The Great Transformation
I N D U S T R I A L I Z AT I O N I N E U R O P E
Characteristics of this Great Transformation
 New sources of energy.
 New labor-saving technologies.
 Increased standard of living.
 New patterns of work.
 New social patterns.
 Urbanization.
The “Traditional” Economy
 Economic life dominated by “toil”
 Goal to secure food, warmth, and shelter
 Advancements made it “easier” but…
 Every activity was labor intensive
 Power…human capital
 French women and soil—terracing
 8 out of 10 farmed and did soil with their own power
Traditional Economy and Manufacturing
 Small textile industry sprung up in the countrysides
of Europe.
 Spend hours and hours spinning wool. They were
paid by the “piece” (piece meal)
 Rural workers paid less than urban workers, more
desirable. Merchants sought them out as they would
profit more from them. (no guild restrictions as well)
 Life was dependent on human capital and the
uncontrollable forces of nature.
“one of the great turning points in human history”
 England in 1750-70% of people worked in
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agriculture.
By 1850-15%. Today 1.5%.
Economies were growing confident they could
produce vast surplus.
What do surpluses do again?
Europe’s industrial transformation was a by product
of massive changes in agriculture.
These dual changes created the greatest change in
the world since the Neolithic age.
Agricultural Revolution II
 Transfer from agriculture as a “communal
occupation” to an individual one. People fought for
new lands that became available.they competed.
 When agriculture was governed by the government
or lords…potato example.
 More land was made available by deforestation,
swamp drainage, and conquest.
 As many families gained more and more
land…others did not and were forced into “cottage”
industries.
Putting Out System
 Mobilized the resources of the rural work force that
wasn’t farming as much as it needed.
 Raw materials purchased by powerful men and “put
out” to rural workers which were then finished and
sold for more materials to start again…rural
industrialization.
 It required little skill and and few tools
Back to Agriculture…
 Enclosure…wealthy families began consolidating
their lands into larger farms. Common land was
“consolidated”
 In the wake of a more “industrial” style farming run
by those with the capital to make improvements.
Lower middle and lower class farmers were left
landless or with so little land they couldn’t earn a
living.
 Result?
Agricultural Innovations
 Scientific Farming: Clover and Turnip
 Fertilization using manure
 Meadow floating
 Animal husbandry
Growth of Farming
 England:
 1700: one farmer could produce enough food for 1.6
people.
 1800: one farmer could produce enough food for 2.7
people.
Factors fueling Industrialization
 Factors promoting Industrialization
 Demographics
 Economic
 Technological
Causes of the British Industrial Revolution?
Why England?
 Stable Government
 Middle and Business Classes
 Stable Banking Systems
 Island (preservation)
 Geography
 Colonies
 Agricultural Stability
 Abundant water
 Abundant coal
Demographic Factors
 Population Growth in England: Population was
doubling every 25 years!
 Average was 3% per year.
Economic Factors
 Agricultural: the second Agricultural Revolution in
the 17th century. Necessity?
 Capital: money for investment, stock sales.
Necessity?
Technological Factors
 Power: power that can be controlled, outside of
geography. Watermills are only useful near water.
Thought Question
 What innovations led to a revolution in power?
 Why was power the key to the Industrial
Revolution? Who had the early lead?
Portable Power
 Alessandro Volta
 The Volta Battery
Movable Power: The Steam Engine
 Initially developed in
‘theory’ by the Greeks.
 Refined by James Watt:
 Boil water until it expands
and vaporizes use the
expansion to push a
turbine.
Watt’s Rotary Steam Engine
New Machines
 Cotton Gin-Eli Whitney (1793)
Jacquard Loom
Flying Shuttle
Spinning Jenny
Power Loom
The Iron Horse
 First stage of the Industrial Revolution in England
was driven by a demand for consumer goods in
textiles. The second by transportation—the rail.
 Canals were effective…but inefficient.
 Coal was the primary item in need of movement. It
was done by pulling it with horses on temporary
tracks.
 George Stephenson changed the world with his prize
winning invention: the Rocket. A locomotive that
pulled 3x its weight at 30 mph!
Trevithick’s “Puffing Devil”
“Catch me if you can”
Continental Europe Catches Up!
 Continental Europe changed after the Congress of
Vienna in 1815.
 Great Britain had kept their technology under lock
and key—Cockerill and Slater
Responding to Industrialization
 British goods creating a global dilemma as their
ability to flood markets with cheap goods made it
imperative for nations to “catch up”!
 Continental Europe changes after 1815
Continental Industrialization
Three advantages:
 Rich tradition of small time (putting out/cottage)
industry
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Skilled urban workers
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Motivated political systems eager to erase the
industrial gap
•Agents of Industrialization
1. British exports
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Talented Entrepenuers: Fritz Harkort
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Governmental support and initiative (tariff
production and industrial subsidies
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Support and growth of powerful banking interests
in Europe
•Spread of Industrialization
 China: departs from Industrialization after the
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1100’s?
Islamic world-Ottoman industrialization thwarted
by Europe and the capitulations
Indian industrialization thwarted by European
imperialism.
African industrialization-non existent.
Latin American industrialization-minimal
Only part of the picture…
 While India was not on the verge of an industrial
revolution when the British arrived. Their
contributions were great.
 Indian contributions to English industry:
 Shipbuilding “Forty years ago they had the largest
ships in the World” British captain.
 Textiles/patterns “We have destroyed the
manufactures of India” British textile merchant
Indian contributions
 British rockets were derived from Indian examples.
Indian rockets could fire from 1 KM away.
 Metallurgy (Brass) “They produced the finest brass I
have ever seen” Englishman John Wellesley
Chinese contributions
Ploughs and farm implements taken by the Swedes.
Bridge technology
Chain technology
Status of Global Industrialization
 Prior to 1890 no industrial
revolution occurred
outside European society.
 Insular societies such as
the Ottoman state resisted
Industry—importing their
first printing press in the
late 19th century.
 Unique case of
Muhammad Ali
Muhammed Ali
 Goal to make Egypt into a
free, industrial power.
 Siezed it from Ottomans
(for whom he worked)
 Reforms: new tax system,
new schools, government
sponsored agricultural
reform, imported Western
technology
Late Ottoman reforms
 Inspired by Muhammed Ali, later Sultans of the
Ottoman state began the process of westernization.
 Established a postal system in 1834, a telegraph
system in 1855, and steamships and rail in 18551866.
 Result? Made it easier for Europe to place Ottomans
under “capitulations”.
To conclude
 “By the 1850’s a number of governments were clearly
beginning to realize that some policy response to the
industrial revolution was absolutely essential, lest
Western influence become still more overwhelming.
On balance, however, the principal results of very
limited imitation tended to heighten the economic
imbalance with Western Europe, a disparity that
made it easier to focus on non- industrial exports.”
Peter S. Stearns. Historian
Japanese industrialization 1865-1905
 Part of the Meiji Restoration and reforms
 Realized necessity of program
 Used China as an example of what “may” happen.
 State run factories with large scale production (Zaibatsu)
 Intensive government regulation
 Government supported innovation and hired foreign
experts when needed.
 High tariffs and tight restrictions of products entering
Japan.
Russian Industrialization
 Witte System:
 Railway construction to stimulate other industries
 Remodel the state financial system, use tariffs and
secure foreign loans and technology
 Heavy industry grew dramatically
 Trans-Siberian Railroad.
The Impacts of Global Industrialization
 The use of mechanized equipment to increase output and
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decrease labor costs of production
The creation of the factory system
Mass production and standardization
A workplace that emphasized production with assembly
lines
Financing that often included shareholders and stock
companies.
An expanded labor force that included, women,
immigrants, and children.
A growing gap in economic prosperity between Europe
and the rest of the world.
Philosophy of the Industrial Revolution
New philosophical movements:
Socialism-Karl Marx
Owenism-Robert Owen
Friedrich Nietzsche
Utilitarianism
Existentialism: Soren Kierkagaard
Philosophy and the Philosopher
 Karl Marx (see video)
 Evolution of Industrialization
 Built on the model of dialectic change as put forward
by Georg Hegel.
 Socialism and Communism the results.
Robert Owen
 Benevolent factory owner.
 What happens when wages are increased, hours
shortened, and benefits are offered?
 Interesting!
Utopian Socialism
 Charles Fourier and the model community based on
principle of equality.
 Stressed cooperative control of industry, education
for all.
Owen’s Communal Vision
Darwin changes the world
 His resilience saw his
ideas on Natural Selection
and Evolution put to
print. They immediately
were the subject of a
global firestorm.
New Philosophies in Economics
 Thomas Malthus: impacts of population and food
production.
 David Ricardo: The Iron Law of Wages
Freud alters the mental universe
Freud and Psychoanalysis
Gregor Mendel: Genetics
Using peas to understand
inheritable traits and
genetic distribution.
Ivan Pavlov
 Operant Conditioning
 Used dogs, bells, and food.