An Economic History of Nineteenth-Century Europe

by Berend, Ivan T.

• ISBN13: 9781107030701
• ISBN10: 1107030706
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-12-28
• Publisher: Cambridge Univ Pr

Summary

Why did some countries and regions of Europe reach high levels of economic advancement in the nineteenth century, while others were left behind? This new transnational survey of the continent's economic development highlights the role of regional differences in shaping each country's economic path and outcome. Presenting a clear and cogent explanation of the historical causes of advancement and backwardness, Ivan Berend integrates social, political, institutional and cultural factors as well as engaging in debates about the relative roles of knowledge, the state and institutions. Featuring boxed essays on key personalities including Adam Smith, Friedrich List, Gustave Eiffel and the Krupp family, as well as brief histories of innovations such as the steam engine, vaccinations and the co-operative system, the book helps to explain the theories and macro-economic trends that dominated the century and their impact on the subsequent development of the European economy right up to the present day.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Gradual Revolution

From merchant to industrial capitalism in Northwestern Europe

Successful Industrial Transformation of the West

Knowledge and the entrepreneurial state

Agriculture, transportation, and communication

The organisation of business and finance

Three versions of successful industrialization

The miracle of knowledge and the state: Scandinavia

Demographic revolution, transformation of life and standard of living

The Europeanization of Europe

The Peripheries: Semi-Success or Failure of Modern Transformation

The 'sleeping' peripheries, traditional institutions and values

The Western sparks that ignite

Advantage from dependence: Central Europe, the Baltic Area, Finland and Ireland

Profiting from foreign interests: the Mediterranean and Russia

The predator Leviathan in peasant societies: the Balkans and the borderlands of Austria-Hungary

Epilogue: economic disparity - and alternative postwar economic regimes

Bibliography

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