The “First” Industrial Revolution and European Society Before the mid-18th century, most people lived and worked in the countryside. Women worked in their homes and occasionally helped men work together. Children also worked for their families, but mostly in small jobs such as farming and animal husbandry. The life model hasn't changed much. However, during the industrial revolution, new resources such as coal and iron made it possible to change people's lives and create various inventions and products such as the railway, the steam engine (used for trains and mining) and the jenny spinning (cotton spinning) which increased production. in Europe between the 18th and 19th centuries. Most historians believe that the Industrial Revolution began in Britain. Why did the industrial revolution happen first in England? Britain was “a small, secure island nation with a robust empire and control over crucial routes across the oceans” (Cole and Symes 619). England had an effective agricultural system which is a combination of new techniques and new crops. Food production increased the population of Britain, people from the countryside moved to the cities or factories and eventually the manufacturing industry developed. England had advantages in international trade because it was an island surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. Well-developed banking and credit institutions encouraged businesses to profit from international trade, investments, and technologies. England improved specific industries, cotton production, iron and coal mining. Textile production was increased during the industrial revolution. Britain was used to importing cotton from India. Cotton became the most popular fabric as it was… the focus of paper… capitalism focused on economic movements while socialism and Marxism looked at workers. Karl Marx, a German philosopher and economist, argued that capitalism had created injustice between the middle class and the working class. Furthermore, the class struggle, the conflict between the bourgeois (middle class) and the proletariat (industrial workers), brought about social changes such as the French Revolution. The Industrial Revolution brought many changes. The industrial revolution made it possible to explore the new world faster, to have more economic power and to have a better life. Other countries in Asia and Africa would not have access to new technologies until Europe arrived. On the other hand, the industrial revolution caused many serious problems such as pollution, low wages and overpopulation in cities. We cannot judge that the industrial revolution had only positive effects, but it shaped modern life.