CHAPTER OUTLINE

I. Introduction

II. The Population Explosion

A. The Vital Revolution

B. The Urbanization of Europe

III. The Agricultural Revolution

A. The Controversy over Enclosure

IV. Handcraft, Cottage Industry, and the Steam

Engine

A. The Age of Iron and Coal

B. The Machine Age and the Textile Factory

C. The Railroad Age

V. The Urban World

VI. Changing Class Structures

A. Age, Gender, and the Family

VII. The Standard of Living Debate

VIII. From the British Industrial Revolution to

Continental European Industrialization

IX. The European Industrial “Take-Off”

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CHAPTER 22

INDUSTRIALIZATION AND THE SOCIAL

AND ECONOMIC STRUCTURE OF EUROPE

T

he industrialization of Europe began in the

late eighteenth century and by 1900 had dra-

matically transformed the economy and so-

cial structure. Chapter 22 looks at this

process. It begins with two demographic changes asso-

ciated with industrialization: a population explosion

and urbanization. A “vital revolution” was the product

of changes in European agriculture that allowed a larger

population to be fed. After analyzing these changes,

the chapter then focuses on the industrialization of

Great Britain, often called the industrial revolution. It

starts with handcraft manufacture and cottage industry,

then explains the impact of the steam engine. This

leads to a discussion of the most important elements of

early industrialization: the iron and coal industries, tex-

tile manufacturing, and the railroads.

After examining the positive and negative sides of

life in the new urban world, the chapter focuses on the

changing class structure of Europe with special attention

to the new middle class and the urban working class. It

then discusses the impact of industrialization on women,

children, and the family. Analysis of these questions per-

mits an introduction to what has been called the stan-

dard of living debate: Did the conditions of daily life

improve or deteriorate during industrialization?

The chapter ends by tracing the spread of industri-

alization across Europe, stressing the “take-off period”

of industrial growth during the mid-nineteenth century,

followed by the “second industrial revolution” in which

German industrial output began to match and even out-

strip that of Great Britain.

The Population Explosion

One of the most important developments in modern

European history was a dramatic increase in population

during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The

population of Europe had been slowly rising for

centuries, but severe checks, caused by poor diet and

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