Question

Explain the conditions that were viewed as obstacles to the economic exchange and growth by the new commercial classes during the nineteenth century in Europe.

Answer 1

The new commercial class viewed certain conditions as obstacles to the economic exchanges and growth of the economy. These were :

(a) For the new commercial class, liberalism stood for the freedom for the individual and equality of all before the law. However, the universal suffrage or the right to vote in the 19th century was not given to all which denied equality.

(b) For the new commercial class liberalism meant freedom of markets, however, in the 19th century restrictions were imposed by the state on the movement of goods and capital.

(c) The new commercial class emphasised on the introduction of a common currency for free-flow of goods and capital, however, in the 19th century each state had its own currency, weights and measures.