UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
Prof. John H. Munro
Department of Economics
munro5@chass.utoronto.ca
http://www.economics.utoronto.ca/munro5/
ECONOMICS 303Y
Economic History of Modern Europe to 1914
1. Discuss critically the following statements on European demography from the 17th to 19th centuries:
a) 'Early modern historians are divided between those who equate growing population with prosperity
and those who take the contrary view.' (D. M. Palliser)
b) 'The key to Malthusian faith continues to be the belief that population growth lowers living
standards.' (Peter Lindert)
c) 'Before 1800 matters fell out much as Malthus had insisted they must. [But after 1800] an increase
in poverty was no longer the price of an increase in numbers.' (Wrigley and Schofield)
In particular, what role did the so-called European Marriage Pattern play in European population
changes during this long period: in particular, in avoiding or preventing 'Malthusian' crises?
2. Why is the period ca. 1620 to ca. 1750 considered to be the 'heyday' of West European Mercantilism?
3. Discuss the Mercantilist thesis that, apart from having gold and silver mines, foreign trade offered the
only means of 'national enrichment.' To what extent in fact did foreign trade enrich England from ca.
1550 to 1750?
4. Discuss one (or more) of the following statements by John Maynard Keynes, from his 'Notes on
Mercantilism' in The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (London, 1936), chapter 23,
pp. 333-36.
a) 'For some two hundred years both economic theorists and practical men did not doubt that there is a
peculiar advantage to a country in a favourable balance of trade, and grave danger in an unfavourable
balance, particularly if it results in an efflux of the precious metals. But for the past one hundred years
there has been a remarkable divergence of opinion'.
b) '... a preoccupation on the part of the authorities with a favourable balance of trade served both
purposes; and was, furthermore, the only available means of promoting them'. What were those two
purposes, and how did such trade policies promote them -- in the view of early-modern mercantilists,
and in Keynes' view?
c) 'For we, the faculty of economists, prove to have been guilty of presumptuous error in treating as a
puerile obsession what for centuries has been a prime object of practical statecraft'. Explain and
elaborate: do you agree with Keynes or with the Classical economists whom he so vigorously criticizes?
5. Discuss the importance of either the Low Countries or of the Baltic Sea region for the development
of the European economy from the 15th to the 18th centuries. In your answer explain why the relative
importance of the region selected varied over this period.
6. Why did England, and then subsequently Great Britain, pursue 'mercantilist' economic policies during
the 17th and 18th centuries, and then abandon them to adopt a Free Trade policy after 1846? Which
government economic policies proved to be the most effective in promoting economic growth and industrialization?
7. Discuss the following statement in the context of European industrialization in the later 18th and
19th centuries:
'If the cotton industry of 1760 had depended entirely on the actual demand for piece goods then
existing, the railways on the actual demand of 1830, the motor industry on that of 1900, none of these
industries would have undergone technical revolution.' (Eric Hobsbawm)
8. From the era of the 17th-century 'General Crisis' to the end of the Napoleonic Wars, in 1815, discuss
the significance of warfare and military power, especially naval power, for the economic development
and industrialization of western Europe, comparing in particular the experiences of England, the
Netherlands, and France. In Hobsbawm's thesis, what role did warfare play as a contributing factor to
both the 'General Crisis' and its resolution in preparing the conditions by which England became the
birthplace of modern industrialization?
9. How did England's overseas colonial and commercial empire contribute to her economic
development during the 17th and 18th centuries: did it provide one of the foundations for her 'Industrial
Revolution' after 1760?
10. Discuss the significance of textiles in the English economy -- for the agricultural, industrial, and
commercial sectors -- from the 17th to 19th centuries. Does Mendels' 'proto-industrialization' model fit
the English experience, to explain the modern Industrial Revolution in textile manufacturing?
11. Analyse the rural roots of modern industrialization, in the context of the two current debates about
the 'General Crisis of the 17th Century' and 'Proto-Industrialization.' Discuss the role and significance of
rural industries, especially textile industries, in both of these debates, in particular the validity of the
following two aspects of both the Hobsbawm and Mendels theses, namely that: (a) ' "Putting-out" was a
most effective dissolver of the traditional agrarian structure, and provided a means of rapidly increasing
industrial production....,' and that (b) such 'proto-industrialization [was] the first phase of the modern
industrialization process.' Do you agree; if not, why not?
12. Analyse the relationships between demographic and agrarian changes and their economic consequences, especially for modern industrialization, to be found in either:
(a) England, from ca. 1690 - 1870; or
(b) any two of: England, France, Germany, between ca. 1780 and 1914.
13. Analyse the relationships amongst demographic, agrarian, and industrial changes in both Britain and France, from c1750 to 1914. In particular, discuss to what extent each country:
a) depended upon changes in its agrarian and industrial sectors in order to achieve sustained population growth;
b) depended upon its agrarian sector to supply an expanding industrial labour force;
c) depended upon its agrarian sector to supply industrial raw materials, capital, and markets;
d) successfully achieved rapid urban industrialization, because of or despite its agrarian and demographic structures.
14. Discuss the significance of demographic and agrarian changes, with their inter-relationships (causes
and effects) for the current proto-industrialization debate: in England and/or France during the 18th and
early 19th centuries.
15. Analyse and compare the relationships amongst demographic, agrarian, and industrial changes in both Britain and France, from ca. 1750 to ca. 1860. In particular, to what extent:
a) did each country's industrialization in this period depend upon its agrarian sector for an expanding labour force?
b) did industrialization in each country depend upon natural forces of demographic growth?
c) did changes in each country's agrarian and industrial sectors influence the character of their
population growth?
16. Explain the following statement, and discuss its significance for both Mendel's 'proto-industrialization' thesis and Hobsbawm's thesis on 'The Crisis of the Seventeenth Century' (from Past & Present, 1954):
' "Putting-out" was a most effective dissolver of the traditional agrarian structure, and provided a means
of rapidly increasing industrial production....'
17. Discuss one or more of the following statements from Hobsbawm's 'Crisis of the Seventeenth
Century' (Past & Present, 1954):
(a) 'the scope of capitalist expansion will be limited by the general prevalence of the feudal structure of
society...'
(b) 'The major achievement of the seventeenth-century crisis is the creation of a new form of colonialism.'
(c) 'The seventeenth century crisis provided its own solution, and ... it did so in indirect and
roundabout ways.'
18. Why were so many industries, such as the textile and metallurgical industries, predominantly rural in
late-medieval and early-modern Europe; and why did they shift to predominantly urban locations in the
later 18th and 19th centuries? Furthermore, how did such a change in location also involve a change in
their industrial organization?
19. Does modern European industry, and industrial urbanization in particular, have predominantly rural
and agrarian roots? In the context of the current proto-industrialization debate, discuss the
interrelationships between agriculture and manufacturing industries, and the specific consequences of
agrarian changes for European industrial development from the 16th to early 19th centuries.
20. In the context of the recent, ongoing debates concerning 'proto-industrialization,' discuss the
transition from rural to urban forms of industry during the 18th and 19th centuries, explaining the following:
(a) why some historians have viewed 'proto-industrialization' as 'the first phase of the [modern] industrialization process.'
(b) why so many forms of industry had rural locations in later-medieval and early-modern Europe: the advantages of rural locations
(c) how rural industry and agriculture had been interrelated, and how those relationships were altered by the early 19th century.
(d) how technological and related changes in industrial organization ultimately led to industrial
urbanization, comparing and contrasting especially changes in the textile and metallurgical industries.
21. In the context of the current proto-industrialization debate, analyse the inter-relationships between
agricultural, demographic, and industrial changes within the English economy from ca. 1660 to ca.
1840; and in particular explain why certain industries underwent transformations that changed them
from a rural to an urban location. In other words, provide a critical analysis of the economics of
industrial location over this period.
22. What was the 'tyranny of wood and water' in pre-Industrial Revolution Europe? Explain how that
tyranny was broken during the 18th and 19th centuries, and discuss the economic and social
transformations that thereby resulted.
23. To what extent has modern industrialization resulted from the development of coal-based
technologies? Compare the industrial experience of England (later, Great Britain) from the 17th century
up to 1914, with at least one other European country, explaining how and why those new technologies
were applied.
24. It has been observed that 'an industrial map of Europe in the 19th century was largely a map of her
coal fields.' Why did coal become the essential ingredient of modern European industrialization, from
the 16th to the early 20th centuries? How did innovations in coal-based technologies help determine the
industrial developments and industrial patterns of Great Britain and continental Europe, especially
during their modern Industrial Revolution eras?
25. Discuss the relationship between and among demographic, agrarian, and industrial changes in the
English economy from the 17th to mid 19th centuries. In particular: was population growth from ca.
1750 the cause or consequence of the Industrial Revolution?
26. Compare and contrast the role of banking and financial-business institutions in the development of
the Dutch and English economies during the late 17th and 18th centuries, with particular reference to
the roles of the Wisselbank van Amsterdam and the Bank of England.
27. Discuss and compare the role of financial institutions, public and private, in the economic
development of any three of the following countries between c.1660 and c.1870: the Netherlands,
England, Scotland, France, Germany.
28. Compare and contrast the commercial and financial structures of the Netherlands (the Dutch
Republic) and of Great Britain, including both private and public finances, from c.1660 to c.1815. In
terms of changes in these sectors, explain why and how the Dutch maintained financial-commercial
supremacy until the mid-18th century, while the British pursued an economic path that led instead to
modern industrialization -- or more so than in the Netherlands.
29. Analyse the response of England's industrial and agrarian sectors to price changes in one of the
following periods: (a) 1650 - 1780; (b) 1780 - 1820; (c) 1820 - 1914. In your answer be careful to
distinguish between the effects of relative price changes and changes in the price level.
30. Discuss the debates generated by Marxist and neo-Marxist historians on at least two of the
following topics (without necessarily defending or attacking the positions discussed): (a) serfdom in the
economies of early-modern eastern Europe (including Russia); (b) Enclosures; (c) the transition from
'feudalism to capitalism'; (d) The 'General Crisis' of the 17th Century; (e) proto-industrialization; (f)
capital accumulation and modern industrialization; (g) the 'Standard of Living' debate during the
Industrial Revolution; (h) European 'land reform' during the 19th century; (i) The 'New Imperialism' or
'Capitalist Imperialism,' 1870 - 1914.
31. Why was Great Britain the homeland of the modern Industrial Revolution -- and not the
Netherlands, France, Germany, or Russia? Discuss this question particularly in terms of the relative
importance of the various barriers to economic development that each country faced, and of the
responses that each made to surmount these barriers.
32. Compare and contrast the Dutch and English/British economies from the 1660s to the Napoleonic
Wars; and explain why the Dutch initially gained and long maintained commercial and financial
supremacy, while subsequently losing that supremacy to Great Britain. Was the 'economic decline of
the Netherlands' and the onset of the 'Industrial Revolution' in Great Britain an inevitable result of the
economic paths that each had pursued during the later 17th and early 18th centuries?
33. Analyse and discuss the economic, social, cultural, and political foundations of modern
industrialization in Great Britain, from the later 17th to the early 19th centuries: the most critical factors
that explain why Great Britain was the unique 'homeland' of the Industrial Revolution.
34. In terms of the changes in both organization and techniques, analyse the contributions of the
agricultural sector to English economic development and industrialization from ca. 1660 to 1914.
35. Compare and contrast the social consequences of the so-called Industrial and Agricultural
Revolutions, from ca. 1750 to ca. 1850. In both town and countryside, who gained and who lost
economically and socially from these economic transformations?
36. Compare and contrast the transformation of the agricultural sectors in England and France in the
century c. 1750 to c. 1850, particularly in terms of (a) the debate about the relative roles of Enclosures
in the two countries; (b) agricultural innovations, those of the so-called 'Agricultural Revolution;' (c)
demographic growth and the provision of an elastic supply of industrial labour; and (d) the social 'costs
and benefits' of the agrarian changes over this hundred-year period.
37. Did English living standards improve or deteriorate during the Industrial Revolution era, up to ca.
1850? In your answer assess the relative importance of those factors you think were the most important
in determining changes in real incomes over this period: population growth, enclosures and agrarian
changes, monetary inflation, state fiscal and monetary policies, warfare, technological changes, changes
in industrial organization, and financing the Industrial Revolution.
38. Discuss the following two statements critically, in terms of current debates about the origins of the
modern Industrial Revolution, the Enclosure Movements, the Demographic Revolution, and 'proto-industrialization':
(a) 'The expropriations of the agricultural population ... supplied the town industries with a mass of
proletarians entirely unconnected with the corporate guilds.... Modern Industry alone expropriates
radically the enormous majority of the agricultural population and completes the separation between
agriculture and rural domestic industry.' Karl Marx, Capital, Vol. I (1887).
(b) 'The rising urban industrial labour force was not the result of rural enclosure driving labour off the
land but of population increase.' Glenn Hueckel, 'Agriculture during Industrialisation,' in Floud and
McCloskey, eds., The Economic History of Britain Since 1700, Vol. I (1981 edn).
39. What was the more important cause of British economic growth during the Industrial Revolutions of
the 18th and 19th centuries: capital formation or technological innovation? Support your answer with
an economic analysis of the industrial transformations and growth that did occur from c. 1750 to ca. 1870.
40. Was the British Industrial Revolution more of a supply-induced or a demand-induced phenomenon?
Or was it the result of a particular conjunction of demand and supply factors? Be specific in your
analysis, citing examples from the textile, metallurgical and other industries of this era.
41. To what extent did the British Industrial Revolution create its own markets, capital, and labour
supplies? To what extent did modern industrialization depend upon the capital formation, markets, and
labour supplies that had already developed before 1760?
42. Compare and contrast the role of the cotton and iron industries during the modern Industrial
Revolution era, particularly in Great Britain: explaining the changes that each underwent, and the impact
that each had upon the agrarian, commercial, financial, and industrial sectors of the economy, in the
18th and 19th centuries.
43. Analyse the role of textiles in the economic development of England from the 17th to the 19th
centuries: in industry, agriculture, and foreign trade. Why did cottons rather than woollens play the
central role in the British Industrial Revolution?
44. Why were both textiles and metallurgy the true 'spearheads' of modern industrialization in western Europe during the later 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and which became the more important by the later 19th century? In comparing the British experience with that of at least one other European country, discuss the transformations that these industries underwent:
a) in terms of technological innovations, industrial organization, and scale
b) markets, domestic and foreign
c) 'backward and forward' linkages with other sectors of the economy.
45. To what extent did modern industrialization depend upon a 'transportation revolution'? Compare the
industrial experiences of Great Britain (1750 - 1914) with at least two of the following countries:
France, Germany, and Russia (during 1815- 1914).
46. Answer either question a or b concerning the role of transportation economics in European economic development:
(a) Analyse the role of maritime shipping and naval power, in particular their technological changes, in west European economic development from the 17th to early 20th centuries. OR
(b) Compare and contrast the economic consequences of railway construction and of railway
networks in the economic development of Britain, France, Germany, and Russia, from 1830 to 1914.
47. Discuss the significance of religion, in particular religious beliefs, values, and ethics, for the
evolution of modern capitalism and for European economic development during the 17th and 18th
centuries. In this context, discuss the historical experience of at least two European countries, one
Protestant and one Catholic, over this period.
48. Discuss, analyse, and evaluate the role of the Dissenters in English economic development during
the later 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries. If you believe that they played a disproportionately
positive role, what do you think were the paramount factors: sociological, religious, cultural, political,
or educational?
49. To what extent did the medieval heritages of feudalism, manorialism, the urban guilds, and the
Church provide barriers to economic development until the late 19th century, in some parts of Europe?
How did England differ from the continent in these respects, from the 16th century?
50. Discuss the major barriers to modern industrialization that existed in the British and continental
economies around 1750, and the extent to which these barriers had been overcome by 1850.
51. Analyse the contributions that foreign trade, and foreign trade policies made to British economic
development, from ca. 1640 to ca. 1914, in terms of your assessment of the following statements:
(a) 'Foreign Trade is the only means to enrich this Kingdom.' Roger Coke, A Discourse of Trade, 1670.
(b) 'More exports are not to be identified with more income. Contrary to the hardy mercantilism of
politicians and professors, exports are not economic growth.' Donald McCloskey, The Economic
History of Britain Since 1700, Vol. II (1981 edn.)
52. Has modern economic growth, industrialization, and urbanization depended upon 'land reform' and a
consequent transformation of the agrarian sector? Discuss, in the light of the historical experience of at
least three of the following countries: the Netherlands, Great Britain (England), France, Germany,
Poland, and Russia.
53. Compare and contrast the causes, forms, and economic consequences, particularly in terms of
contributions to modern industrialization, of 'land reform' and peasant-emancipation in France,
Germany, Poland, and Russia, from 1789 to 1914, explaining who gained and who lost. In particular, to
what extent had serfdom been an impediment to economic change in each of these countries, and to
what extent did government-sponsored land-reforms eliminate that impediment?
54. Who gained and who lost from European 'land reform,' 'peasant emancipation,' and enclosures,
between 1789 and 1914: the landlords, the peasantry (servile and free), the national community?
Compare the economic and social experiences of at least three European countries, including regional
variations within those countries.
55. Discuss the causes and economic consequences of the spread of serfdom in early-modern eastern
Europe and the consequences of its abolition in Germany, Poland, and Russia, during the 19th century,
explaining the national and regional differences.
56. Compare and contrast the role of serfdom (i.e. of feudal/servile institutions) in French, German,
Polish, and Russian agricultural systems in the early modern era; and then analyse the significance of its
formal, legal abolition in transforming those agricultural systems during the 19th and early 20thcenturies:
the significance in particular for promoting industrialization.
57. Answer both of the following questions concerning the causes and consequences of serfdom in
eastern Europe:
(a) What were the fundamental causes and major economic consequences of the spread of serfdom into
Prussia, Poland, and Russia in the early-modern era; and
(b) What were the economic and social consequences of 'land reform' and the abolition of serfdom in
these three countries: for their economic development in the 19th and early 20th centuries?
58. Analyse the role of feudal agrarian institutions, in particular serfdom, as impediments to the
economic development of at least two European countries, up to 1914: Great Britain, France, Germany,
Russia. In examining the European economy in 1914, would you find a consistently positive correlation
between the early elimination of these barriers and a more advanced stage of industrialization in these
three (or more) countries? If so, why? If not, why not?
59. Discuss and compare the social consequences of Enclosure, Land Reform, and agricultural
modernization in Great Britain, France, Germany, and Russia, from 1750 to 1914.
60. Analyse the role of government policies -- their positive and/or negative consequences -- in the
economic development and industrialization of two or more of the following countries from 1789 to
1914: Great Britain, France, Germany, and Russia. In your answer consider the following aspects of
government intervention, where relevant: agriculture, transportation, taxation, money and banking,
industrial organization, foreign trade (free trade, protection, and 'imperialism').
61. Analyse the role of both the state and of financial institutions, and especially the relationship
between the two, in the economic development and industrialization of two or three of the following
countries between the French Revolution and World War I: Great Britain, France, Germany, and Russia.
62. Discuss the role of the state or the national government in the economic development of at leastTW0 European countries (Britain, France, Germany, Russia) from ca. 1789 to 1914, in terms of two or more of the following topics:
(a) transportation facilities and policies
(b) peasant 'emancipation,' land reforms, and enclosure.
(c) monetary, banking, and financial policies
(d) foreign trade, foreign capital, and investment policies
(e) industrialization policies
63. Compare and contrast the role of the national state in promoting (or hindering) the economic
development of at least two of the following European countries, in terms of agrarian, fiscal, financial,
commercial, monetary, fiscal, and industrial policies: Great Britain, France, Germany, and Russia, from
1815 to 1914, explaining the relative importance of state intervention for economic development in the
countries selected.
64. Analyse and compare the importance of one of the following in the industrialization of Great Britain,
France, Germany, and Russia, from ca. 1830 to 1914:
(a) transformation of the agricultural sector
(b) the revolution in transportation: railroads and steam shipping
(c) financial institutions: commercial banking, investment banking, and central banking
(d) the role of the government
(e) technological innovations, especially those constituting the 'second industrial revolution'
65. 'Of all the structural changes which occurred in the economies of European nations in the 19th
century, the most important were those which occurred within the financial sphere. In the final analysis,
it was the ability of the banking systems to mobilize huge sums of financial capital which made possible
the rapid growth of heavy industry.' Discuss, with specific references to British, German, French, and
Russian industrialization, from ca. 1850 to 1914.
66. Compare and contrast the financing of modern industrialization in at least two of the following
countries between ca. 1750 and 1914 (choosing the relevant periods): Great Britain, France, Germany,
and Russia. In your answer assess the relative importance of central or state banking institutions for that
industrialization.
67. Compare and contrast the roles of the central banks in the economic development of the
Netherlands, England, France, Germany, and Russia from ca. 1750 to 1914.
68. 'The industrially more developed country presents to the less developed country a picture of the
latter's future.' (Karl Marx). To what extent in fact did the patterns of 19th century industrialization in
France, Germany, and Russia differ from the model of the British Industrial Revolution, particularly as a
result of the barriers to economic development that each country then faced?
69. 'The industrially more developed country presents to the less developed country a picture of the
latter's future.' (Karl Marx).
Was this really true? To what extent in fact did the patterns of 19th century industrialization in
continental Europe differ from those in Great Britain; and to what extent does the Gerschenkron model
on the economic development of 'late-starters' explain the economic differences to be found between
Britain and the continental countries, especially in terms of industrial organization? In your answer
discuss the experiences of at least two continental European countries (i.e. France, Germany, Russia, or
any other country of your choice).
70. Which of the following quotations better explains the patterns of industrialization in 19th century
Europe (France, Germany, Russia)?
(A) Karl Marx: 'The industrially more developed country presents to the less developed country a
picture of the latter's future.'
(B) Alexander Gerschenkron: 'In an number of important instances, industrialization processes ... in a backward country showed considerable differences, compared with more advanced countries.'
In your answer focus on one or more of the following: (a) banking-financial institutions; (b) the role of
the state; (c) the role of the agrarian sector; (d) business organization and industrial scale; (e) the labour force.
71. Alexander Gerschenkron has observed that 'in every instance of industrialization [by less developed
countries] imitation of the evolution in advanced countries appears in combination with different,
indigenously determined elements.' Evaluate this statement by comparing German and/or Russian
industrialization with the British experience from 1850 to 1914 (noting regional variations within
countries, where relevant).
72. According to Alexander Gerschenkron, 'industrialization processes, when launched in a backward
country, [often] showed considerable differences as compared with more advanced countries, not only
with regard to the speed of development, but also with regard to the productive and organizational
structures of industry which emerged from those processes.' Discuss, comparing German and/or Russian
industrialization with the British experience from 1850 to 1914 (noting regional variations within
countries, where relevant).
73. 'In 19th-century Europe, regional economic differences within countries were generally greater than
'national' differences between countries; and in major industrializing regions, the similarities were also
more pronounced than the differences between them.' Discuss the validity of this statement by
comparing the economic development of three (or more) of the following regions between 1780 and
1914: (a) the Midlands and Lancashire (England); (b) southern Scotland; (c) the Lille-Pas de Calais
region (France); (d) Alsace-Lorraine (France to 1870); (e) the Ruhr-Rhineland-Westphalia (Germany);
(e) Saxony-Silesia (Germany); (f) the southern Ukraine-Donbas region (Russia); (g) the Caucasus
region (Russia).
74. Discuss the following statement by Alexander Gerschenkron: 'The basic elements of a backward
economy were, on the whole, the same in Russia of the nineties [1890s] and in Germany of the fifties
[1850s]. But quantitatively the differences were formidable.'
75. Discuss and evaluate or criticize the following statement by Alexander Gerschenkron: 'The
difference between banks of the crédit-mobilier type and commercial banks in the advanced industrial
economy of the time (England) was absolute. Between the English bank essentially designed to serve as
a source of short-term capital and a bank designed to finance the long-run investment needs of the
economy there was a complete gulf. The German banks ... may be taken as a paragon of the type of the
universal bank...'
76. Discuss the significance of the steel industry in the development of the British, French, German, and
Russian economies from c. 1860 to 1914.
77. Discuss the importance of the 'second industrial revolution' in mechanical power and its offshoots in
the electrical, chemical, petroleum, and automotive industries for European industrialization from c.
1870 to 1914.
78. Compare the roles steam power, electrical power, and petroleum-based power in European
industrialization from ca. 1880 to 1914.
79. How and why did Great Britain come to dominate international shipping, trade, and finance in the
19th century? To what extent was British dominance in these various fields interrelated? Can this
international dominance be reconciled with the common thesis that Great Britain suffered at least
relative economic decline after 1870, especially during the so-called 'Great Depression' era of 1873-1896?
80. Discuss Sir John Clapham's comment (written in 1921) that 'France never went through an industrial
revolution,' by comparing the chief aspects of French and German economic development from 1789 to 1914.
81. Discuss, the following statement from Rondo Cameron, A Concise Economic History of the World
(1989), comparing the industrialization of France, Britain, Germany, and/or Russia from ca. 1840 to
World War I (1914):
'Although the pattern of industrialization in France differed from that of Great Britain and the other
early industrializers, the outcome was no less efficient and, in terms of human welfare, may have been
more so. Moreover, looking at the patterns of growth of successful late industrializers, it appears [that]
the French pattern may have been more `typical' than the British.'
82. 'The essence of the industrial and agricultural revolutions in the first three-quarters of the nineteenth
century was in new ways of doing old things .... In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the
revolution added a new twist -- that of making new commodities.' (From: W. A. Lewis, Growth and
Fluctuations, 1870 - 1913, London, 1978).
What were 'the new ways of doing old things' and what were the post-1870 'new commodities'? In
your answer, explain and discuss the following:
a) the key differences in British and European industrial and consumer patterns before and after 1870.
b) the contributions that the 'new commodities' made to the continental European but especially the British industrial economies.
c) how such innovations can be reconciled with the view of 'industrial retardation' in the British
economy between 1870 and 1914.
83. Examine the economic forces -- involving technology, 'entrepreneurship,' and markets in particular --
and institutional factors, in both the private and public sectors, that determined major changes in
industrial organization and industrial scale (i.e. larger scale forms of enterprise), in at least two of the
following countries from 1789 to 1914: Great Britain, France, Germany, and Russia. In that context,
evaluate and compare the performances of the industrial sectors of any two of the following countries:
Great Britain, France, Germany, and Russia.
84. Did British economic development, especially in the period 1850 to 1914, obey 'the law of
comparative advantage' -- more so than in other countries? For Britain, was the result 'industrial
retardation' after 1870? Citing examples from the agricultural, industrial, and commercial sectors,
compare the experiences of Britain and at least one continental country in this period 1850-1914,
explaining the differences, especially in terms of national economic policies.
85. Discuss the significance of 'entrepreneurship' and business organization in explaining the relative
industrial performances, or differences in industrial growth rates and achievements, in at least two of the
following countries, from 1850 to 1914: Great Britain, France, Germany, and Russia.
86. Is entrepreneurship a legitimate, viable variable of economic analysis in studying the
industrialization of 19th-century Europe? Discuss the current debates concerning 'entrepreneurship,'
business organization, and industrial scale, in explaining the different rates of industrial growth in at
least two of the following countries, especially from 1870 to 1914: Great Britain, France, Germany, and Russia.
87. For the period 1860 to 1914, compare the performance of the industrial economies in two or
moreof the European 'Great Powers' (Great Britain, France, Germany, and Russia) in terms of the
following: (1) the role of capital markets and financial institutions, private and public; (2) business
organization and industrial scale, (3) entrepreneurship and industrial innovations.
88. Explain, in terms of both monetary and real factors, why world prices fell so sharply during the
so-called 'Great Depression' era of 1873-1896, after a prolonged period of inflation, from the 1840s; and
why this severe deflation was then followed by a period of inflation, from 1896 to 1914. Does deflation
reflect 'depression' and thus does inflation reflect 'economic boom,' as some commentators, of this era
and in the current literature, suggest?
89. Did any of the European economies experience a 'Great Depression' or 'industrial retardation' during
the period 1873 - 1896? Whatever your response, explain why the level of prices fell so sharply
between 1873 and 1896, and then why it rose so sharply from 1896 to 1914. In your answer discuss
also the relationship between prices and industrial performances; and the contemporary views about a
'Great Depression,' especially the views of industrialists.
90. Discuss the major problems of the British economy in the period 1870 to 1914: were they the result
of an international or domestic 'depression' (1873-1896); or of the changing character of European
industrialization; or changes in Britain's traditional export markets; or of internal structural defects
within the British economy itself? For whatever explanation you choose, evaluate the performance of
British industry in responding to changed conditions during this era.
91. Compare the effectiveness of 'free trade' and 'protectionist' trade policies in promoting national
economic development in Europe from 1850 to 1914; and explain why all major countries except Great
Britain returned to Protection from the late 1870s.
92. In the literature on international economic relations from ca. 1870 to World War I, the following
issues are the most prominent: the 'New Imperialism' and the European race for overseas colonies; the
export of capital; the Gold Standard; Deflation, the 'Great Depression' (of 1873-96), and pre-War
Inflation (1896-1914); the new 'Revolutions in Mechanical Power and Transportation;' British Free
Trade and the 'Return to Protectionism; and the Armaments Race amongst the Great Powers. Discuss
at least three of these topics, and analyse the economic relationships, if any, to be found amongst them.
93. The term 'Great Depression' has been applied to the period 1873 -1896, which also encompasses the greater part of the era known as 'New Imperialism' (1870-1914). Discuss the nature of and relationships between these two descriptive concepts, in terms of the following:
a) the importance or relevance of the 'Return to Protectionism,' the international Gold Standard, deflation, capital exports, investment banking, overseas colonial acquisitions;
b) the economic evidence for either a 'Great Depression' or 'New Imperialism' during this era.
94. Compare and evaluate the significance of those economic policies to be found in: early-modern
Mercantilism; nineteenth-century 'Free Trade'; the 'Imperialism of Free Trade'; Protectionism and the
New Imperialism of 1870-1914. What was the economic significance of overseas colonies for each of these?
95. Compare the role of overseas colonies in early-modern European 'Mercantilism' and in late
19th-century European 'Imperialism': in contemporary theories and in historical reality. Answer one or
both of the following questions:
a) How have various Marxist historians viewed such colonial developments in both periods as
responses to 'economic crises'?
b) Were 'Free Trade' doctrines opposed to colonial acquisitions, in either of these two periods?
96. Discuss the importance of the export of capital for European and world economic development from
1870 to 1914. In that era, what relationships did such capital exports have, according to the literature,
with the following issues: the so-called 'Great Depression', Protectionism, 'New Imperialism', the Gold
Standard, the Transportation Revolutions, and the Armaments Race amongst the 'Great Powers'?
97. How and why did Great Britain come to dominate international shipping, trade, and finance in the
later 19th and early 20th centuries, especially during the era of the International Gold Standard? Can
this international dominance be reconciled with the popular thesis that Great Britain suffered at least
relative economic decline after 1870, in facing international competition, especially during the so-called
'Great Depression' era of 1873-1896? If Britain did suffer economic decline in this period, why did her
government not respond with Protectionism: why did it remain true to Free Trade?
98. Discuss the relationship between population growth and industrialization in 19th century Europe,
citing the experiences of at least three countries: Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia.
99. Compare and evaluate the performances of the industrial economies of at least two of the following
countries between ca. 1860 and 1914: Great Britain, Germany, France, and Russia. Where relevant,
explain the differences (regional and/or national) in terms of some (not all) of the following:
technological innovations, entrepreneurship, business organization, financial institutions, the role of the
state, the role of agricultural institutions, natural resources and transportation facilities, labour
recruitment, etc.
100. Compare the performances of the British, French, and German industrial economies between 1860
and 1914, in terms of two or more of the following:
(a) 'entrepreneurship' and business organization;
(b) technological changes;
(c) national economic policies;
(d) investment patterns (domestic and foreign);
(e) consumption patterns and consumer goods.
Did Britain in fact lose her economic predominance or suffer 'industrial retardation' from 1870 to World
War I; or did the British obey the 'law of comparative advantage' in responding to foreign competition in
this era?
101. Compare the economic development and industrialization patterns of France with those of Britain,
Germany, or Russia in the 19th century (1815 - 1914). To what extent were regional economic
differences more important than 'national' economic differences? Can any valid conclusions be drawn by
comparing national economic growth rates?
102. In what industrial fields and why did Germany gain supremacy over Great Britain and France in the
era 1870 to 1914? In what economic (including industrial) fields did Britain retain or strengthen her
leadership in this period, and why?
103. Did the British economy experience 'retardation' or relative stagnation in the era 1870-1914?
Evaluate the 'retardation' thesis critically in terms of both internal and external challenges facing the
British economy in this period, and the responses to these challenges.
104. Compare and contrast the changes in the agrarian structures and agricultural economies of England
and France in the 19th century, explaining both regional and national differences. Discuss in particular
how such agricultural changes affected the patterns of industrial development in each country.
105. Analyse and compare the relationships to be found among agrarian, demographic, and industrial
changes, and their combined impact upon industrial urbanization in three of the following countries from
ca. 1780 to 1914: Great Britain, France, Germany, and Russia. Were the greater differences to be found
between these countries, or amongst regions within these countries?
106. How did the international gold standard evolve in the British, European, and international
economies during the 19th century? How effective was it in promoting or facilitating international trade,
capital exports, and economic growth in general? How, when, and why did the gold standard era come
to an end?
107. Analyse and compare the role of education and educational institutions in the economic
development of at least one European country after ca. 1760 and up to 1914.
108. Did Great Britain experience a deflationary 'Great Depression' from 1873 to 1896, followed by an
inflationary pre-War 'industrial boom' from 1896 to 1914? In your answer compare and contrast the
changes in growth rates, industrial structures, business organization, and more generally
'entrepreneurship' and industrial innovation in Great Britain during these two periods; and the discuss as
well the relevance of those structural economic changes to the current debates about productivity
changes (Total Factor Productivity) and secular price trends during this era.
109. 'No factor has been more responsible for the vastly increased tempo of economic development, throughout the world, in the past two centuries than fossil-based fuels.' Discuss the validity of this statement, and the 'costs and benefits' of relying on such fuels for modern industrialization'.
110. According to a World Bank report issued a few years ago, Australia and Canada are the world's
two 'wealthiest' nations, if and as measured by natural resource endowments. How important were
natural-resource endowments in permitting the industrialization of first Great Britain and then of other
European (and North American) countries during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries? In your answer
be specific about which industries or economic sectors enjoyed and gained from relative advantages
(over other countries) in access to such domestic natural resources.