The Second Industrial Revolution: Innovations, Impact, and Expansion
The Second Industrial Revolution: Population Growth and Migration
The improvement of hygiene and healthcare, along with medical advancements, facilitated a new phase of European population growth. Discoveries in medicine helped to stop major epidemics in Europe, and the decline in mortality from infectious diseases, caused by a decrease in infant mortality, led to an increase in life expectancy. This drop in mortality resulted in a European population explosion.
This population growth was not accompanied by a parallel increase in per capita income, a fact which increased the skewed distribution of wealth and drove many overseas migrations. The migrants primarily consisted of British and Irish individuals who went to America, Canada, and Australia.
New Sources of Energy: Oil and Electricity
Two new energy sources, oil and electricity, managed to dethrone coal. Electricity had many advantages, including its cleanliness and flexibility to adapt to production needs, its easy and efficient conversion to light, heat, or movement, its individual adaptation to machinery and the intervention of processors, and the possibility of relocating electricity use to distant points. This changed the location of businesses and their internal organization. Electricity had many applications in communications, transportation, lighting, and leisure. Oil was used for illumination, but its most important application was in transportation as fuel.
Revolutionary Means of Transport
The main railway networks in Europe were built, and electricity allowed for innovations in urban transport through trams and underground railways. Navigation shortened the duration of transoceanic voyages, favoring large European migrations. The opening of new canals shortened distances and stimulated maritime trade. The invention of the pedal and tire made the bicycle possible. But what truly revolutionized transportation was the automobile.
The Expansion of Trade and Mass Consumption
Department stores were introduced, which eventually conquered the market. These multi-purpose commercial supermarkets offered a wide variety of products at lower prices than traditional stores. Increased workers’ wages and the diffusion of new sales systems opened the way to the era of mass consumption. International trade also experienced tremendous growth, with volume increasing sevenfold between 1850 and 1914, thanks to progress in transport, the expansion of free trade, and mass production of goods, which allowed for a reduction in prices.
New Inventions and Industries
Technological innovation occurred through developing closer relations between business and research. Technological progress became the result of cooperation among a large number of experts, grouped in research laboratories and coordinated by executives seeking practical applications of new scientific discoveries. New products or applications of other little-used materials, such as glass, were discovered. The development of these products, plus the new sources of energy, promoted the emergence of other productive sectors. The steel industry experienced a major expansion thanks to the mass production of steel and aluminum, and the metallurgical industry expanded its horizons with the new car industry and electrical appliances.
Business Concentration and Monopolies
Only large companies were able to cope with the price wars, competition, and constant renewal essential to capture new markets. Small businesses, through mergers, takeovers, or agreements between banks and industries, were emerging as corporate giants that ultimately monitored the market and set prices. These acquisitions took different forms: horizontal concentration, organized by companies working in the same industry; vertical concentration, grouping companies that operate in complementary industries; and monopolies, where a manufacturer or distributor has a monopoly on a product and imposes its prices.
Mass Production: Taylorism and Fordism
With the organization of work, productivity improved, and positions were solidified. Taylorism and Fordism helped increase productivity and reduce costs.
Taylorism
Taylorism is a method of industrial organization designed to increase productivity by eliminating unnecessary movements of the worker.
Fordism
The most innovative application of Taylorism came from Henry Ford, who adapted the assembly line to automobile production.