The Industrial Revolution: Societal and Economic Shifts
1. Population Growth and Agricultural Expansion
The Industrial Revolution resulted from economic and technological changes that first occurred in Britain in the mid-eighteenth century, leading to a transformation of the economy and society.
The Demographic Revolution
From the mid-eighteenth century, the European population began a growth process known as the demographic revolution. The causes were increased food production and progress in hygiene and medicine. Plagues and epidemics were disappearing due to improved food that made people stronger. The consequence was a reduction in mortality and an increase in the birth rate. Life expectancy grew from 38 to 50 years.
The Agricultural Revolution
The population increase led to increased demand for food. As a result, the rise in agricultural prices encouraged landowners to improve production. This was achieved through two major changes: the privatization of land and the application of new methods and techniques of cultivation. To stimulate production, laws were passed that put an end to the feudal system and communal ownership, allowing landowners to freely make changes. Cultivation techniques were replaced by fodder plants (Norfolk system). A gradual mechanization of farm work began. The introduction of new crops, such as corn and potatoes, and the expansion of livestock allowed people to have a richer and more varied diet.
Technological Advancements: Steam, Factories, and Industry
2. The Age of the Machine: Electrical Machinery, Steam, and Factories
Another basic element of transformation was technological innovation. Machines began to replace manual labor, changing old systems. Each technical advance implied increased productivity and lower production costs, which allowed for cheaper sales, increased demand, and higher profits. The first machines were powered by human force and later by water power. The energy source that revolutionized production and transport systems was steam. The steam engine, invented by James Watt in 1769, used coal as fuel and allowed the abandonment of traditional energy sources, becoming the symbol of the Industrial Revolution. Mechanization and the introduction of new energy sources prompted the widespread factory system of production. This involved the concentration of workers and machines in large industrial buildings (factories) where the division of labor took place. That is, each worker performed a part of the production chain.
The Textile Industry
In Great Britain, the first sector to be mechanized was the cotton industry, first in yarn and then in weaving. In the eighteenth century, there was a large trade in printed cotton fabric from India. The British government banned the import, thereby stimulating the production of this fabric in the interior. In order to produce more, the flying shuttle (1733) was applied, which increased the speed of the weaving process. New spinning machines emerged, which increased the production of thread. The power loom (1785) completed the machining process for textiles.
Coal, Iron, and Steel
Another pioneer of the industrial sector was the steel industry. Previously, iron was produced in small amounts since the furnace worked with charcoal, which had a low calorific value. The invention that allowed greater production of iron was the use by Darby (1732) of coking coal, which had a high calorific value. Later, Bessemer invented a converter to transform iron into steel.
Transportation and Trade in the Industrial Age
3. The Transportation Revolution
The increase in agricultural and industrial production would not have made sense if it were not possible to get the goods to the population. A series of innovations revolutionized transportation and increased trade.
The Railroad and Steamboat
From the mid-eighteenth century, in the UK and much of Europe, there was an improvement in communication routes. At its inception, the railroad was used in mines to transport ore in trucks that moved on rails. The first innovations were a system of iron rails and wheels with flanges that prevented the derailment of the train. But the truly innovative phenomenon was the locomotive of Stephenson (1829), which operated the rail with a steam engine. In the ten years following, the construction of the railway network in Europe was a great stimulus for the development of the steel industry. The railway shortened journey times, increased safety, and, given its higher load capacity, made the transportation of goods cheaper. Soon after, the steam engine was applied to shipping, and the steamboat was created, built in iron, which replaced sailing ships.
The Increase in Trade
The Industrial Revolution gave way to a market economy, in which production was not for subsistence but for sale in increasingly wider markets. This change was possible thanks to increased production, population growth, and improved purchasing power in society. Thanks to the new transport, internal trade increased. Markets were expanded, and a national market was created. Foreign trade also increased in the mid-nineteenth century. Theories of free trade argued that freedom of trade between countries would promote economic growth. However, many states imposed protectionism (defense of national industry through taxes on imports).
Capitalism and Liberalism in the Industrial Era
4. Industrial Capitalism
The Industrial Revolution caused an economic model of capitalism and liberalism as a political doctrine that supported it.
Liberalism and Capitalism
Adam Smith defined economic liberalism, which was based on three points:
- The personal interest and the pursuit of maximum profit is the engine of the economy.
- The various interests are balanced in the market through the price mechanism to adjust supply to demand.
- The state should not intervene in the functioning of the economy and should allow the free development of individual interests (free trade).
Under these principles, industrial capitalism was structured as a system in which the means of production are privately owned by a small group of people. Under capitalism, the lack of planning and the constant increase in production originate economic crises that are repeated. They occur because supply tends to increase faster than demand, leading to the bankruptcy of companies with too much stock. And there is more unemployment among workers.
Banking and Finance
Banks were a very important institution in the development of capitalism, supplying capital to firms (loans) and facilitating payments by checks and bills of exchange. The bank became an intermediary between savers, who gave their money on deposit, and industrialists, who needed capital to invest. Companies requiring large inputs of money meant a single employer could not continue. Then came the corporations, whereby the capital required by a company is divided into parts (shares) and sold to any individual in an institution: the stock market.
The Expansion of Industrial Capitalism
In the early nineteenth century, industrialization spread to countries like France and Belgium, with a greater weight of the steel and textile retail industry. Between 1850 and 1870, Russia, Germany, the US, and Japan also industrialized. In southern Europe, industrialized regions coexisted with rural areas. Eastern Europe remained almost entirely outside industrialization.
Technological Advancements in the Late 19th Century
5. The Second Phase of Industrialization (1870-1914)
In the late nineteenth century, the second phase of industrialization began, in which Great Britain’s leadership began to be shared.
New Energy Sources and New Industries
The energy sources used changed; coal and steam were replaced by electricity and oil. Electricity had multiple applications in industry. The combustion engine made it possible to use oil as fuel for automobiles. Ships became more rapid and effective, and inroads began to be made in the aviation sector. Metallurgy acquired a boost due to the production of new metals such as steel and aluminum. The automotive industry achieved a major expansion. The chemical industry in Germany saw increased production of new fertilizers, pesticides, chemicals, dyes, and pharmaceuticals. Using reinforced concrete, the first skyscrapers were built.
A New Industrial Organization
In the late nineteenth century, the organization of production was geared towards mass production as the best way to increase productivity and reduce manufacturing costs. This new working method is known as Taylorism, which is manufacturing in a chain, namely the division of the production process into very specific tasks using high-precision machines. In it, each worker performs a very specific part of the work, eliminating unnecessary movement and maximizing labor. This production system was born in the US, and the Ford car factory was the first to use it. There were more cars for less money and therefore more affordable for citizens. The high capital investment required for technological innovations stimulated industrial concentration, and businesses were growing. To restrict competition, agreements were signed between companies with the aim of fixing prices and establishing areas of influence. This created the cartel (agreements between different enterprises), trust (merger), the holding company (a financial group that owns most of the actions of a group of companies and banks), and monopoly (exclusive right of a company to market a product). This began in 1830.
Social Changes in the Industrial Age
6. The New Industrial Society
The new industrial system provided social differences not by birth, as in the Old Regime, but by wealth. Therefore, the old estate society gave way to a class society, mainly structured into two main groups: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.
The Bourgeoisie
The bourgeoisie became the dominant group, being the owner of industries and businesses. There was a large middle class composed of bankers, investors, and owners of large factories. There was also a middle bourgeoisie composed of professionals, officials, and traders. Below, a large number of employees and shopkeepers formed the petty bourgeoisie.
The Workers
Factory workers formed the industrial and urban proletariat. They provided the necessary labor for factories, which employed them for wages. They were the largest and most disadvantaged group in the new society. At first, there was no legislation to fix the working conditions of workers. Therefore, the hours, wages, and festivities were set arbitrarily by the employers. Their living conditions were very hard: they worked between 12 and 14 hours and were paid so little that they could not support their families. This forced women and children to work for meager wages. The workshops had no hygienic measures, which exposed workers to contagious diseases.
The First Workers’ Associations
The first reaction of the workers, at the beginning of industrialization, was their opposition to mechanization, as they considered it responsible for low wages and unemployment. Their protest led to the destruction of machines and the burning of industrial establishments (Luddism). Similarly, certain groups of workers began to realize that they were part of the same class, with common problems and objectives (class consciousness). To defend their interests, workers’ organizations were created, such as the first mutual aid societies, which were born in the UK in the late eighteenth century. Their purpose was to act as resistance societies to help financially their members in case of illness or unemployment. The workers’ societies were outlawed by the Liberals. But in 1825 in the UK, laws that banned them were repealed, and the first trade unions were formed, bringing together workers from the same industry (General Union of Spinners). Their goal was to improve the working conditions of workers. Their first demands were defending the right of association, the reduction of working hours, better pay, and the regulation of child labor.
Ideological Responses to Industrial Capitalism
7. Marxism, Socialism, and Internationalism
In the new industrial society, a number of thinkers denounced the inequalities created by capitalism and proposed new models of social organization.
Marxism and Socialism
In the mid-nineteenth century, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels denounced the class exploitation of workers and advocated the need for a workers’ revolution to destroy capitalism. Through the revolution, the proletariat would conquer political power and create a worker state that would socialize property. The end of private property would lead to the abandonment of social classes and the state, in order to finally reach a classless state. From the last third of the nineteenth century, Marxists proposed the creation of socialist workers’ parties. The objective was the realization of the proletarian revolution, but they also defended their intervention in political life through participation in elections and entry into national parliaments. In this way, the Socialists would boost legislation more favorable to workers.
Anarchism
Anarchism brought together a group of thinkers who had three basic principles in common:
- The exaltation of individual freedom and social solidarity.
- The critique of private property and protection of forms of collective ownership.
- The rejection of authority.
They defended the revolutionary action of the peasant workers to destroy the state and create a new partnership and equalization. Anarchists were opposed to participation in political life and the organization of workers in games. Some advocated violent action against the pillars of capitalism; others grew within the unions sponsored by the revolutionaries to improve working conditions and promote social revolution.
Internationalism
Marxists and anarchists advocated the need to unite the efforts of the working class of all the world to fight against capitalism (proletarian internationalism). At first, the International Workingmen’s Association (First International) was created, which joined Marxists, anarchists, and trade unionists. But the big ideological differences between Marxists and anarchists made it unworkable and it eventually disappeared. In 1889, the Socialist Party founded in Paris the Second International. This, unlike the first, was an exclusively socialist organization that aimed at the coordination of programs and activities of the various socialist parties. This created some of the symbols of identity, such as the anthem or the festival of May Day.
Additional Information
1-1. Norfolk System: The Norfolk system allowed no ground to be left to rest and obtained arable crops to feed livestock. Mechanical planting systems in parallel rows enabled the collection of both fruits and weeds. Also, the use of new plows allowed the fields to be cleared more easily, and seeds were planted at a depth to protect them from the wind and animals.
* Industrial Revolution: It is a fundamental economic change in the manufacture of processed products, as machines began to be used. It emerged in the late eighteenth century in Britain and eventually spread throughout Europe first, and around the world later, along the nineteenth century. Its main features were the appearance of the machine, technological innovations, the use of new energy sources, the organization of workers in factories, the growing need for capital, and the division of labor.
Free Initiative: Individual interest is the promoter of all economic activities. But the inner workings of the economy make it end up favoring the individual interest of the general interest of the population.
Law of Supply and Demand: An excessive production lowers prices and thus profits; businesses reduce production to restore balance. If demand exceeds supply, prices rise, and that encourages entrepreneurs to produce more.
Competition Act: Competition between various businesses provides an incentive to produce more cheaply. This struggle towards reducing production costs is a constant stimulus for mechanization and technological renovation.