The Industrial Revolution
In the latter half of the 18th century, rapid technological ,social ,and economic changes began to transform Britain from an agrarian into a largely urban Industrial society/ This process, which became known as “Industrial Revolution”, spread to Europe in the course of the 19th century .The
population of the continents doubled in this period and was fed by a similar growth in Agriculture production. Changes included the use of
new power sources such as
coal and steam. New building materials ,chiefly
iron and steel and technical innovations and improved systems of transport led to large scale
production and growth of the factory system.
A combination of geographical, political, and social factors ensured that Britain became one of the first Industrial Nation. The country possessed a number of natural ports facing the Altantic, an established shipping trade, and a network of internal navigable waterways. It was endowed with coal and iron ore and could draw on a large markets both at home and overseas. British colonies supplied raw materials and an expanding population ensured buoyant demand at home. The textile industry in Britain was the first to benefit from the new technical innovations which brought about greater production efficiency and output.
The
development of Industry in Europe 1850-1914:
In the 1830s most of the European countries still relied on handicraft production in towns and villages. By the 1840s railway construction was beginning to create a strong demand for iron and coal. By 1850 , much of the Northern Europe ,especially Belgium, Germany, Russia and France had developed factory textiles and exploiting mineral resources such as coal and iron. As transport improved technologies spread to Southern Europe. By 1900 Germany had outstripped Britain in many areas of manufacturing including high-grade engineering machine tools and chemicals.
Industrial Relations:
Industrial development introduced a new relationship between the capital and labor. Changes in the labor organization often brought unrest and protest. . Many craft
workers found their trades rendered obsolete by Mechanization. Machine wrecking became a form of resistance. Trade unionism, which initially confined to skilled craft workers, began in Britain with rise of factory system. By the 1870s less skilled workers had also joined the labor movement.
While Industrial Revolution resulted in some good developments there are also some on the bad side. From 1850 Industrial cities in Britain began to grow faster than the infrastructure needed to support the growing population. Poor workers housing, contaminated water by sewage and Industrial effluents resulted in the proliferation of diseases such as cholers, small pox, rickets, dysentery, T.B and others. The diseases attained epidemic forms and in some towns almost 2 to 3 % population died.
This lead to government enacting Health Act and under this the diseases were brought under control by organizing hospitals, Medicines and Medical Officers. Subsequently the rapid urbanization problems were tackled by planning short term and long term infra structure development. This Industrial Development is the pioneer of the modern world what we seem enjoy and experience today.
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