The Napoleonic wars did have a large impact on industrialization in Europe as a result of realizations and actions taken to better their countries after the Napoleonic wars. Although the Industrial Revolution began in Britain during the 1700’s it was boosted in the early 1800’s after the Napoleonic wars because of reform that was needed. Industrialization then started spreading throughout Europe and into North America in the early 1800’s. By the mid-1800’s industrialization was widespread. This was all a result, somewhat indirectly of the Napoleonic wars.
The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain for several reasons. By the mid-1700's, the country had become the world's leading colonial power. Great Britain's colonies not only provided raw materials, but also provided markets for manufactured products. These colonial markets helped stimulate the textile and iron industries, which were probably the two most important industries during the Industrial Revolution.
The demand for British goods grew rapidly during the late 1700's both in Britain and in other countries. This demand forced businesses to compete with each other for the limited supply of labor and raw materials, which raised production costs. The rising costs began to cut into profits. Further demand could not be satisfied until Britain enlarged its capacity to produce goods inexpensively. British merchants did not want to raise the prices of their goods and discourage demand. So, they sought more economical and efficient ways of using money and labor so the amount each worker produced would increase faster than the cost of production. The merchants achieved their goal through the development of factories, machines, and technical skills, thus, industrialization.
The French Revolution began in 1789, after the start of industrialization. At first, many British approved the revolution as a triumph of liberty for the French people. But they changed their mind after the revolution grew more violent. Britain’s foreign policy was based on keeping the balance of power in Europe so that no country could gain control of another. This led them to form alliances with weak countries when they were in need. Therefore, when the new French government seized Belgium and threatened the Netherlands Britain protested and in 1793 they went to war.
Napoleon Bonaparte led the French beginning in 1799. In 1803 he began to plan to invade Britain, but his naval power was crushed in the Battle of Trafalgar. He then tried to defeat them by ordering all of the countries under his command to close their markets off to Britain.
The French Revolution, also known as the revolution of 1789, was a movement that helped shape France into what it is today. The Revolution may have started in 1787 but it wasn’t till 1789 when the revolution actually started to become worse. The Revolution had many reasons for why it started, but it was only a few major things that really made it happen.
The American Revolution began due to problems within the British economy. The most prevalent issue of the time was "taxation without representation". Unlike the leaders of America, the leaders of the French did not turn out to be as positive for the country. In fact, some of these leaders have caused much more harm than good.
The industrial revolution started around 1750. It began in Britain and it spread through out the World. England was known as “the world’s workshop” because at that point in time, England was the major manufacturing center of the World.(Bailey) It took about ten years for the industrial revolution to spread to other places. It spread to America. The Industrial Revolution was favorable to the American colonies by bringing the factory system to America, supplying more employment which increased urban growth, and raising the national economy.
Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “Nothing has been simpler than my elevation…It is owing to the peculiarities of the time.” Coming to power at a time of instability and disorder in France immediately following the French Revolution, Napoleon quickly established himself as the political leader and military power behind France. Easily and efficiently overthrowing the poorly managed Directory, Napoleon established a three man governing body referred to as the Consulate. Naming himself Consul for Life in 1802, and crowning himself emperor in 1804, Napoleon made it clear that is was a time of dramatic change in France. Although establishing himself as an absolute ruler, Napoleon did it all with the support of the people, through the use of a plebiscite. Obviously a man that held immense power, Napoleon has been credited with many great successes. To the people of France, Napoleon was a savior, a man who could, despite being an autocrat, implement the ideals of the French Revolution. Establishing order, giving the French people a sense of security, and running his government smoothly became Napoleon’s priorities. Through a variety of reforms including, centralizing the government, establishing public education, instituting religious tolerance specifically signing the Concordat of 1801, and stimulating the economy, Napoleon won the support of French people across the classes, including the peasantry who in years previous had suffered greatly under absolute rulers. One of Napoleon’s most lasting reforms was his installment of the Napoleonic Code, a set of laws that reflected the idea of equality so evidently bannered throughout the French Revolution. Napoleon was able to capture the attention of the French people through every facet except absolutism.
In the early 19th century a man by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte led a Coup D’etat that created a new government in France. This new government started out with a tribunal leadership, which Napoleon was first consul, and later changed to an empire with Napoleon as emperor. Some people believe that he made the revolution better and expanded the revolution but this is not true. The facts, when closely looked at, prove that Napoleon effectively destroyed the revolution by telling the people of his country one thing while he was actually planning on doing something totally different. He deceived people so well that he is still convincing people today that he was a defender of the revolution.
Napoleon Bonaparte is considered to be one of the greatest conquers and captains of modern times. In history perhaps no one person has ever aroused so many intense opposite emotions. Perhaps no one had ever claimed as much of the admiration, fear, and hatred of all men as did Napoleon. Napoleon was a man with many sides. He started many of his challenging voyages and defeats as a young child and they continued throughout his life. He had many accomplishments and many defeats that affect the world in which we live. Napoleon plays a very big part in history.
French Revolution brought a great number of great ideas, but ideas are not beneficial unless they are realized and stabilized. The man to stabilize the concepts of French Revolution was Napoleon Bonaparte. He started out as an Italian general and ended up being one of the greatest historical figures. First, Directors requested Napoleon's support while organizing a coup d'etat. Then, Bonaparte fought Britain in order to benefit France. Lastly, he was called to help creating a new constitution and ended up as the First Consul of France. At home, he ruled using flattery, but also he strongly resisted the opposition. Napoleon is a pro-revolutionist because he denied all the privileges of the aristocracy, created a new constitution, and also established the Napoleonic Code.
The increase in population meant that there were more people in surplus from agricultural jobs and they had to find work in industrial factories, which was the basis of the Industrial Revolution. One of the darker causes for the Industrial Revolution was the slave trade with overseas colonies at the time. For many merchants who saw the easy money to be made from the voyages, the merchants became extremely rich – and as it is in human nature – these rich merchants wanted to become even more rich, the seemingly best way to do this was to invest profits from the slave trade into the new factories that were arising, this is called “Commercial Revolution”. Britain was one of the few countries that was able to bring in profits from other countries and keep profits in their country, aiding them into being the first country to Revolutionise Industrially. The new invention of steam power was one of the great motives for the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, steam was used to power many of the machines, thus with the invention of steam power, the Industrial Revolution was powered onwards.
As mentioned above many products from different industries were discovered and invented which made life easier and cheaper. The factories did not spend fast amount of money on making the products as they were allowed to pay their workers as much as that suited them so it did not cost them much and the innovation of factory machines also helped them produce in big quantities. These products were very demanding which meant that it grew the economy of the making nation, “Britain’s output of coal soared from 5.23 million tons in 1750 to 68.4 million tons a century later” (Strayer, 2012; 835). The industrial revolution did not just grow the economy of industrializing countries it also helped grow the economy of non-industrializing nations. For example, Latin America was one of the non-industrialized nations however its economy grew unexpectedly as they exported demanding raw materials such as rubber, silver, coal and many more resources that were essential for the growth of the industrial revolution (Strayer, 2012; 854). Latin America’s economy depended on the export of these materials and because of their popularity and essentiality it grew the state’s
When we think of Napoleon, we think of massive military conquest comparable to the Roman Empire. However, there are also the numerous reforms he made to domestic policy during his reign of 1799 to 1815. There are three main viewpoints relating to his domestic policy. The first is by Godechot who believed Napoleon "changed the history of France and the world". He thought that Napoleon's policies truly benefited France. However, a contrary viewpoint is made by Seward who thought Napoleon was a demagogue who had an "obsession with power". A third median of the two extremes was proposed by Soboul. Soboul thought that Napoleon advantaged France in some ways but hindered in others.
With such driving momentum, yet unstable, the French in the late 1700’s needed something or someone who was willing to lead their country, unite them, and bring order to their society. In 1799 Napoleon Bonaparte emerged to become that very man. Controversy wells up now a days as people begin to argue whether this man was a hero or tyrant, however I believe him to be a hero for doing exactly what the French needed at the time. He created a legendary domestic system that modified French society and is still used today, his warfare experience and keen sense of tactics revolutionized military then and for years to come and led France to become a dominant nation in the world, and lastly through his many contributions he created a sense of nationalism and identity nothing like the French had ever had before, all of these accomplishments not only bettering France but the world.
The industrial revolution of 17th and 18th centuries saw the transformation of Britain from a Neolithic nation into an industrious nation. However, this spread quickly throughout the world, introducing the modernisation of agriculture, revolution in power and manufacturing of textile.
The Industrial Revolution of the 18th century changed Europe forever. At the front of this change was Great Britain, which used some natural advantages and tremendous thinking and innovation to become the leader of the Industrial Revolution.