Industrialization and the Social and Economic Structure of Europe 431nesses might describe terrible living conditions during
industrialization, but increased life expectancy must
prove that conditions had improved in some substantial
ways.
Wages of workers did not improve greatly, and in
some preindustrial occupations—such as a handloom
weaver—they declined severely. But the data show a
general pattern of improvement. Whereas a carpenter
working in the London region had to work thirteen or
fourteen days in 1800 to earn enough money to buy a
suit, the same carpenter’s wages in 1830 bought a suit in
seven or eight days. Industrialization also provided lux-
uries that workers previously could not afford. By the
1840s railway expansion led to inexpensive excursion
tickets. Railroads reinforced the rigid social structure of
nineteenth- century Europe by segregating passengers
according to the class of tickets they bought, but the
existence of cheap second- or third-class tickets led to
the birth of the working-class holiday. For the first
time, most of the population of London could afford a
day trip to the seashore. Workers had little leisure time
to enjoy this benefit, but inexpensive travel allowed
more than one-third of the total population of Great
Britain to visit the world exposition in London in 1851.
From the British Industrial Revolution to
Continental European Industrialization
British industrialization dwarfed the manufactures of
any other country in the late eighteenth and early
nineteenth century, but Britain was not unique in expe-
riencing industrial development. In the textile industry,
for example, Belgium had been an important manufac-
turer of cloth for centuries and rapidly industrialized
following the British example. Textile towns such as
Manchester developed across Europe, from Mulhouse
in Alsace to L⁄odz in Poland. Many regions experienced
their own industrial revolutions. Industrialization in the
Rhône valley of southeastern France, for example, as-
sured predominance in the manufacture of silk. Me-
chanical and chain-driven looms came into use there in
the 1770s, although they had been known in China for
centuries. By the 1780s, more than 23 percent of the
population of Lyons worked in the silk industry. The
delicacy of silk work delayed the development of a
power silk loom, but when one was developed in the
mid-nineteenth century, Lyons remained the center of
silk manufacturing because it was located near the rich
coal fields of St. Etienne.
The industrialization of continental Europe was
slowed by the French Revolution and the Napoleonic
Wars. Postwar economic problems were severe, and
Europe remained in a depression until 1820. Govern-
ments hurried to demobilize their expensive armies,
and this left hundreds of thousands of veterans unem-
ployed. Jobs were scarce because governments also
canceled wartime contracts for food, uniforms, and
equipment, leading to the dismissal of agricultural,
textile, and metallurgical workers. Most governments
were deep in war debt; Prussia, for example, could
barely pay the interest on war loans. Governments
promised to cancel the war taxes needed for big
armies, but that created the combination of high
debt and reduced revenue when governments
needed huge sums of money to rebuild the regions
devastated by war. Roads and bridges required
immediate attention to support the recovery of
commerce. Consequently, Britain enjoyed a long
lead in industrialization.
Nevertheless, Europe experienced steady industri-
alization in the early nineteenth century. Traditional
textile regions, such as Alsace and Normandy in
France, rapidly adapted to the age of the spinning
mule and the power loom. A study of the Alsatian tex-
tile industry has shown its expansion from a total of
48,000 spindles in 1812 to 466,000 spindles in 1828.
There were only 426 power looms in Alsace in 1827,
but more than 18,000 in 1856. The strength of conti-
nental textiles in the nineteenth century is shown by
the English language, which borrowed European
words for textiles: Elegant Jacquard silks came from
Lyons, and sturdy cotton denim came “from Nîmes”
(de Nîmesin French).
Another sign of continental industrialization was
the beginning of the railroad age in the 1830s and
1840s. The French opened a small line in 1828 to con-
nect the coal fields of St. Etienne with the national canal
and river system, but they were slow to build a large
railroad network. No passenger service was established
between Paris and Lyons until the 1850s. In most coun-
tries, the first tracks were laid in the 1830s or 1840s.
Progressive statesmen such as Count Camilio Cavour of
Piedmont-Sardinia made their reputations as early
champions of the railroad. Cavour was convinced that
“their economic importance will be from the outset
magnificent,” and by 1850 the Italian states had more
miles of track than Russia and Spain combined.
The country that most profited from the begin-
ning of continental industrialization was Prussia. This
was partly the result of Prussian military success,