History
Historical Concepts
Evidence
Empathy
Cause and Effect
Significance
Continuity and Change
Contestability
Perspectives
World War I (28th July 1914 - 11th November 1918)
The Industrial Revolution (1700's-1800's)
What was life like before the Industrial Revolution?
Life before the Industrial Revolution was subsistent, with people providing their own goods and bartered to gather resources that they couldn't obtain. All citizens both the young and the old worked tirelessly to provide for themselves and many families would suffer from food insecurity.
What was the Industrial Revolution?
The Industrial Revolution is the home production of goods began to be traded for production of goods in factories, powered by coal and oil.
Developments in Agriculture
Crop Rotation
Improved Farm Machinery and Methods
The Enclosures
From the mid-1600s, changes in farming and agriculture across Britain paved the way for the Industrial Revolution. The changes brought about the demands for more food to support Britain's growing population. Collectively, these changes are referred to as the "Agricultural Revolution".
More than 4000 Enclosure Acts (laws) were passed by the British Parliament during the Agricultural Revolution. The smaller lands were then joined together to create larger and more efficient producing lands. The process caused a great deal of social unrest as many serfs were forced off the land. This caused many serfs to flood into cities (urbanisation) and became part os the new industrial working class.
3 Field System
4 Field System
Bt the mid-1700s, new farming machinery were being implicated (mechanical drills for planting seeds, reaping machines for harvesting crops and threshing machines to separate the valuable grains from the stalk of wheat and barley). These machines made farming more efficient and increased profits. Along with improvements in crop production came improvements in animal breeding and rearing
Why did the Industrial Revolution begin in Britain?
Naval Power and Trading Power
Britain's Coal Supplies
Rise of British Empire
Individual Freedom and Capitalist Spirit
Stable Government
Superior Banking System and Capital for Investment
The authority and wealth that Britain occupied as an empire. This allowed them to establish British colonies, in 1900 the British Empire covered a quarter of the world. Therefore, allowing the importation of more resources to fuel the Industrial Revolution.
Britain was fortunate to have large supply of coal, a vital fuel for steam power. none of the other European settlements had such a large quantity of accessible coal.
Britain had always relied on skilled sailors , a strong navy an experienced fleets on merchant ships. Its largest merchant trading company was the East India Company (EIC) and rivalled many European settlements.
Unlike many of the European powers, there was a greater measure of individual and intellectual freedom. These factors provided those who wished to take a risk, without backlash.
Before the start of the Industrial Revolution, Britain had enjoyed a prolonged period without much political or social conflict. This sense of stability and order encouraged the growth of business.
England endorsed banking, investment and insurance expanded to support and protect that trade. There was a supply of capital available at very low rates of interest.
What was life like during the Industrial Revolution?
The Industrial Revolution meant the transformation of countries' population to predominantly rural to urban through the process of urbanisation. This was a result of a job opportunity that was readily available as a result of the construction in factories to produce home goods. In addition, serfs could no loner tend the common land, as a result, of this forced serfs to find wirk in the rural areas; known as the 'enclosure laws.'
In 1750, Britain's population was 7 million, by 1900 the population increased drastically to 17 million people. The population trend from 1750 to 1900 is directly proportional to the Industrial Revolution. In the early 1750s, serfs tend the land and received minimum crops in the process. Until the enclosure laws, were introduced which forced many individuals to reside in rural areas and began to degrade the subsistent economy and moved to the market capitalist economy.
On the contrary, many factories were being built as a result of new efficient inventions that could produce home goods. However, there weren't enough people to maintain production, until the mass amount of serfs began to pollute the city desperately searching for employment. As more individuals began to work this increased the number of goods and crops which allowed nutrients to the malnourished. This increased life expectancy and the birthrate which increased the construction of infrastructure and the production of goods. However, due to the increased drastic population housing began to decrease in the area to maintain the vast population.
Developments in Cotton, Wool and Iron Production
Cotton and Wool Production
Iron Production
The Factory System
Before the introduction of the factory system manufacturing occurred in small workshops or local workers' cottages. Local trades and craftspeople such as; blacksmiths, millers and weavers. In contrast, large quantities of workers began to increase in a single site or factory. Few of these workers were skilled because the majority of the labour was manufactured by machines and were extremely repetitive. The machines were first powered by water, then by steam and finally by electricity which was more effective in production.
The first factories manufactured of the Industrial Revolution were cotton mills. The machinery in the mills were mainly consisted of Spinning Jennys' which was effective in spinning cotton
The Spinning Jenny, invented by James Hargreaves in 1765, assisted in the increase os the quantity of yarn. It could spin eight threads at once, in comparison the original and traditional spinning wheel could only spin one thread at a time.
By the middle of the 1760's Britain was importing cotton from India and the United States as they became a central point of cotton production. In contrast, factory owners would employ a mass amount of individuals as it didn't require skill, women and children joined the workforce and were substantially cheaper to employ.
Before the Industrial Revolution, iron producers had to extract the pure element from the iron ore. Generating enough heat required a large quantity of charcoal to supply the demand. Because if this wood supplies were dwindling .However, in 1704, Abraham Darby, an iron producer at Coalbrookedale in Derbyshire, England. Darby introduced a more effective method by using coke which sustained the quantity of wood. Coke was a substance that released less carbon emissions and burnt at a greater temperature and there was a plentiful supply.
Working Conditions/Living Conditions
Child Labour
When the Industrial Revolution began, children were speculated as ideal employees. They were small enough to fit between the new machinery and were cheap to employ. Wages for children were sometimes paid in the form of vouchers that could only be used at stores owned by the factory owner. Over time, social reforms raised the minimum age, shortened the working days, increased wages and introduced some form of education.
Living Conditions
In the 1750's, a mere 15 percent of the population of Great Britain lived in towns or cities. By 1850, the urban population had risen to 50%.
Conditions for the Rich and Poor
On top of the social hierarchy were the aristocrats. These people included people of royal blood-dukes, earls, lords and barons- with strong family traditions and reputations. The aristocrats possessed enormous wealth, land and political influence. The middle class included factory owners, industrialists, doctors and lawyers whose generous income allowed them to establish their home on the outskirts of the new towns and cities. The majority of the working class lived closer to the factories, in slum areas with poor sanitation. Houses were built back-to-back to minimise land consumption and rarely had fire regulations. There was no proper sewerage, rare access to freshwater and little or no garbage disposal. In Liverpool in 1865, 40 percent of young children died in such conditions and the life expectancy was just 29 years old.
Developments in Transport
At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, transport was extremely costly and sluggish. Industries began to demand and efficient way of transport both quicker and cheaper.
Steam Locomotives
The first steam locomotive was invented by engineer Richard Trevithick in 1801. From 1829 steam locomotives became more sophisticated, more powerful and travelled at greater speeds.
Steam Ships
The first commercial steam ship was manufactured by an American named Robert Falcon, in 1807. Many modifications occurred over the next 100 years which ultimately led to the modern steam ship. In addition, British engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel launched the SS Great Britain, the first steamship that had screw propellor increasing the overall speed.
Internal Combustion Engine
Etienne Lenoir developed the first functional Internal Combustion Engine in 1859. German engineers Gottlish Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach experimented with an engine that used a new fuel, which later is commonly known as petroleum or gasoline. Daimler first used the engine to power a wooden bike in 1885. At first, cars were painstakingly built by hand, their high cost meant that they were only accessible for the wealthy. It wasn't until 1908 that Henry Ford manufactured an affordable model of cars known as the "Ford Model T" by using an assembly-line technique; which ultimately made cars significantly cheaper and efficient.
Causes of WWI
Imperialism
Spark
Militarism
Nationalism
Alliances
An alliance is agreements made between countries to assist others welfare. This means that the opposition of a country of an alliance becomes your opposition as well. The two groups in the Alliance system in WWI were the Triple Alliance (formed in 1882 between the countries of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy) and the Triple Entente (formed in 1907 between the countries of Britain, France and Russia). This contributed to WWI because each participating country promised to provide military support if an ally was attacked by a member of the opposing alliance. Ironically, the system was practised to prevent the outbreak of another major war; this contributed to the quantitative size of the war. Also, this ideological belief of alliance spread across the world and influenced many countries.
Militarism relates the importance of the country's imperial military and how it should be immobilised to enforce beliefs and to defend against invasions. Militarism was an essential factor in the outbreak of World War I. Many European countries before the confrontation were competing against each other not only over the influence of their empires but also over the quantity of their military. Between the years of 1870 to 1914 military spendings increased drastically in numerous European countries on average by 300 percent. Also, after 1871 many European powers introduced conscription, which meant all men over the age of 18 were mandatory to serve a brief period in the armed forces. By 1900, Britain had developed the largest and most influential navy in the world. Britain had to administrate this immense naval power to juridic their overseas dominions. When Germany began immobilising their navy, which greatly concerned Britain who relied on the importation of necessities. This ultimately led to Germany and Britain competing with one another to who could manufacture the most 'Dreadnoughts,' a very influential, expensive, armoured battleship. By early 1914, although European imperial powers were discussing signing declarations to declare peace, even though they were visible in the race to gain influence and were taking precautions for the inevitable war that would affect the lives of millions.
Imperialism is when a nation takes over new lands or nations and makes them subject to its law. By 1900, the British Empire expanded over five continents, and France had control over big parts of Africa. With the rise of industrialism, new markets were needed by countries. The quantity of land ' owned ' by Britain and France significantly boosted the competition with Germany, which had joined the scramble to obtain colonies late and had only insufficient parts of Africa.
"The art of representing three-dimensional objects on a two-dimensional surface so as to give the right impression of their height, width, depth, and position in relation to each other."
Continuity refers to the continuance of themes over time, or similarities over time. Technology changes and cultures change, but because human nature remains constant, there are many continuities. Change is a very important part if history. As time passes, all kinds of things like technology, culture, and laws change."
These factors worked in conjunction as it began to provoke the opposing alliance to compete with military advancements which ultimately was ignited by the ‘spark’. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand allowed for Austria-Hungary to justify their invasion on Serbia who inevitably believed that Serbia was involved as they rioted against their possession of Bosnia. In addition, the only person that was preventing the invasion of Serbia was Franz Ferdinand who was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip who was involved in a Serbian Terrorist group. This was the inevitable beginning of WWI as allies began to declare war on the opposing alliance, this in conjunction with militarism influenced the mass scale of the war.
Nationalism implies being a powerful proponent of one's own country's rights and interests. The Vienna Congress, held after Napoleon's exile to Elba, was designed to solve issues in Europe. Delegates from Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia (the winning allies) decided on a new Europe that left Germany and Italy as divided states. Strong nationalist aspects resulted to the reunification of Italy in 1861 and of Germany in 1871. At the end of the Franco-Prussian war, the settlement left France upset at the loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany and eager to recover its lost land. Large regions of both Austria-Hungary and Serbia were home to different nationalist organizations, all of whom wished to be free from the nations in which they resided.
"Contestability is the idea that two separate sources can draw different conclusions about a historical person, concept or event. Contestability most commonly occurs between two modern sources, typically academics, who have studied the surviving material in detail, but hold two different interpretations of the past."
Historians use the concept of cause and effect to identify chains of events and developments, both in the short term and in the long term. The purpose of cause and effect is to define, examine and analyse the reasons why occurrences have happened and the resulting implications or results. It enables us to think of cause and effect as the' why' and' what' of history.
Evidence is the information collected from historical sources. The concept of evidence is an essential part of the historical investigation. Evidence can come from a variety of sources.
The notion of empathy enables us to comprehend the effect of previous occurrences on people or organizations. This includes gratitude of the circumstances they face and the motivations, values and attitudes behind their behavior. Put another way, empathy is the ability to' walk in someone else's shoes'–to be aware and sensitive to their feelings, thoughts and experiences.
The concept of significance relates to the importance assigned to aspects of the past. This involves individuals, activities, developments, findings, movements and historic sites. History is full of so many important occurrences, important people and exciting locations that we could never study all of them.