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First and Unique: Britain's Industrial Revolution, Part I

© Joseph Sramek

The industrialization of Europe was a major transformation that occurred throughout the nineteenth century. How this industrialization occurred and why it occurred the way it did throughout Europe have been questions numerous scholars have raised. Some argue as David Landes does in his Unbound Prometheus, that Britain was the "model" industrialization which was "followed" either "successfully" or "unsuccessfully" by later industrializing countries. Other scholars, such as Alexander Gerschenkron in his Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective, take a different approach to understanding industrialization in nineteenth century Europe and sees Britain’s experience not as a "model" but rather as an example of just another form of industrialization, and see the experiences of other European countries not as "following" Britain’s lead, but rather as charting toward a different path. Of these two main historiographical positions, I believe the latter is more convincing. British industrialization, instead of being a "model," was rather unique in several ways and different from later industrialization on the Continent in two important ways. First, the fact it occurred in two distinct phases, with dramatic differences between the two, was in many ways a unique phenomenon to British industrialization. Secondly, and more importantly, British industrialization occurred under completely different social, economic, political, and cultural conditions from any other country in Europe. Finally, the same is true for Continental European countries as well. To show this I will first compare British industrialization to Germany's in Parts I and II, as it is widely considered to be a "successful" industrialization. In Parts III and IV, I will compare Britain to France, a country often seen as having had a "failed" industrialization. What should emerge from all four parts is how different British industrialization was from any other in Europe.

There were many unique social, political, economic, and cultural conditions in Britain in the late eighteenth century that led to its “first” industrialization, not found in any other country of Europe. The aristocracy was limited in the sense that it did not have as much social and economic power in Britain as it did in the Continent and also because it was smaller. Only first-born sons inherited, so younger sons had to find their way elsewhere, and many opted toward business. Furthermore, as David Landes points out in his Unbound Prometheus, social and economic mobility were not just limited to those of the upper class, but extended farther in eighteenth century England than anywhere else. Yet at the same time this mobility did not extend, prior to 1832, that much into the political sphere and thus the bourgeoisie remained focused on business.

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