Europe, 1800 to 1900

Heather K. Michon

Europe endured seismic challenges and changes in the years between 1800 and 1900, as a series of political, social, and economic revolutions swept across the continent. Industrialization and urbanization, which began in the late 18th century and exploded in the first decades of the 19th century, changed the daily lives of tens of millions of people across the continent. These twin forces led to the expansion of both the middle class and the industrial working class and established the modern system of exchanging labor for cash wages. These changes had an impact on sports and play. Agrarian societies live by the seasons; urban societies live by the clock. The shift to urbanization altered how Europeans viewed time, with sharp lines now drawn between “work” time and “leisure” time. Organized team sports, for example, gave working-class men an opportunity to get physical exercise in the outdoors after days spent doing repetitive ...

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