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HIST363 Study Guide

Site: Saylor Academy
Course: HIST363: Global Perspectives on Industrialization
Book: HIST363 Study Guide
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Date: Sunday, May 12, 2024, 6:43 PM

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Unit 1: Industrialization and Theories of Economic Change

1a. Describe what the Industrial Revolution was

  • What is an industrial revolution?
  • How does an industrial revolution differ from industrialization, if at all?
  • How have historical perspectives about the Industrial Revolution in England changed over time?

We will consider the Industrial Revolution in England closely in Unit 4. However, exploring its full significance requires examining what existed before, as well as the historical conditions and forces that aligned to make the Industrial Revolution possible. We begin here with a broad overview of the Industrial Revolution in Europe to provide context for the rest of this unit.
 
To review, see Industrial Revolutions.

 

1b. Explain why England was one of the first nations to industrialize

  • How was the Industrial Revolution in England based on improvements in agricultural production (what many call the Agricultural Revolution)?
  • What natural advantages did England have that helped make the Industrial Revolution possible?
  • How did England's vast colonial empire contribute to its early industrialization?
  • How did the Industrial Revolution disrupt traditional conventions in social life and psychology and change prevalent economic patterns?


After you have completed the readings in Unit 1, you should be able to explain how and why the Industrial Revolution developed first in England, a country that possessed many of the right preconditions.
 
England had experienced an agricultural revolution where mechanized farming equipment was replacing farm labor. It also had requisite water power, large reserves of iron and coal, and a vast colonial empire from which to draw the raw materials for industrial production – such as cotton from India – as well as new colonial markets where its finished products could be sold.
 
To review, see Origins of the Industrial Revolution and The Industrial Revolution.

 

1c. Discuss the key pieces of technology driving England's industrialization

  • What pieces of technology were most important to England's industrialization?
  • What role did steam and coal power play in England's industrialization?
  • What advances made the expanded use of coal and steam power possible?
  • How was England uniquely situated to begin using new technology and new power sources at the time when they were poised to industrialize?

Although England possessed many of the right preconditions for industrialization, it also needed significant energy sources to power new technologies. Without the combination of new technology and the ability to harness energy on a larger scale, the industrial revolution in England would not have been possible. Fortunately for England, it was also in a unique position to use steam and coal power (among others) at just the right time to drive its industrialization.
 
To review, see Origins of the Industrial Revolution and The Industrial Revolution.

 

1d. Summarize key economic theorists' main ideas about economic growth

  • What were the basic economic and political principles behind mercantilism, and how Europeans practiced it from 1600–1800?
  • What did Adam Smith mean by the "Invisible Hand"? Did he believe in the absolute freedom of the marketplace? Why or why not?
  • What are the main principles of The Wealth of Nations?
  • What is laissez-faire capitalism?
  • What did Max Weber mean by the Protestant ethic? How does it relate to his argument about the development of modern capitalism?
  • What were Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels' basic criticisms of the industrial capitalism of their day? How did this relate to their concept of class struggle?
  • What are the bourgeoisie and the proletariat?

After you have completed the readings in Unit 1, make sure you are familiar with the concept of mercantilism, which was the accepted economic theory before Adam Smith's seminal work, The Wealth of Nations. The mercantile system was based on the premise that national wealth and power are best served when countries increase exports and collect precious metals, goods, and raw materials in return.
 
Adam Smith, Max Weber, Karl Marx, and Friedrich Engels were four key theorists and philosophers who discussed industrialization and economic change.
 
Adam Smith (1723–1790), the Scottish economist who many consider the "father" of modern economics, coined the idea of the invisible hand, in which he described how changes in supply and demand for an item typically return to a state of economic equilibrium. When a shortage of a product occurs, businesses usually raise their prices to take advantage of the increased demand. The profit margin they receive encourages other businesses to enter the market, increase production, and cure the shortage. When too many producers flood the market with increased supply, manufacturers are forced to lower the price of their products to get rid of their excess inventory and stay in business. Eventually, the competition among manufacturers achieves a market equilibrium or "natural price".
 
Max Weber (1864–1920), a German sociologist, believed that traditional hierarchical societies based on honor, prestige, and religion tended to dominate and discourage ownership of capital and modern industrial and commercial enterprises. The rise of Protestantism, particularly Calvinist theology (a major branch of Protestantism), influenced the rise of modern capitalism by reducing the importance of these societal hierarchies in favor of individual freedoms and the entrepreneurial spirit. He wrote, "[T]he Protestants of Germany are today absorbed in worldly economic life, and their upper ranks are most indifferent to religion". He describes "materialistic joy" and an "intimate relationship" with "capitalistic acquisition".
 
While Adam Smith made a case for what would be known as laissez-faire capitalism, Karl Marx (1818–1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820–1895) were highly critical of the exploitative nature of industrial capitalism, a social byproduct that Smith tended to ignore and that was still in its infancy when he wrote his Wealth of Nations.
 
Known for their views on social and class conflict within society, Marx and Engels witnessed and protested against the extreme poverty and abhorrent living conditions that capitalist practices created in many newly-industrialized cities. They predicted a class struggle would occur between the lower and upper classes over control of the means of production. Marx and Engels advocated that the proletariat (the working class) should rise up in revolt against the bourgeoisie (the upper classes and wealthy elite) to support better working conditions. They predicted society would become more stable and equal once capitalism failed.
 
To review, see:

 

1e. Explain the historical forces that shaped the ideas of different economic theorists

  • Why is The Wealth of Nations credited with establishing the field of economics?
  • How did the shift from wealth being based on land ownership to wealth being based on labor power affect the ideas of Adam Smith, Friedrich List, Karl Marx, and others?
  • What historical shifts in perspective might have led Friedrich List to make refinements to Adam Smith's ideas?
  • What historical forces did Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels observe that informed their views on class conflict?
  • Why do Max Weber's takes on social class and religion differ from that of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels?
  • How and why do Schumpeter's views on capitalism differ from that of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels?
  • How have List's theories influenced Import Substitution Industrialization?

Not surprisingly, contemporary ideas and events have always shaped how various thinkers view the world and the ways in which they contribute new ideas. For economic theorists, industrialization marked a major shift in their thoughts about trade, national wealth, and the emerging international system. It is important to consider each theorist's historical context and worldview when we evaluate their work – and the contributions they made to their fields.
 
To review, see:

 

1f. Compare classical and contemporary theories of industrialization

  • What are Walt Rostow's five stages of economic development?
  • Compare Georg Frederich List's views on tariffs and a national economy with those of Adam Smith. What argument did each use to support their beliefs regarding tariffs?
  • What did Joseph Schumpeter mean by social value? Why do capitalists try to establish monopolies, and how can monopolies stifle capitalism in the long run?
  • Using Walt Rostow's stages of economic development, how would you characterize the modern American economy as compared to that of a developing country?

Ensure you are familiar with Walt Whitman Rostow's five stages of economic development, Georg Frederich List's ideas about tariffs and creating a national economy, and Joseph Schumpeter's explanation of entrepreneurship and business cycles. These three economists focused on different aspects of economic development. Their theories have affected different economies and parts of the world in distinct ways.

Walt Rostow (1916–2003), an American economist, identified five stages of economic development: 1. the traditional society, 2. the preconditions for take-off, 3. the take-off, 4. the drive to maturity, and 5. the age of high mass-consumption.
 
Georg Friedrich List (1789–1846), a German-American economist, described a similar series of stages but went a step further by explaining that countries may need to use protectionism to temporarily protect their infant industries (such as through tariffs or quotas) from foreign competition until these industries mature because "these transitions cannot take place automatically through the 'natural course of things,' i.e., through market forces".
 
Joseph Schumpeter (1883–1950), an Austrian political economist, coined the concept of creative destruction to describe how the new constantly replaces the old. He compared the economy to a living organism that is constantly growing and changing to maintain its health. Entrepreneurs periodically disrupt existing industries, including the workers, businesses, and entire sectors that go along with them. This is part of the normal business cycle, which supports and promotes innovation and productivity. Many of today's economists look to Schumpeter's work to explain how technology and automation processes have disrupted the manufacturing industry in the current economy.
 
By social value, Schumpeter refers to the value society places on certain goods, depending on the wants or needs of the entire community. Social value influences that of the individual and the exchange value. For example, I may not like to eat avocados, but I may come to value them and even become an avocado farmer because the rest of society values them and will buy them from me. I receive something in exchange for the avocados I sell, i.e., money.
 
Although Schumpeter promoted the benefits of a free market, capitalist innovation, and entrepreneurial growth, he also believed that elements of socialism would eventually replace capitalism due to capitalism's tendency to promote human greed, monopoly, and social inequalities.

To review, see:

 

Unit 1 Vocabulary

Be sure you understand these terms as you study for the final exam. Try to think of the reason why each term is included.
  • Adam Smith
  • agricultural revolution
  • bourgeoisie
  • business cycle
  • class struggle
  • creative destruction
  • entrepreneurship
  • exchange value
  • five stages of economic development
  • Friedrich Engels
  • Georg Friedrich List
  • industrialization
  • Industrial Revolution
  • invisible hand
  • Joseph Schumpeter
  • Karl Marx
  • market equilibrium
  • Max Weber
  • means of production
  • mechanized farming
  • mercantilism
  • proletariat
  • protectionism
  • social value
  • supply and demand
  • The Wealth of Nations
  • Walt Rostow

Unit 2: Ancient and Early Modern Industry

2a. Explain the impact of agriculture on industrialization

  • Why is agriculture important for industrialization?
  • How does agriculture affect the labor market?
  • How does agriculture affect industry?
  • How does industrialization affect agriculture?

You saw how the agricultural revolution in England was a necessary precondition for industrialization. However, that is not the whole story of how agriculture and industry affect each other. Agricultural needs drive industrial inventions, which in turn drive greater agricultural advances. Agricultural products and technology also formed the basis of pre-industrial trade, so when farmers innovated to increase yields or save labor, those innovations became goods to trade. As those innovations spread through trade, they would also be altered to suit a particular region, crop, or method. These innovations and technologies, in turn, drove both industrialization and agriculture.
 
To review, see Why Agriculture Was So Important.

 

2b. Describe important industries in China, India, and the Roman Empire

  • What were some of the negative byproducts of Roman deep vein mining?
  • What were some Roman glassmaking methods? How did the Romans use the glass they manufactured?
  • What materials did the Romans use for building construction?
  • How did Rome obtain the grain it needed?
  • What role did water play in Roman society, and how did the Romans engineer its use?
  • What were four great industrial inventions of ancient China?
  • How did ancient China's workshop system of production foreshadow the modern assembly line?
  • How were copper and bronze metallurgy in China different from metallurgy in the West?
  • What was the economy of Germania Inferior, and how did it relate to Roman governance of the area?
  • India has a long history of cotton manufacturing that predates Europe and was the impetus to England's Industrial Revolution. What were cotton production and processing like before the British colonization of India?

While modern industrial production methods and practices may not have been fully developed in pre-Modern China, India, and the Roman Empire, this does not mean some form of industrial production did not exist. Roman mining and glassware were highly-developed industries that required technological applications to be successful. Roman glassmaking was highly developed, highly prized, and has been found as far away as China and Japan.
 
China perfected bronze metallurgy and bronze production for domestic and military use and had a highly-advanced industrial process with an early version of the assembly line. In India, cotton production existed long before the British arrived and exploited Indian cotton for their own purposes and textile production. Cotton fabric provided an impetus to the Industrial Revolution in Britain.
 
To review, see:

 

2c. Examine the different forms of industry in Early Modern Europe

  • How were trade networks created, and how did they expand?
  • How did the merchant class develop, and how did its appearance affect European society?
  • What are guilds, and how did they affect trade networks and societies where they were established?
  • What was The Silk Road? How was it maintained, and how was it ultimately revived? Why did it need reviving?

During the Renaissance (1300–1600), Florence and several Italian cities benefited from their extensive wool processing industry. Business leaders encouraged the creation of a growing banking industry to finance it. For example, wealthy families, such as the Medici, provided major financial support, which promoted new industrial operations.
 
Early forms of capitalism developed in Europe as trade, commerce, and urbanization grew. In the 12th century, European cities and towns expanded as merchants began opening trade routes with the Middle East and East to meet the ever-increasing demand for foreign goods, such as silk, porcelain, and spices, in addition to the industries covered in Unit 3.
 
Middle Eastern merchants and traders dominated these lucrative trade routes and marked up the cost of buying these products significantly. European merchants eventually learned how to bypass these middlemen: they created their own trade routes to sail directly to the source and buy the valuable commodities sold in the East Indies. Their efforts stimulated improvements in naval technology and cartography and created new forms of business organizations, banking arrangements, and insurance providers.
 
For example, the British East India Company and Dutch East India Company became two of the largest and most successful joint stock companies in the international marketplace. Their global reach made them the most profitable trading companies in the world prior to the modern period.
 
To review, see:

 

2d. Discuss how early merchant capitalism spread more than just goods across the world

  • What is merchant capitalism?
  • What role did the Hanseatic League play in developing European capitalism?
  • What role did charter and joint stock companies play in developing early modern capitalism?
  • What were some less desirable things spread by trade? What were some of the effects of this spread?

Trade and commerce resumed during the latter Middle Ages (476 AD–1492) after the collapse of Rome, the revival of European towns and cities, and a return of stability. However, the Roman Catholic Church was an omnipresent force and impeded industrial growth. For example, the Church limited excessive profit-making by forbidding usury (money lending at high-interest rates) and demanded businesses charge their customers a just and fair price.
 
Capitalism and national forms of industry, which we discuss in more detail in Unit 3, became widespread in Europe. Merchants found new business and trade routes in addition to their local partners. For example, merchant traders from cities along the Baltic coast – northern Germany, Scandinavia, Russia – created the Hanseatic League (1157–1600), a transnational commercial network, to facilitate trade and common interests.
 
Merchants in Amsterdam, Antwerp, London, and Venice also created new business organizations comprised of wealthy investors, called joint stock companies (similar to today's publicly-traded corporations) to finance more expensive trading ventures, such as the long, perilous voyages to India, Indonesia, and the New World which would prove extremely profitable when successful.
 
To review, see:

 

2e. Examine the role of religion in global economics

  • How was religious tolerance key to trade in late medieval and early modern Europe?
  • How did usury and the Calvinist idea of predestination affect the rise of early capitalism in the Netherlands?

During the Reformation (1517–1648), a decline in the power of the Catholic Church and the rise of Calvinism eroded the religious dominance that slowed the rise of the merchant class. Businesses gained the ability to lend money at a market-based interest rate and would charge prices based on supply and demand with less interference from the church. Calvinism supported the idea of predestination – that monetary and business success indicated God's favor – a belief that would encourage entrepreneurism, investment, and personal wealth.
 
To review, see How Did the World Become Interconnected? and Trade Empires.

 

2f. Explain how early forms of capitalism developed in Europe

  • How did the emergence of a merchant class change European society?
  • How did transnational commercial interests, like the Hanseatic League, develop?
  • How did merchants in the English wool trade form a guild? How did that guild affect English society, and why?
  • How did joint stock companies like the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company come to be? What happened to them?

Before the period we examine in this unit, European wealth and status were based on land and titles. Initially, the only way to obtain land and titles was to inherit them. During the period we are considering, it became possible to purchase land and titles in some places, essentially making capital a substitute for inheritance. Eventually, wealth and status came to be determined more by capital itself (or the assets purchased with it) than formal titles or ownership of a specific territory. This is just one major shift in how capital was used and perceived over time.
 
As you consider the materials from this unit, look for the capitalist institutions, customs, and social arrangements that grew out of the discussed processes.
 
To review, see:

 

Unit 2 Vocabulary

Be sure you understand these terms as you study for the final exam. Try to think of the reason why each term is included.

  • British East India Company
  • bronze metallurgy
  • Calvinism
  • capital
  • capitalism
  • cotton production
  • Dutch East India Company
  • glassmaking
  • Hanseatic League
  • joint stock companies
  • merchant class
  • middlemen
  • predestination
  • Reformation
  • Renaissance
  • Roman Catholic Church
  • trading companies
  • usury

Unit 3: Capitalism, Agriculture, Industry, and Trade

3a. Assess the effects of the Agricultural Revolution on European societies

  • What accounted for agricultural improvements in England from 1500–1850?
  • What are cottage industries and proto-industries?
  • How was the factory system fundamentally different from the commercial production methods that preceded it?
  • What were the inventions of Jethro Tull, Joseph Foljambe, Andrew Meikle, and John Fowler?
  • How did industrialization contribute to urbanization in England and Europe during the Industrial Revolution?
  • What was the Columbian Exchange, and what effects did it have on the New World and the Old World (Eurasia)?

Several factors prompted the Industrial Revolution in England and Europe. As we discussed in Unit 1, in England, the ready availability of water power, sources of iron ore, an abundant coal supply, and raw materials from colonies such as India created a foundation for an industrial revolution.
 
An agricultural revolution preceded these changes: new farming tools and mechanization methods made it easier for farmers to produce more food with less labor. For example, in 1701, Jethro Tull invented the seed drill, which would plant seeds efficiently in neat rows, and later developed a horse-drawn hoe. In 1730, Joseph Foljambe produced the first commercially-successful iron plow to replace its wooden predecessor. In 1786, Andrew Meikle developed a threshing machine to remove the outer husks from grains of wheat. In the mid-1800s, John Fowler produced a steam-driven engine that could plow farmland and dig drainage ditches more quickly and economically than horse-drawn plows.
 
While domestic and cottage industries helped European workers transition from an agricultural to an industrialized society, factory production came to dominate the economic landscape. Proto-industry describes this type of domestic manufacturing and other types of commercial activity that preceded industrialization. Later, these newly-unemployed agricultural workers would flock to the urban centers where they would form Britain's new industrial workforce.
 
Meanwhile, the Columbian Exchange provided a new basis for new agricultural production, as new crops from the New World came to supplement the European diet, such as potatoes, corn, tobacco, beans, squash, peppers, and cacao. For example, potatoes became a vital sustenance for the lower classes across Europe.
 
To review, see Where and Why Did the First Cities and States Appear? and 18th-Century Inventions that Transformed Agriculture.

 

3b. Discuss the development of manufacturing in Europe

  • Discuss the relationship between a cottage industry or domestic system and the factory system in England. How were they complementary, and how were they incompatible?
  • How did the industrialization of the textile industry in England affect the Indian textile industry and Indian industrialization? What effect did it have on British and French domestic weavers and their families?

The industrialization of textile manufacturing supplanted artisanal production, a process characterized by minimal automation, little division of labor, a cottage industry, and a small number of highly-skilled craftsmen, particularly in the textile industry. These processes coexisted and complemented each other until full-scale industrialization rendered domestic weavers and the cottage industry obsolete. In addition to laws that restricted the importation of Indian cotton, English textile manufacturing hurt the Indian textile industry. Indian weavers, textile production, and industrialization in India suffered, forcing the country to rely on its agricultural economy until recently.
 
Traditional cottage industries, which had endured for centuries in England, France, and India, were soon replaced by the mass production of cheap and affordable cotton fabric. Industrialization fueled a revolution that changed social and economic patterns that had long existed in all three countries.
 
To review, see From the Early-Modern Workshop to the Modern Factory.

 

3c. Explain European manufacturing's effects on Asian industries

  • Given the advanced manufacturing processes available locally, why was trade with Asia in such high demand?
  • How had European merchants previously traded with Asia, and why was that method unavailable to them?
  • How did the merchant classes of Europe respond to the demand for Asian goods? What happened next?

During the period we're considering, fine Asian goods, such as silk, pearls, and porcelain, were in high demand in Europe. Classes with newfound wealth especially clamored for such valuable imports. Initially, this drove up demand and prices and made trade relations with Asia highly sought after.
 
Previously, merchants had traveled along the Silk Road, a relatively stable trade route. However, the Mongolian Empire had collapsed, leaving a large swath of the Silk Road inconsistent and unprotected – and, therefore, not really viable as a trade route. Additionally, in the aftermath of the Crusades, Christian merchants from Europe were not necessarily welcome to pass through those territories en route to the East.
 
This situation caused merchants, wealthy upper classes, and royalty to expend a great deal of capital and other resources trying to establish trade routes to the East by sea. Some expeditions used ever-improving technology to make the dangerous trip around the southern tip of Africa, while others would attempt to reach the East by sailing west (not knowing at the time that the Earth was much larger than previously thought and that a large continental landmass lay between western Europe and eastern Asia). This launched what came to be known as the Age of Exploration.
 
Eventually, those who had the means to finance trade missions to the East would come to dominate the trade routes they established. For example, England colonized India, Singapore, and Hong Kong, which allowed them to gain what was essentially a trade monopoly there and dominate other ports and trade routes.
 
To review, see Shifts in Production and Exploration and Global Trade.

 

3d. Describe how slave labor from Africa and natural resources from the Americas assisted industrial development in England

  • What role did slavery play in England's industrial revolution?
  • How did the industrial capitalism of England during the Industrial Revolution rely on natural resources and human capital, in the form of African slaves, for its development and growth?

While England's industrial revolution was based on agricultural consolidation, mechanization, a large supply of coal and iron ore, and water power, we cannot ignore that slaves from Africa provided the back-breaking labor that harvested the necessary natural resources and raw materials in its colonies.
 
For example, the sugar industry, which required intensive labor, which its slaves provided, reaped huge profits for its owners and investors back in England. This capital provided the basis for the money needed to invest in factories and industrial production for the newly-developing mass consumer market.
 
To review, see:

 

3e. Discuss the impact of the Macartney Expedition on the emerging global economy

  • Who was Lord Macartney?
  • What was the Macartney Expedition, and what was its primary goal?
  • What was the outcome of the Macartney Expedition, and how did England respond?
  • What does the Macartney Expedition tell us about the global economy of the time?

In 1793, King George III of England sent Lord George Macartney as an emissary to China to establish favorable trade relations with the Qianlong Emperor. The Macartney Expedition, financed by the British East India Company (EIC), was a massive diplomatic failure.
 
At the time, fine Chinese goods were highly valued in Europe and expensive. Many Asian economies of the time made their goods primarily for local and regional use and not for export, and China was no exception. They had massive local and regional markets and no real need for outside trade. Simply, England did not have much China wanted, so China was not incentivized to trade with England. The British did not have the one thing China did want – silver currency – in constant supply. At the time, most of the silver mines were in Spanish colonies in the Americas. Macartney could not get the Emperor to accept anything else in trade (such as rice or opium, to which England had plenty of access through its colony in India). Ultimately, the mission was considered a massive failure.
 
To review, see The Macartney Expedition and the Global Economy and Rise and Fall of Canton Trade System.

 

3f. Explain the effects of Western Imperialism on Asia's industrialization

  • What is Western Imperialism?
  • What was the British East India Company (EIC)?
  • What were The Opium Wars?
  • How was Asia in general, and China in particular, affected by them?
  • What was the outcome of these conflicts?

After the failure of the Macartney Expedition, the British East India Company began to sell significant amounts of opium to private merchants headed to China and directly to Chinese smugglers, thus creating a massive drug trade. This drug trade undermined China's strict trade rules by ignoring and circumventing them and got a significant portion of Chinese society at all levels addicted to opium.
 
The Emperor made opium illegal and issued multiple edicts on the matter, but by that time, the opium trade was deeply entrenched. Many officials responsible for enforcing trade policy and restrictions were addicted to opium and profiting from its trade, so the Emperor's attempts had little effect. Eventually, the conflict between trying to keep opium out of China and the EIC's desire for massive profits and Chinese goods resulted in military conflict. Both Opium Wars would end with "Unequal Treaties", ceding Chinese territory, wealth, and trade advantages to England (and also to France after the Second Opium War).
 
To review, see The Opium Wars and The First Opium War.

 

Unit 3 Vocabulary

Be sure you understand these terms as you study for the final exam. Try to think of the reason why each term is included.
  • Age of Exploration
  • agricultural consolidation
  • Andrew Meikle
  • Columbian Exchange
  • cottage industry
  • Jethro Tull
  • John Fowler
  • Joseph Foljambe
  • Macartney Expedition
  • mechanization
  • opium
  • Opium Wars
  • proto-industry
  • slave labor
  • textile manufacturing

Unit 4: The Industrial Revolution in England

4a. Describe how new technology increased industrialization

  • How did technology transform the production of cotton fabric during the Industrial Revolution in England?
  • What were some of the machines used in the cloth manufacturing process?
  • How would you explain John Merriman's suggestion that the Industrial Revolution was more of a process than an event (and that it did not immediately change how things were manufactured)?
  • How did coal and the steam engine contribute to the mechanization of production in early industrial factories?

As we explored in previous units, new technology was at the heart of the Industrial Revolution, coupled with access to natural resources such as coal, iron ore, and water power. However, while technology dramatically improved the production of goods such as cotton fabric, it did not fully replace the domestic system or artisan handcrafting immediately. For a period of time, they coexisted and complemented each other.
 
To review, see:

 

4b. Discuss how improved methods of coal extraction drove multiple other industries

  • How were methods of coal extraction improved during the Industrial Revolution in England?
  • How did improved methods of coal extraction affect the production of iron, steel, and steam power?
  • How did improved methods of coal extraction affect new methods of transportation?

As we observed in earlier sections, coal was essential to the Industrial Revolution in Britain – not just because it provided an essential source of energy but also made other industries possible. For example, the steel industry would not have been possible without coal as an energy source, and the steam engine used coal to generate the heat that created its steam pressure. These, in turn, made other processes and technologies possible. Coal was at the foundation of it all, and improved methods of extracting it meant enough coal was available to drive these other technologies, processes, and industries.
 
To review, see The Shift to Coal, Lives and Work of Coal Miners in Industrial England, and History: The Bedrock of Industry.

 

4c. Interpret primary source documents to understand why some workers opposed industrialization

  • Who were the Luddites, and what did they want?
  • How would you describe the transition from domestic textile production to the mechanized factory production of cotton and wool fabric?
  • What were the primary reasons for opposing industrialization?

The industrialization process increased the production of goods, made materials cheaper, and helped create a mass consumer market such as the one we have today. However, it also dramatically changed the way we make products and disrupted the lives of the people who made them.
 
Since the Middle Ages, prior to industrialization, the European economy was built around a local community of craftsmen who made products in local workshops or in their homes. Industrialization and the factory system moved production from the home and workshop to the factory floor to a building designed to house the machines that mechanized the production process.
 
Factory workers lost control of their time and how their day was structured. For example, they often completed only one process step and never saw the final end product of whatever they were working on. In 1811, this process prompted a group of workers, called the Luddites, to engage in a series of riots that lasted for five years to destroy the machinery that threatened to eradicate their way of life and their communities.
 
To review, see Leeds Woolen Workers Petition, 1786, The Philosophy of the Manufacturers, and The Life of the Industrial Worker in 19th-Century England.

 

4d. Examine the impact of the factory system on the notion of human rights

  • What are human rights?
  • How were the first factories organized, and how did workers respond?
  • What were some ways in which early factories affected workers' health and well-being?
  • What were some of the first "fair labor" practices? How did they come about?

Factories were initially designed to be efficient machines, and workers' lives came to be structured around the factory and its efficiency. As workers began to be exposed to long hours, poor air quality, working around dangerous machines, and other unsafe and unhealthy conditions, the work began to take a toll on a significant portion of the population. The working class suffered illnesses and injuries that either hadn't been seen before industrialization or that had not been as severe or widespread previously.
 
At the same time, artisans who had been producing goods from their homes began to be driven out of business by the availability of cheap goods being mass-produced in factories. Some of them went to work in the factories to support themselves.
 
With the health, safety, and quality of life of so many people at risk, some people began to question whether exploiting the labor of so many people created problems for the larger society, in addition to being ethically problematic. The idea that people have rights based purely on their humanity began to be considered for the first time by a large swath of society.
 
To review, see:

 

4e. Identify major developments in transportation technology

  • What role did the improved steel production have as the basic foundation of the transportation revolution based on the steam engine?
  • What effects did the invention of the steam locomotive have on European society during the Industrial Revolution?
  • What effects did the steamship have on travel and transport during the Industrial Revolution?

The introduction of the steam locomotive and the steamship revolutionized the transportation systems in England, the United States, and elsewhere. However, steam power and the technology behind these inventions were based on the improved steel production in terms of the quantity and quality of the steel produced. Therefore, the transportation revolution was predicated on improved steel production in combination with the invention of the steam boiler.
 
To review, see:

 

4f. Explain how knowledge about industrialization spread within and beyond Europe

  • How did British textile manufacturing secrets get to the United States?
  • What role, if any, did patents play in early manufacturing in England and the United States?
  • How did Eli Whitney's cotton gin revolutionize the production of cotton and cotton textiles, as well as the course of American history?

As the Industrial Revolution in England developed, its technology spread. Despite efforts to keep the construction and processes of its machinery secret, such valuable knowledge could not be held under wraps for long. Enterprising individuals brought copies of the English fabric processing machinery to the United States and created similar machines and factories in Lowell, Massachusetts.
 
While patents may protect an invention and make the inventor wealthy, these legal agreements often fail in the long term. Inventors simply produced a similar machine or were able to profit in other ways. The invention of spinning jennies, water frames, and power looms initiated the Industrial Revolution in England. However, the single most important and influential invention in the United States was Eli Whitney's cotton gin. This machine made cotton production profitable, helped kick-start the Industrial Revolution in the United States, and changed the course of American history by reinvigorating slavery and causing it to spread throughout the southern states.
 
To review, see Manufacturing, Railways, and Industry: Early Days, The Transcontinental Railroad and the Pullman Car, and New Transportation Systems.

 

Unit 4 Vocabulary

Be sure you understand these terms as you study for the final exam. Try to think of the reason why each term is included.

  • cotton gin
  • Eli Whitney
  • factory system
  • Luddites
  • mass consumer market
  • patent
  • steam engine
  • steel industry
  • transportation revolution

Unit 5: The Social and Political Impact of Industrialization

5a. Describe how the growth of industry led to increased urbanization in Europe

  • John Merriman discusses how European cities differ from American cities in the way that social classes inhabit those cities. What does he say about this?
  • How did industrialization change the way European cities were structured?
  • How did industrialization and urbanization go hand-in-hand in 19th-century Europe?
  • What role did the labor of women and children play in the Industrial Revolution?

Industrialization in Europe helped intensify the urbanization of European society, as more factories and industrial production moved from the countryside and city periphery into the urban centers. Factory owners preferred this centralization since it promoted social control of the working classes, who may have had more independence if they had lived further from their workplace.
 
During this time, successful working-class entrepreneurs and small businessmen emerged as an expanding urban middle class. These individuals were not part of the traditional aristocracy or the peasant or working classes but created their new middle-class culture.
 
Industrialization also meant many families had to supplement their meager wages by employing women and children. Women were still responsible for running the household: those employed outside the home primarily worked as domestic servants, but some worked in factories, especially if they were unmarried. In addition, children were often needed to supplement the family income as factory workers.
 
To review, see Urbanization and Its Challenges, The Transformation of Cities and the Urban Experience, and 19th-Century Cities.

 

5b. Explore the impact of child labor on the larger society

  • What is child labor?
  • Why was child labor used?
  • How were children employed outside the home?
  • What were some of the political responses to child labor, and why were they made at that time?

At the time of the Industrial Revolution, it was not unusual for children to work outside the home. For example, children would often be apprenticed to artisans to learn a trade – especially in rural areas. With the rise of the factory system, however, some families sent children to work in factories out of necessity to help make ends meet.
 
Some children began working long hours in similar conditions to adults. The harm to them was obvious: many children died or were badly injured or sickened by working in factories. Harming children by exploiting their labor began to be viewed as a significant social problem. In response, governments enacted legislation to protect child laborers. Initially, the legislation limited things such as the length of a child's workday or the ages when children could work. Eventually, child labor laws became much more protective.
 
To review, see The Children That Lived Through the Industrial Revolution, Child Labor during the British Industrial Revolution, and Child Labor.

 

5c. Dissect the evolving role of women in the industrial workforce

  • What were typical roles for working-class women as the Industrial Revolution began, and how did they change over time?
  • What was the significance of the emergence of women's working roles, such as nurses and typewriters, and how did those roles come about?

Toward the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, working-class women labored outside the home as fieldhands, coal miners, and factory workers. They were usually paid significantly less than men, although they did much of the same work. However, with the rise of the middle class, opportunities for women employed outside the home began to change – especially in and around new urbanizing centers. For example, women (particularly married ones) became domestic servants. As technology changed and middle-class women were not always able to find husbands – or be entirely supported by their families – new roles emerged that became acceptable work for women, such as nursing and typewriting.
 
To review, see:

 

5d. Examine the effects of the Industrial Revolution on the political ideologies of the middle and working classes

  • What characteristics distinguished the Victorian middle class from the working class and aristocracy in England?
  • What socioeconomic values did the expanding English middle class hold in the 19th century?
  • How did the passage of the Reform Acts expand political participation and enfranchisement of the English middle class during the 19th century?
  • Describe some of the ideas of the Utopian Socialists. In what way were they a reaction to the industrialization of European society in the 19th century?
  • Define Chartism. What reforms did the Chartists seek to enact? Why did Chartism decline?

Industrialization in England created a new and expanding middle class that developed a unique social identity based on the concept of merit rather than privilege and inheritance. Many began to encourage a new belief in personal and social progress. The emerging middle-class valued principles of competition, thrift, prudence, self-reliance, and personal achievement. They also emphasized personal responsibility, freedom of action, and individual self-reliance as avenues to success. These values were distinct from the social norms of the aristocracy, which were based on privilege, hierarchy, and social class status.
 
In the early 1800s, utopian socialists were a group of philosophers who envisioned creating a futuristic utopian society built on principles of community, socialism, and classlessness. For example, Robert Owen (1771–1858), a wealthy Welsh textile manufacturer, championed the working class, led the development of cooperatives, and supported trade unions, child labor laws, and free co-educational schools. Charles Fourier (1772–1837), a French utopian socialist, advocated for a society based on natural passions to foster social harmony. He supported the emancipation of women and coined the word féminisme in 1837.
 
The Reform Act of 1832 gave English middle-class men the right to vote but disenfranchised members of the working class. Chartism was the English political movement from 1836–1848 that advocated for the rights of the working class. The Second Reform Act of 1867, the 1884 bill, and the 1885 Redistribution Act expanded the right to vote to even more men so that voting became a right rather than the property of the privileged. English women did not obtain the right to vote until 1918.
 
To review, see:

 

5e. Compare primary source documents to explain the ideals and goals of the Revolutions of 1848

  • What were the Revolutions of 1848?
  • Using primary source documents, discuss the ideals, goals, and achievements of the Revolutions of 1848. What did the revolutionaries hope to achieve? Why did they fail?

It is hard to define one particular reason for the Revolutions of 1848 because the outbreak of rebellion was different in each country, and motivations were unique to each. The revolts primarily resulted from a food crisis and famine that began in 1846, coupled with various political aspirations. While some members of the working class participated, the bourgeois or middle classes led rebellions to protest the privileges of the monarchy.
 
The leaders aimed to create republican or constitutional governments with universal male suffrage and limited government. Many of the revolts were liberal rebellions against monarchical governments, which the Congress of Vienna and Klemens von Metternich (1773–1859), the Austrian diplomat, had reimposed after the defeat of Napoleon. Nationalism played a major role, particularly by the German and Italian liberals who sought German and Italian unification.
 
To review, see Documents of the Revolution of 1848 in France.
 

5f. Discuss the causes, spread, and events of the Revolutions of 1848

  • While a single cause or event did not trigger the Revolutions of 1848, the countries where they occurred did share some similarities. What were the motivations for revolution in France, the area that is now Germany, Italy, and the Austrian Empire?
  • What was the Congress of Vienna? What role did economic issues, the French Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution play in the Revolutions of 1848?

The Revolutions of 1848 were a complex series of events unique to each European country that experienced them. At their core, the protesters were inspired by the political ideals of the French Revolution. They protested various issues, such as the price of grain, economic hardship, and harsh working conditions, and petitioned for the right to vote.
 
These revolutionaries opposed the repressive conservatism that pervaded France after the final defeat of Napoleon and the terms of the Congress of Vienna. Their leaders also protested the industrialization of labor and were influenced by the rise of various socialist movements. However, many participants – the working class and newly developed bourgeoisie – had different goals, and they rarely united in their opposition to conservatism and monarchism. Consequently, the revolutions failed.
 
To review, see:

 

5g. Explain why the effects of the Revolutions of 1848 were felt significantly less in Britain

  • Why were there no revolutions in England (and Russia) during this period when other countries were experiencing them?
  • What was the Reform Act of 1832, and what did it do?
  • What was Chartism?
  • What are trade unions, and what role did they serve in Britain during the Revolutions of 1848?

England avoided revolution largely due to a greater sense of political legitimacy among the public. The Reform Act of 1832 had given middle-class men the right to vote. The Chartist movement provided a way for ordinary people to petition their grievances, and trade unions were formed to protect the health and welfare of the working classes. Meanwhile, the Russian monarchy and state could suppress the peasant and working classes who tried to organize against them.
 
To review, see:

 

Unit 5 Vocabulary

Be sure you understand these terms as you study for the final exam. Try to think of the reason why each term is included.

  • Charles Fourier
  • Chartism
  • child labor
  • Congress of Vienna
  • conservatism
  • constitutional government
  • cooperative
  • French Revolution
  • Klemens von Metternich
  • nationalism
  • Revolutions of 1848
  • Robert Owen
  • social control
  • suffrage
  • trade union
  • unification
  • utopian socialists
  • work for women

Unit 6: Mass Production, the Labor Movement, and the Consumer Society

6a. Analyze major changes to the way companies organized and managed themselves

  • What did Henry Ford contribute to the manufacturing process? What were some criticisms of his production system?
  • What were Frederick Taylor's ideas on time management? How were these principles applied to the manufacturing process in the early 1900s?
  • What are social Darwinism and scientific management?
  • What are trusts, cartels, and monopolies?
  • How did corporations reorganize and restructure their manufacturing processes during the Second Industrial Revolution?
  • What beliefs did Andrew Carnegie espouse about wealth in his book, The Gospel of Wealth?

A second Industrial Revolution occurred during the late 1800s to early 1900s with the rise of the modern corporation. Powerful business leaders created large companies that focused on manufacturing products such as automobiles, steel production, oil, railroads, and telegraph (later telephone) communications. Electrification of factories allowed manufacturers to introduce new machinery to the production process to improve productivity.
 
In 1901, Henry Ford, the American industrialist and business magnate, founded what would become the Ford Motor Company and further developed the assembly line technique of mass production. The company introduced the Model T in 1908, a car that was affordable, easy to drive, and easy to repair. Ford's huge marketing and publicity machine ensured every newspaper carried stories and ads about the car, and a network of local dealers made it ubiquitous in almost every city in North America.
 
The concept of social Darwinism referred to the belief that the most productive and efficient industries would survive and prosper while those that were less competitive would fail. Some industrial manufacturers studied principles of scientific management, where managers aimed to eliminate the unnecessary motions by workers that slowed the production process. While some admired this examination of workplace efficiencies, others complained they reduced workers to mere robots.
 
Large corporations frequently created trusts, cartels, and monopolies to increase their profits by driving their competitors out of business. This led to new government legislation that attempted to curtail these unfair practices. Meanwhile, workers were reduced to working on endless assembly and production lines, where they repeated the same monotonous tasks all day long.
 
Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919), the Scottish-born American businessman, argued in his book, The Gospel of Wealth, that the life of a wealthy industrialist should include two parts: first gathering and accumulating great wealth and then distributing it to benevolent causes. Carnegie wrote that a "man who dies rich dies disgraced". True to his word, Carnegie built libraries, provided pensions for university professors, and funded music halls, outdoor swimming pools, and church organs. He also created endowments to promote teaching and world peace.
 
To review, see:

 

6b. Explain how inventions affected the growth of such things as oligopolies, cartels, and monopolies

  • What are oligopolies?
  • What are collusion and competition?
  • What is the difference between a natural monopoly and a legal monopoly?
  • What is a patent, and how are they issued?
  • What is a barrier to entry, and why do they exist? Can they be overcome?

As technology became more widely available and demand for improved communications and transportation grew, new inventions proliferated. To mass-produce those inventions (and the infrastructure to support them, in the case of the telephone, for example), massive amounts of capital were needed. Patents arose as various ways to protect the investments made by large companies and corporations.
 
To review, see:

 

6c. Discuss the development of organized labor

  • What is organized labor?
  • How did organized labor begin, and what drove it?

Toward the end of the 19th century, while some members of the American working class had significantly better lives than they had only a few decades before, due to decreases in prices and the cost of living, working conditions in factories remained threatening to basic health and safety. Workers whose living and working conditions were much worse than those of the wealthy factory owners began to organize into groups to try to change their working conditions.
 
To review, see Life in Industrial America, Capital and Labor, and Building Industrial America on the Backs of Labor.

 

6d. Compare organized labor's conflicts with capitalists in the United States, Europe, and Asia

  • What are capitalists?
  • How would you outline the formation of the following unions in American labor history: the Knights of Labor, the American Federation of Labor (AFL), and the International Workers of the World?
  • How were they similar? How did they differ? Which was most successful in the long run?
  • What were the main sources of worker unrest during the Second Industrial Revolution?
  • What are some examples of major strikes in American, European, and Asian labor history?

As the leaders of modern corporations and industrial capitalists were reshaping the world, workers were at a great disadvantage because they could not improve their pay and working conditions. Leaders of the unionization movement began fighting for workers' rights, but the struggle continued for decades until they forced government intervention to prevent abuses. Workers frequently used violence to achieve basic rights that included reduced work hours, increased pay, and enforced safety regulations to protect their health and livelihood.
 
In the United States, Eugene Debs (1855–1926), an American labor and political leader, helped found the International Labor Union and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). He was influenced by Karl Marx and supported the struggle for fair pay and better working conditions. He believed basic rights were often linked to social class, an unpopular belief in the United States where many claimed class did not exist. Samuel Gompers (1850–1924), who held similar views, founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL), which he led for all but one year from 1886 until he died in 1924.
 
Review the beliefs of political activists such as Karl Marx from Unit 1, who criticized the exploitative nature of industrial capitalism. Marx encouraged the proletariat to rise up in revolt against the bourgeoisie to promote better living and working conditions. This sentiment provided the philosophical basis that fueled worker and peasant rebellions and the communist revolutions in Russia in 2017 and China in 1949.
 
To review, see:

 

6e. Examine changes in agriculture caused by industrialization

  • How were industrial techniques and processes applied to agriculture from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s?
  • What was the Green Revolution?
  • How did the application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides affect food production in the United States and globally? What were and are some of the negative effects of industrial farming on the environment?

Industrialization not only changed the way we work, but it also changed the way we produce food and what and how we eat. The introduction of large-scale mechanized farming and chemical fertilizers, improved seed strains, and pesticides has produced an abundance of food during the past century. These new farming methods were recently termed the Green Revolution.
 
Starvation has been eradicated in many parts of the world, but many argue we are paying for this progress in terms of environmental degradation, public health, and sustainability.
 
To review, see Industrial Agriculture, More on Industrial Agriculture, and Modern Agriculture Effects.

 

6f. Describe methods of mass communication and advertising in the late 19th and early 20th century United States

  • What is mass communication?
  • What techniques did newspapers and the advertising industry use to appeal to the newly developed mass consumer culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries?

Beginning in the late 1800s, a mass media culture developed in the United States with a new middle class and growing working class. As with the production of Henry Ford's Model T, this new mass media culture appealed to the new consumerism that accompanied these mass marketing appeals. The sensationalism of news events and compelling product endorsements, which meant to solve a problem or address a concern, also increased sales within the newspaper industry.
 
To review, see:

 

Unit 6 Vocabulary

Be sure you understand these terms as you study for the final exam. Try to think of the reason why each term is included.

  • American Federation of Labor (AFL)
  • Andrew Carnegie
  • assembly line
  • cartel
  • consumerism
  • corporation
  • electrification
  • Eugene Debs
  • Green Revolution
  • Henry Ford
  • Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
  • International Labor Union
  • mass marketing
  • mass media
  • mass production
  • monopoly
  • Samuel Gompers
  • scientific management
  • second Industrial Revolution
  • social Darwinism
  • trust

Unit 7: Economic Crisis and War in the 20th Century

7a. Discuss how industrialization promoted imperialism

  • What is imperialism?
  • How did industrialization promote imperialism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries?

As industrialized European countries' economies developed, their growth began to slow. They needed to expand their products into new markets to continue to grow. At the same time, these powers required more natural resources to increase production. Imperialism both created new markets and reached new territories to exploit the natural resources there.
 
To review, see:

 

7b. Interpret the effect of industrialization on warfare to contextualize World War I as an industrial war

  • What is the industrialization of warfare?
  • Lenin argued that imperialism was the final outcome of capitalism. Was he right? Why or why not? How can we apply his theory to World War I?
  • What new military weapons were introduced in World War I?
  • How did the participants in World War I apply industrial technology and production to warfare? Why did these new applications result in horrific mass casualties?
  • How did military leaders fail to understand how new military technologies had made their strategies and tactics obsolete?

Several factors helped catapult Europe into World War I, although Gavrilo Princip's assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 provided the initial spark. Competition among the European powers for colonies was a primary cause, such as disagreements that erupted over Morocco and the Congo among Germany, France, and Britain.
 
Russia's Vladimir Lenin described imperialism as the last stage of capitalist development. The colonies had become a valuable source of natural resources and a market to sell finished consumer products. Combined with militarism, ethnic discontent, and a complex web of military alliances, the European leaders had created a tense atmosphere that resulted in the outbreak of war in 1914.
 
Military leaders at the time tragically failed to realize the technological changes that had occurred during the Industrial Revolution. The mechanization of warfare and mass production of new weaponry created a military stalemate where millions of soldiers and civilians were killed and maimed. The industrialization of warfare had rendered traditional military strategies and tactics obsolete and useless. The generals refused to understand this and led what was supposed to be a quick and relatively bloodless conflict into one of the bloodiest events in human history.
 
To review, see:

 

7c. Identify the main events of the Great Depression

  • What was the Great Depression?
  • What were some of the main causes of the Great Depression?
  • How did the Great Depression shake confidence in unfettered laissez-faire capitalism?

In the United States, the Great Depression (1929–1933) was an unintended consequence of the booming economy that followed World War I: the so-called "Roaring 20s". The postwar prosperity, and the social changes that came with it, made Americans believe the economy would continue to grow and expand forever; laissez-faire capitalism and the economic ideas of Adam Smith were the new norms. Speculation in the stock market, buying and selling stocks on margin, the proliferation of debt, and a lack of government regulation created the perfect conditions for an economic collapse.
 
When the stock market crashed in 1929, the Hoover administration relied on outdated economic ideas that suggested it should keep government involvement to a minimum. As the economy spiraled downward, President Herbert Hoover could not restore confidence in the economy or the government's ability to stabilize it.
 
To review, see Agricultural Depression 1920–1934, Great Depression: Turning Point and Recovery, and The Great Depression.

 

7d. Describe the methods governments used to recover from the Great Depression

  • What were the basic premises of Keynesian economics? How did President Roosevelt apply its principles to the U.S. economy after his election in 1932?
  • What measures did Roosevelt take to stabilize the U.S. economy and stimulate a recovery?

After his election in 1932, President Franklin D. Roosevelt took an active role in restoring economic confidence. Roosevelt increased government spending in accordance with his belief in Keynesian economics. John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946), the British economist, believed the government should pump money into the economy to stimulate activity, promote business growth, and pay off the deficit once prosperity returned. From 1933–1939, Roosevelt and Congress worked to jumpstart the economy by enacting the New Deal, a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations.
 
Roosevelt created new agencies and programs to bring about recovery and imposed new regulations on the stock market, banks, and businesses. These policies were beginning to have a positive impact, but the outbreak of World War II, and mobilization for war, created the most dramatic economic improvement. U.S. industries profited enormously from increased sales to Britain, other Allied forces, and the U.S. government when it entered the war in 1941. As a result, the United States emerged from World War II in 1945 as an economic and military superpower.
 
To review, see Great Depression: Turning Point and Recovery and The Great Depression.

 

7e. Explain how the Marshall Plan shaped global politics and economics

  • What was the Marshall Plan?
  • What were the main aims of the Marshall Plan? How was it developed, and what were its outcomes?

In 1948, the U.S. Congress enacted the Marshall Plan, which would provide more than $15 billion to European countries that needed help to rebuild. The fund provided food relief and aid for the physical reconstruction of war-torn Europe. The Russians and Soviet Bloc countries did not participate.
 
To review, see:

 

7f. Analyze the importance of the Bretton Woods Conference to the restructuring of the world economy on U.S. terms

  • What was the Bretton Woods Conference?
  • What were the purpose and outcomes of the Bretton Woods Conference? What organization did the conference create to assist with postwar economic recovery?

At the end of World War II in 1945, the Allied powers resolved to avoid repeating the mistakes they had made after World War I. Participants at the Bretton Woods Conference (1944) began establishing a new global financial system that would create a new foreign exchange system, prevent competitive devaluations of currencies, and promote international economic growth.
 
They created the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help countries rebuild and develop local economies that had been decimated during the war.
 
To review, see The Affluent Society, George Marshall's Speech, and The Marshall Plan and Molotov Plan.

 

7g. Critique the impact of the Bretton Woods institutions on global industrial development

  • What was the intent of the Bretton Woods conference and the institutions it created?
  • Have the Bretton Woods institutions been effective with regard to global industrial development?
  • What are the most common critiques of the Bretton Woods institutions?

The intent of the Bretton Woods institutions was to help developing countries industrialize and build their economies. The thinking behind this was that "a rising tide lifts all boats" or that a successful global economy would improve the economies and quality of life in developing countries as well.
 
Common critiques of the IMF and World Bank are that their economic policies represent a wealthy Western worldview and economic assumptions, which may not always be appropriate and may lead to unfair practices; voting is skewed because it is based on shares held by a given country instead of a more egalitarian system (like, for example, the United Nations); and that the projects they fund can raise ethical questions around things like indigenous rights.
 
To review, see:

 

Unit 7 Vocabulary

Be sure you understand these terms as you study for the final exam. Try to think of the reason why each term is included.

  • Bretton Woods Conference
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt
  • Franz Ferdinand
  • Gavrilo Princip
  • Great Depression
  • Hoover administration
  • imperialism
  • International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
  • International Monetary Fund (IMF)
  • John Maynard Keynes
  • Marshall Plan
  • mechanization of warfare
  • New Deal
  • regulations
  • Vladimir Lenin
  • World Bank
  • World War I
  • World War II

Unit 8: Alternative Models of Industrialization

8a. Describe different industrialization efforts in the early days of the Soviet Union

  • What was war communism?
  • Why did Lenin replace it with his New Economic Policy, NEP?
  • What did Lenin mean by the "Commanding Heights" of the Soviet economy?
  • Why did Stalin end the NEP? What did he replace it with?

The Russian Revolution of 1917 offers an example of alternative forms of industrialization. After he had helped create the Soviet state in Russia, Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) introduced a state-controlled economy that was characterized by the expropriation of private businesses, the nationalization of industry, and the forced state requisition of surplus grain and other food products.
 
These policies led to food shortages, a decline in agricultural and industrial production, and civil unrest, which convinced Lenin to introduce his New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1921. The NEP meant a temporary retreat from the doctrinaire centralization of the economy and the reintroduction of capitalism to the economy. While the government retained control of the Commanding Heights of the economy (banking, foreign trade, and large industries), it fostered a mixed economy that allowed private ownership of small businesses and enterprises. The NEP continued until 1928, after Lenin's death in 1924.
 
After his rise to power, Joseph Stalin (1878–1953) abandoned the NEP in 1928 when he introduced his first Five Year Plan to dramatically increase Soviet industrial production and force the collectivization of agriculture. While his industrial goals were unrealistic, Stalin managed to dramatically increase industrialization in the new Soviet Union. However, when he forced the collectivization of agriculture, millions of farmers and agricultural workers starved to death when they were left with too little of their crop to live. Agricultural collectivization was a failure for the Soviet state.
 
To review, see:

 

8b. Discuss the effects of the Great Leap Forward on China's industrial development

  • What was the Great Leap Forward?
  • What were the objectives of the Great Leap Forward? Why was it a failure? What were its results?

The Chinese Revolution of 1949 introduced a second alternative form of industrialization and a state-controlled economy. After the Communist takeover, its new leader Mao Zedong nationalized most, but not all, of China's industries. The government embarked on an extensive land reform program that redistributed land from more prosperous farmers and landlords to peasants who had little or no land.
 
From 1953–1957, China embarked upon its own five-year plan, which was quite successful. However, in 1958 Mao Zedong decided to change course and speed up economic and industrial development through his Second Five-Year Plan, the so-called Great Leap Forward. Forced collectivization and industrialization, and attempts such as backyard iron furnaces, led to a dramatic agricultural failure and the deaths of an estimated 45 million people.
 
To review, see:

 

8c. Evaluate the Meiji Restoration's relationship to Japanese industrialization

  • What was the Meiji Restoration? Why was it so significant? How did it affect Japan's industrialization efforts?
  • What was the Edo Period? How was it characterized in the context of the history of Japan?
  • Who was Commodore Mathew Perry?

The Edo Period, sometimes referred to as The Seclusion of Japan, was a particularly isolationist era in Japan. It drew to a close as political power was transferred from the shogunate to the Emperor and as the previously isolationist policies subsided, which. Additionally, Commodore Perry visited Japan, opening trade relations with the West. This shift in political power and the end of seclusion characterize the Meiji Restoration.
 
To review, see:

 

8d. Compare communist and capitalist industrialization

  • What are some earmarks of communist industrialization? Of capitalist industrialization?
  • How did Soviet and Chinese Communist industrialization differ from industrial development in capitalist countries, such as Britain and the United States? How were they similar?

While the Soviet and Chinese communist models of industrialization were characterized by centralized planning, nationalization of industry, state-mandated agriculture collectivization, and a nationalized push toward lofty goals put forth by leadership, industrialization in Britain was underpinned by an agricultural revolution and multiple favorable conditions, such as coal and water power – with no real centralized plan. Industrialization in the United States was also driven by favorable preconditions, such as natural resources and the knowledge derived from Europe's industrial revolution. Capitalist industrialization was decentralized, with private industry and a great deal of class emergence and conflict.
 
To review, see:

 

8e. Explain the different outcomes of industrialization in China and Japan

  • Western imperialism affected China and Japan during the 19th century in different ways. What were the differences between how each responded to Western economic imperialism?
  • What obstacles to economic development affected China in the 19th century that did not affect England or Japan?

Many believed that China and East Asia failed to industrialize in the 19th century because they were socioeconomically inferior to the West and to England in particular. However, new research indicates that China had the resources to undergo an industrial revolution but failed to modernize due to Western imperialism and colonialism, not economics. Japan, on the other hand, responded to the threat of Western imperialism by undergoing its own industrial revolution. By 1900, Japan had met or exceeded the West in this regard.
 
To review, see:

 

8f. Assess the effects of British rule on India's development and industrialization

  • What effect did British colonial rule have on India from a political, economic, and social standpoint? Did life change significantly for the average Indian? What about the elites?
  • How did British rule in India help or hinder Indian economic and political development? How might it have provided a foundation for Indian national unity in the Post-Colonial period?
  • How did India's mixed economy exemplify positive and negative aspects of central economic planning? Why did central planning ultimately hinder economic development?
  • Define import substitution industrialization. How was it applied in Latin America and Africa? What were its successes and failures?

While post-revolutionary Russia and China fostered economic development and created a state-controlled economy based on central planning and five-year plans, India pursued an economic Third Way, which favored a mixed economy. When it gained political independence from Britain in 1945, the state took control of major industries but encouraged small businesses and enterprises to operate within a typical capitalist framework. The Indian government also retained the foundation of parliamentary democracy, which it had inherited from British colonial rule.
 
Many developing countries in Africa and around the world copied India's mixed economic model. While some argue that their centralized planning helped develop basic industries and foster economic development, others believe it may have delayed greater growth and the bureaucratization of the economy.
 
For example, India and Latin America experienced mixed results when they promoted import substitution industrialization to promote domestic production. Domestic industries were established, but production levels and product quality suffered due to a lack of foreign competition. Nevertheless, the state-sponsored support system provided an economic foundation that allowed businesses to eventually integrate into the global economy. This support likely helped cultivate the robust economic growth many of these countries are experiencing today.
 
To review, see Colonial Rule and Its Effects on India's Rural Economy, The Political Development of the Modern Indian State, and Infrastructure and Railroads.

 

Unit 8 Vocabulary

Be sure you understand these terms as you study for the final exam. Try to think of the reason why each term is included.

  • Chinese Revolution
  • collectivization
  • Edo Period
  • Five Year Plan
  • Great Leap Forward
  • Joseph Stalin
  • land reform
  • Mao Zedong
  • Meiji Restoration
  • mixed economy
  • New Economic Policy (NEP)
  • Russian Revolution
  • Third Way