Second Industrial Revolution
From 1870, new changes have taken place in Europe's economy. The changes were based on the discovery of new energy sources and the scientific and technical advances. Began the second Industrial Revolution.
leading industries
The basis of this second industrial phase were two new energy sources: electricity and oil , whose massive employment occurred in the twentieth century. In addition to traditional industries (textiles, coal), which continued to expand, the use of new energy sources led tothe development of three other industrial sectors: electrical, chemical and steel.
- The electrical industry has revolutionized the lighting (the light bulb, Thomas Edison breakthrough replaced gas lighting), transport (electric train, subway, trolleybus) and telecommunications (telegraph, telephone, radio).
- The chemical industry received a boost with the creation of fertilizers, synthetic products (paints and artificial coloring), explosives and pharmaceuticals.
- In the steel sector there has been remarkable progress with the invention of the Bessemer furnace, capable of producing huge amounts of steel at low prices. Steel was responsible for the great development in shipbuilding and armaments, as well as in architecture and engineering. Furthermore, other metals and alloys industry developed (copper, aluminum , nickel , and zinc ).
At the same time, there was a radical change in transport, with the advent of the automobile and the airplane, which further development would take place in the twentieth century.
Systems of production and sale
If during the first Industrial Revolution , the family business was how to arrange the little mechanized production of small industries in the Second Industrial Revolution have implemented new production systems:
- The work process has changed. The engineer Frederick Taylor divided the work into small tasks, the duration of which was timed exactly. Each worker specialized in one of them (the so - called division of labor), receiving a salary proportional to the service performed.
The work has become more efficient, but also more mechanical and monotonous.
- Shortly after, the American entrepreneur Henry Ford invented the production line (Fordism ), which avoided downtime (where the worker was stopped) between one task and another. With these changes, the number of products manufactured by worker, cutting the price and increased the consumption.
- They have developed large companies that controlled the markets and began the industrial concentration. Appeared trusts and holding companies, groups formed by several companies seeking to monopolize a sector of production and end the competition. Thus, in 1890, Standard Oil, which controlled 90% of the country 'srefineries, fixed oil prices in the United States.
- The forms of sale have also changed. They appeared the first department stores, larger shops, and developed new advertising techniques.
All these innovations, however, caused unrest among workers, underpaid, and among the small traders and craftsmen who saw risky their traditional way of life.
industrial powers
L Between 865 and 1914, Britain was still the first commercial power in the world. However, it was gradually losing the industrial supremacy, since their industry, closely linked to the steam and coal, adapted with difficulty to subsequent technical innovations, this way, new industries have developed more in the United States and Germany.
In 191 3, the United States became the first agricultural and industrial power in the world, thanks once strength of its domestic market and the new organizational guidelines of production, focusing on technological innovation and business concentration in trusts (merger of several companies ).
Germany put up as the leader of the chemical and electrical industries, especially in heavy industry iron , steel and machinery. The key to German progress was the increase of the internal market, thanks to the unification, the business concentration and militaristic policy.
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Category: General history
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