Industrial Revolution

The earliest recorded use of "Industrial Revolution" was in 1799 by French envoy Louis-Guillaume Otto, announcing that France had entered the race to industrialise. Raymond Williams states: "The idea of a new social order based on major industrial change was clear in Southey and Owen, between 1811–18, and was implicit as early as Blake in the early 1790s and Wordsworth at the turn of the [19th] century." The term Industrial Revolution applied to technological change became more common by the 1830s, as in Jérôme-Adolphe Blanqui's description in 1837 of la révolution industrielle. Friedrich Engels in The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844 spoke of "an industrial revolution, a revolution which...changed the whole of civil society". His book was not translated into English until the late 19th century, and the expression did not enter everyday language till then. Credit for its popularisation is given to Arnold Toynbee, whose 1881 lectures gave a detailed account of the term.

Economic historians such as Mendels, Pomeranz, and Kridte argue proto-industrialisation in parts of Europe, the Islamic world, Mughal India, and China created the social and economic conditions that led to the Industrial Revolution, thus causing the Great Divergence. Some historians, such as John Clapham and Nicholas Crafts, have argued that the economic and social changes occurred gradually and that revolution is a misnomer.

Several key factors enabled industrialisation. High agricultural productivity—exemplified by the British Agricultural Revolution—freed up labor and ensured food surpluses. The presence of skilled managers and entrepreneurs, an extensive network of ports, rivers, canals, and roads for efficient transport, and abundant natural resources such as coal, iron, and water power further supported industrial growth. Political stability, a legal system favorable to business, and access to financial capital also played crucial roles. Once industrialisation began in Britain in the 18th century, its spread was facilitated by the eagerness of British entrepreneurs to export industrial methods and the willingness of other nations to adopt them. By the early 19th century, industrialisation had reached Western Europe and the United States, and by the late 19th century, Japan.

The commencement of the Industrial Revolution is closely linked to a small number of innovations, beginning in the second half of the 18th century. By the 1830s, the following gains had been made in important technologies:

Textiles – mechanised cotton spinning powered by water, and later steam, increased output per worker by a factor of around 500. The power loom increased output by a factor of 40. The cotton gin increased productivity of removing seed from cotton by a factor of 50. Large gains in productivity occurred in spinning and weaving of wool and linen, but were not as great as in cotton.

Steam power – the efficiency of steam engines increased so they used between one-fifth and one-tenth as much fuel. The adaptation of stationary steam engines to rotary motion made them suitable for industrial uses. The high-pressure engine had a high power-to-weight ratio, making it suitable for transportation. Steam power underwent a rapid expansion after 1800.

Iron-making – the substitution of coke for charcoal greatly lowered the fuel cost of pig iron and wrought iron production. Using coke also allowed larger blast furnaces, resulting in economies of scale. The steam engine began being used to power blast air in the 1750s, enabling a large increase in iron production by overcoming the limitation of water power. The cast iron blowing cylinder was first used in 1760. It was improved by making it double acting, which allowed higher blast furnace temperatures. The puddling process produced structural grade iron at lower cost than the finery forge. The rolling mill was fifteen times faster than hammering wrought iron. Developed in 1828, hot blast greatly increased fuel efficiency in iron production.

Invention of machine tools – the first machine tools were the screw-cutting lathe, the cylinder boring machine, and the milling machine. Machine tools made the economical manufacture of precision metal parts possible, although it took decades to develop effective techniques for making Interchangeable parts.

In 1750, Britain imported 2.5 million pounds of raw cotton, most of which was spun and woven by the cottage industry in Lancashire. The work was done by hand in workers' homes or master weavers' shops. Wages were six times those in India in 1770 when productivity in Britain was three times higher. In 1787, raw cotton consumption was 22 million pounds, most of which was cleaned, carded, and spun on machines. The British textile industry used 52 million pounds of cotton in 1800, and 588 million pounds in 1850.

The share of value added by the cotton industry in Britain was 2.6% in 1760, 17% in 1801, and 22% in 1831. Value added by the woollen industry was 14% in 1801. Cotton factories numbered about 900 in 1797. In 1760, approximately one-third of cotton cloth manufactured was exported, rising to two-thirds by 1800. In 1781, cotton spun amounted to 5 million pounds, which increased to 56 million pounds by 1800. In 1800, less than 0.1% of world cotton cloth was produced on machinery invented in Britain. In 1788, there were 50,000 spindles in Britain, rising to 7 million over the next 30 years.

The earliest European attempts at mechanised spinning were with wool; however, wool spinning proved more difficult to mechanise than cotton. Productivity improvement in wool spinning during the Industrial Revolution was significant, but less than cotton.

Arguably the first highly mechanised factory was John Lombe's water-powered silk mill at Derby, operational by 1721. Lombe learned silk thread manufacturing by taking a job in Italy and acting as an industrial spy; however, because the Italian silk industry guarded its secrets, the state of the industry at that time is unknown. Although Lombe's factory was technically successful, the supply of raw silk from Italy was cut off to eliminate competition. To promote manufacturing, the Crown paid for models of Lombe's machinery which were exhibited in the Tower of London.

Parts of India, China, Central America, South America, and the Middle East have a history of hand-manufacturing cotton textiles, which became a major industry after 1000 AD. Most cotton was grown by small farmers alongside food and spun in households for domestic consumption. In the 1400s, China began to require households to pay part of their taxes in cotton cloth. By the 17th century, almost all Chinese wore cotton clothing, and it could be used as a medium of exchange. In India, cotton textiles were manufactured for distant markets, often produced by professional weavers.

Cotton was a difficult raw material for Europe to obtain before it was grown on colonial plantations. Spanish explorers found Native Americans growing sea island (Gossypium barbadense) and upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum). Sea island cotton was exported from Barbados from the 1650s. Upland cotton was uneconomical because of the difficulty of removing seed, a problem solved by the cotton gin. A strain of cotton seed brought from Mexico to Natchez, Mississippi, in 1806 became the parent genetic material for 90% of world production today; it produced bolls three to four times faster to pick.

The Age of Discovery was followed by colonialism beginning around the 16th century. Following the discovery of a trade route to India around southern Africa by the Portuguese, the British founded the East India Company, and other countries founded companies, which established trading posts throughout the Indian Ocean region.

A large segment of this trade was in cotton textiles, which were purchased in India and sold in Southeast Asia, including the Indonesian archipelago where spices were purchased for sale to Southeast Asia and Europe. By the 1760s, cloth was over three-quarters of the East India Company's exports. Indian textiles were in demand in Europe, where previously only wool and linen were available; however, cotton goods consumed in Europe was minor until the early 19th century.

By 1600, Flemish refugees began weaving cotton in English towns where cottage spinning and weaving of wool and linen was established. They were left alone by the guilds who did not consider cotton a threat. Earlier European attempts at cotton spinning and weaving were in 12th-century Italy and 15th-century southern Germany, but these ended when the supply of cotton was cut off.

British cloth could not compete with Indian cloth because India's labour cost was approximately one-fifth that of Britain's. In 1700 and 1721, the British government passed Calico Acts to protect domestic woollen and linen industries from cotton fabric imported from India. The demand for heavier fabric was met by a domestic industry based around Lancashire that produced fustian, a cloth with flax warp and cotton weft. Flax was used for the warp because wheel-spun cotton had insufficient strength, the resulting blend was not as soft as 100% cotton and more difficult to sew.

On the eve of the Industrial Revolution, spinning and weaving were done in households, for domestic consumption, and as a cottage industry under the putting-out system. Under the putting-out system, home-based workers produced under contract to merchant sellers, who often supplied the raw materials. In the off-season, the women, typically farmers' wives, did the spinning and the men did the weaving. Using the spinning wheel, it took 4–8 spinners to supply one handloom weaver.

The flying shuttle, patented in 1733 by John Kay, doubled the output of a weaver, worsening the imbalance between spinning and weaving. It became widely used around Lancashire after 1760 when John's son, Robert, invented the dropbox, which facilitated changing thread colors.

Lewis Paul patented the roller spinning frame and the flyer-and-bobbin system for drawing wool to a more even thickness. The technology was developed with John Wyatt of Birmingham. In 1743, a factory opened in Northampton with 50 spindles on each of five of Paul and Wyatt's machines. A similar mill was built by Daniel Bourn. Paul and Bourn patented carding machines in 1748. Based on two sets of rollers that travelled at different speeds, it was later used in the first cotton spinning mill.

In 1764, in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny. It was the first practical spinning frame with multiple spindles. The jenny worked similarly to the spinning wheel, by first clamping down on the fibres, then drawing them out, followed by twisting. It was a simple, wooden-framed machine that only cost £6 for a 40-spindle model in 1792 and was used mainly by home spinners.

The water frame, was developed by Richard Arkwright, who patented it in 1769. The design was partly based on a spinning machine built by Kay, hired by Arkwright. The water frame could produce a hard, medium-count thread suitable for warp, finally allowing 100% cotton cloth to be made in Britain. Arkwright used water power at a factory in Cromford, Derbyshire in 1771, giving the invention its name. Samuel Crompton invented the spinning mule in 1779, so called because it is a hybrid of Arkwright's water frame and James Hargreaves's spinning jenny. Crompton's mule could produce finer thread than hand spinning, at lower cost. Mule-spun thread was of suitable strength to be used as a warp and allowed Britain to produce highly competitive yarn in large quantities.

Realising expiration of the Arkwright patent would greatly increase the supply of spun cotton and lead to a shortage of weavers, Edmund Cartwright developed a vertical power loom which he patented in 1785. Samuel Horrocks patented a loom in 1813, which was improved by Richard Roberts in 1822, and these were produced in large numbers by Roberts, Hill & Co. Roberts was a maker of high-quality machine tools and pioneer in the use of jigs and gauges for precision workshop measurement.

The demand for cotton presented an opportunity to planters in the US, who thought upland cotton would be profitable if a better way could be found to remove the seed. Eli Whitney responded by inventing the inexpensive cotton gin. A man using a cotton gin could remove seed in one day, which previously took two months.

These advances were capitalised on by entrepreneurs, of whom the best known is Arkwright. He is credited with a list of inventions, but these were developed by such people as Kay and Thomas Highs. Arkwright nurtured the inventors, patented the ideas, financed the initiatives, and protected the machines. He created the cotton mill which brought the production processes together in a factory, and developed the use of power, which made cotton manufacture a mechanised industry. Other inventors increased the efficiency of spinning, so the supply of yarn increased greatly. Steam power was then applied to drive textile machinery. Manchester acquired the nickname Cottonopolis during the early 19th century owing to its sprawl of textile factories.

Though mechanisation dramatically decreased the cost of cotton cloth, by the mid-19th century machine-woven cloth still could not equal the quality of hand-woven Indian cloth.

The Industrial Revolution effectively asked the social question, demanding new ideas for managing large groups. Visible poverty, growing population and materialistic wealth, caused tensions between the richest and poorest. These tensions were sometimes violently released and led to philosophical ideas such as socialism, communism and anarchism.

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, most were employed in agriculture as self-employed farmers, tenants, landless agricultural labourers. It was common for families to spin yarn, weave cloth and make their clothing. Households also spun and wove for market production. At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, India, China, and regions of Iraq and elsewhere in Asia and the Middle East produced most of the world's cotton cloth, while Europeans produced wool and linen goods.

In Great Britain in the 16th century, the putting-out system was practised, by which farmers and townspeople produced goods for a market in their homes, often described as cottage industry. Merchant capitalists typically provided the raw materials, paid workers by the piece, and were responsible for sales. Embezzlement of supplies by workers and poor quality were common. The logistical effort in procuring and distributing raw materials and picking up finished goods were also limitations.

Some early spinning and weaving machinery, such as a 40 spindle jenny for about six pounds in 1792, was affordable for cottagers. Later machinery such as spinning frames, spinning mules and power looms were expensive, giving rise to capitalist ownership of factories.

Most textile factory workers during the Industrial Revolution were unmarried women and children, including many orphans. They worked for 12–14 hours with only Sundays off. It was common for women to take factory jobs seasonally during slack periods of farm work. Lack of adequate transportation, long hours, and poor pay made it difficult to recruit and retain workers. The change in the social relationship of the factory worker compared to farmers and cottagers was viewed unfavourably by Karl Marx; however, he recognized the increase in productivity from technology.

Some economists, such as Robert Lucas Jr., say the real effect of the Industrial Revolution was that "for the first time in history, the living standards of the masses of ordinary people have begun to undergo sustained growth ... Nothing remotely like this economic behaviour is mentioned by the classical economists, even as a theoretical possibility."

Others argue that while growth of the economy was unprecedented, living standards for most did not grow meaningfully until the late 19th century and workers' living standards declined under early capitalism. Some studies estimate that wages in Britain only increased 15% between the 1780s and 1850s and life expectancy did not dramatically increase until the 1870s. Average height declined during the Industrial Revolution, because nutrition was decreasing. Life expectancy of children increased dramatically: the percentage of Londoners who died before the age of five decreased from 75% in 1730–49, to 32% in 1810–29. The effects on living conditions have been controversial and were debated by historians from the 1950s to the 1980s. Between 1813 and 1913, there was a significant increase in wages.

Chronic hunger and malnutrition were the norms for most, including in Britain and France, until the late 19th century. Until about 1750, malnutrition limited life expectancy in France to 35, and 40 in Britain. The US population was adequately fed, taller, and had a life expectancy of 45–50, though this slightly declined by the mid 19th century. Food consumption per person also declined during an episode known as the Antebellum Puzzle. Food supply in Great Britain was adversely affected by the Corn Laws (1815–46) which imposed tariffs on imported grain. The laws were enacted to keep prices high to benefit domestic producers. The Corn Laws were repealed in the early years of the Great Irish Famine.

The initial technologies of the Industrial Revolution, such as mechanized textiles, iron and coal, did little, if anything, to lower food prices. In Britain and the Netherlands, food supply increased before the Industrial Revolution with better agricultural practices; however, population grew as well.

Rapid population growth included the new industrial and manufacturing cities, as well as service centers such as Edinburgh and London. The critical factor was financing, which was handled by building societies that dealt directly with large contracting firms. Private renting from housing landlords was the dominant tenure, this was usually of advantage to tenants. People moved in so rapidly there was not enough capital to build adequate housing, so low-income newcomers squeezed into overcrowded slums. Clean water, sanitation, and public health facilities were inadequate; the death rate was high, especially infant mortality, and tuberculosis among young adults. Cholera from polluted water and typhoid were endemic. Unlike rural areas, there were no famines such that which devastated Ireland in the 1840s.

A large exposé literature grew up condemning the unhealthy conditions. The most famous publication was by a founder of the socialist movement. In The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844, Friedrich Engels describes backstreets of Manchester and other mill towns, where people lived in shanties and shacks, some not enclosed, some with dirt floors. These shanty towns had narrow walkways between irregularly shaped lots and dwellings. There were no sanitary facilities. Population density was extremely high. However, not everyone lived in such poor conditions. The Industrial Revolution created a middle class of businessmen, clerks, foremen, and engineers who lived in much better conditions.

Conditions improved over the 19th century with new public health acts regulating things such as sewage, hygiene, and home construction. In the introduction of his 1892 edition, Engels noted most of the conditions had greatly improved. For example, the Public Health Act 1875 led to the more sanitary byelaw terraced house.

Pre-industrial water supply relied on gravity systems, pumping water was done by water wheels, and pipes were made of wood. Steam-powered pumps and iron pipes allowed widespread piping of water to horse watering troughs and households.

Engels' book describes how untreated sewage created awful odours and turned the rivers green in industrial cities. In 1854 John Snow traced a cholera outbreak in Soho, London to fecal contamination of a public water well by a home cesspit. Snow's finding that cholera could be spread by contaminated water took years to be accepted, but led to fundamental changes in the design of public water and waste systems. In 1855 the chemist Michael Faraday wrote a letter to The Times on the subject of the foul condition of the River Thames (raw sewerage went directly into the Thames), and in response to the exacerbation of sanitary conditions brought on by heavy industrialisation and urbanisation (London's population more than doubled between 1800 and 1850, making it by far the largest in the world), the modern sewage system was built in London by the Metropolitan Board of Works led by its chief engineer Joseph Bazalgette. The London sewer system began construction in 1859 and included 82 miles (132 km) of main and 1,100 miles (1,800 km) of street sewers that diverted waste to the Thames Estuary, and by the 1890s it would feature the revolutionary biological treatment of sewage to oxidise the waste.

In the 18th century, there was relatively high literacy among farmers in England and Scotland. This permitted the recruitment of literate craftsmen, skilled workers, foremen, and managers who supervised textile factories and coal mines. Much of the labour was unskilled, and especially in textile mills children as young as eight proved useful in handling chores and adding to family income. Children were taken out of school to work alongside their parents in the factories. However, by the mid-19th century, unskilled labour forces were common in Western Europe, and British industry moved upscale, needing more engineers and skilled workers who could handle technical instructions and handle complex situations. Literacy was essential to be hired. A senior government official told Parliament in 1870:

Upon the speedy provision of elementary education depends are industrial prosperity. It is of no use trying to give technical teaching to our citizens without elementary education; uneducated labourers—and many of our labourers are utterly uneducated—are, for the most part, unskilled labourers, and if we leave our work–folk any longer unskilled, notwithstanding their strong sinews and determined energy, they will become overmatched in the competition of the world.

The invention of the paper machine and the application of steam power to the industrial processes of printing supported a massive expansion of newspaper and pamphlet publishing, which contributed to rising literacy and demands for mass political participation.

Consumers benefited from falling prices for clothing and household articles such as cast iron cooking utensils, and in the following decades, stoves for cooking and space heating. Coffee, tea, sugar, tobacco, and chocolate became affordable to many in Europe. The consumer revolution in England from the 17th to the mid-18th century had seen a marked increase in the consumption and variety of luxury goods and products by individuals from different economic and social backgrounds. With improvements in transport and manufacturing technology, opportunities for buying and selling became faster and more efficient. The expanding textile trade in the north of England meant the three-piece suit became affordable to the masses. Founded by potter and retail entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood in 1759, Wedgwood fine china and porcelain tableware became a common feature on dining tables. Rising prosperity and social mobility in the 18th century increased those with disposable income for consumption, and the marketing of goods for individuals, as opposed households, started to appear.

With the rapid growth of towns and cities, shopping became an important part of everyday life. Window shopping and the purchase of goods became a cultural activity...and many exclusive shops were opened in elegant urban districts: in the Strand and Piccadilly in London, for example, and in spa towns such as Bath and Harrogate. Prosperity and expansion in manufacturing industries such as pottery and metalware increased consumer choice dramatically. Where once labourers ate from metal platters with wooden implements, ordinary workers now dined on Wedgwood porcelain. Consumers came to demand an array of new household goods and furnishings: metal knives and forks...rugs, carpets, mirrors, cooking ranges, pots, pans, watches, clocks, and a dizzying array of furniture. The age of mass consumption had arrived.

New businesses appeared in towns and cities throughout Britain. Confectionery was one such industry that saw rapid expansion. According to food historian Polly Russell: "chocolate and biscuits became products for the masses...By the mid-19th century, sweet biscuits were an affordable indulgence and business was booming. Manufacturers...transformed from small family-run businesses into state-of-the-art operations". In 1847 Fry's of Bristol produced the first chocolate bar. Their competitor Cadbury, of Birmingham, was the first to commercialize the association between confectionery and romance when they produced a heart-shaped box of chocolates for Valentine's Day in 1868. The department store became a common feature in major High Streets; one of the first was opened in 1796 by Harding, Howell & Co. on Pall Mall, London. The oldest toy store, Hamleys, opened in London in 1760.

The Industrial Revolution in continental Europe started in Belgium and France, then spread to German states by the middle of the 19th century. In many industries, this involved the application of technology developed in Britain. Typically, the technology was purchased from Britain, or British engineers and entrepreneurs moved abroad in search of opportunities. By 1809, part of the Ruhr in Westphalia was called 'Miniature England' because of its similarities. Most European governments provided state funding to the new industries. In some cases, such as iron, the different availability of resources locally meant only some aspects of the British technology were adopted.

Belgium was the second country in which the Industrial Revolution took place. Thanks to coal, Wallonia in south Belgium, took the lead. Starting in the 1820s, and especially after Belgium became independent in 1830, factories comprising coke blast furnaces as well as puddling and rolling mills were built in the coal mining areas around Liège and Charleroi. The leader was John Cockerill, a transplanted Englishman. His factories at Seraing integrated all stages of production, from engineering to the supply of raw materials, as early as 1825.

Wallonia exemplified the radical evolution of industrial expansion, it was also the birthplace of a strong socialist party and trade unions. With its Sillon industriel, "Especially in the Haine, Sambre and Meuse valleys...there was a huge industrial development based on coal-mining and iron-making...". Philippe Raxhon wrote about the period after 1830: "It was not propaganda but a reality the Walloon regions were becoming the second industrial power...after Britain." "The sole industrial centre outside the collieries and blast furnaces of Walloon was the old cloth-making town of Ghent." Many 19th-century coal mines in Wallonia are now protected as World Heritage Sites. Though Belgium was the second industrial country after Britain, the effect of the Industrial Revolution was different. In 'Breaking stereotypes', Muriel Neven and Isabelle Devious say:

The Industrial Revolution changed a mainly rural society into an urban one, but with a strong contrast between northern and southern Belgium. During the Middle Ages and the early modern period, Flanders was characterised by the presence of large urban centres...at the beginning of the nineteenth century...Flanders...with an urbanisation degree of more than 30 percent, remained one of the most urbanised in the world. By comparison, this proportion reached only 17 percent in Wallonia, barely 10 percent in most West European countries, 16 percent in France, and 25 percent in Britain. 19th-century industrialisation did not affect the traditional urban infrastructure, except in Ghent... Also, in Wallonia, the traditional urban network was largely unaffected by the industrialisation process, even though the proportion of city-dwellers rose from 17 to 45 percent between 1831 and 1910. Especially in the Haine, Sambre and Meuse valleys...where there was a huge industrial development based on coal-mining and iron-making, urbanisation was fast....Nevertheless, industrialisation remained quite traditional in the sense that it did not lead to the growth of modern and large urban centres, but to a conurbation of industrial villages and towns developed around a coal mine or a factory. Communication routes between these small centres only became populated later and created a much less dense urban morphology...

The Industrial Revolution in France did not correspond to the main model followed by other countries. Most French historians argue France did not go through a clear take-off. Instead, economic growth and industrialisation was slow and steady through the 18th and 19th centuries. However, some stages were identified by Maurice Lévy-Leboyer:

French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars (1789–1815)

industrialisation, along with Britain (1815–1860)

economic slowdown (1860–1905)

renewal of growth after 1905

Germany's political disunity—with three dozen states—and a pervasive conservatism made it difficult to build railways in the 1830s. However, by the 1840s, trunk lines linked the major cities; each German state was responsible for the lines within its borders. Lacking a technological base at first, the Germans imported their engineering and hardware from Britain, but quickly learned the skills needed to operate and expand the railways. In many cities, the new railway shops were the centres of technological awareness and training, so that by 1850, Germany was self-sufficient in meeting the demands of railway construction, and the railways were a major impetus for the growth of the new steel industry. Observers found that even as late as 1890, their engineering was inferior to Britain's. However, German unification in 1871 stimulated consolidation, nationalisation into state-owned companies, and further rapid growth. Unlike in France, the goal was the support of industrialisation, and so heavy lines crisscrossed the Ruhr and other industrial districts and provided good connections to the major ports of Hamburg and Bremen. By 1880, Germany had 9,400 locomotives pulling 43,000 passengers and 30,000 tons of freight, and pulled ahead of France.

Based on its leadership in chemical research in universities and industrial laboratories, Germany became dominant in the world's chemical industry in the late 19th century.

Between 1790 and 1815, Sweden experienced parallel economic movements: an agricultural revolution with larger agricultural estates, new crops, and farming tools and commercialisation of farming, and a proto industrialisation, with small industries established in the countryside and workers switching between agricultural work in the summer and industrial production in the winter. This led to economic growth benefiting the population and leading to a consumption revolution in the 1820s. Between 1815-50, the protoindustries developed into specialised and larger industries. This period witnessed regional specialisation with mining in Bergslagen, textile mills in Sjuhäradsbygden, and forestry in Norrland. Important institutional changes took place, such as the introduction of free and mandatory schooling in 1842 (first time in the world), abolition of the monopoly on trade in handicrafts in 1846, and a stock company law in 1848.

From 1850 to 1890, there was a rapid expansion in exports, dominated by crops, wood, and steel. Sweden abolished most tariffs and other barriers to free trade in the 1850s and joined the gold standard in 1873. Large infrastructural investments were made, mainly in the expanding railroad network, which was financed by the government and private enterprises. From 1890 to 1930, new industries developed with their focus on the domestic market: mechanical engineering, power utilities, papermaking and textiles.

The Habsburg realms, which became Austria-Hungary in 1867, had a population of 23 million in 1800, growing to 36 million by 1870. Between 1818 and 1870, industrial growth averaged 3% annually, though development varied across regions. A boost to industrialisation came with the construction of the rail network between 1850 and 1873, which transformed transport by making it faster, more reliable and affordable. Proto-industrialisation had begun by 1750 in Alpine and Bohemian regions—now the Czech Republic—which emerged as the industrial hub of the empire. The textile industry led this transformation, adopting mechanisation, steam engines, and the factory system. The first mechanical loom in the Czech lands was introduced in Varnsdorf in 1801 followed shortly by the arrival of steam engines in Bohemia and Moravia. Textile production flourished in industrial centers such as Prague and Brno—the latter earning the nickname "Moravian Manchester." The Czech lands became an industrial heartland due to rich natural resources, skilled workforce, and early adoption of technology. The iron industry also expanded in the Alpine regions after 1750. Hungary, by contrast, remained predominantly rural and under-industrialised until after 1870. However, reformers like Count István Széchenyi played a crucial role in laying the groundwork for future development. Often called "the greatest Hungarian," Széchenyi advocated for economic modernisation, infrastructure development, and industrial education. His initiatives included the promotion of river regulation, bridge construction, and the founding of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences—all aimed at fostering a market-oriented economy. In 1791, Prague hosted the first World's Fair, in Clementinum showcasing the region's growing industrial sophistication. An earlier industrial exhibition was held in conjunction with the coronation of Leopold II as King of Bohemia, celebrating advanced manufacturing techniques in the Czech lands.

From 1870 to 1913, technological innovation drove industrialisation and urbanisation across the empire. Gross national product (GNP) per capita grew at an average annual rate of 1.8%—surpassing Britain (1%), France (1.1%), and Germany (1.5%). Nevertheless, Austria-Hungary as a whole continued to lag behind more industrialised powers like Britain and Germany, largely due to its later start in the modernisation process.

The Industrial Revolution began about 1870 as Meiji period leaders decided to catch up with the West. The government built railways, improved roads, and inaugurated a land reform program to prepare the country for further development. It inaugurated a new Western-based education system for young people, sent thousands of students to the US and Europe, and hired more than 3,000 Westerners to teach modern science, mathematics, technology, and foreign languages.

In 1871, a group of Japanese politicians known as the Iwakura Mission toured Europe and the US to learn Western ways. The result was a deliberate state-led industrialisation policy to enable Japan to quickly catch up. The Bank of Japan, founded in 1882, used taxes to fund model steel and textile factories. Modern industry first appeared in textiles, including cotton and especially silk, which was based in home workshops in rural areas.

During the late 18th and early 19th centuries when Western Europe began to industrialise, the US was primarily an agricultural and natural resource producing and processing economy. The building of roads and canals, the introduction of steamboats and the building of railroads were important for handling agricultural and natural resource products in the large and sparsely populated country.

Important American technological contributions were the cotton gin and the development of a system for making interchangeable parts, which was aided by the development of the milling machine in the US. The development of machine tools and system of interchangeable parts was the basis for the rise of the US as the world's leading industrial nation in the late 19th century.

Oliver Evans invented an automated flour mill in the mid-1780s, that used control mechanisms and conveyors so no labour was needed from when grain was loaded into the elevator buckets, until the flour was discharged into a wagon. This is considered to be the first modern materials handling system, an important advance in the progress toward mass production.

The US originally used horse-powered machinery for small-scale applications such as grain milling, but eventually switched to water power after textile factories began being built in the 1790s. As a result, industrialisation was concentrated in New England and the Northeastern United States, which has fast-moving rivers. The newer water-powered production lines proved more economical than horse-drawn production.

The causes of the Industrial Revolution were complicated and remain debated. Geographic factors include Britain's vast mineral resources. In addition to metal ores, Britain had the highest quality coal reserves known at the time, as well as abundant water power, highly productive agriculture, numerous seaports and navigable waterways.

Some historians believe the Industrial Revolution was an outgrowth of social and institutional changes brought by the end of feudalism in Britain after the English Civil War in the 17th century, although feudalism began to break down after the Black Death of the mid 14th century. The Enclosure movement and the British Agricultural Revolution made food production more efficient and less labour-intensive, forcing farmers no longer self-sufficient into cottage industry, for example weaving, and in the longer term into the cities and newly developed factories. The colonial expansion of the 17th century with the accompanying development of international trade, creation of financial markets and accumulation of capital are cited as factors, as is the Scientific Revolution of the 17th century. A change to getting married later made people able to accumulate more human capital during their youth, thereby encouraging economic development.

Until the 1980s, it was believed technological innovation was the heart of the Industrial Revolution and the key enabling technology was the invention of the steam engine. Lewis Mumford has proposed that the Industrial Revolution had its origins in the Early Middle Ages, earlier than most estimates. He explains that the model for standardised mass production was the printing press and that "the archetypal model for the industrial era was the clock". He cites the monastic emphasis on order and time-keeping, and the fact medieval cities had at their centre a church with bell ringing at regular intervals, as necessary precursors to a synchronisation necessary for later manifestations such as the steam engine. Anthropologist Joseph Henrich also argues for an origin in the Early Middle Ages but specifically identifies the primary cause as the dissolution of European kinship networks under pressure from the Catholic Church.

The presence of a large domestic market is considered an important driver of the Industrial Revolution, particularly explaining why it occurred in Britain. In other nations, such as France, markets were split up by local regions, which often imposed tolls and tariffs on goods traded among them. Internal tariffs were abolished by Henry VIII of England, they survived in Russia until 1753, 1789 in France and 1839 in Spain.

Governments' grant of limited monopolies to inventors under a developing patent system is considered an influential factor. The effects of patents, on the development of industrialisation are clearly illustrated in the history of the steam engine. In return for publicly revealing the workings of an invention, patents rewarded inventors such as James Watt by allowing them to monopolise production, and increasing the pace of technological development. However, monopolies bring inefficiencies which counterbalance, or even overbalance, the benefits of publicising ingenuity and rewarding inventors. Watt's monopoly prevented other inventors from introducing improved steam engines, thereby slowing the spread of steam power.

A question of active interest is why the Industrial Revolution occurred in Europe and not elsewhere, particularly China, India, and the Middle East (which pioneered in shipbuilding, textiles and water mills between 750-1100), or at other times like in Classical Antiquity or the Middle Ages. One account argues Europeans have been characterized for millennia by a freedom-loving culture originating from the aristocratic societies of Indo-European invaders. Many historians, however, have challenged this as being not only Eurocentric, but ignoring historical context. In fact, before the Industrial Revolution, "there existed something of a global economic parity between the most advanced regions in the world economy." These historians have suggested other factors, including education, technological changes, "modern" government, "modern" work attitudes, ecology, and culture.

China was the most technologically advanced country for centuries; however, it stagnated and was surpassed by Europe before the Age of Discovery, by which time China banned imports and denied entry to foreigners. It taxed transported goods heavily. Modern estimates of per capita income in Western Europe in the late 18th century are roughly 1,500 dollars in purchasing power parity whereas China had only 450 dollars. India was feudal, politically fragmented and not as advanced as Western Europe.

Historians such as David Landes and sociologists Max Weber and Rodney Stark credit the different belief systems in Asia and Europe with dictating where the revolution occurred. The religion and beliefs of Europe were products of Judeo-Christian and Greek thought. Chinese society was founded on men like Confucius, Mencius, Han Feizi, and Buddha, resulting in different worldviews. Other factors include the considerable distance of China's coal deposits from its cities, as well as the then unnavigable Yellow River that connects deposits to the sea.

Historian Joel Mokyr argued political fragmentation, the presence of many European states, made it possible for heterodox ideas to thrive, as entrepreneurs, innovators, ideologues and heretics could easily move to a neighboring state if one state suppressed their ideas and activities. This is what set Europe apart from the technologically advanced, large unitary empires such as China, by providing "an insurance against economic and technological stagnation". China had a printing press and movable type, and India had similar scientific and technological achievement as Europe in 1700, yet the Industrial Revolution occurred in Europe first. In Europe, political fragmentation was coupled with an "integrated market for ideas" where Europe's intellectuals used the lingua franca of Latin, had a shared intellectual basis in Europe's classical heritage and the pan-European institution of the Republic of Letters. Political institutions could contribute to the relation between democratization and economic growth during the Great Divergence.

Europe's monarchs desperately needed revenue, pushing them into alliances with their merchant classes. Groups of merchants were granted monopolies and tax-collecting responsibilities in exchange for payments to the state. Located in a region "at the hub of the largest and most varied network of exchange in history", Europe advanced as the leader of the Industrial Revolution. In the Americas, Europeans found a windfall of silver, timber, fish, and maize, leading Peter Stearns to conclude that "Europe's industrial revolution, which was to have such dramatic effects on the wider world, stemmed in great part from Europe's changing position in the wider world, and a particular desire to catch up or surpass Asian manufacturing competitors."

Modern capitalism originated in the Italian city-states around the end of the first millennium. The city-states were prosperous cities that were independent from feudal lords. They were republics whose governments were composed of merchants, manufacturers, members of guilds, bankers and financiers. The city-states built a network of branch banks in western European cities and introduced double entry bookkeeping. Italian commerce was supported by schools that taught numeracy in financial calculations through abacus schools.

Britain provided the legal and cultural foundations that enabled entrepreneurs to pioneer the Industrial Revolution. Key factors were:

The period of peace and stability which followed the unification of England and Scotland

No internal trade barriers, including between England and Scotland, or feudal tolls and tariffs, making Britain the "largest coherent market in Europe"

The rule of law (enforcing property rights and contracts)

A straightforward legal system that allowed the formation of joint-stock companies (corporations)

Geographic and natural resource advantages

Extensive coastlines and many navigable rivers in an age where water was the easiest means of transport

Britain had the highest quality coal in Europe and many sites for water power.

There were two main values that drove the Industrial Revolution in Britain: self-interest and entrepreneurial spirit. Because of these, many advances were made that resulted in a huge increase in personal wealth and a consumer revolution. These advancements benefitted British society as a whole. Countries recognised the advancements and used them to begin their own revolutions.

A debate sparked by Eric Williams in his work Capitalism and Slavery (1944), concerned the role of slavery in financing the Industrial Revolution. Williams argued European capital amassed from slavery was vital in the early years of the revolution. This led to historiographical debate, with Seymour Drescher critiquing Williams' arguments in Econocide (1977).

The greater liberalisation of trade, from a large merchant base, may have allowed Britain to produce and use emerging scientific and technological developments more effectively than countries with stronger monarchies. Britain emerged from the Napoleonic Wars as the only European nation not ravaged by financial plunder, and with the only significant merchant fleet. Britain's extensive exporting cottage industries ensured markets were already available for early forms of manufactured goods. Most British warfare was conducted overseas, reducing the devastating effects of territorial conquest that affected much of Europe. This was further aided by Britain's geographical position—an island separated from the rest of Europe.

Britain was able to succeed due to the key resources it possessed, and population density. Enclosure of common land and the related agricultural revolution made supply of labour readily available. There was a local coincidence of natural resources in the North of England, the Midlands, South Wales and the Scottish Lowlands. Local supplies of coal, iron, lead, copper, tin, limestone and water power resulted in excellent conditions for the development and expansion of industry. Also, the damp, mild weather conditions of the North West of England provided ideal conditions for the spinning of cotton, providing a natural starting point for the birth of the textiles industry.

The stable political situation in Britain from 1688, following the Glorious Revolution, and society's greater receptiveness to change than other European countries, can be said to be factors favouring the Industrial Revolution. Reinforcement of confidence in the rule of law, which followed establishment of the prototype of constitutional monarchy in 1688, and the emergence of a stable financial market based on the management of the national debt by the Bank of England, contributed to the capacity for private financial investment in industrial ventures. Peasant resistance to industrialisation was eliminated by the Enclosure movement, and the landed classes developed commercial interests that made them pioneers in removing obstacles to capitalism. Taking refuge in England in 1726, Voltaire wrote about commerce and religious diversity in Letters on the English (1733), noting why England was more prosperous compared to less religiously tolerant European neighbours: "Take a view of the Royal Exchange in London, a place more venerable than many courts of justice, where the representatives of all nations meet for the benefit of mankind. There the Jew, the Mahometan [Muslim], and the Christian transact together, as though they all professed the same religion, and give the name of infidel to none but bankrupts. There the Presbyterian confides in the Anabaptist, and the Churchman depends on the Quaker's word.

The industrial revolution has been criticised by some for aiding ecosystem collapse, mental illness, pollution and detrimental social systems. It has also been criticised for valuing profits over life and human comfort. Multiple movements have arisen which reject aspects of the industrial revolution, such as the Amish or primitivists.

Some humanists and individualists criticise the Industrial Revolution for mistreating women and children and turning men into work machines that lacked autonomy. Critics of the Industrial Revolution promoted a more interventionist state and formed new organisations to promote human rights.

Primitivism argues that the Industrial Revolution has created an unnatural frame of society and the world in which humans need to adapt to an unnatural urban landscape in which humans are perpetual cogs without personal autonomy.

Certain primitivists argue for a return to pre-industrial society, while others argue that technology such as modern medicine, and agriculture are all positive for humanity assuming they are controlled by and serve humanity and have no effect on the natural environment.

The Industrial Revolution has been criticised for leading to immense ecological and habitat destruction. It led to immense decrease in the biodiversity of life on Earth. Angela Mawle alleges the Industrial revolution has been said to be inherently unsustainable and will lead to eventual collapse of society, mass hunger, starvation, and resource scarcity.

During the Industrial Revolution, an intellectual and artistic hostility towards the new industrialisation developed, associated with the Romantic movement. Romanticism revered the traditionalism of rural life and recoiled against the upheavals caused by industrialisation, urbanisation and the wretchedness of the working classes. Its major exponents in English included the artist and poet William Blake and poets William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley.

The movement stressed the importance of "nature" in art and language, in contrast to "monstrous" machines and factories; the "Dark satanic mills" of Blake's poem "And did those feet in ancient time". Mary Shelley's Frankenstein reflected concerns that scientific progress might be two-edged. French Romanticism likewise was highly critical of industry.