Economic and Social Transformation: Industrial Revolution and Class Society

Posted on Jan 4, 2025 in Geography

The Economic and Social Transformation

Between 1750 and 1850, two very different revolutions took place simultaneously in Europe: the French Revolution, which led to political transformation, and the Industrial Revolution, which brought about dramatic economic and technological changes. These revolutions had an enormous impact on society in this period, as well as in the decades which followed. In Great Britain, economic and technological advances resulted in the development of a more efficient system of industrial production. The process of industrialisation soon spread throughout Europe. The combination of industrialisation and the consequences of the French Revolution resulted in the end of the traditional estates system. Art and architecture during this period reflected the economic and social changes that were taking place.

The Causes of the Revolution

The Industrial Revolution originated in Great Britain in the 1750s, beginning a process of industrialisation that continued into the 19th century. During this period, technological advances transformed the economy, as industry expanded and traditional agriculture became less important than industry. In Great Britain, a unique combination of factors contributed to bring about the Industrial Revolution.

Population Growth

During the 18th century, living conditions improved in Europe due to advances in nutrition, hygiene, and medicine. These improvements led to population growth. As a result, the demand for food and other goods increased, which stimulated agricultural and industrial production. In addition, population growth also provided a larger workforce.

Agricultural Improvements

During the 18th century, the enclosure of agricultural land increased agricultural production because it created larger, more profitable farms. New machinery was also introduced, along with greater use of crop rotation and fertilisers. These developments encouraged population growth and industrial expansion because more food and raw materials were being produced.

Increased Trade

Great Britain’s dominance of maritime trade routes led to the rapid expansion of transatlantic commerce. Domestic trade also increased due to greater demand for goods, improved transport systems, and the absence of internal duties. This expansion of trade encouraged industrialisation because the profits from trade were often used to finance industrial development.

Technological Progress

The invention of new machines enabled factories to produce goods more quickly and more cheaply. As a result, prices also decreased, which benefited consumers. The invention of the first reliable steam engine by James Watt between 1763 and 1775 was a particularly important development. It revolutionised many sectors of the economy, including agriculture, mining, industry, and transport.

Financial Support from Agriculture and Trade

In Great Britain, agriculture and commercial activities provided capital that could be invested in industry. This investment was essential because industries required large amounts of money to pay for factories, machinery, raw materials, fuel, and workers’ wages.

Favorable Political and Social Structure

Great Britain’s parliamentary monarchy allowed the bourgeoisie to participate in government and political decision-making. As a result, this social group was able to promote measures that advanced its economic interests, such as laws to liberalise industrial production.

Key Elements of Industrialisation

During the Industrial Revolution, three areas made an especially important contribution to economic growth.

The Textile Industry

Technological innovations, such as spinning and weaving machines, increased the amount of cotton fabric that could be produced. This led to lower prices. These machines were located in factories, where every worker was responsible for a different part of the production process. This division of labour made textile manufacturing more efficient.

Iron and Steel Production

The production of iron and steel in foundries required large quantities of fuel, such as coke. This fuel was needed to heat the blast furnaces. Technological innovations, such as the Bessemer converter, allowed foundries to produce larger quantities of steel, as well as a better-quality product. These new machines also used fuel more efficiently.

Transport

At the start of the Industrial Revolution, improvements to road and water transport made an essential contribution to economic growth. However, it was the use of the steam engine in ships and trains that really revolutionised communications. The invention of the steam locomotive (Trevithick, 1804), the development of the first commercial steamship (Fulton, 1807), and then the opening of the first public railway (Stephenson, 1825) all made it possible to transport large quantities of goods more quickly and more easily.

Industrialisation in Europe

During the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution spread from Great Britain to other countries, including Germany, Belgium, and France. This expansion took place because these countries had:

Abundant reserves of iron and coal.
Growing populations that demanded more goods.
Well-developed railway networks to facilitate transport.

Industrialisation in Spain

Industrialisation took place later in Spain and happened more slowly than in other countries. This was due to the following factors:

Spanish coal deposits were generally of poor quality.
Spain was less technologically advanced than other countries.
Great Britain and France invested in the Spanish railways and the mining industry, for example, in Rio Tinto in Huelva. However, these investments benefited Great Britain and France but did little to promote industrial development in Spain.

In the 19th century, two types of industry became more important in Spain: the cotton industry in Cataluña and the metallurgical industry in Asturias and Vizcaya, regions that had good-quality coal.

Economic Liberalism and Industrial Capitalism

The 18th century was marked by two new phenomena that contributed to the Industrial Revolution: economic liberalism and industrial capitalism. Economic liberalism is the theory that freedom of production and free trade are essential conditions for economic growth and development to take place. It was based on the ideas of Adam Smith, the father of modern economics. Smith believed that the state should not interfere with the economy:

Manufacturers should be free to produce the goods that they want to produce. In this way, they can respond effectively to the demands of the market.
There should be free competition between businesses. This will lead to better-quality products and lower prices.
Merchants should be able to import and export goods without restrictions, since this will increase trade and result in greater profits.

Industrial capitalism is a system which puts the ideas of economic liberalism into practice. Under commercial capitalism, trade had been the most important source of profits, but under industrial capitalism, industrial production became a country’s most profitable economic activity.

Common Characteristics of Economic Liberalism and Industrial Capitalism

Interest: both served the interests of wealthy capitalists and business owners.
Objectives: both aimed to produce profits that could be re-invested in business.
Consequences: both led to an increase in social inequalities.

According to economic liberalism, the state should not intervene in economic activity. This also meant that the state should not intervene to solve the problems that were created by industrialisation, such as people losing their jobs, high unemployment, or poor working conditions.

A Class-Based Society

At the end of the 18th century, a new type of social organisation was emerging in Europe, which replaced the traditional estates system of the Ancien Régime. In this new class-based society, people’s social status depended on their work and their personal wealth, and not on their family background.

Origins of the Class-Based Society

The new class-based society had its origins in the political and economic changes that had taken place during the revolutions of the late 18th century. As a result of the French Revolution, the privileges enjoyed by the clergy and the nobility were abolished. This change precipitated the collapse of the estates system. The Industrial Revolution increased the importance of the wealthy bourgeoisie, who became the owners of factories and businesses. At the same time, a new social group appeared: the working class. This group was composed mostly of industrial workers who lived by working for wages, also known as the proletariat.

The Class-Based Society

Society was divided into three groups: the upper class, the middle class, and the working class.
People’s social class was determined by their profession and wealth: for example, their income, their ownership of land or businesses, and their wages.
Society was open, so people’s social class could change if their personal situation changed.
In theory, all citizens were now equal under the law, without special privileges.
In practice, there were great economic inequalities.

The Characteristics of the Social Classes

The Upper Class

This group was characterised by high levels of wealth, property, and income. It included the following sub-groups:

The nobility, who continued to earn high rents from their lands.
Bourgeois capitalists (bankers, business and factory owners, and prominent merchants) who made substantial profits from their businesses.

The Middle Class

This group had an intermediate level of wealth, property, and income. It included the following sub-groups:

Civil servants, lawyers, and doctors who provided services to other members of society.
Small merchants and artisans who owned their own shops or workshops.
Small farmers who worked their own land.

The Working Class

This group lived in conditions of extreme poverty. It included the following sub-groups:

The industrial working class, or proletariat, who did not own property, and whose wages were usually low.
Poor tenant farmers and agricultural labourers.

Spanish Society

In Spain, the relative lack of industrialisation resulted in a smaller bourgeoisie and a smaller proletariat. The upper class was made up of an oligarchy of large landowners, businessmen, and bankers who all had considerable political influence. The middle class was composed of civil servants, lawyers, doctors, and other professionals who usually lived in urban areas. The working class included peasants, agricultural labourers, and industrial workers.

Working-Class Political Movements

As industrial capitalism became more established, the differences between the economic and social conditions of the bourgeoisie and proletariat increased significantly. For bourgeois capitalists, industrialisation brought greater profits. As a result, they acquired an improved standard of living, with advantages such as comfortable homes, good education for their children, healthcare, and leisure activities. In contrast, the working class worked and lived in terrible conditions. It was in response to these working conditions that the first working-class political movements emerged during the 19th century.

Industrial Working Conditions

During the Industrial Revolution, working conditions in factories were generally dangerous and unhealthy:

Machinery in most factories was unprotected, and accidents and injuries were a common occurrence.
A typical working day was an exhausting 14 to 16 hours long, but wages were low. As a consequence, young children often worked to increase the family income.
Employers could dismiss or fine workers without restrictions.
Workers did not have the right to protest or go on strike.
There was no social insurance or benefits to help workers in cases of illness, accident, and unemployment.

The Factory Acts

In Great Britain, laws were passed to regulate child labour. An example is the 1833 Factory Act, which established the following:

No child under the age of 9 could work in a factory.
Children between the ages of 9 and 13 could work up to 9 hours a day.
Children had to receive at least two hours of schooling every day.
Children could not work at night.

The Origins of Working-Class Politics

Harsh working conditions led to protests against factory owners. These owners opposed workers’ demands because they thought that improving conditions would be bad for business and reduce their profits. Governments, which were usually dominated by the bourgeoisie, did not support workers’ rights either. For example, some governments banned workers’ associations. Despite these problems, the proletariat in Great Britain began to organise itself in opposition to both factory owners and the government. Three developments were especially important:

In 1811, the Luddites emerged. This group was an early manifestation of organised working-class protest. The Luddites were hostile to new technology because they thought that machines took jobs from workers. As a result, they often protested by destroying machines in the factories.
In the 1830s, the first trade unions were founded in Britain. These were associations of workers in particular types of work, for example, miners or textile workers. Trade unions demanded improved working conditions and better wages, and also supported their members in cases of accident or illness.
In 1838, the Chartist movement was established. Chartists demanded political changes, including universal manhood suffrage. They also petitioned Parliament to pass laws which would improve workers’ conditions.

At first, these movements and organisations didn’t achieve their objectives. However, eventually, factory owners and governments were forced to introduce measures that improved industrial working conditions.

Left-Wing Ideologies

In the mid-19th century, the working-class political struggle led to the emergence of new left-wing ideologies. These ideologies promoted the interests of the working class, as well as offering alternatives to industrial capitalism and the class-based society. The most important of these ideologies were Marxism and Anarchism.

Marxism

Also known as Socialism, this ideology was developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Marxism’s ideal society was based on:

Class struggle: the oppressed proletariat would organise itself and fight its capitalist oppressor, the wealthy bourgeoisie.
The dictatorship of the proletariat: the proletariat would seize political power. Once in power, the workers’ dictatorship would control the economy and redistribute wealth equally among all members of society.
Communism: in place of the old class-based society, there would be a new Communist society in which everyone would be equal.

Anarchism

The main advocate of this ideology was Mikhail Bakunin. Bakunin rejected the dictatorship of the proletariat and proposed an ideal society based on:

Individual freedom: people had to fight against any authority or institution (the state or the Church, for example) that limited their freedom.
Communes: society would be reorganised into small, independent groups called communes. In these groups, all decisions would be taken by popular assemblies.
Direct action: people had to defend their interests through their own actions, not through political parties or elections. For some Anarchists, direct action included violent attacks and even murder.