The second industrial revolution is the continuation and expansion of the first industrial revolution.
First of all, as far as productivity development is concerned, the first industrial revolution greatly improved productivity; The second industrial revolution promoted the development of productive forces more quickly and made the capitalist economy begin to undergo major changes.
Secondly, as far as the mode of production is concerned, the first industrial revolution established a modern capitalist mode of production, and large machine production replaced scattered handicraft workshops; The second industrial revolution further concentrated production and capital, resulting in monopoly, and capitalism began to transition to imperialism.
The far-reaching influence of three scientific and technological revolutions
(1) The first scientific and technological revolution was not only a great change in productivity, but also a profound social change. Productivity: it has changed the production technology and labor tools, and also changed the industrial structure. (1) The industrial revolution shifted from manual operation to large machine production. (2) Handicraft workshops have been replaced by a new form of production organization-factories. Textile, metallurgy, coal mining, machine building and transportation have become the five pillars of capitalist industry. Social change: ① It causes the increase of population and great changes of social and economic structure. The abundance of material products, the improvement of social conditions and the huge demand for the development of productive forces have made the British population explode. At the same time, the mobility of British society has been greatly accelerated with the development of industrialization, especially the transportation industry, which has led to the spread of British industrial economic centers and the wave of urbanization. (2) It has caused changes in the social class structure, which has increasingly divided the whole society into two directly opposite classes-the industrial bourgeoisie and the proletariat, and the workers' movement is on the rise. ③ It has promoted the formation of the world capitalist system and a new international political structure. The industrial revolution greatly strengthened the ties between all parts of the world, established the bourgeois rule over the world, and Britain soon became the world hegemon. With capitalist countries seizing commodity markets, raw materials and expanding colonies in the world, the East began to be subordinate to the West. On the other hand, advanced production technologies and models spread all over the world, which violently impacted the old ideas and systems in these areas. The formation of the capitalist world system. (4) It promoted the climax of liberal reform in capitalist countries and developed liberal capitalism.
(2) The Second Industrial Revolution: ① It greatly promoted the economic development, and formed many new industrial sectors, such as electronic industry and electrical appliance manufacturing, oil exploration and petrochemical industry, and emerging communication industry. ② Further adjustment of production relations. With the development of production, the high concentration of production and capital leads to monopoly and capitalism enters the stage of imperialism. (3) Due to the imbalance of political and economic development among countries. It leads to the division, aggression and competition among imperialist countries, and forms the world capitalist colonial system. The number of workers in capitalist countries has soared, the ranks of the proletariat have grown, and the workers' movement has gradually reached its climax. At the same time, the colonial and semi-colonial capitalist economy was formed and the national democratic movement rose.
(3) The Third Industrial Revolution: ① Promoted the development of social productive forces: Under the conditions of the new scientific and technological revolution, the improvement of labor productivity is mainly through the continuous progress of production technology, the continuous improvement of workers' quality and skills, and the continuous improvement of labor means. (2) It has promoted the changes of social and economic structure and life structure: the proportion of primary industry and secondary industry in the national economy has decreased, while the proportion of tertiary industry has increased; In order to adapt to the development of science and technology, capitalist countries have generally strengthened state monopoly capitalism and greatly strengthened their support and capital investment in science and technology. With the progress of science and technology, all aspects of human daily life have changed, such as food, clothing, housing and transportation. (3) It has promoted the adjustment of the international economic structure: with the development of science and technology and the increasingly close interdependence and contact of the economies of all countries in the world, the competition of science and technology has become increasingly important in the international economic competition. The gap in scientific and technological level further widens the economic gap between developed and developing countries. ④ The third scientific and technological revolution made management science develop into a real science with rich contents and realized modernization. ⑤ On the one hand, the third scientific and technological revolution has aggravated the imbalance in the development of capitalist countries and brought about new changes in the international status of capitalist countries; On the other hand, it gives a strong impetus to the struggle between socialist countries and western capitalist countries. The development of scientific and technological revolution has also brought a series of thorny social problems, such as the deterioration of ecological environment, excessive consumption of natural resources and energy, and the threat of nuclear disaster. The uncontrollable vicious development of these problems has made the human situation more and more seriously troubled and become a global issue of concern to the whole world.