Effects of the Napoleonic Wars on the Industrialization Process in Europe
Napoleonic wars had a great effect on the industrialization process in Europe.
Napoleonic wars had a great effect on industrialization process in Europe. Let's take Great Britain as an example because of its position of the most powerful industrial country of that time.
While Europe's "great men" plotted grand schemes to pursue their political and intellectual ambitions during the crisis of the Napoleonic wars, obscure British inventors designed machines whose impact would dwarf their efforts. They industrialized textile making by using machines and new power sources to accomplish a task formerly done by human and animal power. They began what has been called by some the Industrial Revolution. The huge increase in productivity made possible by using machines can be shown in the amount of raw cotton Britain imported in 1760 and 1850. In 1760 the British imported a bit over 1000 tons; in 1850 the number had risen to over 222,000 tons.
The story behind the growth of the textile industry is one of a continual "catch-up" game between the spinners and weavers to respond to a growing market. After the 1707 Act of Union with Scotland, Britain possessed an expanding population with a larger per capita income than that of any other European state. The population growth stemmed from a gradual decline in death rates and an increase in the birth rate. (J. D. Chambers ) It provided more customers and workers.
Practical people seeing the need for greater output solved the practical problems of production. In the many steps from the raw cotton to the finished cloth, there were bottlenecksprimarily in making yarn and weaving the strands together.
In 1733, John...
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Great Britain lead the way for industrialization and made it spread through out Europe. Some consider this the best thing to have happened in the world. Others however see this as a bad thing. Of course, with such a big change came an effect over all people such as reformers and the government but the greatest effect was upon the workers. Since the 19th century, industrialization has had positive and negative effects on the lives of workers.
Europe as a continent includes many nations and yet the structure and boundaries of European countries have morphed multiple times creating and dissolving governments through war and conflict. The Napoleonic wars were from around 1803 to 1815, though this may not be exact since the wars’ start date is a matter of opinion due to earlier conflicts with Europe during the entire French revolution. They were a geographical and political restructuring of Europe that lead to the creation and organization of the Europe nations that eventually became the primary combatants and effected territories of World War 1. The nations of France, England, and kingdoms of Germany experienced sweeping changes in their positions in the world due to Napoleon’s actions and the French’s influences across Europe. The spread of new ideas of nationalism, society, and government that spread across Europe as a consequence of the Napoleonic wars and French Revolution impacted each of these countries to varying degrees and set their position in the world until the start of the first World War.
The period during which there was an increased output of machine-made goods, also known as the Industrial Revolution, played a critical role in reshaping Britain’s economy. The Industrial Revolution, stimulated by advancements that were made during the Agricultural Revolution, began in Great Britain for many reasons. In addition to Britain’s broad availability of natural resources, the count...
The factory system was the key to the industrial revolution. The factory system was a combination of Humans and new technology. New technology was arriving every day. The greatest invention during this time was the steam engine. The creation of the steam engine was credited to James Watt. There had been other steam engines before James Watt’s but none of them were efficient. Watt’s engine was the first efficient engine that could be used in a factory. The steam engine had the strength of ten thousand men.(Pollard) This was not the only invention that helped the factory system evolve. Textiles were a major product of the Industrial Revolution. Production was slow at first in the factory. In 1764, a British inventor named James Hargraves invented the “Spinning Jenny.” This lowered production time which enabled the factory to produce more per day. In 1773, John Kay, an English inventor, created the “flying shuttle” which lowered the production time even more.(Encarta) If production had not been speed up, the Industrial Revolution would have not had that big of effect as it did in North America.
A growing population resulted in a greater demand for Great Britain. They were the first to start the Industrial revolution. With their invention of the steam engine transportation of goods and people boomed, railroad, canals, etc. which resulted in a new class system. Before people lived in small communities and their lives revolved around farming, but with the start of the revolution more people and laborers moved to the city which had become urban and industrialized. New banking techniques such as corporations, partnerships, credit, and stocks were invented. Everything used to be made in people’s homes using handmade tools, yet now everything is done in factories using mass production. The three major materials cotton, coal, and iron were the up and coming new products used during the industrial revolution. Cotton was used for the textile industry, coal for steam power, and iron for the new types of transportation. There was also an improvement in living standards for some, but the poor and working people had to deal with bad employment and living conditions. When the laborers moved to the cities clocks and
The Industrial Revolution did not start simultaneously around the world, but began in the most highly civilized and educated country in Western Europe – England. An empire like Great Britain was able to prevent the flow of new technology and experienced technicians to its colonies even while new machinery, like the spinning shuttle and the spinning jenny, was being used to develop textile manufacturing at home in England. The British Parliament was able to control its territories through laws and other restrictions. However, Britain’s futile attempts to block the development of new technologies in the American colonies led directly to the rise of the textile industry and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the United States. From the first Navigation Act in 1651 to the “Intolerable Acts” and Trade Acts, the British Parliament attempted to dominate the world’s textile industry by passing increasingly strict taxes and acts designed to prevent the establishment of textile manufacturing in the American colonies. Concurrently, American textile companies began to offer rewards and bounties to mill workers who would emigrate from England bringing their knowledge of textile technology (World of Invention). At the same time, English-born, textile mill-trained, Samuel Slater illegally emigrated to the new country of America with secrets and memories of English textile technology. Within a year, Slater had established the first spinning mill in America, thus beginning the American Industrial Revolution.
The Industrial Revolution was a fundamental change in the production of goods that altered the life of the working class. Similar to most other historical turning points, it had skeptics, or people that doubted the change, and fanatics, people who saw the value in the change being made. The Industrial Revolution and the period that followed shortly after highlight these varying opinions, as people were more conflicted than ever about the costs of industrialization. While industrialization started in England as an attempt to capitalize on the good fortune they had struck, it quickly developed into a widespread phenomenon that made the production of goods more exact and controlled by higher level people. Many industries, such as the cotton and textile businesses, were previously run through organizations called “cottage industries”.
O'Brien, Patrick, and Roland Quinault, eds. The Industrial Revolution and British Society. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1993. Print.
The Industrial Revolution was a time of great change in the world and changed the way many products were manufactured. Originating in England and Great Britain, its effects spread across the globe and influenced the way people lived and worked and lead to the modern world known today. While it did not always have positive effects, through imperialism, Britain’s Industrial Revolution brought about technological innovations that transformed the world and its economies.
A major cause for the Industrial Revolution was the enormous spurt of population growth in England. The increase in population meant that there were more people in surplus from agricultural jobs, and they had to find work in industrial factories. Enclosure brought forth a great increase in farming production and profits. Farming was improved through the use of crop rotation, enclosures, and the division on farms across England. Crops that were grown consisted of turnips, barley, clover, wheat. This improvement in farming caused a population explosion, which soon led to a higher demand for goods. The new means of production demanded new kinds of skills, new regulation in work, and a large labor force. The goods produced met immediate consumer demand and also created new demands. In the long run, industrialization raised the standard of living and overcame the poverty that most Europeans, who lived d...
From the late 18th century to the mid 19th century, the economy in England was transformed from an agricultural to a manufacturing –based economy. In 1801, agriculture provided employment for 36% of the British population. By 1851, only 10% of the British population was employed in agriculture, while over 40% was employed in industry (Hopkins, 36). As a direct result of this transformation, a surplus of jobs were created and displaced farming families moved in to fill them. Factory and Mine owners exploited the situation by offering families a means to make more money, by putting their children to work. Industry profited from this arrangement by saving money, since child labor was more “cost effective”. According to one historian, Clark Nardinelli, “in 1835 56,000 children under the age of thirteen were working in textile factories alone. By 1874, the number of child laborers in the market hit its peak with over 122,000 children between the ages of 10 and thirteen working in textile factories (4).”
The industrial revolution of 17th and 18th centuries saw the transformation of Britain from a Neolithic nation into an industrious nation. However, this spread quickly throughout the world, introducing the modernisation of agriculture, revolution in power and manufacturing of textile.
The Industrial Revolution of the 18th century changed Europe forever. At the front of this change was Great Britain, which used some natural advantages and tremendous thinking and innovation to become the leader of the Industrial Revolution.
Most famously recognized as a time of great technological innovation, the Industrial Revolution gave birth too two of the most transforming technologies, which came to spur the revolution on; cotton spinning and steam power. The two technologies are closely linked, the improved Steam Engine, invented by James Watt and patented in 1755, was originally used ...