1 Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution began in the 18th and 19th centuries and is responsible for the moving of nations away from farming to industry and manufacturing. The Industrial Revolution introduced trains, more advanced shipping, steel production, communications systems, cars, planes, and military equipment, and construction. The skyscraper came into existence, people moved to urban areas away from the countryside. Wars broke out as nations fought over natural resources like oil fields, minerals, and sea lanes to support the new industries.
The nations of the world were able to engage in Industrialization because of another rise—the rise of finance. Banks began to exert more and more influence over the activities of nations. They financed big productions and helped businessmen develop companies that would go on to dominate industries. Banks started working with governments too and together they started redrawing international territories, with wars financed by banks that led to the transfer of power from one state to another all over the world (Industrial Revolution, 2018).
The U.S. began expanding its territory in the Spanish-American War, which was a direct outcome of the Industrial Revolution. The U.S. had increased the size of its navy thanks to steel production and it wanted to get involved in Asia because of the resources available overseas,...
had taken over the Philippines.
In conclusion the Industrial Revolution allowed for mass production of goods like steel, for greater transportation, for technological breakthroughs in communication, and for the stages of globalization to be set. It also led to wars among nations as each fought for access to important minerals and resources.
2 Imperialism
Imperialism extended from the Age of Industrialization. As nations became stronger and wealthier and were manufacturing more goods and growing in size, they sought to expand their influence and control by taking over sea lanes, continents, and access to critical resources needed for production. States began to resemble empires in that the handful of leaders at the top made all the decisions even contrary to the will of the people. For instance, they started wars even though they ran on platforms of staying out of wars—just like Woodrow Wilson did in the First World War.
Many nations exhibited signs of imperialism in the 20th century. England, Germany, Russia, the U.S., Japan, and China—all of them engaged in efforts to expand their influence and grow their power. In every case, imperialism led to more conflicts and to more wars (Llewellyn et al., 2014). That is because the aim of imperialism is for a powerful state…
