The+Industrial+Revolution

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 * The Industrial Revolution** occurred from around 1750-1850. This was a period in time where people were looking differently at the way the world moved around them. There was a shift from the more rural, agriculture lifestyle to the urbanized industrial societies we’re more familiar with today. What happened was that when people began to look at the world around them in a more inquisitive way, the entire social structure changed. The church no longer held the power it once claimed, and the people who believed what the government said without question were casting a critical eye in the direction of the people in charge. The Industrial Revolution had three significant areas of impacts in a few specific countries; Russia, Japan, Britain, and the Americas. The Industrial Revolution affected them socially/politically, economically, and theologically.=====

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Russia was affected very strongly by the Industrial Revolution. One of the biggest ways they were affected was the fact that they slowly but surely took over as #4 in steel production in the world. They didn’t get to this until around the 1930’s, and they still had serfdom until 1861. The Industrial Revolution really helped modernize Russia and keep them as a major power in the world. It changed their economy from the agricultural society that it was, to the industrialized society that it became. They didn’t change a whole lot religiously, except perhaps similarly to the rest of Western Europe, but they did realize that their Tsar was a problem. The Russo-Japanese war showed some of the characteristics of the Industrial Revolution. Russia realized they weren’t a naval power, and that at sea they were outmatched by the technology and just plain superiority of the Japanese. The divide between their political influence and their military power was huge, and the Industrial Revolution showed them that they needed to change that. The best way was by dealing with the Tsar.=====

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The Industrial Revolution was rather opposite for Japan. They realized that staying isolated from the world wasn’t the best policy. They saw what had happened to China and were determined not to make the same mistake. Instead, their emperor realized the value of industrializing and the benefits that could come out of a strong navy. Their beliefs didn’t change as it didn’t affect the people as strongly, but they became much more focused on manufacturing raw materials as opposed to shipping out said materials. They were unable to actually copy the western style exactly, so they made their own and as they did, the influence they had on the global scale changed. They were more focused on importing raw materials and exporting goods, so the Europeans were interested in contacting them and trading with them. They refused to remain isolated like China, and were therefore given more respect than that generally granted to an Asian country, especially because of the valuable exports they had.=====

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In the midst of the Revolution, new social interactions happened. The Industrial Revolution caused people to be used as labor as opposed to being respected for their individual worth. The origins of the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain are many, and people still debate over what the exact causes and results of it were. Aided by advances in agriculture, medicine, and other reasons, Britain was the first “Industrialized” country. This is a fact that historians have long recognized. In order for the Industrial Revolution to have happened, there must have been men who saw opportunities for money and technology. Also, as the English were all about the money, they were big on this idea. They didn’t see a problem with making money, or with reinvesting the extra cash. The theological impacts of the Industrial Revolution had to do a lot with the printing press. The printing press made the bible available for the common people, and it was written in the common language so that they could read it. This enraged the church, because it caused people like Martin Luther to rebel against the church. The church lost some of its power with the invention of the printing press, but they recovered well. =====

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In America, the Industrial Revolution changed the entire infrastructure of the economy. The Americas had been a mostly processing region, where they were focused on agriculture to sustain them and were centered especially on the silver mining economy. The Industrial Revolution helped them to make the raw silver into goods that they could trade for much higher value, as well as manufacture things themselves and thus were less dependent on foreign markets. The religion wasn’t heavily affected, except for the fact that the Industrial Revolution caused us to migrate to where raw materials were abundant and that sometimes kicked the natives out of their sacred homeland. Politically, this really showed the independence the colonies were creating/had created and were becoming more of a global power and influence to the rest of the world.=====

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That is how the Industrial Revolution played a key role in the development of the entire world’s global infrastructure, and how it affected economies and lives of governments and individuals everywhere.=====