Industrial revolution and the World War 1
Prior to the Industrial Revolution in 1750 society was made up of mostly rural farms and small farming towns. Class structure was difficult to advance in as people were born into their societal and labor class. Minorities remained at the bottom of the structure despite their wealth or labor skills (Baker, Simon & Don, 59). As a result of limited transportation and communication people were not able to maintain or build relationships with people outside of their town. While this lead to a close knit immediate community it impeded on the development of forming relationship and sharing ideas in the broader realm of their country and international community. The development of transportation, communication, and machinery during the Industrial Revolution enabled people to create a more globalized world and changed the entire structure of society (Jean-Paul, 01).
Innovation throughout the Industrial Revolution changed social relationships, political dynamics, and led to economic growth (Arnold et al., 54). New forms of energy were discovered such as steam power, water mills, wind mills,and lumber; in addition human labor became a source of energy.
The developments in energy led to a dramatic change in the overall social structure of society. As a result of new machinery, farming became much easier and less demanding. People began to move to large cities to work in factories, which led to condensed populations, as opposed to a rural lifestyle. The higher class ran factories and saw lower and middle class workers as a commodity. Everyone became expendable. Additionally, education was industrialized and streamlined in that everyone learned the same material. From a young age, people were indoctrinated into the Assembly Line way of life - schooling was taught in a structured and identical manner, which followed people into the workforce as they created new forms of technology and transportation in factories (Mokyr, 108). Politically, economic development led to a greater gap between rich and poor. This led to limited rights for the working class, as the rich were the only members of society with enough education to lead society. While the Revolution hindered the working class from moving forward in society, some rights, such as trade unions, free public education and minimum wages were extended to keep them at a steady place in society (Mokyr, 98). As a result of rapidly expanding technology, transportation such as railroads and faster ships were developed. This bridged the gaps in international communication. Trade was increased and transportation became more convenient for travel (Jean-Paul, 01). This led to a more global society, as people were able to travel throughout their own country and internationally, which ultimately led to imperialism.
A demand for cheap manual labor, raw materials and desire to further advance technology led to imperialism in Africa, Asia and the Americas by European nations (Baker, Simon & Don, 78). Countries desired to improve their standard of living for all class members and maintain their position as a global power. Competition amongst European powers to be the most advanced in technology led to imperialism of lesser-developed nations. The conquering of weaker nations led to an influx of national pride throughout European nations. More advanced technology allowed Europeans to take advantage of lesser developed countries as a result of guns and war machinery developed due to the Industrial Revolution (Sondhaus, 76). Different countries had different approaches in how they colonized lesser developed nations. Some European powers sent politicians to form relationships that were mutually beneficial. At times politicians worked in collaboration with higher class members of countries that they were colonizing. These relationships allowed European nations to take advantage of weaker members of less developed societies. Other European nations exerted their power and took advantage of weaker countries by forcing them to give up riches, raw materials, and sometimes their own people to be used for manual labor (Mokyr, 167). Lesser developed nations became a part of the global economy, as they were forced to give up labor skills and their country’s riches to high-powered European countries. For a short period of time this impeded on developing a more global and empathic civilization. Tension between lesser and more developed nations resulted as high-powered countries took advantage of weaker ones. Overall, society became more global, as communication and interaction significantly increased (Sondhaus, 96). The increase in global interactions and communication led to an increased sense of national pride for countries all over the world. People were proud of where they were from and believed their country to be the most powerful. Each nation wanted to see its own succeed and maintain higher standards of living and better technology than those surrounding it. People felt connected with one another as a result of living in condensed cities, speaking the same language and relating through common education and work experiences (Mokyr, 207). The competition and tension between countries continued to rise until ultimately culminating in World War 1.
Tensions amongst European nations had been building for a long time as a result of nationalism, imperialism and industrial militarism. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the final spark for World War 1. Nations had been building up military technology through weapons, guns, and ships for years and were eager to test which nation was strongest and exert their power over one another (Bosco, Peter I & John, 129). Each country wanted to prove that they were the best. People were unaware of the impacts of an industrial war and wanted to see how one would play out. Politicians were easily able to convince their constituents to fight for the country as a result of national pride, as citizens were willing to do anything, including die, for their country (Sondhaus, 71). Politically, alliances systems were devised by European nations and were a huge factor in the war. Different regions of the world felt connected to one another due to common language, origin and culture, religion and lifestyle. This led to the forming of alliances across several European powers. A European empathic civilization was being developed prior to World War 1.
The results of World War 1 were devastating. World War 1 was a bump in the road to a global empathic civilization. After people saw the disaster of fighting and warfare, countries were punished for their actions. The Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1920 by the U.S., Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Germany (Bosco, Peter I & John, 137). Germany and their allies felt as though all of the blame was placed on them, as they had to pay war reparations and demilitarize their nation and even give up some of their land. This led to extreme political and social tensions between all developed nations, as each was once again fueled by a sense of national pride and to prove that they were the best. Germany desired to prove that they could again be the strongest nation and recover, despite penalties placed on them for the war. The tensions that remained after the war led to a conflicted global society, as powerful nations continued to want to prove their strength. World War 1 ultimately was a step backwards towards a global empathic civilization (Baker, Simon & Don, 154). World War 1 led to further developments in technology and transportation, which aided in the development of a global society, despite the extremely negative impacts of the War. Despite advances made for a global empathic civilization from the Industrial Revolution, World War 1 served as negative impact on the overall development of society (Bosco, Peter I & John, 197).
New technology and innovation developed through the Industrial Revolution led to globalization. Nations desired to expand and exploit resources to power their innovations, which led to an increase in communication between the more and lesser developed worlds. Nationalistic pride surged as a result of interactions and was ultimately a huge factor in the causes World War 1. While the War sparked further innovation and provided technological materials, it ultimately was a step backwards to a global empathic civilization. The War taught people that they needed to find a way to put differences aside and find common ground. Overall, the period from 1750 to 1920 was a significant time of development and innovation in technology and communication, which had heavy impacts on social, political and economics realms of societies around the world (Arnold et al., 154).
Works Cited
Arnold, James R, and Roberta Wiener. The Industrial Revolution. Danbury, Conn: Grolier, 2005. Print.
Baker, Simon, and Don Cruickshank. What the Industrial Revolution Did for Us. Princeton, N.J N.p., n.d. Print.
Bosco, Peter I, and John S. Bowman. World War I. New York: Chelsea House, 2010. Print.
Jean-Paul Rodrigue. "Historical Geography of Transportation: The Emergence of Mechanized Systems." Hofstra People. N.p., 21 Mar. 2013. Web. 16 Jan. 2014.
Mokyr, Joel. The Economics of the Industrial Revolution. Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Allanheld, 1985. Print.
Sondhaus, Lawrence. World War I: The Global Revolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Print.
