chapter 18

Nekeisha Maxie

Chapter 18

Mahatma Gandhi criticized industrialization as economic exploitation.
Few people have agreed with him
Every kind of society has embraced at least the idea of industrialization since it started in Great Britain in the late eighteenth century
The Industrial Revolution was one of the most significant elements of Europe’s modern transformation.
Initial industrialization period was 1750–1900
Drew on the Scientific Revolution
Utterly transformed European society
Pushed Europe into a position of global dominance
Was more fundamental than any breakthrough since the Agricultural Revolution
We don’t know where we are in the industrial era—at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end.
Explaining the Industrial Revolution
At the heart of the Industrial Revolution lay a great acceleration in the rate of technological innovation, leading to enormous increases in the output of goods and services.
Use of new energy sources (steam engines, petroleum engines)
In Britain, output increased some fiftyfold in the period 1750–1900
Based on a “culture of innovation”
Before 1750/1800, the major Eurasian civilizations were about equal technologically
Greatest breakthrough was the steam engine
Soon spread from the textile industry to many other types of production
Agriculture was transformed
Spread from Britain to Western Europe, then to the United States, Russia, and Japan
Became global in the twentieth century
Why Europe?
many scholars have debated why industrialization appeared first  in Great Britain, and why it started in the late nineteenth century
Older views: there’s something unique about European society
That view has been challenged by:
The fact that other parts of the world have had times of great technological and scientific flourishing
Islamic world 750–1100 c.e.
India was the center of cotton textile production and source of many agricultural innovations
China led the world in technological innovation between 700 and 1400 c.e.
All had slowed or stagnated by the early modern era
The fact that Europe did not enjoy any overall economic advantage as late as 1750
Aacross Eurasia, life expectancy, consumption and nutrition patterns, wage levels, living standards, etc., were broadly similar in the eighteenth century
The rapid spread of industrial techniques to much of the world  in the past 250 years
            Contemporary historians tend to see the Industrial Revolution as a rather quick and unexpected eruption in the period 1750–1850
Why it might have occurred in Europe
Some patterns of European internal development favored  innovation
Small, highly competitive states
European rulers had an unusual alliance with merchant classes
Groups of merchant capitalists were often granted special privileges
It was in governments’ interest to encourage commerce  and innovation
In Venice and Holland, merchants controlled the state
Other societies developed market-based economies by the eighteenth century (e.g., Japan, India, and China)
Europe was at the center of the most varied exchange  network
Contact with culturally different peoples encouraged change  and innovation
Quest for the products and ideas of Asia
Competition with Indian cotton cloth manufacture
Popularity of other Asian goods prompted imitation
The Americas provided silver, raw materials, and foods
Why Britain?
Britain was the most commercialized of Europe’s larger countries
Small farmers had been pushed out (enclosure movement)
Market production fueled by a number of agricultural innovations
Guilds had largely disappeared
Ready supply of industrial workers with few options
British aristocrats were interested in commerce
British commerce was worldwide
Royal Navy protected a large merchant fleet
British political life encouraged commercialization and economic innovation
Policy of religious toleration (established 1688) welcomed  people with technical skills regardless of faith
British government imposed tariffs to protect its businessmen
It was easy to form companies and forbid workers’ unions
Unified internal market, thanks to road and canal system
Patent laws protected inventors’ interests
Checks on royal authority gave more room for private enterprise
Emphasis of the Scientific Revolution was different in Great Britain
On the continent: logic, deduction, mathematical reasoning
In Britain: observation and experiment, measurement, mechanical devices, practical applications
In Britain, artisan/craftsman inventors were in close contact with scientists and entrepreneurs
The British Royal Society (founded 1660) took the role of  promoting “useful knowledge”
Publicized information on recent scientific advances
Britain had plenty of coal and iron ore, often conveniently located
Britain was not devastated by the Napoleonic wars
Social change was possible without revolution
The First Industrial Society
There was a massive increase in output as industrialization took hold in Britain.
Rapid development of railroad systems
Much of the dramatic increase was in mining, manufacturing, and  services
Agriculture became less important by comparison (in 1891, agriculture generated only 8 percent of British national income)
Vast transformation of daily life
It was a traumatic process for many
Different people were affected in different ways
The British Aristocracy
Landowning aristocrats had little material loss in the Industrial Revolution
But the aristocracy declined, because urban wealth became more important
Many businessmen, manufacturers, and bankers were enriched
Aristocrats had declining political clout i.  e.g., high tariffs on agricultural imports were abolished in 1840s
By 1900, businessmen led the major political parties
Titled nobles retained great social prestige and personal wealth
Many found an outlet in Britain’s colonial possessions
The Middle Classes
The middle classes had the most obvious gains from industrialization
Upper middle class: some became extremely wealthy, bought into  aristocratic life
Middle class: large numbers of smaller businessmen and professionals
Politically liberal
Stood for thrift, hard work, rigid morals, and cleanliness
Samuel Smiles, Self-Help (1859): individuals are responsible for their own destiny
Lower middle class: service sector workers (clerks, secretaries, etc.)
By 1900, they were around 20 percent of Britain’s population
Employment opportunities for women as well as men
Almost all were single and expected to marry and give up  jobs
The Laboring Classes
In the nineteenth century, about 70 percent of Britons were workers
Laboring classes suffered most/benefited least from industrialization
Rapid urbanization
By 1851, a majority of Britain’s population was urban
By 1900, London was the largest city in the world (6 million)
Horrible urban conditions
Vast overcrowding and Inadequate sanitation and water supplies
Epidemics and Few public services or open spaces
Little contact between the rich and the poor
Industrial factories offered a very different work environment
Long hours, low wages, and child labor were typical for the poor
What was new was the routine and monotony of work, direct supervision, discipline
Industrial work was insecure and Many girls and young women worked
Usually left outside paid employment when they married
But often continued to earn money within the home
Social Protest among the Laboring Classes
 “Friendly Societies,” especially of artisans, for self-help were common
Other skilled artisans sometimes wrecked machinery and burned mills
Some joined political movements, aimed to enfranchise working-class men
Trade unions were legalized in 1824
Growing numbers of factory workers joined them
Fought for better wages and working conditions
At first, upper classes feared them
Socialist ideas spread gradually
Karl Marx (1818–1883) laid out a full ideology of socialism
Human history is a history of class struggle
In his own time, saw a growing hostility between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat
Argued that capitalism can never end poverty
Foretold a future (communist) golden age when industrial technology would serve the whole community
Socialist ideas were attractive among more radical trade
Unionists and some middle-class intellectuals in the late
Nineteenth century
Even more attractive in Germany
But the British working class was not overtly revolutionary by then
British working-class movement remained moderate
Material conditions for workers improved in second half of the century
Capitalists and impoverished working class didn’t polarize because of the large middle and lower middle class
Workers bettered their standard of living
Wages improved and Cheap imported food improved diets
Infant death rates fell and Male workers gradually got the vote
Sanitary reform cleaned up cities and Even some urban parks were established
But immense inequalities remained
By 1900, Britain was in economic decline relative to newly industrialized states like Germany and the United States
Variations on a Theme: Comparing Industrialization in the United States and Russia
The Industrial Revolution soon spread to continental Western Europe.
By 1900, it was established in the United States, Russia, and Japan
Industrialization had broadly similar outcomes wherever it was established
Aristocratic, artisanal, and peasant classes declined
Middle-class women withdrew from paid labor altogether
Working-class women tried to leave paid labor after  marriage
Women received lower wages than men, were accused of taking jobs from men
Establishment of trade unions and socialist movements
But the spread of industrialization was affected by the cultures of the lands where it was established, pace and timing of industrialization, nature of major industries, role of the state, political expression of social conflict, etc.
French industrialization was slower, perhaps less disruptive
Germany focused at first on heavy industry
Was far more concentrated in huge companies
Generated a more militant and Marxist-oriented labor movement
Variations are most apparent in the cases of the United States and Russia
The United States: Industrialization without Socialism
American industrialization began with New England textiles (1820s)
Explosive growth after the Civil War
By 1914, the United States was the world’s leading industrial power
Closely linked to European industrialization
Europeans provided around one-third of the capital investment
The U.S. government played an important role through tax breaks, land grants to railroads, laws making formation of corporationseasy, absence of overt regulation
Encouraged development of very large enterprises
Pioneering of mass production techniques
Creation of a “culture of consumption” through advertising, catalogs, and department stores
Self-Made industrialists became cultural heroes (Ford, Carnegie, Rockefeller)
Serious social divisions rose
Growing gap between rich and poor and Constant labor of the working class
Creation of vast slums and Growing labor protest
Why didn’t socialism appeal to American workers?
U.S. union organizations were relatively conservative
American Federation of Labor focused on skilled workers
American population was extremely heterogeneous
American workers had a higher standard of living than did their European counterparts
Middle-Class aspirations of white-collar workers
 “Populists” denounced corporate interests
But populism had little appeal in growing industrial areas
 “Progressives” were more successful, especially after 1900
Aimed to remedy the ills of industrialization
Socialism was labeled as fundamentally “un-American”
Russia: Industrialization and Revolution
Russia was an absolute monarchy, with the greatest state control of  anywhere in the Western world
In 1900: no national parliament, no legal political parties, no nationwide elections
Dominated by a titled nobility (many highly Westernized)
Until 1861, most Russians were serfs
In Russia, the state, not society, usually initiated change
Peter the Great (r. 1689–1725) was an early example of “transformation from above”
Catherine the Great (r. 1762–1796) also worked to Europeanize Russian culture and intellectual life
The state directed freeing of the serfs in 1861
Stimulated by Russia’s defeat in the Crimean War
The state set out to improve Russia’s economic and industrial backwardness
Russian Industrial Revolution was launched by the 1890s
Focused on railroads and heavy industry
Substantial foreign investment
Industry was concentrated in a few major cities
Fewer but larger factories than was typical in Western Europe
Growing middle class disliked Russia’s deep conservatism, sought
Greater role in political life
But they were dependent on the state for contracts and jobs
Also relied on the state to suppress worker radicalism
Russian working class (only about 5 percent of the population) rapidly  radicalized
Harsh condition, No legal outlet for grievances, and Large-scale strikes
Marxist socialism appealed to some educated Russians, gave them hope for the future
Founded the Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party (1898)
Got involved in workers’ education, union organizing, and  revolutionary action
Major insurrection broke out in 1905, after defeat in war by Japan
In Moscow and St. Petersburg, workers went on strike, created  their own representative councils (“soviets”)
Peasant uprisings, student demonstrations
Non-Russian nationalities revolted
Military mutiny
Limited political reforms failed to pacify the radicals or bring stability
Growing belief that only a revolution would help
World War I provided the revolutionary moment
Russian Revolution broke out in 1917
Brought the most radical of the socialist groups to power—the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin)
Only in Russia did industrialization lead to violent social revolution
The Industrial Revolution and Latin America in the Nineteenth Century
Beyond Europe and North America, only Japan underwent major industrialization in the nineteenth century.
Elsewhere, only modest experiments in industry
Did not transform societies
Nonindustrialized societies still felt the impact of European and  North American developments
After Independence in Latin America
The struggle for independence in Latin America took a long time and was very destructive
The four vice-royalties of Spanish America became eighteen separate countries
International wars hindered development of the new nations
Mexico lost vast territories to the United States (1846–1848)
Paraguay was devastated by war (1864–1870)
Political life was highly unstable
Conservatives tried to maintain the old status quo
Liberals attacked the Church, sought some social reforms, preferred federalism to a centralized government system
Often, military strongmen (caudillos) gained power
They were unstable, too
States ran through multiple constitutions
Independence brought little fundamental change to social life
Slavery was abolished (though not until late 1880s in Brazil and Cuba)
Most legal distinctions between racial categories were abolished
But creole whites remained overwhelmingly in control of productive economic resources
Small middle class allowed social mobility for a few
The vast majority were impoverished
Caste War of Yucatán (1847–1901) was one of the few rebellions of the poor
Facing the World Economy
Second half of the nineteenth century: greater stability, integration into  world economy
Rapid growth of Latin American exports to industrializing countries
Exported food products and raw materials
Imported textiles, machinery, tools, weapons, luxury goods
Major investment of European and U.S. capital in Latin America
Becoming like Europe?
Rapid population increase and Rapid urbanization
Actively sought European immigrants
Few people benefited from the export boom
Upper-class landowners did very well
Middle class grew some
But over 90 percent of the population was still lower-class
Industrial workers made up a modest segment of the lower class
Attempted unions and strikes and Harshly repressed
Most of the poor remained rural
Many farmers were forced off their land, became dependent laborers
Only in Mexico did conditions provoke a nationwide revolution
Overthrow of the dictator Porfirio Díaz (1876–1911)
Major, bloody conflict (1910–1920)
Huge peasant armies
Transformed Mexico
New constitution (1917) proclaimed universal suffrage,  land redistribution, disestablishment of the Catholic Church, minimum wage, eight-hour                                                     workday, etc.
The export boom did not cause a thorough Industrial Revolution
There was little internal market for manufactured goods
Rich landowners and cattlemen had little incentive to invest in  manufacturing
Governments supported free trade, so cheaper and higher-quality  foreign goods were available than could be made at home
Instead, economic growth was dependent on Europe and North  America
Some have regarded it as a new form of colonialism
The case of the “banana republics” under pressure from  the United States
Repeated U.S. military intervention
Reflections: History and Horse Races
Historians are fascinated by historic “firsts.”
But a focus on “firsts” can be misleading.
Most “first achievements” in history were not intentional
The Industrial Revolution was certainly an “unexpected outcome of converging circumstances”
Europeans have used their development of industrialization to claim an innate superiority.
It’s important to emphasize the unexpectedness of the Industrial Revolution
Spread of industrialization around the world diminishes the importance of the “why Europe?” question
Industrialization will increasingly be seen as a global process