Was it a lack of manpower? Was it geographic circumstances? Why couldn’t civilizations like, say, Babylon or Rome have an Industrial Revolution?
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I made this comment earlier but it was removed because it was just a link. Fair enough, it’s not exactly ELI5 but it’s a brilliant blog post about exactly the kind of conditions that existed in Britain at the time that allowed the industrial revolution to prosper, and why that couldn’t have happened in other places and at other times. Recommended reading for anyone who is interested.
https://acoup.blog/2022/08/26/collections-why-no-roman-industrial-revolution/
I made this comment earlier but it was removed because it was just a link. Fair enough, it’s not exactly ELI5 but it’s a brilliant blog post about exactly the kind of conditions that existed in Britain at the time that allowed the industrial revolution to prosper, and why that couldn’t have happened in other places and at other times. Recommended reading for anyone who is interested.
https://acoup.blog/2022/08/26/collections-why-no-roman-industrial-revolution/
There really are A LOT of things. One that other responses have ignored is ‘general peace’ along with a standing army.
I know you are thinking ‘but it wasn’t peaceful’ …you are right in relation to modern times. But up until then there was basically endless war and drafts. If there is an ongoing war that may directly hurt the homeland that brilliant inventor isn’t going to be allowed to focus on germ theory or whatever he MUST be aiding the war effort. Weapons that fire further, metal that is more durable etc. (yes I know germ theory would help but…they didn’t at the time and there wouldn’t be time to test it).
Somewhere like mainland europe where the duchy of blah is having a fight with the duchy of whatever doesn’t have time to devote to thinking/inventing. Both sides are stockpiling arms and people are spending time training in case the other side attacks. Even if they aren’t actively at war it is better to be prepared in case some nobleman grabs the wrong fork at dinner and triggers a war (which sounds like a joke but…the war of the bucket is a thing that cost so many lives it would make romeo and juliet seem like a relaxing night in)
I’ll ignore other major things that people have touched on and close with ‘things build on each other rapidly’ keep in mind right now if you (OP or anyone else) was transported back to 1700 you’d likely be hanged as a witch entirely because of your ‘common knowledge’ today
There really are A LOT of things. One that other responses have ignored is ‘general peace’ along with a standing army.
I know you are thinking ‘but it wasn’t peaceful’ …you are right in relation to modern times. But up until then there was basically endless war and drafts. If there is an ongoing war that may directly hurt the homeland that brilliant inventor isn’t going to be allowed to focus on germ theory or whatever he MUST be aiding the war effort. Weapons that fire further, metal that is more durable etc. (yes I know germ theory would help but…they didn’t at the time and there wouldn’t be time to test it).
Somewhere like mainland europe where the duchy of blah is having a fight with the duchy of whatever doesn’t have time to devote to thinking/inventing. Both sides are stockpiling arms and people are spending time training in case the other side attacks. Even if they aren’t actively at war it is better to be prepared in case some nobleman grabs the wrong fork at dinner and triggers a war (which sounds like a joke but…the war of the bucket is a thing that cost so many lives it would make romeo and juliet seem like a relaxing night in)
I’ll ignore other major things that people have touched on and close with ‘things build on each other rapidly’ keep in mind right now if you (OP or anyone else) was transported back to 1700 you’d likely be hanged as a witch entirely because of your ‘common knowledge’ today
Tech and economics, the ancient world had ways to improve agricultural output but they didn’t, it just didn’t make economic sense. (just like we could build more greenhouses to grow more food)
There was plenty of land and labor, no need to make 10 workers twice as productive when you can buy another 10 slaves for less.
Metallurgy wasnt as good, and the places with coal and iron weren’t the developed regions.
Tech and economics, the ancient world had ways to improve agricultural output but they didn’t, it just didn’t make economic sense. (just like we could build more greenhouses to grow more food)
There was plenty of land and labor, no need to make 10 workers twice as productive when you can buy another 10 slaves for less.
Metallurgy wasnt as good, and the places with coal and iron weren’t the developed regions.
Best argument I’ve heard is population: China had everything they needed for an industrial revolution for hundreds of years prior to the UK doing it except a low population whete workers could demand high wages. The UK did, however and thus some enterprising engineer built a steam pump that did the work of 20 men but for the price of 19 men. After that, efficiencies and innovation snowballed until we had to rethink how society was structured.
Best argument I’ve heard is population: China had everything they needed for an industrial revolution for hundreds of years prior to the UK doing it except a low population whete workers could demand high wages. The UK did, however and thus some enterprising engineer built a steam pump that did the work of 20 men but for the price of 19 men. After that, efficiencies and innovation snowballed until we had to rethink how society was structured.
What does a factory do? Create a lot of products. So what does a factory need? A population capable of buying these goods. Otherwise a factory is useless.
Eli6: the ancient Greeks or Ming Chinese knew steampower. What they lacked was a infrastructure and investment capital to upscale production and a way so sell it. If you would produce a 1000 shirt a day in ancient Athens, everybody would have a shirt in 4 months time. It wouldn’t be a longterm smart investment (ignoring the massive amouth of sheep you would need). If you would invests in such a project in England with it’s empire, that’s just a different story.
What does a factory do? Create a lot of products. So what does a factory need? A population capable of buying these goods. Otherwise a factory is useless.
Eli6: the ancient Greeks or Ming Chinese knew steampower. What they lacked was a infrastructure and investment capital to upscale production and a way so sell it. If you would produce a 1000 shirt a day in ancient Athens, everybody would have a shirt in 4 months time. It wouldn’t be a longterm smart investment (ignoring the massive amouth of sheep you would need). If you would invests in such a project in England with it’s empire, that’s just a different story.
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