into the house at Easter and Whitsuntide and then only a half-a-pound for five to six people.

In 1844 this produced a rebellion of the Silesian weavers. They plundered the houses of the rich factory owners. The Prussian military supressed the rebellion. ... This social misery drove tens of thousands to emigrate.Whoever was not resigned, but took up the struggle for better working conditions had to reckon with prison, because unions were forbidden by the Prussian Trades Law of 1845.

From, Fragen an die deutsche Geschichte: Ideen, Kräfte, Entscheidungen von 1800 bis zur Gegenwart. Catalog, 7th ed. to the Historical Exhibit in the Reichstag Building in Berlin. (1981), translated by Max Riedlsperger