1. Introduction
The Industrial Revolution (ca. 1760 – 1850) was seen as the cause of the first phase of globalization, because it initiated the start of sustained economic growth. There will be a discussion explaining why the Industrial Revolution occurred in the Britain and not any other country in the world, ending with a conclusion as to why it did not happen in Africa. There will also follow a short discussion on what accountants were responsible for in Europe during the Industrial Revolution. The Global Economic History – a very short introduction will be used to answer the statements mentioned above.
2. The Industrial Revolution
The largest factor that caused the Industrial Revolution was technological change. New and better machines were invented, like the steam engine and cotton weaving machines, and new processes were introduced, like melting and reforming steel or iron by burning coal and not wood. As a result, labour productivity increased, that led to long lasting economic growth, more specifically, a growth in Gross Domestic Product (Allen, 2011: 27).
During the eighteenth century, England had access to large quantities of coal and thus had the largest coal mining industry in the world during that time. This resulted in England possessing the cheapest energy source during the 1700’s. Other countries
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Reasons as to why it did not occur here, is probably because African countries did not possess a sophisticated economic system to deal with the changes that the Industrial Revolution would have brought, like an increasing need for accounting. It is possible that Africa would have possessed a large coal mining industry like the one in Europe, but it lacked the technology to mine for this coal. Finally, it is possible that African people were not as initiative as Europeans in the creation in new technologies. This is why the Industrial Revolution took place in Europe, and not