Page "History of Europe" Paragraph 29

The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th century and early 19th century when major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, and transport affected socioeconomic and cultural conditions in Britain and subsequently spread throughout Europe and North America and eventually the world, a process that continues as industrialisation.

In the later part of the 18th century the manual labour based economy of the Kingdom of Great Britain began to be replaced by one dominated by industry and the manufacture of machinery.

It started with the mechanisation of the textile industries, the development of iron-making techniques and the increased use of refined coal.

Once started it spread.

Trade expansion was enabled by the introduction of canals, improved roads and railways.

The introduction of steam power ( fuelled primarily by coal ) and powered machinery ( mainly in textile manufacturing ) underpinned the dramatic increases in production capacity.

The development of all-metal machine tools in the first two decades of the 19th century facilitated the manufacture of more production machines for manufacturing in other industries.

The effects spread throughout Western Europe and North America during the 19th century, eventually affecting most of the world.

The impact of this change on society was enormous.