LEQ PRACTICE

GOOD VOCAB

  • Facilitated

  • Emergence

  • Enabled

  • Historically

  • Reforms

From 1750-1900, developed countries began experiencing industrialization as the rise of new technologies and innovations reshaped society. Countries competed for wealth, market, and natural resources as they continued to produce and exchange products. The growth of industrialization led to significant socioeconomic changes in society by altering class structures, emerging economic ideologies, and an increase in economic imperialism.

Historically, class structures were separated by the working class and the owners of the means of productions. This dynamic enhanced the separation between the wealthy elites and the impoverished lower class. During the period of industrialization, the labor landscape changed greatly as workers began to shift from agricultural and cottage industries to factory work. The middle class emerged as the largest and most prominent sector of the working class. Because of this, industrialization pushed labor unions, social groups who advocated for workers’ rights, as more people began working in the factories. They organized strikes to demand higher wages, better working hours, and more humane working conditions Industrialization pushed equality in social classes, helped the poor gather leverage over their rights, and enabled reforms to protect the laborers from harsh treatment.

Another way industrialization impacted society was through the emergence of economic ideologies. Capitalism, the idea that individuals should strive for profit through privately-owned businesses in a free-market, became a major economic system during the period of industrialization. For example, Adam Smith, an important economist, pushed free-market ideas during the enlightenment which created a framework for modern capitalism. However, other industrialized countries took a more totalitarian approach as they chose government-owned businesses instead. An example is China, a socialist country that advocated for greater state control on the economy.

Lastly, economic imperialism arose alongside industrialization. A driving force for economic imperialism was the competition for natural resources and market. A major instance was the Berlin Conference, which described the industrialized European countries superimposing boundaries in Africa without representation of pre-existing ethnic lines. The Berlin Conference showed European greed through imperialism as they exploited African workers for natural resource extraction. The development of industrialization greatly pushed countries to continue gaining economic control over less-developed regions of the world.

The period from 1200-1750 saw significant socioeconomic, political, and cultural changes as trade networks, such as the Silk Road, emerged to connect land and maritime empires. Networks of exchange heavily contributed to social and cultural change in Afro-Eurasia by facilitating the spread of religion, innovation, and language.

Land and maritime routes such as the Silk Road and the Indian Ocean trade allowed for missionaries to spread their religions across the Afro-Eurasian continent. For example, Buddhism and Islam were two significant religions that saw expansion and growth during the period 1200-1750. Middle Eastern merchants and missionaries often traveled along the Silk Road, spreading their religion outwards. Additionally, the increased interaction between religious groups led to syncretism and the creation of new religions, such as Sikhism.

Networks of exchange also facilitated the trading of new innovations, technologies, and ideas. As empires continued to interact on trade routes, they brought their ideas and inventions along with them. Innovations such as caravans and saddles made trading long distances more efficient and allowed merchants to carry more goods. Cities along trade routes, such as Samarkand on the Silk Road, also supported the exchange of innovations and ideas as it allowed for merchants and travelers from all Afro-Eurasian regions to interact.

Lastly, flourishing trade routes changed Afro-Eurasian cultures by