The Industrial Revolution Changes Stripes, 1880–1950

No single development marked the late nineteenth century off as a new industrial period. Heavy industry became more important than it was in the first phase, as major industrializers emphasized metallurgy and mining over textiles. The advent of the automobile industry showed how the modern economy could generate major new products. At the same tine, industrial competition increased, as Germany and the United States passed Great Britain in wealth and dynamism. New industrial revolutions in Russia and particularly Japan added to competitive pressure, and industrialization’s impact on the world economy intensified. Many basic industrial trends continued, for example in the continued growth of cities, but overall the phenomenon was changing shape, both in established industrial economies and in the world at large (see Map 7.1).