How does industrialization change the lives of people in Europe?

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By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Table of Contents

How does industrialization change the lives of people in Europe?

Industrial Revolution: spinning room

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Date:1733 - 1913...(Show more)Context:organized labour...(Show more)Key People:Anthony F.C. Wallace...(Show more)

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Top Questions

Where and when did the Industrial Revolution take place?

Historians conventionally divide the Industrial Revolution into two approximately consecutive parts. What is called the first Industrial Revolution lasted from the mid-18th century to about 1830 and was mostly confined to Britain. The second Industrial Revolution lasted from the mid-19th century until the early 20th century and took place in Britain, continental Europe, North America, and Japan. Later in the 20th century, the second Industrial Revolution spread to other parts of the world.

Read more below: The first Industrial Revolution

history of Europe: The Industrial Revolution

Read more about the Industrial Revolution in the History of Europe article.

How did the Industrial Revolution change economies?

The Industrial Revolution transformed economies that had been based on agriculture and handicrafts into economies based on large-scale industry, mechanized manufacturing, and the factory system. New machines, new power sources, and new ways of organizing work made existing industries more productive and efficient. New industries also arose, including, in the late 19th century, the automobile industry.  

The Rise of the Machines: Pros and Cons of the Industrial Revolution

Read more about the effects of the Industrial Revolution.

How did the Industrial Revolution change society?

The Industrial Revolution increased the overall amount of wealth and distributed it more widely than had been the case in earlier centuries, helping to enlarge the middle class. However, the replacement of the domestic system of industrial production, in which independent craftspersons worked in or near their homes, with the factory system and mass production consigned large numbers of people, including women and children, to long hours of tedious and often dangerous work at subsistence wages. Their miserable conditions gave rise to the trade union movement in the mid-19th century.

trade union

Learn more about trade unions.

What were some important inventions of the Industrial Revolution?

Important inventions of the Industrial Revolution included the steam engine, used to power steam locomotives, steamboats, steamships, and machines in factories; electric generators and electric motors; the incandescent lamp (light bulb); the telegraph and telephone; and the internal-combustion engine and automobile, whose mass production was perfected by Henry Ford in the early 20th century.

Read more below:

Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution

Discover some important inventors and inventions of the Industrial Revolution.

Who were some important inventors of the Industrial Revolution?

Important inventors of the Industrial Revolution included James Watt, who greatly improved the steam engine; Richard Trevithick and George Stephenson, who pioneered the steam locomotive; Robert Fulton, who designed the first commercially successful paddle steamer; Michael Faraday, who demonstrated the first electric generator and electric motor; Joseph Wilson Swan and Thomas Alva Edison, who each independently invented the light bulb; Samuel Morse, who designed a system of electric telegraphy and invented Morse Code; Alexander Graham Bell, who is credited with inventing the telephone; and Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz, who constructed the first motorcycle and motorcar, respectively, powered by high-speed internal-combustion engines of their own design.

Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution

Discover some important inventors and inventions of the Industrial Revolution.

history of technology

Read more about the history of technology.

Industrial Revolution, in modern history, the process of change from an agrarian and handicraft economy to one dominated by industry and machine manufacturing. These technological changes introduced novel ways of working and living and fundamentally transformed society. This process began in Britain in the 18th century and from there spread to other parts of the world. Although used earlier by French writers, the term Industrial Revolution was first popularized by the English economic historian Arnold Toynbee (1852–83) to describe Britain’s economic development from 1760 to 1840. Since Toynbee’s time the term has been more broadly applied as a process of economic transformation than as a period of time in a particular setting. This explains why some areas, such as China and India, did not begin their first industrial revolutions until the 20th century, while others, such as the United States and western Europe, began undergoing “second” industrial revolutions by the late 19th century.

A brief treatment of the Industrial Revolution follows. For full treatment of the Industrial Revolution as it occurred in Europe, see .

Characteristics of the Industrial Revolution

How does industrialization change the lives of people in Europe?

Find out how the Industrial Revolution changed the world

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The main features involved in the Industrial Revolution were technological, socioeconomic, and cultural. The technological changes included the following: (1) the use of new basic materials, chiefly iron and steel, (2) the use of new energy sources, including both fuels and motive power, such as coal, the steam engine, electricity, petroleum, and the internal-combustion engine, (3) the invention of new machines, such as the spinning jenny and the power loom that permitted increased production with a smaller expenditure of human energy, (4) a new organization of work known as the factory system, which entailed increased division of labour and specialization of function, (5) important developments in transportation and communication, including the steam locomotive, steamship, automobile, airplane, telegraph, and radio, and (6) the increasing application of science to industry. These technological changes made possible a tremendously increased use of natural resources and the mass production of manufactured goods.

There were also many new developments in nonindustrial spheres, including the following: (1) agricultural improvements that made possible the provision of food for a larger nonagricultural population, (2) economic changes that resulted in a wider distribution of wealth, the decline of land as a source of wealth in the face of rising industrial production, and increased international trade, (3) political changes reflecting the shift in economic power, as well as new state policies corresponding to the needs of an industrialized society, (4) sweeping social changes, including the growth of cities, the development of working-class movements, and the emergence of new patterns of authority, and (5) cultural transformations of a broad order. Workers acquired new and distinctive skills, and their relation to their tasks shifted; instead of being craftsmen working with hand tools, they became machine operators, subject to factory discipline. Finally, there was a psychological change: confidence in the ability to use resources and to master nature was heightened.

How does the industrialization change the life of people in Europe?

Due to industrial revolution, new cities were set up. The became the centres of commerce, business and industries. The rural region people rushed to the urban sectors. as a result, population of urban areas increased tremendously.

How does industrialization change the lives of the people?

Industrialization, along with great strides in transportation, drove the growth of U.S. cities and a rapidly expanding market economy. It also shaped the development of a large working class in U.S. society, leading eventually to labor struggles and strikes led by working men and women.

How did industrialization impact Europe?

The Industrial Revolution brought about sweeping changes in economic and social organization. These changes included a wider distribution of wealth and increased international trade. Managerial hierarchies also developed to oversee the division of labor.

How did industrialization change the lives of people class 9?

(i) Industrialisation brought men, women and children to factories. (ii) Work hours were often long and wages were poor. (iii) Housing and sanitation problems were growing rapidly. (iv) Almost all industries were properties of individuals.