The Industrialization of Europe 1780-1914 Essay

The Industrialization of Europe 1780-1914 - Essay Example Industrialization shares close relation with both economic development and economic growth but the concepts are not the same. Kuznets termed it as the modern economic epoch. The process of economic growth involved the association or interaction of four factors namely population, resources, institutions as well as technology. The process of interaction between the factors determines the outcome of the process but the variation of possible outcomes is infinite. During the process of industrialization in the nineteenth century several factors played many different roles at different times (Henderson, 1969). The era of industrialization brought improvements in the standards of living of the society, new wealth on the hands of the population and a transformation from agricultural productivity to urbanization and upgraded standards of health. Technology consisted of the inventions that contributed in the process of production. Such innovation transformed the way production took place. The inventions of new machines like cotton gin, power loom contributed in production of large quantities. In the era of industrialization there was rapid demand for cotton and the demand surpassed the supply in the market creating the condition for excess demand. The demand could not be served if spinning machines were not invented. Industrialization increased urbanization in the continent. The cities in the nineteenth century became the places of manufacturing. Immigration into the industrial cities took place at a rapid rate as jobs were available in this part of the continent. The urbanization achieved raped rate before the planning process got implemented and therefore few challenges regarding social security aroused. The environmental problems coupled with overcrowding caused the challenges to become more hazardous. Industrialization transformed the social structure. As commerce and industry developed there was development of middle class locally referred as bourgeoisie. During the process of industrialization the middle class gained political power and social respect. Ultimately new elite of social class evolved and they were refereed as wealthy bourgeois. The human labor began to be replaced by machines. The use of steam engine was the benchmark for producing textiles. Commercial revolution, price revolution, and the cottage industry are regarded as the roots of industrialization. The commercial revolution brought about exploration age. The price revolution contributed in stimulating the production process as the producers can now get more money for their goods. There was rise in the capitalism structure as the surplus money began to circulate in the investment ventures. The middle class acted as the leaders in economic revolution. Trading as well as manufacturing brought wealth to the bourgeois (Cameron, 1985). Research objective The objective of the research is to analyze the effects of industrialization in the continent of Europe. It is believed that ind ustrialization brought in improvements in the stands of living of the society and therefore the blessings on industrial revolution helped the continent to advance into one of the developed parts of the world. The time period under consideration for the research is 1780 to 1914. Research questions The research