Download Historical Information on the Industrial Revolution

The Development of Industrial Society
The Industrial Revolution Transformed the Modern World
A revolution quite different from the Scientific Revolution of the
1500s or the political revolutions of the 1600s and the 1700s
began in Great Britain in the 1700s. This revolution—the
Industrial Revolution—transformed the ways goods were
produced and profoundly affected the world.
The Early Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain because of a
certain combination of conditions. Great Britain had what
economists call the factors of production, or the basic resources
necessary for industrialization: land, capital, and labor.
But even before the Industrial Revolution had begun, Great
Britain experienced a revolution in agriculture. This revolution
had started when British farmers began to fence off, or enclose,
common lands into individual holdings efficient for large-scale
farming.
By the 1800s, because of improvements in agriculture, farmers
needed fewer farm laborers. Many unemployed farm workers
moved to the cities, where they created a large labor force. Many
of these workers found jobs in the cotton textile industry, which
was the first industry in Great Britain to undergo mechanization
—the use of automatic machinery to increase production.
The Factory System
Soon, inventors perfected the steam engine, which could be used
to power machinery. This introduction of steam-powered
machinery made work easier to do and made it possible to
produce a wide array of products in a relatively short time. Most
of these goods were manufactured in factories rather than in
people's homes.
Life in the mines and factories of the early Industrial Revolution
was hard and monotonous, and life in the workers' homes was
not much better. Working people lived in cramped and poorly
maintained apartment houses called tenements. At the same
time, the middle class grew and enjoyed many luxuries unknown
before the Industrial Age.
New Business Methods
The factory system introduced a new phase in the development
of capitalism—the economic system in which individuals rather
than the government control the factors of production. Before
the Industrial Revolution, most capitalists were merchants who
bought, sold, and exchanged goods. We call this type of
capitalism commercial capitalism. However, because the
capitalists of the Industrial Revolution became more involved in
producing and manufacturing goods themselves, the capitalism
of this period is often referred to as industrial capitalism.
Industrialization changed the methods of production and
depended on division of labor, interchangeable parts, and the
assembly line. It also gave rise to a new form of business
organization— the corporation.
Improving Living Conditions
During the Enlightenment of the 1700s, a group of economists
attacked the ideas of mercantilism. These economists believed
that natural laws governed economic life, and that any attempt
to interfere with these natural economic laws was certain to
bring disaster. Adam Smith, a Scot, best stated the views of
these economists. Smith wrote that every person should be
free to go into any business and to operate it for the greatest
advantage. The result, Smith said, would benefit everyone. We
call this system of complete free enterprise laissez-faire.
As time went on, more people realized that things could not be
left entirely alone. Many people, such as John Stuart Mill, felt
that government needed to regulate work hours and set
minimum standards for wages and working conditions. These
people argued that such laws would not interfere with the
natural workings of the economy. Over time, governments
began to agree with these reformers.
Many workers, however, felt that governments were not
moving fast enough. Sometimes these workers took matters
into their own hands and refused to work until demands were
met. We call such a work stoppage a strike.
In order to strengthen their position, workers sought ways to
organize permanently into associations called labor unions.
Although these organizations were at first outlawed, they later
became legal.
Socialism
Some reformers of the 1800s advocated a political and
economic system called socialism. In this system the
government owns the means of production and operates them
for the welfare of all the people.
Some thinkers grew impatient with early socialism, which
advocated peaceful methods to attain goals. Karl Marx, the
most important of these critics, believed that all the great
changes in history came from changes in economic conditions.
Under capitalism, he said, labor receives only a small fraction
of the wealth it creates. Most of the wealth goes to the owners
in the form of profits. As a result of this unequal distribution
of wealth, the capitalist system necessarily suffered from
increasingly severe depressions that would ultimately lead to a
revolution led by the workers, or proletarians.
Marxist, or radical, socialists generally believed in the
necessity of revolution to overthrow the capitalist system.
They wanted to establish a system in which the government
owns almost all the means of production and controls
economic planning. Today we call this economic and political
system authoritarian socialism, or communism.
Another group of socialists, though influenced by Marx,
believed that socialism could develop gradually through
education and democratic forms of government. Today we call
this type of socialism democratic socialism. Under democratic
socialism, the people retain basic human rights and partial
control over economic planning through the election of
government officials.
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The Industrial Age Revolutionized Science and Culture
In addition to changing the economy and society, the Industrial
Revolution had a profound effect on science, art, music, and
literature.
Technology and Communication
Beginning about 1870 manufacturers increasingly applied the
findings of pure science to their businesses, generating a new
wave of industrial growth. The application of scientific
solutions to industrial problems resulted in: (1) inventions that
provided rapid communications over long distances; (2) the
development and use of new sources of power; and (3) the
creation of new products and materials and the improvement of
old ones.
Advances in Science and Medicine
The most significant developments in the physical sciences—
those that deal with the inanimate, or nonliving, aspects of
nature— during the 1800s and early 1900s centered on the
atomic theory. This theory states that all matter in the universe
consists of very small particles called atoms. The arrangement
and structure of these atoms and their chemical combinations
with each other account for the different characteristics of the
materials that make up our world.
Scientists also investigated the biological sciences—those
dealing with living organisms. Many explored the structure of
cells, the tiny units of living matter, in an attempt to better
understand organic matter and thereby improve human life.
Population
The progress made possible by science and technology helped
produce rapid population growth in industrialized countries. As
the population grew, it also became more mobile. Large numbers
of people moved across national boundaries and oceans to
foreign lands. Others moved to cities to find jobs in the new
factories.
Social Sciences and Education
During the 1800s interest in education and in the social sciences
grew rapidly. The social sciences are disciplines that study
people as members of society. These subjects include political
science, economics, history, anthropology, sociology, and
psychology.
Literature, Music, and Art
Literature, music, and art reflected the social and economic
developments of the Industrial Age. Even in their most personal
statements, the artists portrayed in their works a sense of the
times and of the influences of scientific ideas and rapid change.
Many writers of the early 1800s belonged to what is known as
the romantic movement. Their work appealed to sentiment and
imagination and dealt with the "romance" of life—life as it used
to be, or as they thought it ought to be, rather than as it actually
was. In the mid-1800s writers and artists began to abandon
romanticism and turn to realism, which emphasized the realities
of everyday life.
Reforms Swept Through Many Areas of the World in the
1800s
During the late 1800s, people throughout the world clamored
for reform. Their appeals met with varying degrees of success.
British Reforms
Although Great Britain was a limited constitutional monarchy
with executive power vested in a cabinet headed by the prime
minister, not everyone had a voice in government. In the
1800s, however, a series of reforms extended rights to the
entire population. At the same time, vital social and economic
reforms took place. Two outstanding prime ministers—
Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone—helped push
through many of these reforms.
As Great Britain instituted social and political reforms, other
changes occurred within the British Empire. The British
colonies of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand won selfgovernment. Nevertheless, each maintained close ties with
Great Britain.
The United States
Unlike European governments, the United States expanded
without acquiring any colonies. Instead, it expanded across
North America and gave new territories the opportunity to
become states on an equal basis with the original 13 states.
Despite phenomenal growth, the United States had one
significant problem—the unresolved issue of slavery. This
issue, along with the issue of states' rights, led to a brutal civil
war that raged between 1861 and 1865 and left much of the
nation—particularly the South—in ruins. Nevertheless, the
Union was preserved. After the Civil War, the United States
experienced phenomenal growth primarily as a result of
industrialization and immigration.
France
For many years after the Congress of Vienna, the Bourbons
continued to rule France. Then in 1830 a revolt forced King
Charles X to abdicate. The leaders of the French revolt then
chose Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, who belonged to a
branch of the Bourbon family but who had a record of liberal
beliefs, as king.
But in 1848 opposition to the regime of Louis Philippe erupted
in violence. A new government—a republic—under the
leadership of Louis Napoleon was soon proclaimed. Napoleon,
however, had imperial ambitions similar to those of his
illustrious uncle and soon proclaimed the Second Empire.
The Second Empire lasted until a humiliating defeat by
Prussia toppled it in 1871. France once again proclaimed a
republic.
Latin America
By the late 1700s, the Spanish and Portuguese colonies
underwent administrative reform and economic growth,
inspired in part by the Enlightenment. Nevertheless, the
revolutionary events in British North America and France in
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the late 1700s aroused interest, particularly among discontented
Creoles, as upper-class Latin Americans were known. By the
mid-1800s this discontent had become full-scale revolution, and
the nations of Latin America had won their independence.
Unification of New Nations Added to Rising Tensions in
Europe
In the late 1800s, the political situation in Europe changed
significantly. Italy and Germany each became unified nations.
Russia remained a rigid autocracy, and Austria and Hungary
formed the Dual Monarchy.
Italy
Italian nationalism became a strong force in the early 1800s.
Under the leadership of fiery patriots such as Giuseppe Mazzini,
people in many parts of Italy clamored for national unity.
Although the nationalists made some gains, they could not agree
on what type of government the united Italy should have.
One group favored union under the leadership of Sardinia.
There, the chief minister or premier, Count Camillo Benso di
Cavour, provided the major impetus for Italian unification.
Throughout the 1850s and the 1860s, Cavour used diplomacy,
war, and persuasion to achieve unity. Finally, in 1870
unification was completed when the Italians claimed Rome.
Prussia
Like Italy, Germany remained fragmented in the early 1800s.
But during the 1860s and 1870s, the long-delayed process of
centralization and consolidation under the leadership of Prussia
began to pick up great speed.
Perhaps the person most responsible for German unification was
the Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck, who used clever
diplomacy and war against Denmark, Austria, and France to
achieve unification in 1871.
problems caused by liberal ideas and restless nationalities, the
czars took harsh measures.
Although the late 1800s witnessed reforms such as the freeing
of the serfs during the reign of Alexander II, most reform
efforts failed. And the czars continued to use repression to
combat any erosion of their powers. Then in 1904 and 1905
the Russians fought a disastrous war with Japan (RussoJapanese War). Defeat at the hands of the Japanese spurred all
the discontented groups in the country to action and led to
revolution. Although the beleaguered Czar Nicholas II
granted a few reforms, he later reneged on his promises and
resumed his policies of repression. This repression would have
disastrous consequences for the Romanovs.
Austria-Hungary
The Hapsburgs in Austria also had to deal with the rising tide
of liberalism in the late 1800s. And to combat nationalist
demands in the empire, the Austrians formed the Dual
Monarchy in which both Hungarians and Austrians played a
vital role in government.
The formation of the Dual Monarchy failed to solve the
problem of nationalities. The Austrian Germans and the
Hungarian Magyars dominated the population in each of their
separate national states. National minorities—the Czechs,
Serbs, Croats, Romanians, Poles, and Italians—existed in both
Austria and Hungary. These people benefited very little from
the Dual Monarchy and continued to agitate for selfgovernment.
The Dual Monarchy also faced problems abroad. In the late
1800s, the Hapsburgs clashed with the autocratic government
of the Ottoman Empire over the Balkans. Although the
Ottomans had ruled the Balkans for centuries, their influence
steadily weakened as their empire declined.
The new German Empire was a federal union under the
leadership of the Prussian kaiser, or emperor. The federal
government controlled all common matters, such as national
defense, foreign affairs, and commerce.
Imperialist Powers Competed in Many Areas of the World
Beginning about 1870 several factors rekindled interest in
establishing colonies. During the next 40 years, many nations
became involved in imperialism—the domination by a
powerful nation over the political, economic, and cultural
affairs of another nation or region.
Opposition to Bismarck
In spite of rigid control by the aristocratic Prussians, the new
German federal government soon ran into difficult problems.
Dissatisfied groups formed political parties that opposed
Bismarck's policies. Relations with the Roman Catholic church
proved troublesome, and socialists clamored for government
ownership of businesses. Through delicate diplomacy, however,
Bismarck was able to deal with these problems and transform
Germany into an industrial power.
Background of Imperialism
Imperialism arose out of a complex mixture of political,
economic, and social forces. These forces included a desire for
self-sufficiency, the need for new markets, the search for
national pride and prestige, the need for places where people
could settle and still remain loyal to the home country, and the
desire to convert people to Christianity.
In foreign policy Bismarck worked to build up Germany's
military strength and develop a system of alliances to prevent
Russia and France from becoming allies.
Imperialism created bitter rivalries among the imperial powers
and hatred among the colonized peoples. As European powers
took over more and more of the world, these rivalries and
hatreds intensified.
Russia
Ruled by an autocratic czar, Russia steadfastly opposed reform.
Nevertheless, liberal ideals became popular among discontented
Russians—particularly among intellectuals. Faced with
North Africa and the Sudan
In the 1800s most of North Africa and the Sudan belonged to
the Ottoman Empire. Because Turkish control in many areas
was weak, the Europeans scrambled to claim new colonies.
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The French claimed Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco. The British
established dominance in Egypt and the Sudan, and the Italians
took Libya.
SubSaharan Africa
The Europeans repeated their colonial ambitions in SubSaharan
Africa. During the empire building of the 1500s and the 1600s,
the Europeans had established settlements on the coasts. In the
late 1800s, however, the Europeans moved inland. By 1900
Europeans claimed all land in SubSaharan Africa except Liberia
and Ethiopia.
Imperialism was a harsh experience for all of Africa. However,
the costs and the benefits resulting from European expansion
were unevenly distributed across the continent.
South and East Asia
The strong forces of imperialism that swept Africa in the 1800s
brought' important and fateful changes to South and East Asia
although the changes were not as abrupt as they were in so many
parts of Africa. In India, for example, the British had long
played an important role. In the mid-1800s, they increased this
role and made India a part of their vast empire.
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