Key Concept 5.1.
Industrialization and Global Capitalism
Industrialization fundamentally altered the production of goods around the world. It not only changed how goods were produced and consumed and what was considered a “good,” it also had far-reaching effects on the global economy, social relations, and culture. Although it is common to speak of an “Industrial Revolution,” the process of industrialization was a gradual one that unfolded over the course of the 18th and 19th centuries, eventually becoming global.
Notes on Industrial Revolution
I. Industrialization fundamentally changed how goods were produced.
A. A variety of factors led to the rise of industrial production, including:
B. The development of machines, including steam engines and the internal combustion engine, made it possible to exploit vast new resources of energy stored in fossil fuels, specifically coal and oil. The fossil fuels revolution greatly increased the energy available to human societies. C. The development of the factory system concentrated labor in a single location and led to an increasing degree of specialization of labor. D. As the new methods of industrial production became more common in parts of northwestern Europe, they spread to other parts of Europe and the United States, Russia, and Japan. E. The “second industrial revolution” led to new methods in the production of steel, chemicals, electricity, and precision machinery during the second half of the 19th century. |
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II. New patterns of global trade and production developed and further integrated the global economy as industrialists sought raw materials and new markets for the increasing amount and array of goods produced in their factories.
A. The need for raw materials for the factories and increased food supplies for the growing population in urban centers led to the growth of export economies around the world that specialized in mass producing natural resources. The profits from these raw materials were used to purchase finished goods.
B. The rapid development of steam-powered industrial production in European countries and the U.S. contributed to the increase in these regions’ share of global manufacturing. While Middle Eastern and Asian countries continued to produce manufactured goods, these regions’ share in global manufacturing declined.
C. The global economy of the 19th century expanded dramatically from the previous period due to increased exchanges of raw materials and finished goods in most parts of the world. Some commodities gave merchants and companies based in Europe and the U.S. a distinct economic advantage.
D. The need for specialized and limited metals for industrial production, as well as the global demand for gold, silver, and diamonds as forms of wealth, led to the development of extensive mining centers.
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III. To facilitate investments at all levels of industrial production, financiers developed and expanded various financial institutions.
A. The ideological inspiration for economic changes lies in the development of capitalism and classical liberalism associated with Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill.
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B. The global nature of trade and production contributed to the proliferation of large scale transnational businesses that relied on various financial instruments.
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IV. There were major developments in transportation and communication, including railroads, steamships, telegraphs, and canals.
V. The development and spread of global capitalism led to a variety of responses.
A. In industrialized states, many workers organized themselves to improve working conditions, limit hours, and gain higher wages, while others opposed industrialists’ treatment of workers by promoting alternative visions of society, including Marxism.
B. In Qing China and the Ottoman Empire, some members of the government resisted economic change and attempted to maintain preindustrial forms of economic production, while other members of the Qing and Ottoman governments led reforms in imperial policies.
C. In a small number of states, governments promoted their own state-sponsored visions of industrialization.
D. In response to criticisms of industrial global capitalism, some governments mitigated the negative effects of industrial capitalism by promoting various types of reforms.
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VI. The ways in which people organized themselves into societies also underwent significant transformations in industrialized states due to the fundamental restructuring of the global economy.
A. New social classes, including the middle class and the industrial working class, developed.
B. Family dynamics, gender roles, and demographics changed in response to industrialization. C. Rapid urbanization that accompanied global capitalism often led to unsanitary conditions. |