The Second Industrial Revolution
The second industrial revolution or the Technological Revolution was a phase of the Industrial Revolution from the second half of the 19th century until World War I. It began with Bessemer steel in the 1860s and culminated in mass production and the assembly line. It happened in western Europe (Britain, Germany, France, the Low Countries, Denmark), the United States, and, after 1870, also in Japan.
New sources of energy:
- The petroleum industry (both production and refining) began during the second Industrial Revolution producing kerosene for lamps and heaters.The gasoline powered automobile was patented by Karl Benz in 1886. Henry Ford built his first car in 1896
- Thanks to the invention of electricity the assembly line and mass production developed. Electrification also allowed for the inexpensive production of electrochemicals like: aluminium, chlorine, magnesium ...Electricity was used for street lighting in the early 1880s. Electric lighting in factories greatly improved working conditions. It was adapted to power street railways ...
Technological innovations
- The Bessemer process was an invention that allowed for the poduction of steel from molten iron. Its inventor was Henry Bessemer. He revolutionized steel manufacturing by decreasing costs, increasing the production and decreasing labour for steelmaking. • Railroads and ships were built using steel instead of iron.
- Telegraph lines were installed along rail lines initially for communicating with trains, but later became a communications network.
- The telephone was patented in 1876 and like the early telegraph, it was used mainly to speed business transactions.
Organisational innovations
Besides the introduction of new industrial products, second Industrial Revolution also meant deep transformations in business and organization of the labour force.
Production was improved by reducing processing time and lowering costs. This brand new way of working is known as taylorism, scientific management or fordism
Mass production was stablished, workers became part of assembly lines where they just did a simple task. This saved money and time but workers lost their
relation with the final product.
New business structures
New corporation systems appeared as a result of business merging and growth. Most of businesses stopped being family businesses to turn into big corporations with anonymous shareholders. Bigger companies led to oligopolies, monopolies and other kinds of business concentrations.
Oligopoly. When just a few companies are the supplier of a good.
Monopoly. When a company is the only supplier of a good or a service.
Cartel. Agreement among competing companies to fix prices. It is an oligopoly
Holding company or holding. One company that owns or is the main holder of other companies and banks.
Corporate trust or trust. It is a large company which control all steps and stages in one good production (Standard Oil for instance, this company owned the oil wells, the refineries, and the gas stations, being the only company of this branch in U.S.). It is a kind of monopoly
By 1900, the leaders in industrial production were the US (24% of the world total), Britain (19%), Germany (13%), Russia (9%) and France (7%).