The Industrial Revolution in World History

305 Pages·2021·10.102 MB·English

by  Peter N. Stearns

The Industrial Revolution
in World History
Now in its fifth edition, this book explores the ways in which the indus-
trial revolution reshaped world history, covering the international fac-
tors that helped launch the industrial revolution, its global spread and its
impact from the end of the eighteenth century to the present day.
The single most important development in human history over the
past three centuries, the industrial revolution continues to shape the
contemporary world. Revised and brought into the present, this fifth
edition of Peter N. Stearns’ The Industrial Revolution in World History
extends his global analysis of the industrial revolution. Looking beyond
the West, the book considers India, the Middle East and China and now
includes more on key Latin American economies and Africa as well as
the heightened tensions, since 2008, about the economic aspects of glo-
balization and the decline of manufacturing in the West. This edition
also features a new chapter on key historiographical debates, updated
suggestions for further reading and boxed debate features that encour-
age the reader to consider diversity and different viewpoints in their own
analysis, and pays increased attention to the environmental impacts.
Illustrating the contemporary relevance of the industrial revolution’s
history, this is essential reading for students of world history and eco-
nomics, as well as for those seeking to know more about the global
implications of what is arguably the defining socioeconomic event of
modern times.
Peter N. Stearns is University Professor and Provost Emeritus at George
Mason University, USA.

The Industrial Revolution
in World History
FIFTH EDITION
Peter N. Stearns
Fifth edition published 2021
by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Taylor & Francis
The right of Peter N. Stearns to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections
77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be
trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for
identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Westview Press 1993
Fifth edition published by Routledge 2021
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-0-367-50515-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-50514-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-05018-6 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by codeMantra
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
List of Debates x
Acknowledgments xi
1 Introduction: Defining the Industrial Revolution 1
Technology and Work Organization 7
Issues in Interpretation 9
The Range of the Industrial Revolution 12
Chronology and Geography 15
PART 1
The First Phase, 1760–1880: Western Primacy, Global
Contexts, and Global Results 19
2 Britain’s Revolution: New Processes and Economic
Transformation 21
Britain Becomes the Workshop of the World 29
Industrialization Exacts a Price 35
Change Generates Change: After 1820 39
3 New Causes: Why Did the Industrial Revolution Happen,
and Why Did It Happen in Eighteenth-Century Britain? 42
Three Approaches: British/Western, Comparative
and Global 48
Trigger: Why the Eighteenth Century? 50
Britain as a Special Case 51
4 The Industrial Revolution in Western Society 55
France: An Eclectic Course 59
Germany: Heavy Industry and Big Business 60
vi Contents
The United States: Dynamism of a New Nation 62
The Industrial West by the 1880s 66
5 The Social Impact of the Industrial Revolution 68
Life on the Job 70
Forging the Industrial Family 74
Social Divisions and Protest 80
A New Political and Cultural Context 85
6 The Industrial Revolution outside the West 87
Pilot Projects: Russia 87
Pilot Projects: Asia, Latin America, and Africa 90
Restructuring the International Economy 97
The Two Faces of International Impact 102
PART 2
The Second Phase, 1880–1950: The New International Cast 103
7 The Industrial Revolution Changes Stripes, 1880–1950 105
Second-Phase Trends 105
Why Japan and Russia? 112
8 The Industrial Revolution in Russia 117
Early Industrialization: Before the Revolution 118
Social Impacts: Industrialization and Revolution 124
The Industrial Revolution under Communism 128
9 The Industrial Revolution in Japan 134
The Context for Industrialization 137
The Early Stages 139
Social Impacts 144
The Industrial Economy Matures: 1920s–1950s 148
10 New Developments in Western Societies: A Second
Revolution? Redefinitions of the Industrial Economy 153
Machines and the Drive for Organizational Change 154
The Service Sector 159
Leisure and the Consumer Economy 161
Class Warfare 163
Redefining the Scope of Industrialization 165
The West as New Model 166
Contents vii
11 The Industrial Revolution in International Context 168
The Expansion of Commercial Exploitation 169
Environmental Change 176
Factory Expansion 176
Industrial Sectors: Change amid Tradition 181
Economies of the British Dominions 183
At the Brink of Global Change 185
PART 3
The Third Phase, 1950s–2020s: The Industrialization
of the World 187
12 The Industrial Revolution in the Past Seventy Years 189
New Members of the Industrial Club: The 1960s 190
The New Wave: The 1980s and 1990s and Beyond 191
The Postindustrial Concept 192
Globalization 194
Interlocking Trends 195
13 New Industrial Revolutions: Transforming the
International Balance Sheet 197
Israel: Development in the Desert 197
The Pacific Rim 198
Brazil, Mexico, and Turkey: Toward the Next Wave 204
China and India 207
Waves of Change 211
14 Advanced Industrial Economies: A New Revolution? 213
Growth Rates 213
Structural Changes: The Postindustrial Thesis 218
The New Industrial Balance 222
15 Globalization and Exploitation: A New World Economy 225
The New Sinews of Globalization 225
The Multinationals 227
Labor Migration 230
Globalization and Convergence 233
Global Societies 234
Attacking Globalization 235
Inequalities 236
Variety and Inequality 239
viii Contents
16 Global Industry and the Environment 241
The Pace Quickens 242
Attempts at Addressing a Large-Scale Problem 245
17 Industrial Disruptions, 2008–2020 249
The Great Recession 250
Global Competition 251
The Problem of Inequality Revisited 254
New Uncertainties 255
18 Conclusions 258
Precedent as a Guide to Prediction 258
History and Changing Contexts 261
The Balance Sheet: A Final Debate 261
The Ongoing Experience 263
19 Suggestions for Further Reading 265
Europe as Crucible and the Global Context 265
Social Impact: Western Europe and the United States 268
Beyond Western Europe 270
Recent Developments 276
Index 279
Illustrations
Figures
4.1 Annual Production of Pig Iron, 1870 58
8.1 Railroads in Russia, 1860–1900 119
9.1 Evidence of Japanese Industrialization: Silk Production 143
9.2 Men and Women in the Late Nineteenth-Century
Labor Force in Britain, France, and Japan 146
10.1 Corporations in Western Europe, 1860–1873 156
Maps
2.1 The Beginning of the Industrial Revolution: Great
Britain, c. 1750–1820 31
7.1 The Industrial Revolution in Europe, 1870–1914 106
7.2 The Industrial Revolution in the Wider World by 1929 108
Illustrations
3.1 England’s Nineteenth-Century Industries Expand
and Improve 52
4.1 The Progress of Cotton 64
Photographs
8.1 Sowing on the steps of the Ukraine, USSR 131
10.1 An Early Assembly Line at the Ford Motor Company 157
10.2 The Memorial Day Massacre in Chicago 163
10.3 The Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation in Pittsburgh 167
11.1 Rail track at a gold mine in Johannesburg, South Africa 171
13.1 A man drives an early Chinese tractor 209
14.1 Workers in a Japanese Automobile Plant 215
15.1 Telex Equipment in Abidjan, Ivory Coast 239