The Four Industrial Revolutions

The Industrial Revolution(s)

• There have been multiple Industrial Revolutions

Timeline

• First Industrial Revolution occurred from 1750s-1870s
• Second Industrial Revolution occurred from 1870s-1930s
• Third Industrial Revolution occurred from 1930s-?
• Fourth Industrial Revolution is ongoing

First Industrial Revolution (1750s-1870s)

• Key resource was Coal
• Shift from agricultural society to manufacturing based
• Characterized by the presence of factories, railroads, and steamships

Second Industrial Revolution (1870s-1930s)

• Key resources were oil and gas
• Significant advancement in steel production
• Saw the rise of mass production on a global scale
• Cars, airplanes, widespread electricity became common

Third Industrial Revolution (1930s-?)

• The Electronic age rose to prominence
• Computers and digital communication became widespread
• Automation in manufacturing increased significantly

Fourth Industrial Revolution (?)

• Renewable energy became important
• Universal internet access and smart phones became widespread
• Includes advancement in Robotics and AI

World Population

• The growth rate from 10,000 BCE to 1700 was 0.04% per year
• 4 million population in 10,000 BCE
• 190 million population around year 0
• There were 600 million people in the world by 1700
• There were 990 million people in the world by 1800
• There were approximately 1.65 billion people by 1900
• An estimated 2 billion population by 1928
• The world population reached 3 billion by 1960
• The world population reached 4 billion by 1975
• There were an estimated 6 billion people in the world by 1999
• Approximately 7 billion people by 2011
• In 2019 the Global life expectancy was 73 years
• The population reached 7.9 billion in 2022

Aspects of the Industrial Revolution (1750s-1850s)

• Steam energy allowed for an intense increase in power potential
• Coal, gas, and oil provided much higher calorific potential, outperforming wood and whale oil
• Steam power was used to mass manufacture new consumer goods
• This occurred predominantly in England, the US, and expanded beyond
• Western economies reoriented around manufacturing and the factory system
• This led to mass production of consumer goods
• Innovation begets more innovation, fostering a "Culture of innovation”
• Society underwent significant changes
• Included development of Trains and steam ships
• Mass urbanization occurred due to changes to work and labor practices
• Led to New Social structures
• It supercharged global capitalism
• Resulted in a huge increase in consumerism
• Led to major impacts on the local and global environment

Why England (and the US) Led Industrialization

• There were high-wage workers and high demand for luxury goods
• This created an incentive to produce lots of consumer products as cheaply as possible
• There was a tradition of evidence-based practices leading to an increase in innovation
• Coal and iron were abundant
• There were rapid innovations in steam power, James Watt's Steam Engine
• Rapid innovations occurred in the cloth industry
• Cotton, coal/iron, and workers were readily available
• New innovations were adopted and protected

Why NOT India or China?

• Indian textiles produced goods of a higher quality and cheaper to produce in 1700s
• But eventually undercut by Britain
• China had a huge population like India
• China was already quite successful at making cheap consumer goods
• China was still the center of the economic center of the world

Other Regions

• Most places were not wealthy enough or subjugated and/or at war

Consequences of the Industrial Revolution

• Industrialization became the driver of economic prosperity with high demands for consumer goods
• The power of the merchant class and private corporations increased
• New forms of consolidated wealth and power emerged, but it also lead to great poverty
• There were challenges to the power/role of government
• England, the US, and Western Europe saw huge leaps in economic power in the 1800s

Social consequences

• There was a reorganization of social classes, with Bourgeois becoming the new Middle Class
• Women and children began to enter the workforce in new ways
• In the US, slavery was reinvigorated
• Immigration to the US and elsewhere increased
• Agrarian economy transformed into a manufacturing economy
• Rapid urbanization occurred alongside soaring populations
• Infrastructure was rebuilt and improved
• The world became more connected on an international scale
• Changing gender norms became a status symbol
• Created the "Cult of Domesticity"
• Middle class and upper class women were expected to maintain the home
• Created a new era of "feminine" expectations
• This was often impossible for working class women
• Immigrant and non-white women struggled to meet the new stereotype

Geopolitical consequences

• Europe, the US, Japan, and other industrialized nations took over economically by the 1800s
• China, India did not adapt quickly enough
• The demand for cheaply sourced raw materials skyrocketed for industrial powers
• A new emphasis on colonialism.
• Began the New era of "imperialism”
• Demand for new markets skyrocketed and new people sold to
• Hyper competition among industrial powers set the stage for the World Wars

Economic Questions

• Rapid changes in the world lead to asking questions and seek new answers
• Social, political and economic change in the 1800s was rapid and intense
• What protections or rights did workers have?
• What is the role of business in state building?

Economic Models

• New political and economic thought began to grow in the 1800s and 1900s
• This led to the creation of distinct economic models
• Industrial Capitalism:
  • Private trade & industry
  • Minimal gov't involvement, collectivism, or centralization, though not always democratic
• Socialism:
  • Shared ownership & regulation of industry "Planned economy"
  • Not always democratic

Helpful Vocabulary

• Marxism: A revolutionary theory against industrial capitalism and the associated socioeconomic theories, and inspiration for socialism and communism
• Proletariat: The working class, as people who do not own capital ($) and must "sell” their labor
• Labor: The work/exertion done in order to produce a good or provide a service
• Bourgeoisie: Ruling capitalist class who owns and profits from private property
• Exploitation: The extraction of surplus value by the capitalists from the proletariat
• Means of Production: The tools/instruments the raw material workers use to create something
• Guild: Association of craftspeople, merchants, or artisans, often to the benefit of economic and political power
• Libertarianism: System that focuses on individual autonomy and worker self-management

Case Study: Latin American "Dependence"

• Abundant raw materials but limited industrialization
• Massive export economies formed the 1800s
• Small middle class developed
  • Rigid, traditional social systems are hierarchical
  • Limited domestic market for manufactured goods slow growth
• Political turmoil was common throughout 19th century
• Urbanization had taken over the population
• European, American influence remained strong in LA past the revolutionary period
  • Large percentages of land were being transferred and controlled by Americans
• Many countries were being exploited

Climate Change from the Industrial Revolution

• Burning of fossil fuels radically alters Earth's atmosphere
  • Greenhouse effect
• Coal, oil, other carbon-based turned from solid/liquid to gas form
• Accelerating carbon cycle by thousands of years
• Scientists understood this effect as of the 1890s

Late 1800s

• Demographics are changing rapidly due to the various revolutions

Other Impacts

• Russian Revolution radically changes political in early 1900s
• Growing tension between governments, business elites, and workers has persisted
• Changes in agriculture, medicine, and other technologies allowed for rapid growth

Trends in the Late 1800s

• Industrialization, Global Capitalism, Nationalism, increase in Science were trending up
• The Qing Dynasty, The Ottoman Empire, and Tsarist Russia were trending down

World Domination

• Europe and the US had the most amount of domination
• Russia lost territories in response to westernization

Japan

• Industrial Revolution empowers private citizens and companies
• Meiji Restoration (1868) began a new imperialistic Japanese government
• Required territorial expansion to keep up with industrial advancements

How Europe, the US, and Japan took over

• Industrialization allowed for new tech and increased wealth
• The increased demand for raw matrials and new markets
• Industrial capitalism created unprecedented leaps in wealth
• New technologies and weapons enabled them to control territory

Century of Humiliation

• Chinese opium imports saw massive increase
• Qing China goes from the manufacturing center to a quasi-colonial state
• It undermined European and American exploitation
• Chinese society was decimated by drugs, rebellion, war, and collapse
• Waves of nationalism started because of a downfall in the Qing

Ottoman Fall

• Threats and displeasure on the periphery triggered the declined the Ottoman Empire
• Tanzimat Era(1839-1876): A Period of reform and modernization
• New systems such as a constitution was drafted
• Growing tension between governments, business elites, and workers has persisted

Tsarist Russian Demise

• Imperialism was being met with huge forces
• The country was experiencing revolutions and revolts
• Colonialism led to new political ideologies

Colonial Encounters

• Driven by industrialization
• Helped by weapons and advanced tech
• New tensions began to rise
  • The colonizer and indigenous people
  • The many economic philosophies