A comparison/contrast of the industrialisation in Germany and Great Britain 1800-1914.

in #history • 7 years ago (edited)

Table of contents - Historical Investigation.
Frontpage. P.1
Table of contents. P.2
Introduction. P.3
Investigation. P.4-8
Social consequences of Great Britain. P.9
Conclusion. P.10
Bibliography. P.11

Introduction
The Industrial Revolution refers to a period from the 18th century and forward, where countries in Western Europe went through a revolution from an agricultural to an industrial empire. This investigation will be focused on the comparisons and contrasts between Germany and Britain during The Industrial Revolution and the social changes and consequences of industrialisation in Britain. The causes of the Industrial Revolutions are many, and there is not one specific reason, why the industrialisation started, however there are some major factors. This investigation will try to pinpoint why it happened. The investigation will be comparing and contrasting, the reasons the British industrialisation happened, a century before the second industrialisation began in Germany, with help from a primary source. This source is a table consisting of evidence of the world’s manufacturing production in percents, which will be supported and explained by secondary sources.

Investigation
The British Industrialisation began in the late 1700’s with the enclosure movement, that caused private farms to be taken over by landowners. The landowners believed that it would maximize the crop production, which Parliament supported. Along with the wealth the British middle class and aristocracy had gained from the enclosure movement and slave trade, Britain was also a country, which had large amounts of natural resources such as coal and iron.
Unlike other countries like France which still battled with The French Revolution and its consequences, Britain was politically stable. In 1688 Britain went through a revolution, that made the economy stable and the country relatively peaceful. “This political event moreover supposedly contributed to create a business environment conducive to entrepreneurship, especially by consolidating the parliamentary monarchy, limiting the power of the King and the action of the government, as well as reinforcing the property rights and contracting institutions.” From Van Neuss's article it can be concluded that due to the parliamentary government and the property rights, the middle class gained more power and were able to start businesses and invent new machinery.

Wealth also contributed to the industrialisation. The new stability that was established by the revolution in 1688 made the country more balanced, and it made it safer to start up businesses with the weakened power of the king. "The reason that Britain is richer than Egypt is because, in 1688, Britain (or England to be exact) had a revolution that transformed the politics and thus the economics of the nation”
Therefore the businesses were doing better than ever, and entrepreneurs began to make profits.
Revolution as an outgrowth of social and institutional changes, brought by the end of feudalism in Britain after the English Civil War in the seventeenth century, and because of that, as a nation border, it became more effective, thus the spread of diseases were lessened and it had affected the percentage of children compared with the percentage before the revolution, which increased the population. Therefore Britain’s labor force was largely increased and made it easier for factories to hire workers.

In contrast to Britain, Germany did not begin their industrialisation until 1870. One of the reasons why, was because Germany was divided into states, which made the economy unstable. They were caught up in a so-called "power struggle" especially between Prussia and Austria.
In 1871 the chancellor of Germany, Otto von Bismarck, managed to win the third war in order to bring the divided states together to finally become the united Germany. A now united country was one of the main reasons, why industrialisation happened in Germany, it meant that goods, natural resources could be distributed among all of Germany faster than before. Business thrived because of the unification. A unified country meant that it was coordinated in its actions, and therefore was less vulnerable to political, social and military attacks which lowered costs and risks associated with owning a business. The New German Confederation imposed laws driving up the costs of foreign goods and also allowed cartels to be formed, which allowed the businesses to drive the price of a certain item up.
The businesses were thriving, and so was Germany, who accumulated a lot of money from tariffs imposed on foreign items, which allowed her to put money back into the economy and to introduce social welfares such as Health Insurance, Accident Insurance and Old Age Pension.
This along with Improved education improved the political stability in Germany.

Railways also played a great part, in why industrialisation happened. Germany was a slow starter in the "Railway race" but quickly caught up. Railways quickly developed all of Germany, allowing different areas to communicate and transport goods faster than ever before. It also meant that Germany became the centre of activity for many European businesses, and Germany was able to trade with more countries since Germany had some geographical challenges that did not allow her to ship directly south, and therefore had to ship through different countries. This problem was caused by all the main rivers flowing North, away from the majority of trading partners. Germany also benefitted greatly from the settlement made with France which awarded Germany with five billion Francs as result of the Seven Weeks War with France. The settlement also included the French territories of Alsace and Lorraine, these were rich in minerals and soil and so was a great thing for the german economy.

Germany experienced a rapid growth and quickly caught up with Britain. Railroads emerged and quickly connected all parts of Germany, allowing her to transport and distribute goods, people and natural resources. Germany became the center of European trade, Germany overcame geographical challenges that did not allow Germany to ship directly to the majority of its trading partners. This was because all of Germany's main rivers flowed North.
Britain also focused on infrastructure, that would allow faster transportation of goods, natural resources and people, Britain had a clear advantage since many of their rivers flowed all year around and did not flow in one direction. This allowed Britain to transport materials, goods and resources quickly and efficient.

“Big businesses such as BASF and Bayer led the way in their production and distribution of artificial dyes and pharmaceuticals, leading to the German monopolisation of the global chemicals market at 90 percent of the entire share of international volumes of trade in chemical products by 1914.” The reason why Germany led the way in these areas, was because Germany focused on technical education, with a curriculum that mainly focused on electrics, physics and chemistry, allowing her to advance quickly in these areas. Britain, however, did not focus as much on education as the Germans did. This can be seen in the number of scientists specialised in the chemical fields. Germany had 350 scientists whereas Britain had only 30 scientists.

In contrast to Germany, Britain was thriving in the textile industry. Because Britain had colonies in the Americas, they were also in possession of large amounts of cotton. The demands for quality cloth in Britain and overseas was huge, and they started expanding their production with help from new technology developed throughout the late 18th century and mid 19th century. These machines enabled the weavers to increase their production by weaving multiple cloths at once by a simple push of a button. It saved time and the economy enhanced remarkably.

While Germany was focusing on the chemical and electrical industry, Britain was developing the iron and steel factories. They started to slowly use more machines instead labor, so the work efficiency increased. William Kelly and Henry Bessemer both figured out a way of producing steel from iron which was a big step for the industries. The water transportation improved because of Robert Fulton who used the steam power to make the first steamship. It improved the transport and time was saved on materials being shipped from colonies.
The businesses were also successful due to the bank's confidence in the new industries. They were not afraid of investing, and it paid off, earning more money than they had lost on unsuccessful businesses.
As a result of Bismarck's support of the market, it meant that old machines could be renewed, which increased productivity and quality regarding the products, and a big advantage the Brits did not have the luxury of.

In the table below, it can be read that Britain in 1870 was the leading country in terms of Manufacturing Production, with 31% of the world's manufacturing. Germany was during this time uniting as one country and only beginning to industrialise, and for that reason, the country was only producing 13.2%, less than half of what Britain was producing. In 1913 however, Britain had started slowing down drastically and only producing 14%. Within 43 years, Britain had halved their production and had been overtaken by both the US and Germany. In the years between 1870 and 1913, Germany only increased their manufacturing production with 2,5%, despite their huge growth. This is because Germany is a small country compared to the US for instance, which makes their numbers quite impressive. Britain's 31,8% was due to the lack of countries participating in the race at the time.

Social Consequences of Great Britain
The industrialization expanded the middle class and made it more powerful. The middle class’s main focus was on education and wealth. The citizens who belonged to the middle class were well educated and therefore able to become lawyers, bankers or doctors for instance. The middle class was also in control of factories, mines and railroads. Because of their increasing power and profits, they were able to afford better food and more things, which resulted in a better living standard than the working class. The men would concentrate on their jobs and spend most of the time at the workplace, while women took care of householding and children. As soon as the family could afford it the women would hire domestic help.

While the middle class was expanding the working class also grew. To earn enough money for the basic needs, the whole family had to work. The children had to work as much as the adults, and there was no time for school and education. Sometimes the children worked 12-hour shifts with few if any small breaks and small meals. The living standards were terrible, most people lived close together even five to nine people in a room. The deficiency of medication caused lots of sicknesses and fast spread of disease, which lead to a large death count. In the working class women were independent. They were able to work as well and not only being limited by marriage.

"The new society" caused possible changes in class for people. It was possible for factory workers to become an entrepreneur if they had an idea and a skill for inventing.
The middle class also grew, meaning that more occupations and hereby more people belonged to the middle class. In addition to bankers, lawyers and doctors, came successful factory owners, railroad owners, teachers and factory managers.
For the working class, however, the conditions worsened. Parliament overlooked the workers, and it became more dangerous to work in factories. The laborers worked 10-14 hour shifts every day with few or no breaks, doing the same work. If they made a small mistake, not keeping up with the machinery, a life was in risk and a limb could be lost. In the mines and other coal driven factories, people were at risk of getting lung diseases, tuberculosis and pneumonia.

Children too, from the age of 6, worked 14 hours a day, for small wages and many died at early age, due to these conditions. Therefore so-called "Labor Unions" were formed to improve their conditions at the workplaces in form of strikes, where the workers refused to work, or sit-down strikes, where workers simply refused to do the work and refused to leave the workplace. As a result, factory owners added suspected members of labor unions to a blacklist, which made them unable of getting a job. Later the British Parliament banned the labor unions in form of The Combination Acts of 1799 and 1800. They later reached an agreement and strikes were legalised again along with bettered conditions.

Conclusion
There is no doubt that the Brits set of the first industrialisation with a good head start, but there is also a reason, the German industrial revolution is called “the second industrial revolution”. Both Britain and Germany had huge advantages regarding natural resources, and support of government, However, the Brits were more or less unaffected by the French Revolution and internal power struggles, which was what kept Germany out of the game in the beginning. Germany who was slow in the beginning but caught up quickly, since Germany had access to natural resources and was lead by well-educated people, also regulated the market in a way that lead to a growth in businesses. This was due to the fact that Germany imposed tariffs on foreign items and allowed her to focus on “social security” which gave the German people initiative to work hard and educate themselves. Germany focused on the future by building infrastructure, focusing on basic education, which was something the British lacked. The Brits were also one of few competing countries in the run, which made it easier for them to be in the lead in the beginning, and harder for them to develop further. Especially with old machinery, and continuously growing competitors. This is the reason why Germany experienced such a rapid growth and the British growth eventually slowed down.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Secondary Sources

#europe #britain #germany #eu
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