5.4 Spread of Industrialization

Steam Engine and Spread of Industrialization

  • Development of steam engine rapidly increased the spread of industrialization.
    • Steam engine: Machine converting fossil fuel into mechanical energy.
    • Significance: Factories no longer restricted to fast-moving river banks; could be built anywhere.
    • Steam engines in ships: Mass-produced goods transported further and faster, connecting the world into a global economy.

Factors Influencing Industrialization

  • Adoption speed varied based on the presence of factors that enabled Great Britain's early industrialization.
    • Waterways, coal, favorable government policies.
  • Nations with many/all factors industrialized quickly.
  • Nations with few/none lagged.

Division of Nations

  • 18th/19th centuries: Division into industrialized and non-industrialized nations.
    • Industrialized nations (Great Britain, France, US): Growing share of global manufacturing and economic wealth.
    • Non-industrialized nations (Middle East, Asia): Declining share of global production.

Examples of Declining Production

  • Decline of textile production in India and Egypt.
    • Both renowned for quality textiles.
    • Rise of mass-produced textiles in Britain led to cheaper products and market share decline for India and Egypt.
  • Decline of shipbuilding in India and Southeast Asia.
    • Increase in shipbuilding prior to the Industrial Revolution.
    • British colonial takeover: Shipbuilding sector controlled by Britain to build ships for the Royal Navy.

Shift of Power

  • Industrialized countries: Made and sold lots of stuff.
  • Non-industrial countries: Not so much.
  • Power shifted to industrialized countries.

Case Studies of Industrialization

France

  • Industrialization began after 1815 (post-Napoleon).
  • Slower industrialization compared to Britain.
  • Reason: Lack of abundant coal and iron deposits.
  • Foundations laid by Napoleon: Quentin Canal (connecting Paris with iron and coal fields).
  • Government-sponsored railroad construction.
  • 1830s: Textile factories built, creating a significant cotton industry and reviving the silk industry.
  • Slower adoption spared France some intense social upheavals.

United States

  • Industrialized rapidly after the Civil War.
  • Became a major player due to factors similar to Britain.
    • Massive territory with abundant natural resources.
    • Political stability.
    • Growing population (natural production and migration).
    • Expanding market for mass-produced goods.
  • Prosperous economy led to a higher standard of living for workers compared to Europe.

Russia

  • End of 19th century: Under absolutist Tsar.
  • Tsar adopted industrial technologies (railroad, steam engine) to avoid falling behind.
  • Significant achievement: Trans-Siberian Railroad (Moscow to Pacific Ocean).
    • Increased trade with Eastern states (China).
    • Created an interdependent market throughout Russia.
  • Top-down approach led to brutal conditions for workers.
    • Led to uprisings and the Russian Revolution of 1905.
  • State-driven affair, unlike the US (driven by workers seeking new opportunities).

Japan

  • Defensive industrialization during the Meiji Restoration.
  • Context: Asian states declining as Western industrial states rose.
  • Japan didn't want to become subservient to Western powers.
  • Borrowed heavily from Western technology and education.
  • Quickly became an industrial power in the East.
  • In a couple of decades, Japan became the most powerful state in the region.