Second Industrial Revolution (global)
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| Second Industrial Revolution (global) | |
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| Name | Second Industrial Revolution |
| Period | c. 1870–1914 |
| Regions | Global |
| Technologies | Electricity; internal combustion engine; steel; chemical synthesis; telegraph; telephone; railways; shipbuilding |
Second Industrial Revolution (global) The Second Industrial Revolution was a period of rapid industrialization and technological diffusion from roughly 1870 to 1914 that transformed production, transportation, and communication across United Kingdom, United States, German Empire, France, Japan, Russian Empire, Italy, Belgium, and Ottoman Empire. Driven by breakthroughs in steel production, electrical engineering, and chemical industry, it reshaped urbanization, labor relations, and international competition, contributing to tensions that preceded the First World War. Major entrepreneurs, financiers, and inventors such as Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, Alessandro Volta, and Guglielmo Marconi played pivotal roles alongside institutions like the Bank of England, Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan & Co., Société Générale, and the Imperial Japanese Army.
Overview and Chronology
The era accelerated after the 1870s following events such as the Franco-Prussian War and the expansion of Second French Empire infrastructure, extending through the prelude to the First World War and intersecting with the Age of Imperialism and the Belle Époque. Periodization often highlights milestones: the widespread adoption of the Bessemer process and open-hearth furnaces for steel, the spread of telegraphy networks after the Transatlantic telegraph cable (1866), and the commercialization of electric light pioneered by Thomas Edison and utilities modeled by Edison Illuminating Company. Financial episodes such as the Panic of 1873 and the Panic of 1893 punctuated phases of boom and bust, while treaties like the Treaty of San Stefano indirectly shaped markets and raw-material flows.
Technological Innovations and Industrial Sectors
Key innovations included the large-scale production of steel via processes associated with Henry Bessemer and Sir William Siemens, the invention of the internal combustion engine refined by Nikolaus Otto and Karl Benz, and the commercialization of electricity by Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, and corporations like General Electric and Siemens AG. Communication and transportation were revolutionized by firms and inventions such as Western Union, the Trans-Siberian Railway, the Panama Canal project, Guglielmo Marconi's wireless telegraphy, and the expansion of steamship lines like the Cunard Line. The chemical industry expanded with players such as BASF and innovations by Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch in synthetic fertilizers and explosives, while the textile industry adopted mechanized looms from inventors like Richard Arkwright (precursor technologies) and firms in Lancashire. Heavy industry conglomerates including ThyssenKrupp and shipyards in Newcastle upon Tyne and Kobe advanced metallurgical and naval construction techniques.
Economic and Business Transformations
Corporate organization evolved with the rise of joint-stock company forms managed by financiers such as J. P. Morgan, leading to trusts and cartels exemplified by Standard Oil Company and German cartels in chemicals and coal. Banking innovations by institutions like the Rothschild family and Crédit Lyonnais financed large-scale infrastructure projects including railroads in Argentina and mining concessions in Congo Free State. The growth of mass production and the adoption of managerial hierarchies influenced by figures such as Frederick Winslow Taylor reshaped firm governance, while tariff policies enacted by governments like the Tariff Act of 1890 and protectionist measures in Meiji Japan affected industrial expansion.
Social and Demographic Impacts
Industrial expansion drove urbanization in cities such as Manchester, New York City, Berlin, Tokyo, Buenos Aires, and Shanghai and spurred migration flows from rural regions and from Southern Europe to the United States. Labor movements and political responses coalesced around organizations like the International Workingmen's Association, the American Federation of Labor, and socialist parties inspired by leaders such as Karl Marx's followers and social democrats in Germany. Public health reforms emerged in response to urban sanitation crises illustrated in cities like London and Paris, and cultural institutions including museums and opera houses in Vienna and Milan reflected new urban middle-class consumption patterns. Strains manifested in industrial accidents at sites like Senghenydd colliery and the rise of labor unrest exemplified by the Pullman Strike.
Political and Geopolitical Consequences
Industrial capacity influenced power balances among states including the British Empire, German Empire, and United States, feeding imperial competition in regions like Africa (notably Scramble for Africa) and Southeast Asia. Naval expansion and battleship programs such as those of the Imperial German Navy and Royal Navy were driven by steel and coal industries, contributing to arms races preceding the First World War. National policies—industrial subsidies in Meiji Japan, colonial concessions negotiated at the Berlin Conference (1884–85), and tariffs enacted in the United States—shaped global trade patterns and diplomatic alignments leading into crises like the Moroccan Crises.
Regional Developments and Case Studies
In the United States, railroads owned by magnates like Cornelius Vanderbilt and industrial conglomerates in Pittsburgh and the Great Lakes region catalyzed steel and oil booms; urban industrial districts in Chicago and Cleveland became manufacturing hubs. In the German Empire, coordinated scientific research and firms such as BASF and Siemens produced a strong chemical and electrical sector. Meiji Japan pursued state-led industrialization with ministries modeled after Prussian institutions and zaibatsu such as Mitsubishi and Mitsui. In Russia, limited industrial centers around St. Petersburg and Donbass contrasted with agrarian hinterlands, while Argentina and Brazil integrated into commodity export circuits centered on beef and coffee. Colonial cases include extractive industries in the Congo Free State and railway projects in British India.
Science, Education, and Institutional Change
Scientific institutions and universities such as the University of Berlin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, École Polytechnique, and University of Tokyo became engines for applied research linking chemists and engineers like Robert Bunsen and Svante Arrhenius to industrial firms. Patent systems, exemplified by legislation in the United Kingdom and the United States, and professional societies including the Royal Society and the American Chemical Society institutionalized innovation. Technical training via polytechnic schools and apprenticeship reforms reshaped labor skills, while state research institutes in Germany and national laboratories in the United States fostered collaboration between science and industry, influencing twentieth-century technological trajectories.