Ch. 20: The Industrial Revolution

Ch. 20: The Industrial Revolution began after 1750 in Great Britain. Innovations created in the cotton industry helped produce an excess amount of cheap cloth during a short period of time. James Hargreaves’s spinning jenny, Richard Arkwright’s water frame spinning machine, and Samuel Crompton’s mule increased production output for Britain. In the 1760’s, James Watt introduced the steam engine. This machine relied on the burning of coal; this was attractive to others because no longer did they need to be placed near any rivers. A new process of puddling founded by Henry Cort created wrought iron, a more malleable and demanding type of iron. In 1804, Richard Trevithick invented Britain’s first steam powered train. In decades to come, the locomotive

Alienation towards the Hungarians resulted in the establishment of the Ausgleich (Compromise); this negotiation created a dual monarchy, German speaking Austrians and Hungarian Magyars. In Russia, there was a need for reform. Tsar Alexander II called for the abolishment of serfdom and local assemblies of self-government. The outcome was unpleasant and it led to the assassination of Alexander II. His successor decided to renounce all reform movements and return to Russia’s traditional methods. Great Britain created the Reform Act of 1867, which this reform lowered the monetary requirement for voting, and the Education Act of 1870, which made elementary schools available to all

His theories (Marxism) consisted of the working class people overthrowing the government through revolutions; Marxism set the foundation for communism. In the 1890’s, a member of the German Social Democratic Party, Eduard Bernstein, invalidated Marx’s theories. Bernstein argued that the middle class was expanding, the capitalist system remained intact, and the standard of living amongst workers was improving. These sets of beliefs, brought to light by Bernstein, are part of the socialist doctrine known as revisionism. The resolutions passed by the Second International in 1907 and 1910 also disproved Marxism by showing success in national