How Did The Industrial Revolution Affect Politics

However, although it is evident that the Industrial Revolution had resulted in political changes, economic and social facets of the world were also considerably affected. The economic and social changes contributed towards a domino effect that eventually affected politics.

The technological developments achieved by the Industrial Revolution had facilitated trading activities that affected the balance of power amongst the European powers as well as the political structure of nations. Economic strength is often viewed as being representative of a nation’s ability to exert its influence over a country. This is because a wealthy country is highly regarded and deemed as being more reliable. European nations used trade as a tool to establish their
Colonies outside of Europe were seen as attractive to the European powers as they had the resources to satisfy the needs of the Europeans that could not be met in markets closer to home. The territorial extent of a nation also determined the power and status that a nation possessed. The Europeans may initially have intended to establish trade relations with their colonies. However, they exploited the opportunity to exert their political influence. Rubber was a commodity in countries such as Indochina and Malaya while tea was abundant in China as well as India. The French and British had acquired these territories for their resources but eventually established political control over these areas. The amount of land owned by Britain and France increased the rivalry that they had with other European nations, especially Germany. Germany had entered the scramble to acquire colonies late and only ended up with control over small areas of Africa. The Germans, threatened by the strength of Britain and France, became more competitive. As the Europeans established themselves in the territories, they began to exert political control over their colonies. The Europeans were determined to conquer China due to its monopoly over the production of silk and other commodities including porcelains and tea. These products were highly desired by the Europeans. The British who had established trade relations with China eventually became politically inflicted with them. In 1842, the Treaty of Nanjing marked the start of political relations between Britain and China. The British had defeated the Chinese after sending various types of warships to show its desire to continue the Opium trade. Thus, as a result of initially economic motives, Europeans ended up being politically inflicted with their colonies, leading to friction with one