First and Second Industrialization Wave - Essay Example

It originated in Great Britain and then made its way through Western Europe, Japan, North America and finally spread all over the world. With the Industrial Revolution every facet of life and living was affected in some way or the other. Prolonged growth of income and population started to take place. In the centuries following the Industrial Revolution, population increased six times and the world’s average income increased ten times1. The time period during which the Second Industrial Revolution lasted (1867 - 1914) has been named ‘The Age of Synergy’ by Vaclav Smill2.

The Second Industrial Revolution was characterized by a number of factors. New tools were made of stronger and more durable metals like aluminum and alloys like steel were introduced as well. New substances were used as fuels including petroleum and natural gas and the method of handling business also changed. A small description of the highlights of the Second Industrial Revolution is given below. Forms of business that had never been seen before came into existence and labour became more organized.

The heavy industry was capitalized by monopoly, cartels and banks. Monopolies are huge organizations which control the every part of the industries. A cartel is composed of different ventures and fixed prices as well as production allowances and hence cutting down the competition which caused prices to reduce. Germany had a strong base of cartels and banks there protected there investments by cutting the competition down. Trade unions were formed by workers which allowed them to have better working hours and also have some allowances enabling them to improve their condition.

The workers made use of strikes to get what they wanted from their employers. By the time the First World War started three to four million workers were part of unions although the total workforce was five times that number of workers. The strikes were mostly walkouts but a few were of a violent nature as well (socsci.gulfcoast.edu). The social and political power was in the hands of the middle class relative to their economic power. The middle class had a variety of groups. The middle class divided into three classes- upper, lower and middle.

The lower middle class was comprised of people working for the class above their own. They were mostly shopkeepers, traders, and peasants. The middle class comprised of doctors, lawyers, merchants, well off merchants as well as professionals in the Civil Services. Due to the expansion of industry because of the Industrial Revolution this middle group kept getting more additions. The new additions were engineers, accountants, architects and chemists. These new additions formed professional institutions to symbolize their worth.

Between the lower middle class and the lower class, there was present a group of workers who were basically salesmen, bookkeepers and secretaries. They were paid a little more than the working class and mostly had no properties of their own. They were intent on improving their social statuses and worked hard to achieve that target, succeeding most of the time (socsci.gulfcoast.edu). A distinct character of the Second Industrial Revolution was that peasants and artisans were put out of business and they were replaced by machinery and skilled workers who could operate