GRADE 10: Transformations in Europe

In the late 18th century, a different kind of revolution from the one in France began in Europe. It was not to overthrow the existing political and social order and was more gradual than political revolution. But it was no less radical. In fact, results were sometimes more immediate and often much more lasting. This was an economic revolution known as the Industrial Revolution. It began in Britain, spread to mainland Europe and essentially changed the way Europe and the rest of the world looked.

Before the Industrial Revolution, wealth and economic power were held in the hands of the feudal or landed aristocracy. Society was split into three classes of the clergy (first class or estate), aristocracy (second estate) and the rest (third estate), which made up the largest percentage of the population. The third estate held fewest rights and privileges. The political and economic system was feudalism and manorialism. This meant that peasants and serfs lived and worked on the manor of a nobleman, who in turn got his land from a more important aristocrat or the king himself. On these manors, the aristocrats lived in wealth, hunted and fished (which the third estate was not allowed to do) and forced the third estate to do whatever they required of them. The serfs had to work the land, in small home industries or in the manorial house, and do manual chores like collecting firewood. In return they could live in the village on the manor, but had to pay tax and also pay for the use of their lord’s mills and other equipment, even if the lord never used it himself. Sometimes, the lord of the manor could even decide which of his serfs could marry and whom. They were like slaves, and were not allowed to leave their lord’s manor without his permission.

Peasants working on a farmstead or manor.
(Source: www.millikin.edu/history/ 201/photo3.htm)l

Since the 11th century, a big revival in Mediterranean trade had led to the rise of towns in Europe. Industries also developed in these towns, and more and more people came from rural areas to work in these industries. Peasants and serfs hoped for an improvement in their lives working for the nobles. Law dictated that if a serf escaped from the lord’s manor and was not found after a year, the serf became free. In the towns life did not turn out much better. The serfs became the urban poor or working class, the uneducated masses without rights and privileges. The rise of towns also saw the development of a new class, the urban middle class or bourgeoisie. This group came from the third estate and grew rich through money lending and trade. The middle class increased mainly consisting of traders, businessmen, educated professionals like lawyers and clerks and artisans. In time this class became wealthy and influential, some far richer than the aristocracy. The process of urbanisation and the transfer of wealth from the feudal aristocracy to the middle classes were relatively slow. Things only changed significantly with the Industrial Revolution when machines were built.

Before industrialisation, people would make products by hand or simple machines. With industrialisation and mechanisation these processes were made easier and faster by more sophisticated machines. For example cotton was turned into thread by hand or by a simple spinning wheel. During the Industrial Revolution in Britain, complex machines were invented to make this process of spinning much faster. James Hargreaves’s spinning jenny (1768), powered by humans, made it possible to work with more than one spindle at once. A few years later, Richard Arkwright’s water frame spinning machine was invented. It was powered by water or by animals. It was followed in 1779 by Samuel Compton’s spinning mule, which was at first worked by humans and later by animals and water energy. These machines were so effective that they created a bottleneck in the weaving process. Cotton thread was produced so quickly that weavers could not keep up to turn the thread into cloth. This in turn led to the invention of new machines to make the weaving process faster and more efficient.

Hargreaves’s Spinning Jenny, which made the processing of cotton into cloth faster and easier.
(Source: M. Perry, Western civilization. A brief history (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997), p.348.)

Cotton production was only one industry affected by the Revolution. The iron and transport industries also developed. The steam engine was invented in the 1760s. Iron and steel were used to make these strong machines. All this made improved and speedier transport necessary and possible. In 1830 the first railway line was built in England. Steam ships were also faster than sailboats and could carry much more cargo.

Children working in an urban industry during 19th century Britain.
(Source: http://ecole.wanadoo.fr/college.saintebarbe/victoria/children.htm)

The Industrial Revolution of Britain was slower to take off in mainland Europe. One of the main reasons for this was the political turmoil that Europe experienced in the first half of the 19th century. In Germany, industrialisation was especially slow because of the division of Germany into a federation of 39 states. Industries that did exist were very small and it was only towards 1840, when Britain’s industries were already far developed, that coalfields and steam power became used in Germany. After the unification of Germany in 1871, industrialisation sped up. The railroad system that ran through the former German territories was centralised and the government encouraged industrial development. France was also slow to industrialise. At first the French rulers did not invite initiative and industrial progress. It was only when Louis Philippe came to the throne in 1830 that industries were encouraged and developed. Napoleon III who followed him in 1848 made further efforts to speed up France’s industrialisation.

Industrialisation shifted the focus from the countryside to the urban areas. Wealth increasingly fell into the hands of the bourgeoisie. Feudalism and manorialism were eventually replaced by the system of capitalism, so that the power shifted from the feudal lords toward the capitalists or middle class. In Britain, industrialisation led to political reforms and a shift in the political power base. On mainland Europe, political reforms, like support for industrialisation, did not come as easily. All over the continent the third estate had to fight for political freedom often without reward for their efforts. Nonetheless, by the end of the 19th century industrialisation had sped up and rulers could not ignore the demands of the growing urban working and middle classes.

Learning Outcome: Learners are able to understand key concepts relating to the transformation of Europe to industrialised society.

Activity 3

Explain the following concepts:

GRADE LEVEL	THEME	TOPIC	DURATION
10	WORLD HISTORY	TRANSFORMATIONS IN EUROPE – THE AGE OF REVOLUTIONS	x LESSONS