Industrial Revolution in Britain in 1780-1884

Industrial Revolution in Britain in 1780-1884

The period between 1780 and 1884 was both an important and eventful

part of British History. It was a time when Britain changed from an

agricultural nation to a busy urban and industrialised nation and

where upper, middle and lower classes were formed. But what was this

era in British question a revolution or an evolution? Many historians

have different opinions and the aim of my essay is to look at both

sides and reach my personal conclusion.

Many particularly Marxist historians think this period was a

revolution. Karl Marx had a theory that eventually every major nation

would be communist. He felt that society developed and each step would

be forced through a revolution. He believed that there were 4 stages

with two steps in each stage the 1st step being how things were then

what lead to a revolution. The 1st stage was an ancient society where

people followed one person the King. Then as nobles began to won land

there would be a revolution leading to stage 2 in society a Feudal

society, where kings and nobles shared lands but as trades to produce

wealth the middle class grew wealthy which led to another revolution.

Stage 3 was capitalism where the middle class are powerful and run

industry but the working class seize power because they wanted to be

have more money and not work as hard as they were being made to for

it. This lead to the final stage, which was stage 4 communism classes,

would be abolished and everyone would have equal to each other, this

was what Karl Marx believed in. So anyone who agreed with Karl Mark

agreed that this time was a revolution in the stage of capitalist

ascendancy.

Some historians also think that this period was a revolution. They

felt that the speed that these things were happening at mad it

impossible for it to be an evolution where things happened and

developed over a long period of time. The whole of British industry

was changing in such a relatively short space of time.