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Summary
World History Class 01

WORLD HISTORY SYLLABUS (01:10 PM)

  • Major events from the mid of 18th century such as:
  • The industrial revolution
  • America revolution and the French Revolution
  • American Civil war
  • Colonialism
  • Two World wars
  • Decolonization
  • Concepts such as Socialism, Capitalism, and Communism 
  • The question of redrawing boundaries.

SOURCES (01:41 PM)

  • NCERT- The Story of Civilization by Arjun Dev.
  • Understanding World History by Norman Lowe.
  • World History by Jain and Mathur.

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (01:46 PM)

  • It is one of the two major events that changed the course of the history of mankind.
  • The other was the Neolithic revolution.
  • The Neolithic revolution transformed culture into civilisation whereas the Industrial Revolution transformed society from medieval times to modern times.
  • It refers to all the changes that had taken place in the system of production from 1748 onwards in England.
  • It may be defined as a shift from handmade production to a highly organised factory system of production.
  • It can as well be called a transformation from a feudal to a capitalist system of production.
  • The word 'Industrial Revolution' was first used by French historian Auguste Blanqui referring to changes taking place in England in the system of production.
  • The word Industrial Revolution was popularised by Arnold J Toynbee who introduced cyclical theory.

FACTORS AND FORCES BEHIND THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (02:08 PM)

  • There was a basic change in the attitude of man towards himself and society during the great Renaissance time in Europe.
  • Man questioned every idea and institution. He revolted against the church and preferred to lead a life with luxury, ease and comfort.
  • It all started with Protestantism.
  • Marx Weber in his thesis 'Protestant Ethics' and the Spirit of Capitalism maintained that a change in the outlook of man made him go for a new life.
  • This was precisely why Protestant countries became the first industrialised countries.
  • With the Renaissance new geographical discoveries started.
  • As a result, the beginnings of Colonialism started.
  • Colonies on the one hand provided raw materials and at the same time acted as markets for manufactured goods.
  • The constant demand provided by colonies made European countries go for rapid industrialisation.
  • The agricultural revolution started first in England.
  • With the revolution surplus production could be generated and with that capital formation could take place and finally commerce and industry made great progress.
  • Similarly, the agricultural revolution supported ever increasing population and generated the labour force required for industrial development.
  • Just like the Agricultural Revolution, England also experienced a commercial revolution.
  • Under the commercial revolution, a new pattern of trade started and the Banking system started and Communication systems developed.
  • All the factors and forces provided a solid basis for the beginnings of the industrial revolution.

REASONS FOR ENGLAND BECOMING THE FIRST INDUSTRIALISED COUNTRY (03:09 PM)

  • England from the beginning enjoyed certain advantages, which the other European powers could not.
  • It was the first democratic country in the world. Thus England enjoyed tremendous political stability.
  • It was also the first country to have a well-educated middle class who were dynamic and enterprising.
  • England never wasted its resources on useless continental wars.
  • Her policy was 'splendid isolation'.
  • Economically, agricultural and commercial revolutions all had taken place first in England.
  • England had the world's most expanded colonial empire where the sun would never set.
  • Colonies always provided England with the required raw materials and also acted as markets for her manufactured goods.
  • India, the world's richest economy was conquered by England and the looted wealth of India provided capital formation for England.
  • England's labour force was not only educated but also skilled.
  • The other advantage was the labour force was evenly distributed between agriculture and industry.
  • The type of commodity production England carried out was equally a factor for rapid industrialisation.
  • She always went for manufacturing essential goods such as textiles, leather goods, iron, steel etc.
  • This type of commodity production made Europe dependent upon England.
  • England also followed the theory of trade and commerce called Mercantile Capitalism.
  • Under the theory, the principles followed were :
  • 1) Balance of Trade.
  • 2) Monopolistic trade.
  • 3) Protectionist policy for the native industry.
  • All these principles helped England not only promote her industrialisation but also to protect her trade and commerce.
  • Napoleon was equally responsible for the rapid industrialisation of England.
  • He tried to isolate England from the rest of the world with his 'continental system'.
  • England accepted the challenge and went for more aggressive industrialisation and also policy self-sufficiency.
  • It was finally well-developed England that brought the end of Napoleon.

DISCOVERIES UNDER INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (03:42 PM)

  • 'Whoever talks of the industrial revolution says cotton', this statement implies that the industrial revolution meant only the major discoveries that had taken place in the textile industry however in reality industrial revolution meant more than cotton.
  • It is a fact that major discoveries had taken place in the textile industry.
  • Example- John Key invented the Flying shuttle broadcloth and narrow cloth.
  • James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny for speeding up the process of spinning.
  • Arkwright introduced a water frame with heavy rollers installed for making the cotton yarn hard by sprinkling water as it occupied more space it was called the father of the factory system.
  • Cartwright discovered Powerloom, a mechanised one for speeding up the process of weaving and spinning.
  • Whitney discovered the Cotton Gin for processing cotton.
  • An unknown American discovered a needle for stitching.
  • In metallurgy, the Bessemer method was used for smelting iron and removing phosphorus content in iron.
  • It was replaced by the Simon Martin method with which much stronger and more durable iron and steel could be manufactured by adding tungsten and chromium.
  • In the mining industry particularly in the coal mines, for safe mining safety lamp was discovered by Hamphry Davis.
  • In the transport and communication systems, James Watt was the first to introduce Steam engines. The same scheme could be used for locomotives.
  • Stevenson was the first to use steam for locomotives.
  • Adams brothers were the first to go for concrete roads and cement roads in England.
  • Thus, the industrial revolution was not about mere cotton.
  • It refers to major discoveries that took place in different industries and different systems of production, over a period of time gradually.

THE TOPIC OF THE NEXT CLASS- THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (TO CONTINUE)