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How Did The Industrial Revolution Affect The European Middle Class

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The Industrial Revolution caused great change in the ways European countries produced goods. The Revolution encompassed the years 1750 through 1850, and generated many innovations and ideas that have changed European service industries forever. The effects of the Industrial Revolution caused a dramatic change in the way European societies functioned. These changes in society caused by the Industrial Revolution initiated an unprecedented growth rate of the European middle class, which led to a sharp increase in their involvement in urban politics.
The Industrial revolution really began in England as a result of “coal…[being] much more useful to the British than anyone else.” (John Green 7:54). This lead to the development of the steam engine, which would eventually power the factories in England. Some of the British became factory owners, rising them into the middle class. In a country like England, where entrepreneurship was encouraged, one could correctly assume that a prominent number of people chose this life, causing the middle class to rise considerably. According to Peter Stearns, the middle class in Britain increased by 223 percent as a result of the Industrial Revolution, while the whole population grew by 206 percent (117). England wasn 't the only country with a growing middle class. In the city of Paris, the middle class increased from 2.4 percent to 2.6 percent (Stearns 116). As the middle class grew, so did their concern for the multitudinous problems the

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