The era of industrial revolution entailed a quantum increase of factory production. New sources of power and energy such as steam and coal replaced the traditional use of water and wind to formulate labor-saving equipment that dramatically reduced animal and human labor while at the same time reducing the manufacturing costs. The power equipment and machines called for new ways to organize human capital to maximize the profits and benefits of the new tools. The early factories turned into dreadful workplaces calling for reforms in the European region. This essay attempts to recollect the impacts that the industrialization had on the European community.
The industrial revolution caused a major shift in cultural, socioeconomic, and technological conditions that took place in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in the European region. Since the industrialization began in Western Europe, countries such as Britain and Germany grew to be world powers owing to the emergence of the first state-cities and the inventions in agriculture. The largest social impact that the industrial revolution thus brought to the European region was the effect on the wealth of the countries. Before the period, the GDP had progressed at a slow and stable rate. However, after the industrial revolution, the capitalist nations acquired massive resources and wealth (Burger, 324).
According to Burger (287), another essential development was the atomization of the Western region to instigate a sense of unity. The aspect introduced theories such as Marxism and nationalism that developed the identity of politics in the Western region. Industrialization also introduced another social phenomenon in the Western community in the form of social stratification. The urbanization created a working class of people who were controlled by the elite owners of industries. The working class lived in overcrowded cities encountering both poor living and working conditions. Urbanization allowed the growth of towns into attractive cities where individuals longed to reside to experience the urban life (Burger, 301). The Western community transformed from an agricultural and rural area to an urban industrial society.
Work Cited
Burger, Michael. The shaping of Western Civilization. University of Toronto Press, 2008;2013. Print.
