The Industrial Revolution is sometimes called the Industrial Revolution (in recent years, some scholars have argued that there is a difference between the two concepts1). It refers to the early process of capitalist industrialization, that is, the transformation of capitalist production from factory handicrafts to machines. The transition stage of large industry. It is a production and technological revolution in which machines replace manpower, and large-scale factory production replaces manual production in individual factories.
Some people believe that the Industrial Revolution had begun around 1750, but it did not really take off until 1830. Most opinions believe that the Industrial Revolution originated in the Midlands of England. In the mid-18th century, after the Englishman Watt improved the steam engine, a series of technological revolutions caused a major leap from manual labor to power machine production. It then spread to England, the entire European continent, and North America in the 19th century.
It is generally believed that steam engines, coke, iron and steel are the four main factors that contributed to the accelerated development of industrial revolution technology.
Before Watt improved the steam engine, the power required for the entire production relied on human and animal power. With the invention and improvement of the steam engine, factories were no longer built along rivers or streams. Many jobs that previously relied on manpower and manual work were replaced by mechanized production after the invention of the steam engine. The industrial revolution is a huge change that is incomparable to general political revolutions. Its impact involves all aspects of human social life, causing huge changes in human society. It plays an irreplaceable role in promoting the modernization process of mankind and pushes mankind to a new stage. of the steam age.
The Industrial Revolution also had an important impact on the development of science in the 19th century. In the past, scientific research was rarely used in industrial production. With the development of the industrial revolution, the boundary between engineers and scientists has become smaller and smaller, and more engineers are immersed in scientific research. In the past, most scientists were the children of nobles or wealthy people, but now many children from industrially developed areas and the working class have become scientists. They became more interested in chemistry and electricity, which also promoted the development of these subjects.
This term was first proposed by Engels, referring to the technological and economic changes that occurred in Britain from manual production to large machine production from the late 18th century to the early 19th century, and later gradually spread to countries around the world. The Industrial Revolution was an important stage in the history of capitalist development. It achieved important changes from traditional agricultural society to modern industrial society. The Industrial Revolution was a change in production technology, and it was also a profound change in social relations. In terms of production technology, it enables machines to replace manual labor; factories replace manual workshops. In terms of social relations, it clearly divided society into two opposing classes - the industrial bourgeoisie and the industrial proletariat. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the victory of the bourgeois revolution in Britain, France and other countries cleared the way for the development of productive forces. The development of capitalist factory handicrafts and the invention of science and technology prepared the conditions for the transition to large-scale machine industry. As the market expanded, the factory handicraft industry based on manual technology could not meet the needs of the market. In pursuit of profits, the bourgeoisie widely adopted new technologies. The Industrial Revolution began in the United Kingdom in the 1860s, starting with the cotton textile industry, and further developed in the 1880s with the invention and use of the steam engine. Following the United Kingdom, France, the United States and other countries also completed the Industrial Revolution in the mid-19th century. It has greatly promoted the development of social productive forces, consolidated the emerging capitalist system, caused changes in social structure and East-West relations, and had a significant impact on the course of world history. Later, some scholars also proposed the theory of "multiple industrial revolutions", such as the second industrial revolution in the late 19th century and the third industrial revolution in the second half of the 20th century.
Some important inventions before and after the Industrial Revolution Inventors
In 1712, the Englishman Thomas Cowman obtained the patent for a slightly improved steam engine
James Hargreaves' spinning jenny in 1764
Joseph Brahm's flush toilet in 1778
Senefield lithography in 1796
Henry Maudsley's screw-cutting machine in 1797
In 1781 James Watt improved the Cowman steam engine, and the modern steam engine took shape
Trevishek in 1812 Colney boiler
1815 Han Davy miner's lamp
1844 Chenglian Feiburn Lancashire boiler