Pre-Industrial and Industrial Societies: Transformations and Impacts
Preindustrial Stage
Physical inactivity is a characteristic of the most recent human populations where groups cease to be nomadic and settle permanently. This transition from nomadic to sedentary lifestyles began with the Neolithic agricultural revolution about 10,000 years ago, spreading across all continents:
- Improved equipment, tools, and storage systems
- Division of labor (skilled trades first)
- Emergence of property rights
- Early writing systems
- Organized religions and states
- War and slavery
The demographic model of ancient societies, from predator and agricultural societies to industrial societies, included:
- High birth rates
- High mortality rates, especially infant mortality
- Life expectancy of 25 years
Populations grew in the short term but stagnated or grew slowly in the long term. Sometimes, widespread epidemics caused significant decreases, such as the Black Death of 1348, which reduced Europe’s population by one-third.
The Malthusian limit describes how any village’s population is constrained by the amount of food and resources available.
While food production increases arithmetically, population grows geometrically, limited by resources.
These limitations led to increased mortality and a cessation of population growth.
Malthus’s thesis included:
- Population increase
- Pricey food
- Fall in real income
- Compulsive checks (increased mortality)
- Preventive checks (decreased marriage, decreased birth rates)
All these factors lead to a decrease in population, one way or another.
When population grows faster than food production, the limiting factor is the lack of sufficient land (in quantity and quality).
There are three main stages:
1. Stagnation: up to the year 1000, with stabilization. From 1000-1200, there was extraordinary growth, slowing down from 1200 to 1340. The Black Death of 1348 caused a population decline, reaching a ceiling. Afterward, living conditions improved for survivors.
2. Crisis Recovery: Until the 17th century (14th-17th), growth slowed again, with demographic crises.
3. Population Growth at 18th century: This occurred due to changes in agriculture and the economy, particularly the individual sector.
Industrial Revolution
Changes occurred in:
Food availability
Hygiene
Prevention of epidemics
These factors led to the modern demographic regime.
Traditional Agriculture
Capital devoted to agriculture was limited. Land suitable for exploitation and cultivation was limited and not homogeneous; its value varied by quality and location. Applying capital, labor, and techniques improved soil factors:
Expansion of cultivated area
Improved productivity
Creation of irrigation systems
Desiccation of wetlands
Construction or improvement of roads
This shift moved society from predation to production.
The organic nature of resource use limited community growth.
* Absolute predominance of agriculture and livestock farming.
* Closed economies with high self-sufficiency in food and clothing.
* Dominance of smallholdings; the family was the basic production unit.
Y = (N, H, K) TPF: Increased production came from more labor or land, but agriculture had low and fluctuating yields.
The agrarian revolution followed low and fluctuating yields and a fragile population.
Innovations like the water mill and plow maximized ground performance. The main purpose of economic activity was not to increase production and income but to ensure human and animal reproduction and the soil’s regenerative capacity (fertilizers, rest, fallow).
The feudal system, the standard organization of European societies from the eleventh century until the Industrial Revolution, was based on a weak state. Its essence was a series of economic benefits and personal obligations tied to land ownership:
Politically, it was dominated by feudal lords (counts, marquises, the church).
Inequality existed between feudal lords and others.
In the feudal system, serfs were subject to the lord, had little individual freedom, had to serve and care for the land, and paid income to the lord in kind or money. Slaves were not considered people and had no legal rights. Free men served the lords.
Lords appropriated part of the farmers’ production and work, receiving a fixed portion or proportion of the harvest.
Later, farmers could start their own land and sell products as markets grew.
In 18th-century Britain, feudalism transitioned to capitalism, followed by other countries.
Monarchies consolidated, weakening the state. Kings allied with urban oligarchies (cities), restructuring the feudal system, with the monarchy’s role becoming superior.
The peasantry’s situation improved, but increased tax burdens followed.
Feudalism favored land rent (Renta or Feudal land).
RECOVERY OF COMMERCE AND URBAN LIFE
The fall of the Roman Empire led to a loss of power for cities and trade. From the year 1000, trade and cities recovered.
CITY-FIELD INTERACTION
Cities and fields were complementary; cities needed food from the field, while the field received revenue from the city. Urban markets operated on a fixed frequency (weekly, etc.).
The surplus reached the field; country and city were part of a system. Manufacturing activity increased, controlled by craft guilds.
* Guilds established basic rules.
* Held monopolies in their city.
* Had a political dimension, with representation in municipal governing bodies.
The growth of cities was linked to long-distance trade routes (e.g., between the western and eastern Mediterranean), trading valuable, low-volume luxury goods. The Crusades spurred trade. Western Europe monopolized this growth; major cities included Venice, Genoa, Pisa, Florence, Milan, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, and Atlantic Flanders in the Netherlands.
Hanseatic League, led by Hamburg, linked the Mediterranean to the north.
– Improving transportation
– Improved organization of trade
– Techniques used better.
– Development of the fairs, which come from different parts of Europe specialist, the most important in Spain was Medina del Campo.
– Improved currency
– Parallel to the above there are new payment mechanisms, such as bills of exchange.
– Appear the first financial situations.
– Improve the forms of association insurance trade associations are developed.
– Improving the system of accounting.
– The main stages of the Mediterranean trade was the advance, gaining importance from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic
OBJECTIVE: – basic agricultural economy of 65 to 75%, has a limit of growth
- have a ceiling on growth, fever etc. ..
COMMERCIAL CAPITAL: capital invested in the sphere of circulation, whose main function is to profit by buying and selling goods. In pre-capitalist formations was the commercial capital of an independent capital. Contribute to the development of monetary relations, trade, the ruin of small farmers, the accumulation of large cash resources in the hands of some operators, which facilitated the advent of the capitalist mode of production. As capitalism develops, the commercial capital is subordinated to industrial capital.
- Agents trade. Distribution channels and product promotion
There was a strict regulation by the unions (shopkeepers, blacksmiths, etc. ..) a guild is a group of people who do the same job. In the Middle Ages , members of a guild used to live in the same street. Its function was limiting the prices of products, and there were special laws created by guilds. Within guilds were teachers, that is, experts and craftsmen who taught a disciple or apprentice of the trade. When the apprentice had completed the learning could continue working for the master and opened his own workshop.
Multiple profiles performed many trader trading, street trading.
Itinerant Trade:
– Street trading
– Markets newspapers
– Fairs
Distribution Trade and stable fixed
– Stores public ownership
Commercial – Shops (private equity) in artisans, specialized
– Retail Distribution
Market place of encounter between producers, marketers and consumers.
Diaspora to move to an uncertain place, do not know what you find.
Basically the 16th and 17th century and much of the 18 women at the level of manufacturing is a clear continuity in the technology used, but if changes occur transcendent, major changes in the secondary sector in the composition, ie changes occur the organization of this firm.
Change Location
We refer mainly to the 17th century and 18 regions that until then, had a special secondary sector, key sites come into crisis, losing importance because there are other regions conquer markets.
Items:
1) Economic:
Applied favors in most European countries, imports, exports, basically protectionist.
2) Home energy paradigm: basically consists of replacing the beginnings of change of energy, wood or coal for electricity, this means that the regions to industrialize themselves and locating what was going.
3) Sector Perspective: Developing a paradigm, the shipyards, the sector that best exemplifies the changes is the materials sector (wool, linen, cane).
incorporated into the cotton fiber is used around the massive introduction of calico, placed at various locations in Europe, grew cotton and calico.
The basic element of the former manufacturing were the guilds, Guilds is a clear organizational element that has a crisis, are increasingly important for traders to producers who supply the raw material supply and production, this did was important because it is no longer the domain of cities if not the country of manufacture.
And therefore spend more on having an active peasant families:
Merchant M Controls No early going until he sells.
Changes in agriculture?
Intense specialization derived from milk and livestock.
Byproducts of manufacturing, was the beer and hops.
This agriculture is characterized by high productivity, Feed (Piensa), and the increasing use of fertilizer has a commercial development.
Were increasingly occupying land shaped polders, dikes that retain water and dried well and used the land for cultivation.
the idea of seeing agriculture in pre-industrial social and economic forces that appear are supporters of the abolition of the manorial system of feudalism.
With their institutions that had problems was difficult to put the development of these forces.
What forces?
* Commercial bourgeoisie
* Owners farmers merchants so hindered his performance.
At the international level means that for 100 years, am talking about political meetings are liberal revolutions, where the starting point of these changes are:
* American Independence and its constitution.
* The French Revolution.
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution designates a set of changes to economic ( capitalism ), social (bourgeois order) and technology that were initially produced in Britain in the second half of the eighteenth century . The technical advances, especially the steam engine – the demographic explosion that began in the 1750 and the changes that apply to the agriculture lead to a revolution in the field of industry sectors that led the textiles , the coal and iron .
This revolution marked a break in the course of history and transformed humans farmers in manipulative machine driven by energy . Thus, the Industrial Revolution changes the economic foundations of society, which, gradually, is based on industrial production. The cities became overcrowded schools were places where housing and jobs of the new social class , the working class , which emerged with the Machinism. The existence of this new social status, originally formed by farmers driven from the field, encouraged the emergence of new ideologies of liberals and socialists , who shapes the world contemporary .
The changes that, together, so radically transformed the lives of human beings were fundamentally: the population growth, the agricultural revolution, the revolution in transport and trade, the implementation of thescience to industry , and expanding the use of capital. These demographic changes, economic and technological transformations generated powerful: the conversion of urban and rural communities in the emergence of new social classes .
The first Industrial Revolution was a gradual process that took as its first stage of Britain in the late eighteenth century . This revolution represented the classic model of transformation from an agrarian society into an urban and industrial.
The causes of Britain made the cradle of the Industrial Revolution are numerous. And in England there act combined a series of diverse factors: a naval force superior to other maritime states, establishing a colonial empire that gave him control of world trade, the capital necessary to carry out scientific and technical research, the same trade, which allowed him to accumulate more and more resources, a developed banking system, a large commercial freedom within a geographical location that the left outside continental conflicts, the disappearance of feudal customs its social system, the doctrine of equality before the law, the consolidation of the values of civil and religious liberty and a dominant aristocracy that adapts to changes in the new economic conditions.
Everything began with the mechanization of the industry network , development of manufacturing techniques of iron and the use of coal , then the innovations spread to other economic sectors. The expansion of trade was facilitated by the introduction of canals , improved roads and railways. The introduction of steam , fueled primarily by coal , made possible dramatic increases in production.
The demographic revolution
The increased population of Britain and of Europe in general was espectacularAquest population increase was the result of a double movement: the decline of mortality rates and maintenance, or the slight increase of rates birth. The improvement of living standards favored birth, since the number of marriages increased, whereas mortality did back. A more abundant and regular supply, which does not depend on the fluctuations in crop, caused a decline in the incidence ofepidemics, and made possible, practically disappeared in the catastrophic mortality, especially children, as a result of improved conditions sanitary and the food . Progress medical and hygiene were crucial in reducing child mortality. On the other hand, led to the generalization of another demographic phenomenon, the emigration ,: rural people marching towards the city and a large number of individuals from the old Europe migrated to the colonies of the New World.
The agricultural revolution
The increased demand for food caused the landowners realize the need to increase production. The excessive parcelling of land, its irregular distribution rights and community open fields of the old system hindered production. English Parliament voted to close hundreds of laws that allow owners to close their lands. This process involved, firstly, the end of the old feudal system of exploitation, and secondly, the expulsion of many farmers or laborers in his conversion, as not all owners had the financial means to carry out the closure, for this reason, small owners were forced to sell their land and migrate to the cities, where workers became the new factories.
The new ownership structure allowed the introduction of new agricultural production techniques:
- The cultivation solcs.amb continued collaboration in the use of the plow triangular, considerably reduced the manpower and the number of animals quickly and effectively. Also the use of planter of Jethro Tull
- The new crop rotations, they replaced the system fallow for cultivation of vegetables and crops, a type of crop rotation called System Norfolk and extended the amount of land exploitation.
- The cultivation of vegetables and herbs that might have made it possible for fodder to feed livestock in winter, and also bring it to graze in the fields was increased with manure, the fertility of the soil. These changes served to feed farm with more quantity and quality.
New techniques, new organizational systems and new energy sources
One of the factors that contributed to the development of the Industrial Revolution was the start of a continuous process of technological innovation that took a direct application in improving the production process. The key finding of the Industrial Revolution was undoubtedly theThe application of steam to steam to the textile industry represented the exploitation of new energy sources based on coal , thanks to the mass of capital investment, made possible that could replace or supplement the human effort. Another essential material was iron, which in turn led to the intensification of mining operations, which had been treated with special techniques for further industrial use.
The combined use of these three elements (steam, coal and iron) did emerge called Machinism : the application of the steam engine and improved the development of industry metallurgy machines were built by mines, industries and transport.
In addition to technical change, there appeared a new industrial organization. Previously, the foundations of the economic system were manufacturing, workshop and unions , whereas the industrial age represented the domain of manufacturing organization, with the help of machinery and production scale and mass, with owners and workers.
The middle decades of the nineteenth century represented the extent of industrialization in Europe. France , Belgium , Germany , the Netherlands and Switzerland were the first developed countries where industrialization and the Spanish only industrialized Catalonia , the Basque Country and Asturias . The rest, especially Andalusia and Castella remain primarily agricultural centers
The rest of Europe
Several states tried to technological innovation and mass production:. [30]
- In France, the industrial revolution interrupted due toFrench Revolution and Napoleonic Wars , which in turn caused a low birth rate and aging population. However, France became one of the industrial powers thanks to the fabric and steel . The industrial revolution was consolidated after 1850 because of investments in the rail network. The model of industrialization in France stood upon his own rural market.
- Belgium industrialized significantly from the separation of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands , which denotes the importance of state policy aimed at industrialization. The year 1835 was built the first railroad and in 1847 established the first line of telegraph between BRUSSELS and Antwerp .
- In the Germanic area the Industrial Revolution was more complex because Germany is not united until 1871 . Consequently, there were various markets, models, political, social situations and economic possibilities. The area of the Ruhr followed the British model, with the exploitation of mines and steel industry as key sectors, with capital and technical French and British patents. In the east, however, did not eliminate the industrialization of agriculture. Across the territory, population increase has served to stimulate the rail network and played the role of engine for increased production of iron , steel and coal .
- In the Austro-Hungarian Empire , the region of Bohemia and Silesia , rich incoal, became the industrial center provider market Vienna , while Hungary was maintained as a supplier of agricultural commodities.
- Russia began the industrialization when other states already initiated the second industrial revolution . The process was characterized by Russian state intervention, little presence of entrepreneurs, a weak market and the role of the railway. Imports of railway equipment and machinery requires a great amount of exports and debt, which forced him to sell cereal . Thus, the entry of industrial products was balanced by the contraction of consumption of agricultural goods that were exported. In short, the balance of the balance of payments and industrialization of the country was achieved with the sacrifice and austerity forced farmers. In addition to the railway network, developed industry textiles , the metal (with the discovery of iron and coal in the Crimea and the Sea of Azov ) and the oil (with oil discoveries in Azerbaijan ). In the late nineteenth century Russia is the world’s leading producer of oil.
. The second industrial revolution (1870-1914)
The second industrial revolution corresponds to the period between 1870 and 1914. Since the last third of the nineteenth century, to very different rhythms, the capitalism expanded and consolidated in Europe , the United States , in Canada and Japan . Under the effect of new technological advances, changes in the ways of organizing work and new funding opportunities, the industry is growing strongly and diversifies its productions, events that transformed the economic life and allowed, within a global market, a mass production.
The inventions of the second half of the nineteenth century were the result of more intense cooperation between scientific research and industry. He improved gradually, the operation of steam fedcoal and steel production was improved. But the second industrial revolution was born from the use of new sources of energy: the electricity and oil . The last pillar of the transformation techniques of the late nineteenth century was the chemical industry. The procedure for Solvay in 1863 made possible the mass production of caustic and thus, the development of the industries of soap and glass . Chemical research in the field allowed new applications in industrial dyes, perfumes , explosives , drugs … to hundreds of new items.
Industrial growth demands the mobilization of huge capital and financial and monetary changes. Thus, gold became the standard monetary system. But the increase in money supply occurred mainly for the development of banknotes issued by a central bank in each state in proportion to their reserves in gold metal and convertible, and the appearance of checks or heels, which allowed greater mobility of capital.
The merger between industrial capital and the bank gave way to a new kind of capitalism, finance capitalism or monopoly. The competition between capitalism was giving way to the dominance of large financial groups.
Finally, large companies, individual or family owned, are transformed into limited companies, where the power belongs to the major shareholders, and shareholders are the boards.
All these industrial developments raised new problems: the division of the world, with the aim of delivering to markets, sources of raw materials and capital investment areas. This race for the conquest and world domination gave way to the first great war of the twentieth century : the First World War .
Moreover, medical advances and health meant that the European population are duplicated throughout the century. Above all, he created a new urban and industrial civilization: cities grew, while there appeared a new middle class, consisting of merchants, officials and employees of professional services sectors (banking, finance, transportation, office). The urban structure acquired a new look thanks to the trams, underground trains and large buildings.
The field work was no longer the primary economic activity of humans in Europe. The work was specialized and was machined, and many villagers began the exodus from the countryside to the city, America or other continents. Agriculture was internationalized, and the spread of trade and exploitation of new areas of the world allowed more resources and a general fall in prices