Industrial Revolutions: Key Developments & Impacts

Agricultural Revolution

The Agricultural Revolution was a series of profound changes in the primary sector during the 18th century. It encompassed technical advancements and alterations in rural land management (plots and buildings). The driving force was population growth, spurred by improved hygiene, better medicine, a decline in major epidemics, and fewer wars. After the abandonment of mercantilism, an increase in productivity became essential.

First Industrial Revolution

The First Industrial Revolution was characterized by a series of transformations resulting from the introduction of machines into workshops. This led to the emergence of new social classes and political institutions. It began in the 1760s in England and concluded around 1830. The factors that enabled it included inventions, the availability of necessary raw materials and energy sources, capital availability, an extensive network of roads and canals, and colonial markets to absorb the increased production.

Second Industrial Revolution

The Second Industrial Revolution marked a new phase of industrialization. Some historians date its start to the 1850s, with innovations like the Bessemer converter, while others place it in the 1870s, with the initial implementation of new industrial organization methods. It ended in 1914 with the onset of World War I.

Key Definitions:

• Steel: An alloy of iron and carbon, possessing significantly higher mechanical strength.
• Coke: A fuel produced by removing impurities from coal.

The Transport Revolution

The Transport Revolution encompassed a series of changes that significantly improved transportation during the 18th and 19th centuries. The key trigger was the invention of the steam engine by James Watt during the First Industrial Revolution.

Public Limited Companies

Public limited companies are businesses whose ownership is divided into shares. While they were initially created in Amsterdam at the beginning of the 17th century, they gained prominence in the second half of the 19th century.

Taylorism

Taylorism was a novel approach to labor organization proposed by engineer Frederick Taylor. It was based on applying scientific principles to achieve mass production. It emerged in the 1880s and 1890s.

Fordism

Fordism was another innovative method of labor organization, introduced by Henry Ford. It centered on mass production and chain production techniques. It began in the 1910s.

The Proletariat

The proletariat was a new social group that arose as a consequence of the Industrial Revolution. It comprised wage workers (primarily industrial workers) who did not own the means of production (businesses, factories, machinery). Their only "possession" was their offspring.

Labor Movement

Luddism: The first stage of the labor movement. It involved protests and the destruction of factories and machines by workers who had lost their jobs due to mechanization. It originated in England in the 1810s.