The Second Industrial Revolution: the Development of America and Europe

In the second industrial revolution, science and technology developed by leaps and bounds, and various new technologies and inventions emerged one after another, which were quickly applied to industrial production, greatly promoting economic development. The outstanding development of science and technology is mainly manifested in four aspects, namely, the wide application of electric power, the creation of internal combustion engines and new means of transportation, the invention of new means of communication and the establishment of chemical industry. Because the United States is far from Europe, neither World War I nor World War II affected the United States. On the contrary, they further promoted the development of American economy. 1. Geographical factors 1. Excellent geographical location. The United States faces the Pacific Ocean in the east and the Atlantic Ocean in the west, far away from the old continent, thus avoiding the interference of the war in the old continent. Its north and south are neighbors of weak countries, which provides a peaceful environment conducive to the development of capitalist economy. The United States has a vast territory, fertile land and rich mineral resources. Coal mines are widely distributed, and Appalachian mountains have large coal reserves and good quality. A large number of iron mines are concentrated in the west bank of Lake Superior in southern Appalachia and Birmingham. The coal and iron resources in the United States are not only rich, but also can be combined with cheap water transportation in the Great Lakes. In addition, oil, natural gas, copper, lead, zinc, molybdenum, vanadium, uranium, sulfur and phosphate are also abundant, as well as forest resources and water resources, which provide unique material conditions for the rapid development of the American economy. 3. The climate is suitable. The geographical location of the United States is mostly temperate and subtropical, and the climate types are diverse. The eastern part has a temperate continental climate; The southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico has entered the subtropical zone; The climate in the western plateau is dry; The northern part of the Pacific coast has a temperate maritime climate, while the southern part has a Mediterranean climate. There is abundant rainfall in most areas. As far as geothermal conditions are concerned, most parts of the United States are suitable for farming and are conducive to cultivating a variety of crops. The rapid development of American agriculture has good preconditions. 4. After the geographical discovery that Eurasian immigrants provided labor force for American economic development, Europe began to immigrate to the United States. /kloc-in the second half of the 0/8th century, about 1 10,000 people immigrated from Europe to America. /kloc-In the 20th century and the beginning of the 20th century, with the rapid development of the world economy and the modernization of land and sea transportation, the climax of world population migration appeared. The direction of European immigrants is mainly the United States, and Asian immigrants continue to enter the United States. Immigrants can save a lot of education expenses for the United States by spending their pre-adulthood in the motherland. Eurasian immigrants provide a large number of labor force for the development of American economy, especially European immigrants, and a large number of skilled workers for the United States (accounting for more than half of the total number of American workers, and a larger proportion in the steel, coal mining and textile sectors). Second, a good political environment 1. The expansion of state functions1In the late 9th century, the state functions of capitalist countries were not limited to the suppression of working people, but extended to intervene in various fields of social life, adjust social relations through social legislation, intervene in economic life, set up education, protect natural resources, and so on. Sometimes the government also appears as a mediator between labor and capital. 1902 In May, a general strike of anthracite miners broke out in the United States, and President theodore roosevelt intervened, prompting coal miners to raise their salary by 10% and reduce their working hours to 9 hours. The expansion of state functions provides a relatively stable and harmonious social environment for economic development. 2. Civil Service Reform In order to rectify corrupt bureaucracy and improve administrative efficiency, the United States promulgated 1883 Civil Service Regulations, which reformed the civil service system. Its main contents are as follows: first, civil servants are recruited by means of open competitive examination, and they are selected on the basis of merit; Second, regular assessment, reward and punishment according to ability and performance; Third, civil servants are permanent and do not advance and retreat with the ruling party. These reforms have introduced a competitive mechanism into the civil service system, reduced corruption in the government to a certain extent, improved the quality of civil servants, stimulated the work enthusiasm of public officials and improved the work efficiency of the government. 3. Scientific Management Expert 19 Since the 1970s and 1980s, the United States has set off a movement of urban management reform. After long-term exploration, the municipal management system of Committee-manager system has been implemented. First, citizens shall elect a non-partisan committee (five, seven or nine) based on the principle of universal suffrage, which shall be fully responsible for formulating policies and decrees and approving the annual budget. Then the Committee hired a specially trained expert with rich management experience and talent as the city manager, who was fully responsible for the city management. This system not only takes care of the interests of all kinds of citizens, but also gives full play to work efficiency. At the same time, the combination of democratic management and expert management has put municipal management on the track of scientific expert management. The expansion of government functions, the reform of civil service system and the scientific management of experts have all adapted to the requirements of the era of socialized mass production and industrialization, created a good political environment for the social and economic development of the United States, attracted a large number of European capital to enter the United States, and prepared a large amount of funds for the rapid development of the American economy. Third, the development of education has provided strong intellectual support for the rapid development of American economy. Since 1950s, the United States has embarked on the road of compulsory education. After the civil war, compulsory education developed particularly rapidly. By the beginning of the 20th century, all states had enacted compulsory education laws. In order to cultivate advanced scientific and technological talents, Lincoln Government promulgated the Land Law of Moreel in 1862, which stipulated that the federal government would grant a large amount of state-owned land to the states to develop agricultural colleges and industrial colleges with the proceeds from land sales. By the end of 19, the federal government had used1500,000 acres for the development of education. Before the promulgation of the Morelle Land Law, there were few state universities, but after the promulgation of the law, the number increased rapidly, which greatly promoted the development of industry and agriculture in the United States. Great achievements have been made in American educational reform. By 1900, the average number of American college students is 3 1 .4 per 10,000 population, far exceeding that of major European countries. American education not only prepares workers with cultural knowledge for economic construction in time, but also provides a large number of scientific and technological talents in time, which promotes the rapid economic development. Fourth, historical factors There was no deep-rooted feudal system in American history, and some feudal relations in agriculture were completely abolished, especially after the Civil War, black slavery in the south was purged; Industry is not bound by traditional guilds and conservative production methods like European countries. The traditional resistance to the development of American capitalism is relatively small. The development of the western region of the United States has expanded all kinds of basic resources needed for industrial development and broadened the domestic market. In addition, in the later stage of industrialization, the United States can make full use of the modern technological achievements of European countries to accelerate the development of the American economy.