Industrial Revolution (1760-1850)
Overview
| Industrial Revolution Transition | Shift from an agrarian to a machine-based economy, driving a global social and power shift. Key milestones include 1760 (Britain) to 1769 (Watt's steam engine) to 1825 (first railway) to 1868 (Meiji Restoration). |
1. Origins & Technologies of IR
| Factors for British Origin (CLINC) | Rich domestic coal & iron deposits; Enclosure Movement privatized common lands creating cheap factory labor; investment capital accumulated from slave trade and colonial exploitation (India drain of wealth); navigable rivers and ports; constitutional stability post-1688. |
| Flying Shuttle (John Kay, 1733) | Doubled weaving speed, creating a severe yarn shortage. |
| Spinning Jenny (James Hargreaves, 1764) | Allowed spinning multiple threads simultaneously, satisfying yarn demand. |
| Steam Engine (James Watt, 1769) | Significantly improved Newcomen's atmospheric engine by adding a separate condenser, making it efficient for rotary motion and freeing factories from river locations. |
| Steam Locomotive (George Stephenson, 1829) | Developed the "Rocket", initiating Railway Age and slashing land transport costs. |
2. Spread, Ideologies & Colonial Impacts
| Global Spread (Germany & Japan) | Belgium was first on continent. Germany grew rapidly post-unification (1871) focusing on heavy chemical and steel industries (Krupp). Japan's industrialization was triggered by Meiji Restoration (1868), unique as a rapid, state-led (top-down) modernization. |
| Socio-Economic Impacts | Unplanned, rapid urbanization (creating industrial cities like Manchester and Birmingham) and terrible working conditions (14-16 hour workdays, child labor, slums). |
| Ideological Response: Capitalism | Popularized by Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (1776), advocating laissez-faire and "Invisible Hand" of free markets. |
| Ideological Response: Socialism | Formulated by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in Communist Manifesto (1848), analyzing history as class struggle between bourgeoisie (owners) and proletariat (workers). |
| Impact on India | Forced deindustrialization. British East India Company's tariff policies (Charter Act of 1813 ending trade monopoly) flooded India with cheap machine-made textiles, destroying indigenous handloom industry and converting India into an exporter of raw materials. |
| Second Industrial Revolution (1870+) | Shifted focus from textiles and steam power to chemicals, electricity, petroleum, and steel. Associated with rise of cartels, assembly lines, and intense imperialist rivalries. |