As large-scale industrialization gradually transformed the agricultural economy and society in Western Europe, the 1830s and the 1840s brought heated discussion, lively debates and startling transformations in thought. The rapid increase in wage labor influenced the emergence of new political forces that, proclaiming the equality of all people, sought dramatic social and political change. One of the most powerful results of the growing preoccupation with the condition of workers was the birth of the movement known as socialism. In Europe in the 19th century, socialism focused on worker equality, equitable pay scales and, perhaps most important, humane living and working conditions. Over time, especially after 1871, European socialism became
