Industrial Revolution & Liberalism (1780-1870)
The Industrial Revolution (1780-1870)
Transformation of Agriculture and Population Growth
The Agricultural Revolution
The enclosure of communal lands (open fields) displaced peasants, creating an industrial proletariat. This led to increased agricultural profits through mechanization and technological innovation. The cultivation of fodder crops supported industrial development by providing food, raw materials, and increased peasant purchasing power.
Population Growth
Increased food supply eliminated famines and improved disease resistance. Birth rates rose and mortality rates decreased due to better nutrition and hygiene, resulting in a life expectancy of 50 years.
Industry Development
Mechanization and the Factory System
Machines replaced human and animal labor, concentrating workers in factories. Water and steam power fueled this mechanization, starting with the flying shuttle and spinning jenny, and extending to mining and agriculture. This increased productivity, lowered costs, and reduced prices.
The Cotton Industry
Driven by growing demand, the cotton industry saw innovations like the mechanical loom, which increased production and reduced costs. The steam engine further revolutionized the industry, centered in Lancashire but reliant on US cotton. This stimulated agriculture, steel, and mining.
Coal and Iron
Advances in metallurgy and the use of coke in blast furnaces revolutionized iron production. Puddling and rolling created purer, more workable iron. Factories clustered near coal mines, and demand surged with textile machinery and railroad construction.
New Transport
Canals, improved roads, and railways transformed transportation. Railways benefited metallurgy and civil engineering, reduced travel time, facilitated heavy transport, lowered merchandise prices, and spurred the growth of capital companies. Steam navigation completed the transport network.
Market Momentum
These improvements fueled a market economy focused on new consumers and exports. Commercial expansion was driven by foreign markets, but the national market also grew due to population growth, increased peasant purchasing power, production specialization, and improved transport.
Industrialization on the Continent
The US and Japan experienced similar industrial growth. France and Belgium benefited from transport networks, while Germany developed later with coal, iron, and banking corporations. Industrialization in Italy and Spain was delayed.
Economic Liberalism and Capitalism
Economic Liberalism
British thinkers (classical school) developed economic liberalism, emphasizing individual freedom and minimal state intervention. Adam Smith advocated for removing trade barriers and monopolies, but acknowledged the need for government involvement in education, justice, and the military. Other authors warned about population growth outstripping resources.
Capital, Labor, and Market
Private ownership of production and products benefited the bourgeoisie (capitalists), while proletarians earned wages. A pure supply-and-demand system determined wages and employment. Capitalism aimed to maximize individual profit, but imbalances caused periodic crises corrected by production adjustments. Wages increased during economic booms.
Protectionism and Free Trade
Britain favored free trade, allowing unrestricted international exchange based on competitiveness. British products flooded markets, impacting other European countries. To protect their industries, the US and other nations implemented protectionist tariffs on foreign goods. Even Britain protected its wheat industry.
Social Consequences
Urbanization
Workers migrated to cities, leading to rapid urban growth and internal migration. London’s population reached nearly 2 million, and other cities like Edinburgh also expanded. This urbanization trend affected Europe as a whole.
Urban Segregation
The bourgeoisie resided in comfortable new neighborhoods, while working-class areas suffered from poor planning, sanitation issues, and overcrowded housing.
The New Industrial Society
Small landowners increased in rural areas, while the number of laborers and peasants declined. Manufacturing consolidated, ruining artisans and creating a larger industrial proletariat. The aristocracy lost influence, and the factory-owning bourgeoisie (employers, bankers, and landowners) gained prominence. Society valued private property, work, saving, and individualism. The family home symbolized prosperity and status. A middle class of professionals (lawyers, doctors, teachers) emerged, and workers endured long working hours (12-13h).
Women in Industrial Society
Upper and middle-class women managed households and raised children. Working-class women worked 10-12 hours in factories, as domestic servants, or as prostitutes, while also caring for their homes and families.
Nationalism (1815-1870) and Liberalism
Liberalism
Liberalism emerged after the Napoleonic empire, drawing inspiration from the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. It emphasized individual freedom, separation of powers, and popular sovereignty. Constitutions became the foundation of liberal states.
The Liberal Revolutions (1820-1848)
The Revolutions of 1820 and 1830
: Liberals went underground and organized themselves into secret societies (for rev. ) The Masons were the group + tax, or Decembrists rusos.Estas Italian Carbonari societies were considered heirs to the Enlightenment and Rev. francesay wanted the insurrection against the people absolutismoConfiaban that would join the uprising once characterized the surge strategy iniciado.Esta rev . between 1820 and 1824 that caused the bankruptcy of restauracion.El triumph in Spain, Portugal, Naples and Piedmont liberal.En opened a period for Spain and Italian states saw the direct intervention of the Holy Alliance (1823). A revolutionary second wave occurred between 1829 v 1839.La popular intervention favored the defeat of the aristocracia.La rev. started in France in 1830 and overthrew the Bourbons and implemented a monarchy behave constitucional.Su influence the independence of Belgium. In late 1830 the absolutism was disappearing in western eu a moderate liberalism whose reference was the French Costitucion 1791.Los moderate liberals defended the census suffrage and limited the exercise of freedom (prohibition of workers’ societies) and social1848 democratic experience: An new revolution in 1848 finally ended the system of restauracion.Debido the discomfort created by the development of the eastern eu capitalismo.En abolished feudalism and Western eu opened the doors to new defended democratic ideals of popular sovereignty and universal suffrage rev masculono.La began in Paris in feb.1848 when Louis Philippe libertades.Se restricted the assault on royal palace, the king fled and was declared a republic with political and social reforms: suffrage uni masc, escllavitud suppression, abolition death penalty and state intervention in economic life in order to guarantee the right to work for the unemployed.