Industrial+Revolution+Themes

**To what extent did the Industrial Revolution revolutionize European society?**

 * **Economics**
 * **Political power**
 * **National**
 * **International**
 * **Social Classes**
 * **Gender Roles**
 * **Urbanization**

**What are the various stages of the Industrial Revolution?**

 * **Why did it start in England?**
 * **England had various factors contributed to starting the Revolution:**
 * **Strong government: The government was stable inspiring investors to make more risky investments. The government has the power to take away land or make unreasonable tariffs. The government also had a central banking system so that people can trust that their money will be good tomorrow. Making large investments in building factories is costly and a stable government makes taking these risks less dangerous.**
 * **Experienced Business Class: Resources sold from the colonies created a foundation on which people could buy and sell goods. The Experienced Business Class initiated the market system.**
 * **Established Markets: The markets were forced to establish themselves because landless serfs (due to enclosure) had to make money to buy food, instead of just growing their own food like previously in feudalism.**
 * **Transportation: Waterways (such as canals) and steam power eventually worked to create a larger more interconnected market system.**
 * **Agricultural Revolution: The Agricultural Revolution caused many serfs to lose their land due to enclosure. Landless serfs sought employment elsewhere in order to survive. Many moved to cities that were becoming industrialized by factories. This created the large labor supply needed to fuel an industrial revolution.**


 * **How did the Revolution develop and spread?**
 * **The Revolution developed partly because of the cotton industry. The cotton industry was the first English industry to begin the development and spread of the industrial revolution. Cotton provided a huge profit because there was a high demand for it since everyone wears cotton, and because the raw materials are cheap and easy to access due to the colonies. The wealthy class benefited so greatly from the cotton industry that their profits that they had more money than they could possibly reinvest. This money was used for the building of costly railroads which required a large upfront payment, unlike cotton. Railroads created a more interconnected economy and lowered costs of transporting goods. Since it costs less to transport goods and made them more available, the economy flourished, causing the industrial revolution to "take-off."**
 * **Why did it look different in different parts of Europe?**
 * **It looked different in different parts of Europe because for places, such as Germany, there was a decentralized government. These decentralized governments made investors less likely to invest in factories because it was more risky, and they were more likely to lose money. Friedrich List wanted to fix this problem with his economic nationalism. This entailed abolishing internal taxes via the Zollverien (a German Customs Union) and putting tariffs on external goods in order to make people want to buy things domestically. An increase in domestically bought goods would help to improve Germany's economy and centralize it. Also, an increase in domestically bought goods would give capitalists more money to reinvest. Decentralization was the main problem in other places in Europe that inhibited it from "taking-off" like England.**