Chapter 10 Europe in the 19th Century

Chapter 10 Europe in the 19th CenturyI. Industrial EuropeThe Traditional EconomyThe traditional economy was labor-intensive agriculture. The great majority of Europeans remained farmers in the middle of the eighteenth century. By the 1700s the agricultural household had begun to supplement its income by accepting tasks associated with the production of cloth—particularly spinning and weaving. During the course of the nineteenth century the nature of the traditional economy was irrevocably changed.Farming FamiliesOver much of Europe the land was still cultivated in the open-field system in the eighteenth century. The communal system of agricultural production was prolonged because of insufficient incentive for change, serfdom, and the dangers of experimentation. The traditional agricultural economy responded to the population growth of the mid-eighteenth century by opening more lands, often less fertile than those under cultivation. More intensive methods were required to increase productivity. The accelerated population growth after 1750 placed excessive strains on the land and the rural producers.Rural ManufactureBetween 1700 and 1800 the European population increased by nearly 50 percent. The explosion of the population and the stress on the rural population opened the avenues for development of cottage industry. Capitalists provided raw wool or thread; rural households provided inexpensive labor. As landholdings grew smaller, the percentage of income derived from cottage industry became more significant to the rural poor and produced the putting-out system. Rural communities were organized to provide unskilled labor for the production of cloth. Capitalists supplied raw materials and sold the finished products. Little initial investment in machines was required, because most households already owned the required spinning wheels and looms. Eventually the percentage of income derived from rural industry became greater than that from agriculture for those families with little or no land. Because the wages for cottage industry were low, some rural poor who lost their association with the land became prisoners of the system. The traditional limits on new household formation through marriage that had operated in the exclusively agricultural society were removed. Indirectly, the establishment of the putting-out system fueled the increase of the population.The Agricultural RevolutionIncrease in agricultural productivity was achieved through intensified use of land already in production rather than through adding more acreage. Increasingly, commercial attitudes took over agricultural production. Wholesale enclosure and the end of the open-field system were the harbingers of the agricultural revolution. Though not always a peaceful process, the division of common lands into private farms permitted the development of a market-oriented agricultural economy. Instead of producing a broad range of crops, farmers tried to cultivate the one crop most likely to produce a profit. In England and Holland the agricultural revolution progressed most rapidly. Fodder crops such as clover and turnips were introduced to replace the fallow. Animal husbandry became vastly more important. In convertible husbandry, farmers switched closed fields between pasturage for animals and grain production in response to the price structure for specific commodities. The intensification of agricultural production fed the population explosion of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In contrast, the destruction of communal agriculture left the rural poor without the traditional support structures of the open-field communities.II. Industrial Revolution1. What is Industrial Revolution?The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and transport had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions in the United Kingdom. The changes subsequently spread throughout Europe, North America, and eventually the world. The onset of the Industrial Revolution marked a major turning point in human history; almost every aspect of daily life was eventually influenced in some way.Starting in the later part of the 18th century there began a transition in parts of Great Britain’s previously manual labour and draft-animal–based economy towards machine-based manufacturing. It started with the mechanisation of the textile industries, the development of iron-making techniques and the increased use of refined coal. Trade expansion was enabled by the introduction of canals, improved roads and railways. The introduction of steam power fuelled primarily by coal, wider utilisation of water wheels and powered machinery (mainly in textile manufacturing) underpinned the dramatic increases in production capacity. The development ofall-metal machine tools in the first two decades of the 19th century facilitated the manufacture of more production machines for manufacturing in other industries. The effects spread throughout Western Europe and North America during the 19th century, eventually affecting most of the world, a process that continues as industrialisation. The impact of this change on society was enormous.The first Industrial Revolution, which began in the 18th century, merged into the Second Industrial Revolution around 1850, when technological and economic progress gained momentum with the development of steam-powered ships, railways, and later in the 19th century with the internal combustion engine内燃发动机andelectrical power generation. The period of time covered by the Industrial Revolution varies with different historians. Eric Hobsbawm held that it ―broke out‖ in Britain in the 1780s and was not fully felt until the 1830s or 1840s, while T. S. Ashton held that it occurred roughly between 1760 and 1830. Some twentieth century historians such as John Clapham and Nicholas Crafts have argued that the process of economic and social change took place gradually and the term revolution is not a true description of what took place. This is still a subject of debate among historians. GDP per capita was broadly stable before the Industrial Revolution and the emergence of the modern capitalist economy. The Industrial Revolution began an era of per-capita人均的economic growth in capitalist economies. Historians agree that the Industrial Revolution was one of the most important events in history.2. What caused the Industrial Revolution?1) The causes of the Industrial Revolution were complicated and remain a topic for debate, with some historians believing the Revolution was an outgrowth of social and institutional changes brought by the end of feudalism in Britain after the English Civil War in the 17th century. As national border controls became more effective, the spread of disease was lessened, thereby preventing the epidemics common in previous times. The percentage of children who lived past infancy rose significantly, leading to a larger workforce. The Enclosure movement and the British Agricultural Revolution made food production more efficient and less labour-intensive, forcing the surplus population who could no longer find employment in agriculture into cottage industry, for example weaving, and in the longer term into the cities and the newly developed factories. The colonial expansion of the 17th century with the accompanying development of international trade, creation of financial markets and accumulation of capital are also cited as factors, as is the scientific revolution of the 17th century.2) Until the 1980s, it was universally believed by academic historians that technological innovation was the heart of the Industrial Revolution and the key enabling technology was the invention and improvement of the steam engine.4) The presence of a large domestic market should also be considered an important driver of the Industrial Revolution, particularly explaining why it occurred in Britain. In other nations, such as France, markets were split up by local regions, which often imposed tolls and tariffs on goods traded amongst them.4) Governmen ts’ grant of limited monopolies to inventors under a developing patent system is considered an influential factor. The effects of patents, both good and ill, on the development of industrialisation are clearly illustrated in the history of the steam engine, the key enabling technology. In return for publicly revealing the workings of an invention, the patent system rewarded inventors such as James Watt by allowing them to monopolise the production of the first steam engines, thereby rewarding inventors and increasing the pace of technological development. However monopolies bring with them their own inefficiencies which may counterbalance, or evenoverbalance, the beneficial effects of publicising ingenuity and rewarding inventors. Watt’s monopoly may have prevented other inventors from introducing improved steam engines, thereby retarding the industrial revolution by up to 20 years.3. Causes for Occurrence in EuropeOne question of active interest to historians is why the industrial revolution occurred in Europe and not in other parts of the world in the 18th century, particularly China, India, and the Middle East, or at other times like in Classical Antiquity or the Middle Ages. Numerous factors have been s uggested, including education, ―modern‖ government, ―modern‖ work attitudes, ecology, and culture. The Age of Enlightenment not only meant a larger educated population but also more modern views on work. However, most historians contest the assertion that Europe and China were roughly equal because modern estimates of per capita income on Western Europe in the late 18th century are of roughly 1,500 dollars in purchasing power parity (Britain had a per capita income of nearly 2,000 dollars, whereas China, by comparison, had only 450 dollars. Also, the average interest rate was about 5% in Britain and over 30% in China), which illustrates how capital was much more abundant in Britain.Some historians such as David Landes and Max Weber credit the different belief systems in China and Europe with dictating where the revolution occurred. The religion and beliefs of Europe were largely products of Judaeo-Christianity犹太教和基督教共有的教义, and Greek thought. Conversely, Chinese society was founded on men like Confucius, Mencius, Han Feizi (Legalism), Lao Tzu (Taoism), and Buddha (Buddhism). Whereas the Europeans believed that the universe was governed by rational and eternal laws, the East, believed that the universe was in constant flux变动and, for Buddhists and Taoists, not capable of being rationally understood.Regarding India, the Marxist historian Rajani Palme Dutt said: ―The capital to finance the Industrial Revolution in India instead went into financing the Industrial Revolution in England.‖ In contrast to China, India was split up into many competing kingdoms, with the three major ones being the Marathas印度中西部的马拉地人, Sikhs锡克教徒and the Mughals莫卧儿人，印度的穆斯林. In addition, the economy was highly dependent on two sectors—agriculture of subsistence and cotton, and there appears to have been little technical innovation. It is believed that the vast amounts of wealth were largely stored away in palace treasuries by totalitarian monarchs prior to the British take-over. Absolutist dynasties in China, India, and the Middle East failed to encourage manufacturing and exports, and expressed little interest in the well-being of their subjects.4. Causes for occurrence in BritainLike the agricultural revolution, the Industrial Revolution in Britain irrevocably altered society. Machines replaced human and animal labor. The Industrial Revolutionbegan a sustained period of economic growth between 1750 and 1850. As it progressed, England ceased to be an agricultural and rural society.As the Industrial Revolution developed British manufactured output surged ahead of other economies1) The debate about the start of the Industrial Revolution also concerns the massive lead that Great Britain had over other countries. Some have stressed the importance of natural or financial resources that Britain received from its many overseas colonies or that profits from the British slave trade between Africa and the Caribbean helped fuel industrial investment. It has been pointed out, however, that slave trade and West Indian plantations provided only 5% of the British national income during the years of the Industrial Revolution.2) Alternatively, the greater liberalisation of trade from a large merchant base may have allowed Britain to produce and use emerging scientific and technological developments more effectively than countries with stronger monarchies, particularly China and Russia. Britain emerged from the Napoleonic Wars as the only European nation not ravaged by financial plunder and economic collapse, and possessing the only merchant fleet of any useful size. Britain’s extensive exporting cottage industries also ensured markets were already available for many early forms of manufactured goods. The conflict resulted in most British warfare being conducted overseas, reducing the devastating effects of territorial conquest that affected much of Europe. Th is was further aided by Britain’s geographical position—an island separated from the rest of mainland Europe.3) Another theory is that Britain was able to succeed in the Industrial Revolution due to the availability of key resources it possessed. It had a dense population for its small geographical size. Enclosure of common land and the related agricultural revolution made a supply of this labour readily available. There was also a local coincidence of natural resources in the North of England, the English Midlands, South Wales and the Scottish Lowlands. Local supplies of coal, iron, lead, copper, tin, limestone and water power, resulted in excellent conditions for the development and expansion of industry. Also, the damp, mild weather conditions of the North West of England provided idealconditions for the spinning of cotton, providing a natural starting point for the birth of the textiles industry.4) The stable political situation in Britain from a round 1688, and British society’s greater receptiveness to change (compared with other European countries) can also be said to be factors favouring the Industrial Revolution. In large part due to the Enclosure movement, the peasantry was destroyed as significant source of resistance to industrialisation, and the landed upper classes developed commercial interests that made them pioneers in removing obstacles to the growth of capitalism.5) In addition to natural resources, Britain had already developed a commercial infrastructure: foreign export markets, sources of raw materials, shipping, and banking. The Bank of England was created at the end of the 17th century to provide greater financial liquidity and to fund a national debt. Other banking enterprises on a more localized scale emerged along with the quickening pace of economic development. They were critical as a source of capital for investment.Thus the highly developed commercial system marked by Mercantilism and foreign trade was essential for the industrial development in Britain.6) Population GrowthThe end of Feudalism and the English civil war all played a role in the population growth. Disease resistance grew as survivors of various plagues and diseases began to bear more children that were resistant to these diseases. Early marriages among young couples in society began to also lead to higher birth rate so that the population makeup was characterized by a large young population because of these children. The direct result of the young population was large labor workforce that was made available throughout Britain and Europe. People also began to migrate in large numbers to cities and began to develop new methods of labor like the factory systems.7) Agricultural RevolutionThe agricultural revolution began well before the 18th century with the introduction of new crops from the New World into the European society. The rise of new staple foods rich in carbohydrate碳水化合物needed to sustain large populations such as potatoes were readily available throughout Britain (Ireland) and Europe. The Columbian exchange played a huge role in this as new products were shipped into Europe from the New World as well as development of colonial workforce (slaves) for intense labor conditions (sugar and cotton production). The cattle industry as well as the cattle production was increased so that alternative foods (dairy products) were mass produced. The enclosure movement by wealthy landowners in Britain led to more privatization of land instead of open grazing lands used by the commons. Thus the tragedy of the commons was avoided at the same time, the profits and fruits of the land were more exclusive to the landowner. It also gave rise of tenant workers and landless laborers throughout Britain. Such people began to move into cities to seekbetter employment opportunities as more food enabled specialization to develop in the various aspects of society.A Watt steam engine, the steam engine fuelled primarily by coal that propelled the IndustrialRevolution in Great Britain and the world5. Innovations and DevelopmentsRegional GDP per capita changed very little for most of human history before the Industrial RevolutionSpinning JennySeveral inventions in textile machineryoccurred in a relatively short time periodduring the industrial revolution: the flyingshuttle, spinning jenny, spinning frame, andcotton gin. These inventions facilitated thehandling of large quantities of harvestedcotton. In 1764, a British carpenter and weaver named James Hargreaves invented an improved spinning jenny, ahand-powered multiple spinning machine that was the first machine to improve upon the spinning wheel.RailroadIncreased production created a demand for improved systems of transportation. The emergence of the railway system was the technological response. In 1830 the first commercial rail line was opened between Manchester and Liverpool, two industrial cities. The rail lines were an instant commercial success—even if the original investors failed to make a profit—and with governmental support, the railways rapidly spread throughout England. Concepts of time and space were radically shortened as the railways brought people and goods closer together.An Iron Forge by Joseph Wright of DerbyEntrepreneurs and ManagersThe Industrial Revolution reorganized the relationship between capital and labor. Industrialists simultaneously increased output and lowered costs for manufactured goods. Successful entrepreneurs not only needed capital for investment, but also were required to closely supervise the development of their businesses, most particularly the organization of labor. Increasingly the processes of production were subdivided into more specific, basic tasks. In search of malleable可塑的；易管教的workers at low cost, factory managers began to employ women and children. British entrepreneurs came from every social class in England—from the very poor to the very rich. Two different examples of successful English industrialists were Josiah Wedgwood and Robert Owen. Josiah Wedgwood, was an heir to a family pottery industry that he reconstructed along the lines of the factory system. The result was higher quality and greater output. He then was able to sell replicas of his quality pottery by the thousands. Robert Owen became a mill owner in New Lanark Scotland. Disgusted by the terrible working and moral conditions in the mill, he set out to improve the conditions of labor in the factories.The Wages of ProgressRobert Owen ended his life attempting to establish utopian communities for laborers. His efforts at last produced laws for improvement of working conditions for men and limited the sorts of labor imposed on women and children. By the middle of the 19th century, statutes addressing the health and working environment of laborers became more common. The Industrial Revolution caused basic shifts in the English population out of rural areas and into the manufacturing cities. By 1860 more than half of all Englishmen lived in towns. Early marriage and large families continued the surge in population. There is an ongoing debate concerning the benefits and losses ofthe Industrial Revolution. Per capita income increased demonstrably in the first halfof the th century, but the increased wealth was not distributed evenly throughout society. Real wages for workers probably declined until about 1820, when conditions improved. Business cycles were more severe in an industrialized economy. The factory system destroyed the old domestic economy of the agricultural household when the individual replaced the family as the primary unit of production. Labor was more strictly controlled in the factories. Methods of payment required budgeting or starvation. The old society of estates was supplanted by the mid-19th century with a new social system of classes based on wealth and the relationship to the means of production.6. The Industrialization of the ContinentContinental European leaders carefully studied Britain’s Industrial Revolution as a model for economic development, but the development of industrialization on the Continent followed patterns dictated by local conditions. The technology of the revolution could be exported, but the conditions that called the inventions forth could not. The industrialization of the Continent was a slower process.Continental Europe only began to catch up with Britain and develop the same industrial progression as Britain much later. This was largely due to the wars that plagued Europe from 1789 to 1815 and this impeded阻碍economic and technological growth as people were unwilling to invest in infrastructure due to the risks involved and losses from the war. After the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, Europe rushed into an age of technological and Industrial development and reaches on the same level as Britain in a relatively short time. Belgium and France were the two nations that were remarkably successful in this sector of industrialization after the end of Napoleonic wars.France: Industrialization Without RevolutionThe industrialization of France was typified by slow growth keyed to local luxury demand rather than export markets. Two factors—population growth and the French Revolution—determined the nature of French industrialization. Famine and conscious limitation of family size restricted the rate of population growth in France. As a result, France did not experience the same pressures on the traditional agricultural economy as either Britain or Germany. The French Revolution was a disruptive force in the French economy. The commercial fleet was decimated削弱The urban guilds responsible for organization of crafts were abolished. The agricultural system fell into the hands of the peasantry who destroyed the open-field system but who did not have the capital for intensive improvements. The conservative agricultural system fed the population, but did not release large numbers of people to supply industrial labor. Until the 19th century, the French economy remained regionalized. The state was unable to create a centralized system through subsidies to national transportation networks or through development of banking schemes. Capital formation for investment was thus limited. Only in the mid-19th century did the state finally initiatethe construction of a national railroad network. Construction of railroads necessarily produced industrialization of the processes involved in the production of iron. Prohibitive tariff walls protected domestic French industries, which remained uncompetitive in international markets. There were some benefits to slow growth. French industrialization preserved the security of rural society. Urbanization proceeded without the severe problems encountered in the British Industrial Revolution.Germany: Industrialization and UnionThe political fragmentation of Germany retarded industrialization. Different currencies, regional tariffs, tolls and laws localized the economy. The traditional agricultural system continued in many parts of Central Europe. In the eastern states, serfdom still prevailed. In general, the peasantry became more free the farther west in Germany they were located. Even by 1800, eighty percent of the German population was engaged in agriculture. Germany also lacked a commercial foundation for industrialization. The Hanseatic cities had declined as international trade centers. The mechanization of German industries lagged far behind Britain into the middle of the 19th century. Prussia mounted the most successful attempt to overcome the impediments to industrialization. The government created a trade union, the Zollverein, composed of countries willing to adopt the lenient温和的Prussian customs policies. The Zollverein was the first step in German political unification. Industrialization that followed the creation of the Zollverein was slavishly盲从地modeled after Britain. States invested heavily in the creation of railroads, particularly in Prussia. The Germans eventually developed proficient domestic centers of production for iron and engines.The Lands That Time ForgotThe Netherlands, Austria, Russia, Spain, and the states of the Italian peninsula failed to develop industrial economies. Some lacked natural resources, others lacked transportation networks and the capital to produce them, and others were limited by geographical determinants决定因素(lack of waterways, mountains, etc.). All the countries that failed to industrialize featured traditional agricultural systems that were unable to increase their productivity to release surplus labor or to supply sufficient food to feed an industrial labor force. In some cases, serfdom was maintained with the active support of the state. Tariff systems protected inefficient local industries and isolated regional markets. In Austria-Hungary and Italy, some regions were favored for industrial development at the expense of others. Hungary, for example, was forced to retain a traditional agricultural system in order to foster the industrialization of Austria.7. The Impacts of Industrial Revolution on Families1) The arrival of the Industrial Revolution, despite some of its drawbacks, brought with it opportunity and the potential to move away from traditional family networks.Before this time children worked in fields, women, as their gender roles demanded in this pre-Industrial Revolution society and family structure, took care of the home and men worked in the fields. Many people, especially the young, left the farms to work in factories; this process led to the dissolution of many extended families. With the shift away from the traditional modes of cottage industry before the Industrial Revoltion or highly localized familial production came a related shift of family values. Instead of being tied to the home because one was needed to assist with farm or family business tasks, young people were now more free to explore their own paths. Women, instead of being given domestic tasks were now granted an opportunity to earn an income, even if it was significantly less than that earned by male counterparts. Entire communities, comprised of family units and networks, were split and the traditional bonds of inter-family support that arose out of necessity, particularly because of farm-related and family business tasks, was now quite as essential.2) For one thing, the revolution changed the way families viewed themselves and new changes occurred in terms of both gender and generational roles.Before the arrival of industry and the possibility for work outside the home and family, most people may have had life plans, they did not have careers. Fundamental changes in the nature of work as well as gender and work accompanied the Industrial Revolution. Moving from self- and family employment to a paid labor force led to the construction of career trajectories发展轨迹based on the (male) breadwinner model. What this suggests is that because of a more specialized nature of the work, particularly as the Industrial Revolution moved forward and more detailed skills were required that needed training or certain talents, the concept of the ―career‖ emerged. 3) Gender roles were changed by the Industrial Revolution in America and New England, although not necessarily revolutionized.Since women in the time of the Industrial Revolution, even those were not married yet, did not make as much and those who were married were more focused on bearing and raising children, this specialization and ―breadwinner‖ aspect emerged and gender roles began to take on even more distinct appearances. In fact, from the very onset of the Industrial Revolution, women, and even their children began to move away from the cottage industry and into new roles in the family. Before the Industrial Revolution, although there was certainly a gendered division of labor, men and women both contributed equal parts to their families, agricultural, or family-operated small business tasks. The growth of paid labor during the Industrial Revolution, especially as it became more specialized, led to gender roles becoming increasingly defined.4) There was a dramatic revolution for women and children during the Industrial Revolution in terms of how children were going to be raised.。