The Rise of Modern Industrialization and Capitalism

The Concept of the Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution is defined as the appearance of a new economic system which involved the use of new sources of energy (steam and coal) that helped boost complex machines capable of producing much cheaper and faster. These machines replaced traditional tools and animals as draft power and moved the production from traditional shops to large factories.

Origins in the Textile Sector

The Industrial Revolution emerged in England over a long process that began in the textile sector in the second half or last third of the 18th century. This process is related to new methods of production, such as the domestic system that arose to prevent the control of the unions.

The Global Spread of Industrialization

Later, industrialization and the jump to the iron and steel sector began to spread throughout Europe. Therefore, the term Industrial Revolution is reserved for Great Britain, which was the pioneer, while the term industrialization refers to countries that were implementing the new economic methods. Rapidly industrializing areas were Germany, France, and Belgium, and outside Europe: the U.S. and Japan. While industrialization in Great Britain was a product of private initiative, in Europe, it was driven by state policy.

Economic and Social Consequences

Industrialization led to major economic and social shifts:

• The Rise of Capitalism: Capitalism appeared, supporting free trade and advocating that the means of production and trade should be in private hands, with the goal of achieving maximum benefit in the market.
• Urbanization and Rural Exodus: It created a rural exodus, which significantly increased the size of cities. This caused great changes in urban planning, including the neglect of historic centers and the creation of residential neighborhoods with better hygiene, sanitation, lighting, and transport, while the proletariat moved to the suburbs.
• Social Stratification: It generated social changes that led to the end of the former regime. An upper class formed through the alliance of the bourgeoisie and aristocracy at the expense of the church and the renunciation of property-associated privileges. Simultaneously, a middle class emerged from small producers and traders, and a proletariat subjected to terrible conditions initially, which determined the onset of labor movements. Over time, industrialization itself created new conditions that allowed for the further development of the middle class.