Industrial Revolution in Western Europe Essay Example

Industrial Revolution in Western Europe Essay Example Industrial Revolution in Western Europe Essay Industrial Revolution in Western Europe Essay The eighteenth century witnessed the arrival of widespread industrialisation in Western Europe. Many countries underwent the gradual transition from a predominantly agrarian society to industrial development on an extensive scale and the introduction of the modern factory system. Great Britain was thefirst European country to experience this profound economic and social transformation and it can be labelled the innovator to the process of industrialisation, the stimulus to development. Why was Britain at the forefront of the progression to advanced society David Landes (1969) states that there was a, piling up of various factors which triggered off a chain reaction. It is indicated that Britain, in this period of time, was propitious for invention and expansion due to a number of determinants, such as, agricultural circumstances, population growth and hence availability of labour, capital and raw materials, improvements in transport, growth in overseas trade, willingness of capitalists to invest, non-conformists, its political system and the recently studied phenomena of proto-industrialisation. By no means is there an order of importance, as each and every one of these factors contributed to Britains ability and facility to industrialise there existed a fertile soil in which the seed of industrialisation could grow. English agriculture between the late seventeenth century and mid-nineteenth century is commonly regarded as a huge success with respect to the economy as a whole. Some believe that agriculture should be sufficiently developed so that there is a release in labour and resources for modern industry to transpire. Others believe that a revolution in farming techniques is an essential prerequisite to the modernisation of manufacturing and transport industries.