How Did Britain Lose Her Industrial Dominance

During the late nineteenth century Germany and the USA began to overtake Britain’s industrial dominance, Eric Hobsbawm believes that ‘it is not surprising that Britain was unable to maintain the extraordinary position as workshop of the world’. This is due to a number of factors such as, more railways in other countries, decline in exports compared to other nations, the British government followed a policy of free trade and the production of materials like steel in Germany and the USA was far greater than what the British produced. However, even though other nations began to industrialise and catch up with Britain, she still remained a leading industrial power. This is because Britain was still in the world’s top three economies, exports were high during the 1870s also Britain

only saw a relative decline in her dominance as countries which had a large population and used their greater workforce to catch up with Britain's industrial progress.

One way that Britain lost her industrial dominance was that she followed a policy of free trade. This led to Britain losing her industrial dominance because Britain did not impose any tariffs on foreign goods therefore made importing cheaper than using British goods. This led to Britain losing her industrial dominance because British goods around the world became more expensive as other countries put tariffs on foreign goods. Therefore, fewer people in other countries would buy British products and buy product made in their own country this caused a decline in British exports. Free trade also impacted on British imports as well because it became cheaper to import goods rather than use British products which caused a decline in British manufacturing and also a decline in British agriculture.

Another factor which shows that Britain had lost her industrial dominance because by 1880 the USA had opened 57,952 KM of railway track whilst Britain had opened 24,759 KM of railway track. This shows that Britain did experience an industrial decline because with the USA having opened more than double the railway lines as Britain shows that the USA began to rapidly industrialise and overtake Britain by the end of the nineteenth century. Moreover, with the USA having opened so much railway track compared to Britain shows that Britain did lose her industrial dominance by the end of the century because the expansion of the railways provided jobs for people who worked on them and constructed them. In addition, to this railway expansion showed that the production of steel and iron was increasing which helps a country rapidly industrialise. As the USA opened more railway lines compared to Britain during the end of the nineteenth century shows that Britain did lose her industrial dominance because the expansion of the railways was a key part of rapid and successful industrialisation and the fact that the USA laid more track than Britain in 1880 shows that Britain did begin to fall behind other industrial countries.

Another factor which shows that Britain did lose her industrial dominance by the end of the nineteenth century was that ‘British share of the mill spindleage, gradually reduced from 56 per cent in 1875 to less than half for the first time in 1893’. This shows that Britain was losing her industrial dominance by the end of the nineteenth century because the cotton industry was an industry which Britain had dominated throughout the nineteenth century and was the main industry which helped drive industrialisation in Britain. Now that Britain was losing her share in this industry shows that she was losing her industrial dominance because other nations like the USA and Germany were now producing their own materials from cotton and did not need to import as much from the British. However, Britain still had a large share in the industry compared to other nations and in 1891 had 50.2 per cent of the worlds cotton spindles. This shows that even though Britain did see a decline in her dominance over the cotton industry she still had a large share of the worlds market and therefore was only a relative decline as other nations naturally caught up with her.

The Great Depression was also a factor in why Britain lost her industrial dominance by the end of the nineteenth century. ‘During the Great Depression Britain ceased to be the workshop of the world’. This shows that Britain did lose her industrial dominance by the end of the nineteenth century because the ‘Great Depression’ of the 1870s led to a decline in trade for Britain because other nations like Germany, France and the USA imposed tariffs on foreign goods to protect their own industries. This led to a decline in British exports due to British goods being a higher price. Moreover, the ‘Great Depression shows that Britain did lose her industrial dominance by the end of the nineteenth century because it led to British goods costing more abroad. This inevitably led to a decline in the sale of British goods which caused factories to close down or make their workforce smaller which overall stopped Britain from being the workshop of the world.

Another factor which shows that Britain lost her industrial dominance by the end of the nineteenth century is the population growth of her rivals and that her rivals were a lot bigger than Britain.

In 1871 the German population had risen by 59% to 40 million people whilst the British population was at 31.6 million people . This shows that Britain did lose her industrial dominance because with her rivals having larger populations than her meant that her rivals became more productive and by having a bigger population more goods can be produced. Both Germany and the USA are far bigger nations than Britain. This is factor in why Britain lost her industrial dominance because a bigger nation meant more resources which were vital for industrialisation. This led to a decline in Britain industrial dominance because larger nations with more resources did not need to import as many raw materials from other countries and this affected British exports. Furthermore, by having more resources meant that countries like Germany and the USA could exploit them and use them to make more industrial goods which in turn led to Germany and the USA catching up with Britain and producing and exporting more than

Britain.

By the end of the nineteenth century German steel production was catching up with British steel production and in 1900 German steal production overtook the British. Germany produced 6,645,000 tons whilst Britain produced 5,130,000 tons. This shows that by the end of the nineteenth century Britain did lose her industrial dominance because she was no longer able to produce as much steel as other nations due to other nations being larger therefore, having more raw materials. The fact that Germany overtook Britain on steel production shows that she did lose her industrial dominance because now Germany was producing more steel than Britain and with more steel being produced then more could be exported and Germany was able to advance further than Britain in industrialisation.

The industrialisation of the USA and Germany did also help British growth during the end of the nineteenth century. Industrialisation in Europe and the US provided a new market for Britain, ‘it created needs for capital equipment such as railway iron; it expanded the market for coal; with higher incomes Europeans could buy more consumer goods from Britain’. This shows that as other countries industrialised they needed to use Britain's resource’s this provided Britain with the opportunity to export more raw materials abroad. This shows that Britain did not lose her industrial dominance because as other nations began to industrialise they needed to use British resource’s to help their own country. Consequently, this helped the British economy grow during the end of the nineteenth century because other nations created a demand for British goods which shows that Britain was still a dominant industrial nation during the end of the nineteenth century.

British dominance over the ship-building industry is another factor which shows that Britain did not suffer a decline during the end of the nineteenth century. Ship-building ‘was one of the only sectors of the economy where Britain kept the world industrial dominance after 1870’. This shows that Britain was still a dominant industrial nation because no other country was able to produce ships which were as high quality as British ships. The fact that Britain was still dominant in ship-building helped keep British steel and iron production high. This shows that Britain did not suffer a decline during the end of the nineteenth century because she was still able to produce ships for other nations and a consequence of a strong ship-building industry was that it kept the steel and iron industries strong, this provided jobs for many people in Britain. Therefore, the British ship-building industry helped Britain remain a dominant industrial nation during the end of the nineteenth century.

Rubenstein believes that ‘in 1870, Britain was still the “workshop of the world," the foremost manufacturing power in the world’. This shows that Britain did not lose her industrial dominance during the end of the nineteenth century and that Britain was still a leading industrial country. Rubenstein’s argument shows that even though Britain’s GDP per head did fall and that Germany and the USA caught up with her that Britain was still a strong country and was still in a position where she was competing with her competitors. This view disagrees with Hobsbawm’s view that Britain did lose her position as the ‘workshop of the world’.

The British Empire was also another factor which shows that Britain did not lose her industrial dominance during the end of the nineteenth century, more than 40-45% of British cotton exports went to India. This shows that the British empire was key in keeping Britain as a dominant industrial nation because it provided Britain with a guaranteed trading partner. This meant that even though other countries began to compete with British exports she was still able to trade effectively with her colonies especially India. Both Germany and the USA did not have an empire like the British did. Therefore, they had to trade with their competitors to keep their exports high. Without a large empire Germany and the USA were not given a guaranteed trading partner therefore, they could have progressed further in industrialisation but could not as they were restricted to using their own resources and the small empires that they gained. Moreover, the British Empire maintained Britain's position as a dominant industrial nation because it gave the British a guaranteed trading partner which Germany and the USA did not have it also provided Britain with a supply of raw materials.

In conclusion, Britain during the end of the nineteenth century did not lose her industrial dominance. This is because she still remained in the world’s top three economies behind the USA and Germany. This shows that Britain only suffered a relative decline to these two countries because she still had a growing economy and was still dominating certain industrial sectors. The fact that Britain remained in the world’s top three economies and was still competing with Germany and the USA shows that Britain was still a dominant industrial nation because Germany and the USA are much bigger than Britain, have a bigger population and have more resources. Therefore, it was inevitable that they would overtake Britain. However, Britain did not decline because she still had high export figures also, none of Britain’s competitors had an empire like the British did. Therefore, Britain was still able to have a guaranteed trading partner which not many other countries had.