The Industrial Revolution, sometimes called the First Industrial Revolution in contrast to the subsequent Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succeeding the Second Agricultural Revolution. Beginning in Great Britain around 1760, the Industrial Revolution had spread to continental Europe and the United States by about 1840.[1][2] Economic historians agree that the onset of the Industrial Revolution is the most important event in human history, comparable only to the adoption of agriculture with respect to material advancement.[3]

This transition included going from hand production methods to machines; new chemical manufacturing and iron production processes; the increasing use of water power and steam power; the development of machine tools; and rise of the mechanised factory system. Output greatly increased, and the result was an unprecedented rise in population and population growth. Many technological and architectural innovations were British.[4][5] By the mid-18th century, Britain was the leading commercial nation,[6] with GDP per capita considerably over the world average.[2] The textile industry was the first to use modern production methods,[7]: 40  and textiles became the dominant industry in terms of employment, value of output, and capital invested.[7]

The precise start and end of the Industrial Revolution is debated among historians, as is the pace of economic and social changes.[8][9][10] Rapid adoption of mechanized textiles spinning occurred in Britain in the 1780s,[11] and high rates of growth in steam power and iron production occurred after 1800. Mechanised textile production spread from Britain to continental Europe and the US in the early 19th century.[7]

A recession occurred from the late 1830s when the adoption of the Industrial Revolution's early innovations, such as mechanised spinning and weaving, slowed as markets matured despite increased adoption of locomotives, steamships, and hot blast iron smelting. New technologies such as the electrical telegraph, widely introduced in the 1840s in the UK and US, were not sufficient to drive high rates of growth. Rapid growth reoccurred after 1870, springing from new innovations in the Second Industrial Revolution. These included steel-making processes, mass production, assembly lines, electrical grid systems, large-scale manufacture of machine tools, and use of advanced machinery in steam-powered factories.[7][12][13][14]

The Industrial Revolution influenced almost every aspect of life. In particular, average income and population began to exhibit unprecedented sustained growth, with the standard of living improving for most in the Western world,[15] though others have said it did not begin to improve meaningfully until the 20th century.[16][17][18] Prior to the Industrial Revolution, most manufacturing occurred in China and India; after the Industrial Revolution, most manufacturing took place in North America and Western Europe.[2]

EtymologyThe earliest recorded use of Industrial Revolution was in 1799 by French envoy Louis-Guillaume Otto, announcing that France had entered the race to industrialise.[19] Raymond Williams states: The idea of a new social order based on major industrial change was clear in Southey and Owen, between 1811–18, and was implicit as early as Blake in the early 1790s and Wordsworth at the turn of the [19th] century. The term Industrial Revolution applied to technological change became more common by the 1830s, as in Jérôme-Adolphe Blanqui's description in 1837 of la révolution industrielle.[20] Friedrich Engels in The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844 spoke of an industrial revolution, a revolution which...changed the whole of civil society. His book was not translated into English until the late 19th century, and the expression did not enter everyday language till then. Credit for its popularisation is given to Arnold Toynbee, whose 1881 lectures gave a detailed account of the term.[21]

Economic historians such as Mendels, Pomeranz, and Kridte argue proto-industrialisation in parts of Europe, the Islamic world, Mughal India, and China created the social and economic conditions that led to the Industrial Revolution, thus causing the Great Divergence.[22][23][24] Some historians, such as John Clapham and Nicholas Crafts, have argued that the economic and social changes occurred gradually and that revolution is a misnomer.[25]

Requirements

It has been suggested that this article be split out into a new article titled Technologies of the Industrial Revolution. (Discuss) (February 2026)Several key factors enabled industrialisation. High agricultural productivity—exemplified by the British Agricultural Revolution—freed up labor and ensured food surpluses. The presence of skilled managers and entrepreneurs, an extensive network of ports, rivers, canals, and roads for efficient transport, and abundant natural resources such as coal, iron, and water power further supported industrial growth. Political stability, a legal system favorable to business, and access to financial capital also played crucial roles. Once industrialisation began in Britain in the 18th century, its spread was facilitated by the eagerness of British entrepreneurs to export industrial methods and the willingness of other nations to adopt them. By the early 19th century, industrialisation had reached Western Europe and the United States, and by the late 19th century, Japan.[26][27]

Important technological developmentsThe commencement of the Industrial Revolution is closely linked to a small number of innovations,[28] beginning in the second half of the 18th century. By the 1830s, the following gains had been made in important technologies:

Textiles – mechanised cotton spinning powered by water, and later steam, increased output per worker by a factor of around 500. The power loom increased output by a factor of 40.[29] The cotton gin increased productivity of removing seed from cotton by a factor of 50.[13] Large gains in productivity occurred in spinning and weaving of wool and linen, but were not as great as in cotton.[7]Steam power – the efficiency of steam engines increased so they used between one-fifth and one-tenth as much fuel. The adaptation of stationary steam engines to rotary motion made them suitable for industrial uses.[7]: 82  The high-pressure engine had a high power-to-weight ratio, making it suitable for transportation.[14] Steam power underwent a rapid expansion after 1800.Iron-making – the substitution of coke for charcoal greatly lowered the fuel cost of pig iron and wrought iron production.[7]: 89–93  Using coke also allowed larger blast furnaces,[30][31] resulting in economies of scale. The steam engine began being used to power blast air in the 1750s, enabling a large increase in iron production by overcoming the limitation of water power.[32] The cast iron blowing cylinder was first used in 1760. It was improved by making it double acting, which allowed higher blast furnace temperatures. The puddling process produced structural grade iron at lower cost than the finery forge.[33] The rolling mill was fifteen times faster than hammering wrought iron. Developed in 1828, hot blast greatly increased fuel efficiency in iron production.Invention of machine tools – the first machine tools were the screw-cutting lathe, the cylinder boring machine, and the milling machine. Machine tools made the economical manufacture of precision me