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Industrial revolution and its impact
Industrial revolution impact
Positive and negative impact of the industrial revolution
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Throughout the 13th and 21st century, the balance of power has dramatically shifted between nations for worldwide dominance and influence. Both Eastern and Western civilizations unendingly fought to become the world's beacon and model of living. Through rapid advancement in technology, economic prosperity, major social and political events the rise of power between East and West have altered the balance of power in the world. In the early modern era, the growth of technology would initiate competition between West and East powers. Before the Industrial Revolution China would be highly advance with technology during 700 and 1400 C.E., “ China was clearly the world leader in technological innovation... Prompting various scholars to suggest China was on the edge of an industrial revolution...”(Ch.17 Pg.741). Although China was the world's leading hegemony, it was abruptly interrupted when European brought inventions from China to the West. Surprisingly, Europe would begin factories and take a step into modernization because Western societies increased the number of factories. Soon after, reformations for factory workers were beginning to start leaving China to …show more content…
The exchange of vast information and the borrowing of technological advancements have impacted both the Eastern and Western cultures. For example, the use of machines in the workplace to produce more rapidly and the idea of laborers instead of slaves. Furthermore, the desire of gold bullion greatly caused both civilizations to race for imperialism and to expand their borderlines into Africa. To add, social and political factors from the Western culture, such as the enlightenment allowed for a massive transformation of worldwide power. Both civilizations continue relentlessly for authority and influence over each other in the modern
The globalization of industrialization began in Britain, spread throughout continental Western Europe, and then found it’s way into Russia and the United States only to provoke industrialization in Latin America. Thus, agricultural innovations such as selective breeding and lighter plows gave Britain an advantage in industrialization which later indirectly influenced the process of industrialization in Russia and Latin America. As a result of Russia’s industrialization, a middle class of businessmen and professionals was formed because they were required to work the new centers of industrial development. In addition, this growing middle class was created subsequent to the development of factories and heavy industry; steel production was rapidly accelerating to contest the threat of European modern industry and major industries were formed in coal, textiles, and oil. Although Europe was still prominent in its industrial superiority, this industrial competition led to Russia ranking fourth in the world in its steel manufacturing. Thus, as a response to industrialization, Russia entered tr...
In the middle of the 19th century, despite a few similarities between the initial responses of China and Japan to the West, they later diverged; which ultimately affected and influenced the modernizing development of both countries. At first, both of the Asian nations rejected the ideas which the West had brought upon them, and therefore went through a time period of self-imposed isolation. However, the demands that were soon set by Western imperialism forced them, though in different ways, to reconsider. And, by the end of the 19th century both China and Japan had introduced ‘westernizing’ reforms. China’s aim was to use modern means to retain and preserve their traditional Confucian culture. Whereas Japan, on the other hand, began to successfully mimic Western technology as it pursued modernization, and thus underwent an astounding social upheaval. Hence, by the year 1920, Japan was recognized as one of the world’s superpowers, whereas China was on the edge of anarchy.
The next theory, while still relying on the realist principles of power maximization, turns it on the Power Transition Theory on its head. Instead of two exceptionally strong states competing for domination, it focuses on weak states struggling to appear strong, so they will not be dominated. This theory is the most original of those included in this document, it combines elements of the internal disunity theory of war with the need of states to project power in an anarchic international system. In a predictive context, it can be referred to as the Theory of Overcompensation. In the specific application to the First World War it could be aptly referred to as “The Weak East Theory” because its base assertion is that in 1914, the traditional European powers in the East, the Romanov Russian and Hapsburg Austrian Empires were in their last throes, struggling to stay relevant.
which are important variables while considering divergence. By 1300 European political scenario was that of fragmentation while that of Chinese was of integration. Due to settled politics and reliance on agricultural taxes for revenue, there was little interference by the Chinese rulers in the development of trade whereas Europe experienced a commercial revolution dating back to the Roman era. Even the wages evidence clearly supported the Great Divergence because as early as 1650 till 1850 there was stagnation in wages in China while in Europe it saw a surge upwards (cited). Europe was involved in frequent wars and as a result the Europeans were forced to build walled cities to protect themselves and their property. This had a direct consequence on labor cost (wages) which became more expensive relative to capital (Allen 2008) . This created an incentive to use machines to save the labor costs. Thus Europe’s violent politics was responsible for its urban manufacturing and urban bias leading to a higher demand for capital markets, stimulating governments to increase investment in technical advances. In
After World War II devastated and shocked the world with its horrors and death toll, the need for power consumed the minds of several people. During World War II, countries were fighting to have control and wanted to be considered superior to others or be known as superpowers. After World War II, only two superpowers remained; the United States and the Soviet Union. In the Cold War, they will continue to fight for this superiority over one another, but the cause changed everything. The Cold War was caused by Germany’s and Europe’s division between democracy and communism and the want for superiority by several nations, which affected several nations politically, socially, and economically throughout the world by affecting the government and the people as a result of the war.
The Main Strengths and Weaknesses of the Major Powers of 20th Century At the beginning of the 20th century the five main powers in Europe
Leaders in power in both novels issued many restrictions and censored the knowledge of information to its members in various manners to preserve dominance. In 1984, Citizens of Orwell’s predictive vision were taught to hate and fear the outside world; their versions of history were altered but not eradicated which verifies Langs proposition that the success of a supreme power in 1984 relies on “the ability of a central authority to know at every moment, accurately in detail, what the citizens of the society are doing and saying (and so, what they are thinking)…. since people are to know or think only what they are supposed to” (Lang, 167). Evidently, the three powers in this novel, Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia are constantly at war, thus information
Having understood that the world has taken the form it has through the domination or imperialism of Western countries, it is said that they are the agents that have greatly influenced the world; their ideologies in addition to their political as well as economic influences have spread across the globe through time (Headrick, 1981).
International politics traditionally focuses on the relationship between states and international organisations. Despite the fact that the geography may remain inert, the geopolitical situations in regions are shifting over time, and changes in global environment can make an influence on the regional powers. The world’s great powers are the main and decisive actors among states, which make an enormous influence on the processes of the international relationship. Throughout history, the world environment has demanded from nations to get more resources in order to develop their economy and military power. Therefore, countries struggled to get more possessions and territory in order to survive. A high developed economic industry
This free market enabled goods to be available at a cheaper rate, in Europe. The geographical conditions of Britain (abundance of coal, proximity to water sources, etc), coupled with its decision to import from the New World, while engaging its own population in more profit-oriented activities, facilitated the rapid development of capitalism and modern industry. Here, Europe, the core, imported from the periphery. China handled the situation in a vastly different method. They were at a disadvantage, as they did not have the geographical advantages that Britain had, nor did they focus on trade. The domestic market in China was prioritized, and this led to the increase in price of commodities, and the subsequent increase in prices diminished China's role in the world economy. It was these factors that led to the emergence of Europe as a core, and helped it overcome the land constraint. Thus, the Great Divergence took place and the Eurocentric world emerged. Eric Jones, in this book titled, “ The European Miracle”, also adds on to Pomeranz's view of the great divergence and the role of several factors within, and outside Europe, that resulted in its advantage over all other economies in the
Industrial Revolution, which took place over much of the nineteenth century, had many advantages. It provided people with tools for a better life; people were no longer dependent on the land for all of their goods. The Industrial Revolution made it possible for people to control nature more than they ever had before. However, now people were dependent on the new machines of the Industrial Age (1). The Revolution brought with it radical changes in the textile and engine worlds; it was a time of reason and innovations. Although it was a time of progress, there were drawbacks to the headway made in the Industrial Revolution. Granted, it provided solutions to the problems of a world without industry. However, it also created problems with its mechanized inventions that provided new ways of killing. Ironically, there was much public faith in these innovations; however, these were the same inventions that killed so many and contributed to a massive loss of faith. These new inventions made their debut in the first world war (2) ).
Throughout history, there have been many ups and downs that impacted the way countries interact with each other. The interaction between significant countries has caused major problems including wars, imperialism, and genocides. The overall impact of great world powers from the beginning of the 1900’s to present day has been more negative than positive because of events and occurrences such as of imperialism in Africa, the lasting impacts of World War I and the effects of the Cold War.
This timeline does the reflect the Rise of the West story because at the beginning of the timeline there are many different cultures that are involved in discovering and inventing new things, but at the end of the timeline all of the discoveries and inventions are from the Western World also known as the North and South America and Western Europe. An example of other cultures having an influence in the past on inventions is when India created the zero symbol in 500 A.D. The zero symbol was very important because it lead to the creation of numbers which is very ideal in the modern world for mathematics and quantity. Another country that had invented something before the Rise of the West was Germany, when they invented the printing press. The
America has been a world leader, since the beginning of the twentieth century, however, it is questionable, if they will continue to be world leaders. “People around the world believe the ‘global balance of power’ is shifting away from the United States… a majority of people said that China would replace, or already has replaced, the U.S as the leading superpower. This is despite the fact that the U.S has spent well over $15 billion on public diplomacy since 1999” (Cohen, Dale, Smith, 2012). Rising developing countries such as China and Russia, pose a threat to American leadership, in many ways, their power is almost equal to Americas.
Further, the balance of power theory is premised on the assumption that due to concentrations and imbalances in material and military capabilities among nations and powers, there arises the need for this inequality in power to be put in check and an equilibrium restored so that the major powers within the international system can survive (Fromkin 111). The methods used by the great powers in restoring the balances include forming counterbalancing alliances, internal military security buildup, emulation, and partition. This paper examines and explains the balance of power theory and how it can be used to account for the origin of the WWI. It argues that the need to adjust power due to power differences in Europe is one of the contributors and origins of the First World War.