Key Transformations of the Modern Industrial Era

The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a process that characterized the accelerated transition from agrarian societies of the Ancien Régime to a new stage of self-sustained economic and population growth, based on industrial production. The process involves a series of changes that marked the demise of the old economic system and the introduction of industrial capitalism. It was the result of a series of parallel and interconnected revolutions, which affected the population, agriculture, technology, transport, and trade, as well as the textile and steel industries.

The Demographic Revolution

The Demographic Revolution is the process through which the old demographic cycle, characterized by the stagnation of the population, transitioned into a new demographic regime characterized by steady growth. This phenomenon began in the eighteenth century and led to strong population growth and increasing urbanization. The concept refers to profound demographic changes experienced by European populations within the process named the Industrial Revolution.

The Agrarian Revolution

The Agrarian Revolution was a process through which traditional agriculture—characterized by self-consumption, low productivity, and the use of backward farming techniques—became capitalist, market-oriented agriculture. This was achieved thanks to progressive technical upgrading and a series of legal changes designed to eliminate feudalism from the field and ensure the maximum exploitation of the land.

The Bourgeois Revolution

The Bourgeois Revolution was the process by which the old order of the Old Regime, based on feudalism and absolute monarchy of divine right, was replaced by a new political order based on national sovereignty, the division of powers, representation through periodic elections, and the rights to equality, liberty, and property.

The French Revolution

The French Revolution was a long and complex revolutionary process that lasted from 1789 until 1799, during which the bourgeoisie and the artisans were able to violently end the privileges of the aristocracy and began the path of freedom and democracy. The revolution, a bourgeois model of political revolution, began on May 5, 1789, when the king summoned the Estates-General and a large portion of the attendees formed a National Assembly prepared to establish a constitution for France. After several phases, it ended in 1799 with the coup of Napoleon Bonaparte, who inaugurated a new era in the history of France and Europe (the Napoleonic era, 1799–1815).

Impact and Notable Changes

The French Revolution caused notable changes, including:

• The destruction of the privileges of the aristocracy.
• The abolition of ecclesiastical and feudal rights over peasants.
• The creation of a unified national market.
• The overcoming of the estates system of society.
• The establishment of a written constitution.
• The limitation of monarchical power and the separation of powers.
• The implementation of periodic elections and the recognition of human rights.