Case study — Britain and a second-region industrialiser
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Question
Why was Britain called the 'workshop of the world'?
Answer
By 1850 Britain made about half the world's coal, iron and cotton cloth — most of the world's manufactured goods.
Question
What was the Great Exhibition of 1851?
Answer
A show in London's Crystal Palace where Britain displayed its machines and goods to six million visitors — an advert for its industrial lead.
Question
Name four reasons Britain industrialised first.
Answer
A head start (from around 1780), plentiful coal and iron, free trade from the 1840s, and a global empire for materials and markets.
Question
Why is 1871 important for German industry?
Answer
Germany was unified into one nation, creating a single currency and market that let industry boom.
Question
What was the Ruhr, and why did it matter?
Answer
A valley in western Germany with huge coal deposits next to iron, which powered Germany's giant coal and steel industry.
Question
What was the Krupp firm?
Answer
A German company in Essen that grew into Europe's biggest steel and weapons maker — a symbol of German industrial power.
Question
How did banks and education help Germany catch up?
Answer
Big banks lent long-term money straight to industry, and technical colleges trained engineers and chemists for new industries.
Question
Define laissez-faire.
Answer
The idea that government should leave business alone and let private owners and markets drive the economy.
Question
Define a cartel.
Answer
A group of firms that agree on prices and share the market between them instead of competing.
Question
How did Japan's Meiji reforms use the state?
Answer
After 1868 the state built the first factories, railways and shipyards, then sold them cheaply to private owners to run.
Question
What did Sergei Witte do in Russia?
Answer
In the 1890s he drove industry with foreign loans, high tariffs and the state-funded Trans-Siberian Railway.
Question
Compare the state's role in Britain and later industrialisers.
Answer
Britain was laissez-faire and let private business lead; latecomers used tariffs, loans and cartels because they had to catch up fast.
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Full study notes for Case study — Britain and a second-region industrialiser
Topic 12.2 hub
Development of industrialization
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