Although continental nations sought to borrow from and in some instances imitate the British model—the success of which was represented by the Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851 -- each nation’s experience of industrialization was shaped by its own matrix of geographic, social, and political factors. |
Dortmund-Ems Canal, Germany, 1912
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Industry, c. 1815-c. 1914
The transition from an agricultural to an industrial economy began in Britain in the 18th century, spread to France and Germany between 1850 and 1870, and finally spread to Russia in the 1890s. The governments of those countries actively supported industrialization. In southern and eastern Europe, some pockets of industry developed, surrounded by traditional agrarian economies.
Although continental nations sought to borrow from and in some instances imitate the British model—the success of which was represented by the Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851—each nation’s experience of industrialization was shaped by its own matrix of geographic, social, and political factors. The legacy of the revolution in France, for example, led to a more gradual adoption of mechanization in production, ensuring a more incremental industrialization than was the case in Britain. Despite the creation of a customs union in the 1830s, Germany’s lack of political unity hindered its industrial development. However, following unification in 1871, the German Empire quickly came to challenge British dominance in key industries, such as steel, coal, and chemicals.
Beginning in the 1870s, the European economy fluctuated widely because of the vagaries of financial markets. Continental states responded by assisting and protecting the development of national industry in a variety of ways, the most important being protective tariffs, military procurements, and colonial conquests. Key economic stakeholders, such as corporations and industrialists, looked to national governments to promote economic development by subsidizing ports, transportation, and new inventions; registering patents and sponsoring education; encouraging investments and enforcing contracts; and maintaining order and preventing labor strikes. In the 20th century, some national governments assumed far-reaching control over their respective economies, largely in order to contend with the challenges of war and financial crises.
Source: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-european-history-course-and-exam-description.pdf
Although continental nations sought to borrow from and in some instances imitate the British model—the success of which was represented by the Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851—each nation’s experience of industrialization was shaped by its own matrix of geographic, social, and political factors. The legacy of the revolution in France, for example, led to a more gradual adoption of mechanization in production, ensuring a more incremental industrialization than was the case in Britain. Despite the creation of a customs union in the 1830s, Germany’s lack of political unity hindered its industrial development. However, following unification in 1871, the German Empire quickly came to challenge British dominance in key industries, such as steel, coal, and chemicals.
Beginning in the 1870s, the European economy fluctuated widely because of the vagaries of financial markets. Continental states responded by assisting and protecting the development of national industry in a variety of ways, the most important being protective tariffs, military procurements, and colonial conquests. Key economic stakeholders, such as corporations and industrialists, looked to national governments to promote economic development by subsidizing ports, transportation, and new inventions; registering patents and sponsoring education; encouraging investments and enforcing contracts; and maintaining order and preventing labor strikes. In the 20th century, some national governments assumed far-reaching control over their respective economies, largely in order to contend with the challenges of war and financial crises.
Source: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-european-history-course-and-exam-description.pdf
Overall, although inequality and poverty remained significant social problems, the quality of material life improved. For most social groups, the standard of living rose, the availability of consumer products grew, and sanitary standards, medical care, and life expectancy improved.
Industrialization promoted the development of new socioeconomic classes between 1815 and 1914. In highly industrialized areas, such as western and northern Europe, the new economy created new social divisions, leading for the first time to the development of self-conscious economic classes, especially the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. In addition, economic changes led to the rise of trade and industrial unions, benevolent associations, sport clubs, and distinctive class-based cultures of dress, speech, values, and customs.
Europe also experienced rapid population growth and urbanization that resulted in benefits as well as social dislocations. The increased population created an enlarged labor force, but in some areas migration from the countryside to the towns and cities led to overcrowding and significant emigration overseas. Industrialization and urbanization changed the structure and relations of bourgeois and working-class families to varying degrees.
Birth control became increasingly common across Europe, and childhood experience changed with the advent of protective legislation, universal schooling, and smaller families. The growth of a cult of domesticity established new models of gendered behavior for men and women. Gender roles became more clearly defined as middle-class women withdrew from the workforce. At the same time, working-class women increased their participation as wage laborers, although the middle class criticized them for neglecting their families.
Industrialization and urbanization also changed people’s conception of time; in particular, work and leisure were increasingly differentiated by means of the imposition of strict work schedules and the separation of the workplace from the home. Increasingly, trade unions charged themselves as the protectors of workers and working-class families, lobbying for improved working conditions and old-age pensions. Increasing leisure time spurred the development of leisure activities and spaces for bourgeois families. Overall, although inequality and poverty remained significant social problems, the quality of material life improved. For most social groups, the standard of living rose, the availability of consumer products grew, and sanitary standards, medical care, and life expectancy improved.
Source: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-european-history-course-and-exam-description.pdf
Europe also experienced rapid population growth and urbanization that resulted in benefits as well as social dislocations. The increased population created an enlarged labor force, but in some areas migration from the countryside to the towns and cities led to overcrowding and significant emigration overseas. Industrialization and urbanization changed the structure and relations of bourgeois and working-class families to varying degrees.
Birth control became increasingly common across Europe, and childhood experience changed with the advent of protective legislation, universal schooling, and smaller families. The growth of a cult of domesticity established new models of gendered behavior for men and women. Gender roles became more clearly defined as middle-class women withdrew from the workforce. At the same time, working-class women increased their participation as wage laborers, although the middle class criticized them for neglecting their families.
Industrialization and urbanization also changed people’s conception of time; in particular, work and leisure were increasingly differentiated by means of the imposition of strict work schedules and the separation of the workplace from the home. Increasingly, trade unions charged themselves as the protectors of workers and working-class families, lobbying for improved working conditions and old-age pensions. Increasing leisure time spurred the development of leisure activities and spaces for bourgeois families. Overall, although inequality and poverty remained significant social problems, the quality of material life improved. For most social groups, the standard of living rose, the availability of consumer products grew, and sanitary standards, medical care, and life expectancy improved.
Source: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-european-history-course-and-exam-description.pdf
British Industrial Revolution
View from Kersal Moor towards Manchester by Thomas Pether, circa 1820, then still a rural landscape.
Manchester from Kersal Moor, by William Wyld in 1857, a view now dominated by chimney stacks as a consequence of the Industrial Revolution.
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Continental Industrialization
The Second Industrial Revolution
19th-Century Business Culture
Urban Growth
Victorian Society
Portrait of the 9th Duke of Marlborough with his family, John Singer Sargent (1905)
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The fictional Crawley family from Downton Abbey faces many of the challenges to tradition that the landed aristocracy confronted by the early 20th century.
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Mary Poppins' Banks family is a typical Victorian/Edwardian era middle class family.
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'Street Urchins', Paul Martin (1893) - Life sucked for the Victorian poor.
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La Belle Époque
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Paris during La Belle Époque
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French postcards from 1899 imagining life in the year 2000.
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Conspicuous Consumption
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Le Bon Marché was one of the first department stores.
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Advertisements for Pears' Soap embody 19th century middle-class Victorian values of purity and provide jingoistic support for the British Empire.
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Recreation
The Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, which opened in 1683, is the oldest university museum.
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Starvation and Emigration
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1.3 million Swedes - like others from across Europe - emigrated to America during the closing years of the 19th century.
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