Artisan frustration during the Vormarz

The group that I wanted to talk about who were affected a great deal by the economic changes during the Vormarz are the artisans.. Mechanization was causing a great deal of competition for them during this period, and they were very vocal in their opposition to the factories and the breakdown of guilds. This also played into a concept of capitalism that I found very interesting because it was very different from any kind of capitalism we would consider implementing today. There are several components which were considered important that we have covered in class which created a very unique competitive atmosphere. They are open competition with a lack of professional standards, interchangeable goods which could not be distinguished from each other based on the reputations of the producers, and a variety of contractual disputes which caused a great deal of friction between the artisans and both their apprentices and thier buyers.

The first component of this the breakdown of the guilds. Open competition is something we generally view very favorably in modern American society. However in Germany during this period it created a lack of professional standards. Now it is not uncommon for us to have methods of professional standards including licensing procedures and professional organizations which settle disputes between professionals and create quality control for buyers. This would seem necessary even in a free market, but this was not the case in Germany. The result was many apprentices prematurely terminating their apprenticeships and going out on their own and many people who were not qualified doing work that they were not able to do. For obvious reasons this caused justifiable tension within the respected community of artisans and was a major source of discontent.

This was not the only problem among artisans during hte period. While open competition was incouraged there was an unwillingness to pay competetive prices for work. This practice was dramatically different from the other more laissez-faire attitudes towardes practices and
a lot of shady practices. As a result workers were willing to cheat consumers by stealing and providing substandard work to make up for what they perceived as artificially low wages. Special courts were created to resolve these issues and it created a great deal of tension between the artisans and the government.

The last aspect I wanted to talk about in regards to capitalism and the artisans is the affect of industrial competition and a lack of quality control. Trademarks were prohibited and all goods were supposed to be interchangeable. This came at the same time as new indstrial producers were mass producing goods taht had limited quality control. Competition is generally an excellent thing but the government prohibiting trademarks had a dire affect on quality craftsman. This took their good names away from them when trying to compete in the market place, and forced them to compete when they could not differentiate themselves from industrial products which were frequently of inferior quality.

My main point in discussing these issues is that in the area of trade society was in an adjustment period, and it caused a great deal of frustration for those involved. There was a great struggle between competition and those who wanted quality professional and production standards. Because the government usually came down on the side of open competition without standards this was a major source of friction leading up to the Revolution.