Final Exam
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Section A (Question 1)
The first and the second industrial revolution mainly involved technological revolution and it enhanced standardization. Therefore, through industrial revolution, the wealth and resource acquisition in the Western World increased. The industrial revolutions of the European society and its economy were altered by industrial revolution positively. The first industrial revolution was witnessed through evolution of technology. Technology brought about power machines. This enhanced creation of job opportunities amongst the people that improved their standards of living since they could earn income. These new machines also increased the speed of production of goods as it created opportunities for people to engage in transporting their raw materials to the companies where they could be processed (Ghislieri, Molino, & Cortese, 2018).
Also, there is the concept of urbanization that was brought about by technological advancement. People moved to towns seeking jobs in industries and they wanted to live near firms that provided them with jobs. It is through this process of urbanization that there was creation of towns and cities due to the development witnessed in the place. It changed the Western World from agricultural and rural state to urban industrial. Another significant revolution is the development of steam engines that provided cheap transportation of goods specially by waterways and it led to construction of canals that helped move resources from the producers to the factories. Railroad system is another invention that revolution that has changed the lives of people in Europe since they use this to transport their goods from the firms to the factories and ensure that the goods reach to the market at the required time (Ghislieri, Molino, & Cortese, 2018). Generally, technology introduced the concept of power machinery that has helped people simplify their work and raise their level of standards.
The organization of the society improved through industrial revolution. People who managed to work in the industries and earn enough money managed to live a lavish lifestyle and classes were created since wealth distribution is uneven. Political classes were formed to help the people in the different communities to have good management and leaders were elected to represent this people at the national level. During both 1st and 2nd industrial revolution, there were negative aspects of technology to the economy and the society at large (Rook, Salvatori, van Moyland, & Rosa, 2017). Revolution of industries was characterized by child labor. Growing industries wanted cheap labor and children were mainly available making them vulnerable to this problem that affected societies. Small children were mainly found at the large farms.
Industrial revolution was generally good to Europe and there was need to embrace to the change in technology that brought about development of power machines. As such, it also harmed Europe because there were no sanitation and many people involved came into direct contact with dirt and chemicals that made them fall sick. Most of those who worked in the industry were working more than 12 hours and they developed illness and fatigue at their workplace as explained by Rook, Salvatori, van Moyland, and Rosa (2017). Therefore, the good revolution of industries also had their unpleasant side of the story.
In social aspect of consideration, the emergence of industrial revolution led to unprecedented increase in the population growth. Most people were employed in textile industry and the industry dominated the economy as it created many jobs until when it was considered the first industry to use the modern methods of production methods. Again, the social consideration was characterized by the doubling of the urban population as compared to the rural areas and cities were over crowed. This came with its share of negative aspects and problems.
Section B (Comprehensive Essay)
Currently, Europe is considered to be in modern age and it is attributed by many factors and significant historical events that have changed the continent into what is considered relevant to the modern world (Blaydes & Paik, 2021). The key historical event is urbanization that has transformed the city into a nice place full of modern constructed cities and attractive buildings. It started when industries were established in various regions of Europe. Agricultural firms were dominant in the place. The many firms constructed for food production was characterized by the high demand for the jobs. The same workers who are working in these firms were characterized by demand of other goods they would use and therefore, there were emergence of other service providers, building manufacturers, and retailers who had to visit the place to meet the rising demand of the items utilized by the people working in the industries.
According to Blaydes and Paik (2021), technology have improved on the working environment of the industries. For instance, the manufacturing firms like factories are replaced by industry that are technological oriented. These hubs can attract people from different areas and therefore, making the area to grow through the process of urbanization. Urbanization near water bodies have also continued to gain momentum especially due to the development of industries. Initially, people resided near water bodies because they wanted food like fish. However, current urbanization near shows of water bodies is due to the need of getting water that can be used in firms to cool machines in industries. It is an explanation for the existence of about 75% of urban towns located in coastal areas (Fernández-Götz, 2018).
Another way of urbanization has changed the Europe continent into the current state is the fact that industrialization have caused economic expansion and demand for education especially for the public workers have increased immensely. People are looking for new technologies that they can use to enhance their production. It is only possible where the educated workforce is available. Therefore, many people seek education, whose demand is high and engage in increasing learning institutions. It attracts people from different parts of the world and therefore, causing urbanization.
It makes it normal where there is industrialization to also experience the process of urbanization. The process may take long depending on the time take for an area to undergo several phases of both social and economical reforms. Therefore, with the help of enhanced education, the social reforms, and government intervention, urbanization have changed Europe into modern era where things run as expected by the people with the current trends in technology (Fernández-Götz, 2018).
Nonetheless, despite the good things brought by urbanization, the modern era problems experienced within the towns can be attributed to the process of urbanization. For instance, the modern slums and growing of squatters in urban places can be attributed to urbanization. There is also huge influx of immigration from rural areas to these huge cities as people search for better lives. Due to high demand in cities, the prices of commodities have been exaggerated and thus, making life in town difficult. Therefore, urbanization is one of key historical process that have caused the modern era age of Europe and it has come along with both positive and negative aspects of life.
References
Blaydes, L., & Paik, C. (2021). Muslim trade and city growth before the nineteenth century: comparative urbanization in Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia. British Journal of Political Science, 51(2), 845-868.
Fernández-Götz, M. (2018). Urbanization in Iron Age Europe: trajectories, patterns, and social dynamics. Journal of Archaeological Research, 26(2), 117-162.
Ghislieri, C., Molino, M., & Cortese, C. G. (2018). Work and organizational psychology looks at the fourth industrial revolution: how to support workers and organizations?. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 2365.
Rook, D., Salvatori, A., van Moyland, J., & Rosa, P. (2017). Innovation Patterns: Upgrading Sectoral Classification for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Available at SSRN 2928335.
