Blog #1

Hi everyone! Welcome to my blog! I'm so excited to share my research with all of you!

I wanted to talk briefly about why I chose the topic "Did the Industrial Revolution lead to the Cold War." One of the reasons I decided to undertake this exploration is because I think it will provide me with a deeper understanding of how businesses were able to expand into the large multi-billion companies we know today. I hope to hold a management position in the future and, by studying the classical management theories of Industrial Revolution era citizens such as Fredrick Taylor, I will be able to incorporate their theories, among others, to successfully run a business. 

Figure 1: Frederick Taylor, widely considered the father of Scientific Management. His theories helped create standardized training, jobs, working conditions and employee incentives, increasing overall productivity. However, his theories also resulted in the dehumanization of factories, where men worked like machines.

I also want to look into the negative implications of the industrial revolution, which inspired thinkers such as Karl Marx to invent a new type of society -- one where there is no conflict of power between the working class (proletariat) and the elite factory owners (bourgeoisie). One of the questions I am using to guide my research at the moment is: "How did Marxist ideology inspire revolutions?"

Figure 2: Karl Marx is the father of Marxist ideology He believed that there is a quintessential power struggle between the proletariat and the  bourgeois (owner) class, and his eventual goal was to inspire a proletariat uprising that would abolish the class distinctions in society, making everyone equal and leading to better conditions for common people.

This leads me to the goals I want to achieve before my next blog:

• For my primary sources, I intend to purchase and read two books (below). They were both written around the time of the Industrial Revolution and will offer opposing views on this era.

Figures 3 & 4: The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith and The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

• I am in the process of contacting a family friend, who is a Professor of Religious Studies at Carlton University. I'm going to try to schedule an email interview with one of his colleagues, who works in the History Department, to get their perspective on my primary question.
• I would like to watch some documentaries on the Industrial Revolution and the Cold War. I will start by watching the ones linked below (a BBC documentary on the Industrial Revolution and a CNN series on the Cold War). If anybody has any recommendations, please comment below.

BBC Documentary on Industrial Revolution

CNN Cold War Series Episode 1

• As well, I will continue to conduct background research on the Industrial Revolution and the Cold War using credible sources (i.e. History.com).

Lastly, I would like to share some fast facts about the Industrial Revolution:

• Started in Britain and occurred during the 18th and 19th centuries
• Britain was a world power and had an abundance of coal and iron
• Manufacturing took place in large factories using machines, instead of in people's homes
• Urbanization
• Important inventions (i.e. steam engine)
• Pros: Developments in transportation (i.e. steam powered train), communication, banking, improved standard of living for bourgeoisie, increase in amount and variety of products
• Cons: Harsh working conditions and living standards for proletarians

Figures 5 & 6: A factory during the Industrial Revolution and a steam-powered train

Thank you so much for reading my blog! I hope you enjoyed- Monica

Works Cited

Editors, History.com. "Industrial Revolution." HISTORY. October 29, 2009. Accessed October 26, 2018. https://www.history.com/topics/industrial-revolution/industrial-revolution.

Ollman, Bertell. "What Is Marxism? A Bird's-Eye View." Dialectical Marxism. Accessed October 26, 2018.

Sandrone, Vincenzo. "Frederick W. Taylor: Master of Scientific Management." SkyMark. 1997. Accessed October 26, 2018. http://www.skymark.com/resources/leaders/taylor.asp.