Europe and the Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution
The late 18th and early 19th centuries are

characterized by the increasing use of machinery and refined coal, a period otherwise known as the industrial revolution. It started in Great Britain in the later half of 1700 when manual labor began to be replaced by industry The industrial revolution spread throughout Western Europe and North America during the 19th century, and eventually affected most of the world.

Industrial Revolution-Technological Developments

Spinning machinery Use of Coal Steam Power-1712 In 1778 James Watt

perfected the steam engine By 1800, 1,454 engines had been built Use of gas in lighting early 19th century Chemicals Railways

Industrial Revolution-Social Consequences

Industrialization led to the creation of factories and

urbanization on a mass scale A new set of classes The old distinction between the nobles and the peasants was replaced by the distinction between middle class and working class Manchester, England (cottonopolis) the first industrial city

Industrial Revolution-Social Consequences

Employment in the new factories was considered

more prestigious than self-employment in older crafts. Immigration=>from the village to the factory =>from the countryside to the city =>internationally to the large industrial cities of Europe and USA New Public Services-paved streets, city lighting, fire department, sewarage

Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)

English Novelist and Prime Minister Two nations between whom there is no intercourse

and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each others habits, thoughts and feelings as if they wereinhabitants of different planets Sibyl (1845)

Industrial Revolution-Social Consequences

Working conditions-inhuman working hours, child

labor, female exploitation, and inhuman conditions in the slums Organized crime The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1894) crime-thriller

Industrial Revolution-Political Consequences

Governments faced new challenges They were addressing themselves to a large mass of

taxpayers holding different views and perspectives Political parties sprang up with a mass following and devoted to a wide range of interests, e.g. Catholics, Protestants, workers, peasants, middle class etc.

Why the industrial revolution occurred in Europe?

Why the specific time and place? Why not in

ancient Greece or in China or during the Medieval times? A very difficult question with more than one answers. A particular coincidence of ecological, social, economic, cultural and political circumstances. A chain of sub-processes and developments Classical world-Renaissance-ReformationEnlightenment

Why the industrial revolution occurred in Europe?

Colonialism
"The capital to finance the Industrial Revolution in India

instead went into financing the Industrial Revolution in England. Rajani Palme Dutt

Why the industrial revolution occurred in Europe?

Protestant Work Ethic with emphasis in progress,

technology and hard work. Mild weather conditions of the North West of England provided ideal conditions for the spinning of cotton, providing a natural starting point for the birth of the textiles industry. Liberalisation of trade from a large merchant base

Metropolis
Metropolis 1927 by Fritz Lang Workers versus the Builders of the Babel Tower "The dreams of a few had turned to the curses of

many http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCpK4TySFrE