Industrial Revolution

What is Industrial Revolution? Industrial Revolution was the process of change from an agrarian, handicraft economy to one dominated by industry and machine manufacture It involved new sources of energy and power, faster transportations, mechanization, higher productivity and new ways of organizing human labor. The revolution did not lie in machines themselves but in new economic system based on mobilizing capital and labor on a much larger scale. Its effects redistributed wealth, influence and power; it created new social classes and produced new social tensions. Industrialization began in England in the 18th century and from there spread to other parts of the world during the 19th up to early 20th century.

How to explain Industrial Revolution?

Factors common in northwestern Europe 1) Raw materials Energy resources: large seam of coal from Britain through Belgium and northern France to the Ruhr valley in Germany Iron ore deposits, which, in some cases, were close to the coal deposits Abundance of wool and availability of cotton thanks to colonial trade

Factors common in northwestern Europe 2) Scientific revolution during the seventeenth century James Watt invented the steam engine in 1765

Factors common in northwestern Europe 3) Commercialization across Europe Expansion of commercial activities Changes in the banking system; establishment of the national banking system

Factors common in northwestern Europe 4) Europe’s growing role in world trade Geographic explorations gave Europe the head start for commercial activities Those explorations were aided by the military power as well A hierarchy emerged in international economy in which Europeans acquired minerals and agricultural goods from other areas and sold manufactured goods including fine furniture, cloth, and guns

Why did the Industrial Revolution first take place in Britain? Cotton Mill in Lancashire, 1834

Britain as a special case 1) Agricultural Revolution and population growth of the eighteenth century New techniques of agriculture: fertilizers, new implements, new crops and crop rotation Enclosure Acts Systematic and commercial attitude towards farming

Britain as a special case 2) There was no influential guild system in 18th century Britain Guilds were good for stable economies and they were to protects the artisans’ working conditions, yet they also inhibited labor mobility Due to the absence of guilds in Britain, employers had unusual freedom to bring new workers into new branches of production, which proved influential in innovations and inventions

Britain as a special case 3) Government support for Britain’s prominent role in international trade Government supported trade and protected new technologies and industries Government invested in infrastructural development such as building roads, railroads, and canals First railroad between Stockton-Darlington, 1825

EUROPEAN RAILROADS IN 1850 A mid-century Britain had the most extensive rail network, and the most industrialized economy, in Europe, but rail lines were expanding rapidly in France, the German states, and Austria. Southern and eastern Europe had few railways, and the Ottoman Empire had none. 1835-750 miles, 1852-7500 miles.

Britain as a special case 4) Lucky in terms of natural resources Excellent holdings in coal and iron Coastal waterways and navigable rivers helped transportation of those resources as well Beginning of the “fossil-fuel” age

Social Consequences of Industrial Revolution 1) Emergence of new classes Bourgeoisie: The capitalist class that owns and controls the means of production The working class: the class of the wage-laborers (proletariat)

Social Consequences of Industrial Revolution 2) Change in the nature of the work Prevalence of the factory system Workers became wage earners Repetitious and boring nature of many jobs, new work discipline

Social Consequences of Industrial Revolution 2) Urbanization Growth of cities in the 19th century Construction and infrastructure work lagged behind the population growth especially in the working class districts Segregation of residential areas along the class lines Environmental problems Social Consequences of Industrial Revolution

Social consequences of Industrial Revolution 3) Change in the family structure The unit of production changed from the household to the individual Child labor was on the scene too English Factory Act of 1833: forbade employment of children under 9 and limited work day to 9 hours for children between 9-13 Factories had to provide two hours of education to children Social consequences of Industrial Revolution

Rise of Socialism The 19th century saw the rise of socialism in Western Europe, political movement that urged an attack on private property in the name of equality, wanted state control of means of production and end to capitalist exploitation of the working man. Socialists were the critics of early industrial society who sought to expand the Enlightenment understanding of equality by including an economic dimension to political, legal and social ones. But how to achieve and maintain a just and equitable society?

Leading socialists: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

The Condition of the Working Class in England. Published the Communist Manifesto with Karl Marx. Friedrich Engels (1820-1895)

Karl Marx (1817-1883) German political thinker. Did most of his work in Britain. Communist Manifesto in 1848 with co-author Frederick Engels. Multi-volume Capital (Das Kapital), starting in 1867. Karl Marx (1817-1883)