Key Concept 3.1: Industrialization
The Industrial Revolution spread from Great Britain to the continent, where the state played a greater role in promoting industry.
Concept Overview
The transition from an agricultural to an industrial economy began in Britain in the 18th century, spread to France and Germany between 1850 and 1870, and finally to Russia in the 1890s. The governments of those countries actively supported industrialization. In southern and eastern Europe, some pockets of industry developed, surrounded by traditional agrarian economies. Although continental nations sought to borrow from and in some instances imitate the British model — the success of which was represented by the Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851 — each nation’s experience of industrialization was shaped by its own matrix of geographic, social, and political factors. The legacy of the revolution in France, for example, led to a more gradual adoption of mechanization in production, ensuring a more incremental industrialization than was the case in Britain. Despite the creation of a customs union in the 1830s, Germany’s lack of political unity hindered its industrial development. However, following unification in 1871, the German Empire quickly came to challenge British dominance in key industries, such as steel, coal, and chemicals.
Beginning in the 1870s, the European economy fluctuated widely because of the vagaries of financial markets. Continental states responded by assisting and protecting the development of national industry in a variety of ways, the most important being protective tariffs, military procurements, and colonial conquests. Key economic stakeholders, such as corporations and industrialists, expected governments to promote economic development by subsidizing ports, transportation, and new inventions; registering patents and sponsoring education; encouraging investments and enforcing contracts; and maintaining order and preventing labor strikes. State intervention reached its culmination in the 20th century, when some governments took over direction of the entire process of industrial development under the pressure of war and depression and/or from ideological commitments.
Beginning in the 1870s, the European economy fluctuated widely because of the vagaries of financial markets. Continental states responded by assisting and protecting the development of national industry in a variety of ways, the most important being protective tariffs, military procurements, and colonial conquests. Key economic stakeholders, such as corporations and industrialists, expected governments to promote economic development by subsidizing ports, transportation, and new inventions; registering patents and sponsoring education; encouraging investments and enforcing contracts; and maintaining order and preventing labor strikes. State intervention reached its culmination in the 20th century, when some governments took over direction of the entire process of industrial development under the pressure of war and depression and/or from ideological commitments.
Sub-Concept 1: Great Britain established its industrial dominance through the mechanization of textile production, iron and steel production, and new transportation systems.
- Britain’s ready supplies of coal, iron ore, and other essential raw materials promoted industrial growth.
- Economic institutions and human capital such as engineers, inventors, and capitalists helped Britain lead the process of industrialization, largely through private initiative. Examples include:
- The Crystal Palace at the Great Exhibition of 1851
- Banks
- Government financial awards to inventors
- Britain’s parliamentary government promoted commercial and industrial interests because those interests were represented in Parliament.
Sub-Concept 2: Following the British example, industrialization took root in continental Europe, sometimes with state sponsorship.
- France moved toward industrialization at a more gradual pace than Great Britain, with government support and with less dislocation of traditional methods of production. Examples include:
- Canals
- Railroads
- Trade agreements
- Canals
- Industrialization in Prussia allowed that state to become the leader of a unified Germany, which subsequently underwent rapid industrialization under government sponsorship. Examples include:
- Zollverein
- Investment in a transportation network
- Adoption of improved methods of manufacturing
- Friedrich List’s National System
- Zollverein
- A combination of factors including geography, lack of resources, the dominance of traditional landed elites, the persistence of serfdom in some areas, and inadequate government sponsorship accounted for eastern and southern Europe’s lag in industrial development. Examples include:
- Lack of resources
- Lack of adequate transportation
- Lack of resources
Sub-Concept 3: During the second industrial revolution (c. 1870-1914), more areas of Europe experienced industrial activity, and industrial processes increased in scale and complexity.
- Mechanization and the factory system became the predominant modes of production by 1914.
- New technologies and means of communication and transportation — including railroads — resulted in more fully integrated national economies, a higher level of urbanization, and a truly global economic network.
- Examples of new technologies include:
- Bessemer process
- Mass production
- Electricity
- Chemicals
- Bessemer process
- Examples of developments in communication and transportation include:
- Telegraph
- Steamship
- Streetcars or trolley cars
- Telephones
- Internal combustion engine
- Airplane
- Radio
- Telegraph
- Volatile business cycles in the last quarter of the 19th century led corporations and governments to try to manage the market through monopolies, banking practices, and tariffs.
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