Which describes a major social effect of the industrial revolution in europe?

Top Questions

Where and when did the Industrial Revolution take place?

How did the Industrial Revolution change economies?

How did the Industrial Revolution change society?

What were some important inventions of the Industrial Revolution?

Who were some important inventors of the Industrial Revolution?

Industrial Revolution, in modern history, the process of change from an agrarian and handicraft economy to one dominated by industry and machine manufacturing. These technological changes introduced novel ways of working and living and fundamentally transformed society. This process began in Britain in the 18th century and from there spread to other parts of the world. Although used earlier by French writers, the term Industrial Revolution was first popularized by the English economic historian Arnold Toynbee (1852–83) to describe Britain’s economic development from 1760 to 1840. Since Toynbee’s time the term has been more broadly applied as a process of economic transformation than as a period of time in a particular setting. This explains why some areas, such as China and India, did not begin their first industrial revolutions until the 20th century, while others, such as the United States and western Europe, began undergoing “second” industrial revolutions by the late 19th century.

A brief treatment of the Industrial Revolution follows. For full treatment of the Industrial Revolution as it occurred in Europe, see Europe, history of: The Industrial Revolution.

Characteristics of the Industrial Revolution

The main features involved in the Industrial Revolution were technological, socioeconomic, and cultural. The technological changes included the following: (1) the use of new basic materials, chiefly iron and steel, (2) the use of new energy sources, including both fuels and motive power, such as coal, the steam engine, electricity, petroleum, and the internal-combustion engine, (3) the invention of new machines, such as the spinning jenny and the power loom that permitted increased production with a smaller expenditure of human energy, (4) a new organization of work known as the factory system, which entailed increased division of labour and specialization of function, (5) important developments in transportation and communication, including the steam locomotive, steamship, automobile, airplane, telegraph, and radio, and (6) the increasing application of science to industry. These technological changes made possible a tremendously increased use of natural resources and the mass production of manufactured goods.

There were also many new developments in nonindustrial spheres, including the following: (1) agricultural improvements that made possible the provision of food for a larger nonagricultural population, (2) economic changes that resulted in a wider distribution of wealth, the decline of land as a source of wealth in the face of rising industrial production, and increased international trade, (3) political changes reflecting the shift in economic power, as well as new state policies corresponding to the needs of an industrialized society, (4) sweeping social changes, including the growth of cities, the development of working-class movements, and the emergence of new patterns of authority, and (5) cultural transformations of a broad order. Workers acquired new and distinctive skills, and their relation to their tasks shifted; instead of being craftsmen working with hand tools, they became machine operators, subject to factory discipline. Finally, there was a psychological change: confidence in the ability to use resources and to master nature was heightened.

Which describes a major social effect of the industrial revolution in europe?

Britannica Quiz

European History

What was the name of Franz Ferdinand’s assassin? Who was known as the Iron Chancellor? From the Irish famine to Lady Godiva, journey through European history in this quiz.

  • Introduction
    • Paleolithic settlement
      • Earliest developments
      • Upper Paleolithic developments
    • Mesolithic adaptations
    • The Neolithic Period
      • The adoption of farming
      • The late Neolithic Period
        • Agricultural intensification
        • Social change
      • The Indo-Europeans

    • The chronology of the Metal Ages
    • General characteristics
      • The Copper Age
      • The Bronze Age
      • The Iron Age
    • Social and economic developments
      • Control over resources
      • Changing centres of wealth
      • Prestige and status
      • The relationship between nature and culture
      • Rituals, religion, and art
    • The people of the Metal Ages

    • Greeks
    • Romans
    • Barbarian migrations and invasions
      • The Germans and Huns
      • The reconfiguration of the empire

    • The idea of the Middle Ages
      • The term and concept before the 18th century
      • Enlightenment scorn and Romantic admiration
      • The Middle Ages in modern historiography
    • Chronology
    • Late antiquity: the reconfiguration of the Roman world
      • The organization of late imperial Christianity
      • Kings and peoples
      • The great commission
      • The bishops of Rome
      • The Mediterranean world divided
    • The Frankish ascendancy
      • The Merovingian dynasty
      • Charlemagne and the Carolingian dynasty
      • Carolingian decline and its consequences
    • Growth and innovation
      • Demographic and agricultural growth
      • Technological innovations
      • Urban growth
    • Reform and renewal
    • The consequences of reform
      • The transformation of thought and learning
      • The structure of ecclesiastical and devotional life
        • Ecclesiastical organization
        • Devotional life
      • From persuasion to coercion: The emergence of a new ecclesiastical discipline
      • Christianity, Judaism, and Islam
    • From territorial principalities to territorial monarchies
      • The office and person of the king
      • Instruments of royal governance
      • The three orders
    • Crisis, recovery, and resilience: Did the Middle Ages end?

    • The Italian Renaissance
      • Urban growth
      • Wars of expansion
      • Italian humanism
        • Growth of literacy
        • Language and eloquence
        • The humanities
        • Classical scholarship
        • Arts and letters
      • Renaissance thought
    • The northern Renaissance
      • Political, economic, and social background
      • Northern humanism
      • Christian mystics
      • The growth of vernacular literature
    • Renaissance science and technology

    • Economy and society
      • The economic background
      • Demographics
      • Trade and the “Atlantic revolution”
      • Prices and inflation
      • Landlords and peasants
      • Protoindustrialization
      • Growth of banking and finance
      • Political and cultural influences on the economy
      • Aspects of early modern society
    • Politics and diplomacy
      • The state of European politics
        • Discovery of the New World
        • Nation-states and dynastic rivalries
        • Turkey and eastern Europe
      • Reformation and Counter-Reformation
      • Diplomacy in the age of the Reformation
      • The Wars of Religion
      • The Thirty Years’ War
        • The crisis in Germany
        • The crisis in the Habsburg lands
        • The triumph of the Catholics, 1619–29
        • The crisis of the war, 1629–35
        • The European war in Germany, 1635–45
        • Making peace, 1645–48
        • Problems not solved by the war
        • Problems solved by the war

    • Order from disorder
    • The human condition
      • Population
      • Climate
      • War
      • Health and sickness
      • Poverty
    • The organization of society
      • Corporate society
      • Nobles and gentlemen
      • The bourgeoisie
      • The peasantry
    • The economic environment
      • Innovation and development
      • Early capitalism
      • The old industrial order
    • Absolutism
      • Sovereigns and estates
      • Major forms of absolutism
        • France
        • The empire
        • Prussia
      • Variations on the absolutist theme
        • Sweden
        • Denmark
        • Spain
        • Portugal
        • Britain
        • Holland
        • Russia
    • The Enlightenment
      • Sources of Enlightenment thought
      • The role of science and mathematics
      • The influence of Locke
      • The proto-Enlightenment
      • History and social thought
      • The language of the Enlightenment
      • Man and society
      • The Encyclopédie
      • Rousseau and his followers
      • The Aufklärung
      • The Enlightenment throughout Europe

    • The Industrial Revolution
      • Economic effects
      • Social upheaval
    • The age of revolution
      • The French Revolution
      • The Napoleonic era
      • The conservative reaction
      • The Revolutions of 1848
    • Romanticism and Realism
      • The legacy of the French Revolution
        • Cultural nationalism
        • Simplicity and truth
        • Populism
        • Nature of the changes
        • Napoleon’s influence
      • General character of the Romantic movement
      • Romanticism in literature and the arts
        • Drama
        • Painting
        • Sculpture and architecture
        • Music
        • Self-analysis
    • Early 19th-century social and political thought
      • Postrevolutionary thinking
      • The principle of evolution
      • Science
      • Early 19th-century philosophy
        • Kant
        • Kant’s disciples
      • Religion and its alternatives
        • Scientific positivism
        • The cult of art
      • The middle 19th century
      • Realism and Realpolitik
        • Scientific materialism
        • Victorian morality
        • The advance of democracy
      • Realism in the arts and philosophy
        • Literature
        • Painting and sculpture
        • Popular art
        • Music
        • Summary
    • A maturing industrial society
      • The “second industrial revolution”
      • Modifications in social structure
      • The rise of organized labour and mass protests
      • Conditions in eastern Europe
    • The emergence of the industrial state
      • Political patterns
      • Changes in government functions
      • Reform and reaction in eastern Europe
      • Diplomatic entanglements
      • The scramble for colonies
      • Prewar diplomacy
    • Modern culture
      • Symbolism and Impressionism
      • Aestheticism
      • Naturalism
      • The new century
        • Arts and Crafts movement
        • New trends in technology and science
        • The social sciences
        • Reexamination of the universe
      • The prewar period

    • The Great War and its aftermath
      • The shock of World War I
      • The mood of Versailles
    • The interwar years
      • Hopes in Geneva
      • The lottery in Weimar
      • The impact of the slump
      • The trappings of dictatorship
      • The phony peace
    • The blast of World War II
    • Postwar Europe
      • Planning the peace
      • The United States to the rescue
      • A climate of fear
      • Affluence and its underside
      • The reflux of empire
    • Ever closer union?

More

  • More Articles On This Topic
  • Additional Reading
  • Contributors
  • Article History

Which of the following describes a major social effect of the Industrial Revolution?

The Industrial Revolution brought rapid urbanization or the movement of people to cities. Changes in farming, soaring population growth, and an ever-increasing demand for workers led masses of people to migrate from farms to cities.

Which of the following is a major social effect of the Industrial Revolution in Europe quizlet?

What were the social effects of the Industrial Revolutions? It brought rapid urbanization and created a new industrial middle class and industrial working class.

What is the effect of society when the Industrial Revolution happened in Europe?

The Industrial Revolution transformed economies that had been based on agriculture and handicrafts into economies based on large-scale industry, mechanized manufacturing, and the factory system. New machines, new power sources, and new ways of organizing work made existing industries more productive and efficient.

What was the social impact of industrialization in Europe quizlet?

The social impact of industrialization in Europe relates to population growth. From 1750 to 1850, the European population almost doubled from 140 million to 266 million.