West European Studies

    The industrial revolution is a period in Europe when the agricultural, the technological, manufacturing and even the production sectors experienced a big change which led to their improvement. The main cause of this revolution was the availability of resources that had been brought about by other revolutions. For instance the Agrarian Revolution which had led to the availability of more reliable sources of food to the population. Other resources had also been made available by the increased capacity to prospect for them. For instance, the increased capacity to prospect for minerals and other resources needed in the factories for the production and manufacturing industries. The main effects of the industrial revolution were that it led to the growth of urban centers. This in turn led to the growth of population as more and more people were moving to the urban centers to provide labor. As such, the demand for labor had been created. Labor was then classified into the skilled and the semi-skilled. The existence of the two in effect served to create classes the middle class and the upper class for the skilled and the lower class for the semi-skilled respectively. The lifestyles between the divide was so different that the standard of living improved so mush for those in the middle and the upper classes. It however did not improve much for those in the lower (Hudson 155). The introduction of a faster means of transport and other communication also had an impact on the population as it might have rendered some people jobless due to the ease with which the machines covered more jobs. This implied that the revolution carried with it both advantages and disadvantages (Mokyr 121).   

A closer look at the economic impact reflects a change that was mainly driven by the changing in the technological capacities. Technology as a whole served to change the speed with which many things were done. For instance, the introduction of faster machines led to the large-scale production of goods done under economies of scale. This in turn led to the reduction of prices of goods and as such more people could afford the goods. On the other hand, this would mean that more people were laid off their jobs as machines took their places (Soman 1). There was also the environment pollution by the machines which by then produced harmful emissions to the atmosphere. The communication and transport sector also received a boost as the introduction of faster means of transport and telecommunications had many advantages. Trains were faster, cheaper and could haul a great deal of cargo alongside human beings. They were faster than horses over a long distance and hence preferred. Telephones and telegrams also ensured the passing of information in a faster way. They were more efficient and reliable so that information could be passed from one person to the other in a matter of minutes in the case of telephones. Business deals were as such made easier to transact. Technology also ensured that more inventions were made so that the health sector improved. Invention of various communication equipment like the telegraph and the telephone increased efficiency of communication. This went a long way to increase speeds of business transactions. Apart from anesthesia which was introduced in hospitals, vaccines were also discovered. This made the sale of medical supplies to other areas a sector that raked in profits for the country (Soman 1).

    There was a demand for more raw materials created by the enhanced capacities of the factories. This led to the invasion of Africa and Asia by the British and French in search for resources and labor. They also invaded the markets so that they introduced more of their goods into the African and Asian markets (Ross 1). This had a positive impact as there were available resources in the regions that they had colonized. The European colonizers led invasions into countries like Ghana where they sourced for slaves who could do the menial labor in the industries or even work as farm helps for the production of cash crops in large scale personal farms or even industrial farms. These included the cotton farms in Britain. On the other hand, the markets for goods were located in areas such as Asia and South Africa where they could sell their produce in exchange for cash and other raw materials. This ensured an expansion of the market base so that the trade between the countries flourished. All this went a long way in ensuring that Europe became more of a producer than just a consumer (Ross 1).

    Urbanization as an effect of industrialization led to the faster growth of urban centers. This needed the building of houses and other forms of shelters to house more people. Therefore, the construction industry expanded due to this demand for more housing. There was housing for the middle and upper classes that actually resulted in there being more companies involving in the construction of houses (Mokyr 121). Demand for cement increased and so did it for other building materials. More and more people moved into the urban areas. This included the moving in of more skilled laborers. There was thus a creation of classes the skilled and the semi-skilled. While the semi-skilled occupied the lower class, the skilled laborers occupied the housing projects started by construction companies to fulfill the demand for better housing standards by the skilled (Industrial Revolution. 1).

    The economic effect of the Industrial Revolution can be touted to have had the largest effect of all the others. This can be seen in the fact that it actually was the main cause of the others. For instance, when there was growth of the economy, the social class of the people changed as more and more people could now afford more goods due to cheaper prices brought about by the economies of scale. The living standards were also improved as the expansion of the urban centers together with the introduction of better services served to improve the lives of the people. There was an increase in population due to the better services that the hospitals could offer after introduction of vaccines and safer operations carried out using anesthesia. This ensured lower mortality rates though it was a gradual process. A good economy is sure likely to bring about introduction of better political class as the literacy levels were also increased. Therefore, political stability was improved. Movement of people from different regions of the country into one urban setting brought about the increase in socialization of the masses so that people intermingled and married from across communities to bring about a unified generation. Therefore, the economic changes influenced more of the changes. The revolution also had a major change in Africa and Asia as a whole. There was more economic expansion of markets in the African and Asian regions. Most of it involved the movement of raw materials from Africa and Asia to Europe. It is therefore prudent that we see the economic impact as the change that drove the Industrial Revolution to impact so much on the people. The Industrial Revolution brought along so many changes in the economy but it doesnt go without notice that it also brought with it a lot of negative effects (Soman 1). The demand for more fuel for the factories contributed much to environmental degradation as forests were cut down to provide wood for fuel. In turn, there was an effect to the environment as the emissions from the factories polluted the environment. The labor industry also experienced a need for more cheap labor as there was a lot of work to be done that only needed unskilled labor. This led to the introduction of child labor. Children as young as nine were used in factories to help in the labor. In some instances, countries such as France and Britain colonized regions in Africa so as to capture slaves who were to be used as laborers in their farms. This strained the relationships between the countries involved. Technology also had a negative impact. More and more people were misplaced from their jobs as machines took over in their places for faster production. Rural to urban migration reduced the labor available in the rural areas for agricultural purposes. This reduced the production of food in the small-scale personally owned farms that mainly practiced subsistence farming. All in all, the positive side of The Industrial Revolution was much more than the negative (Hudson 154).