Economic and Social Changes in Europe

Introduction

The fall of Napoleon in 1815 and the era before the beginning of World War 1 till 1914 had significant impact on Europe in terms of economic and social changes. Europe is both the westernmost extension of the continent of Asia and one, with West Asia and Africa, of the landmasses that ring the Mediterranean. Settlement patterns in Europe in the 19th century are the expression on the landscape of societies' ideas and values. They speak of what people valued in European economies, which is driven more by custom than by environment. This paper explores whether impact of social and economic changes or nationalism on Europe was more in the era of 1815-1914, particularly emphasizing on the post Napoleon to beginning of World War I.

Economic and Social Changes in Europe

Trade and exchange systems of Europe have always been an important focus of research. Studying trade and exchange can be difficult, however, especially within preliterate societies, such as European states in the 19th century. The farming peoples of the 19th century period began to manufacture textiles on a regular basis, using wool from sheep and linen from flax grown in the fields in Europe (Malanima, 224). Majority of firms were established for the production of textile that turned Europe into an industrialized society.

Toward the end of the 1880s era, Europe once again underwent a revolution brought about by a technological advancement in metal alloying industry, particularly in Italy, Spain, and France. The parallel expansions of the French and Greeks traders in the Mediterranean (1825-1845), and that of the Romans in continental Europe later (1860-1885), undoubtedly played a crucial role in the formation of important trade networks in post Napoleon age Europe (Jacob, 146). The unstable equilibrium that characterized the European in 1820 to early 1900s, with hill forts and competition for social status in the north and ...