An Economic History of Nineteenth-Century Europe
Diversity and Industrialization

A transnational survey of the economic development of Europe, exploring why some regions advanced and some stayed behind.

Ivan Berend (Author)

9781107689992, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 15 November 2012

566 pages, 26 b/w illus. 5 maps 47 tables
24.6 x 17.4 x 2.5 cm, 1.1 kg

'Writing [a] new economic history of Europe from a regional perspective is a very ambitious project and an increasingly difficult task for a single individual. I can only praise and admire Professor Berend for his ambition, erudition, and courage. The coverage of multiple dimensions, economic, social and cultural, of economic disparities during nineteenth-century industrialisation in Europe is really impressive.' Leandro Prados de la Escosura, Universidad Carlos III, Madrid

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.

Introduction
Part I. Gradual Revolution: 1. From merchant to industrial capitalism in Northwestern Europe
Part II. Successful Industrial Transformation of the West: 2. Knowledge and the entrepreneurial state
3. Agriculture, transportation, and communication
4. The organisation of business and finance
5. Three versions of successful industrialization
6. The miracle of knowledge and the state: Scandinavia
7. Demographic revolution, transformation of life and standard of living
8. The Europeanization of Europe
Part III. The Peripheries: Semi-Success or Failure of Modern Transformation: 9. The 'sleeping' peripheries, traditional institutions and values
10. The Western sparks that ignite modernization
11. Advantage from dependence: Central Europe, the Baltic Area, Finland and Ireland
12. Profiting from foreign interests: the Mediterranean and Russia
13. The predator Leviathan in peasant societies: the Balkans and the borderlands of Austria-Hungary
Epilogue: economic disparity – and alternative postwar economic regimes
References.

Subject Areas: Economic history [KCZ], Macroeconomics [KCB], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], History [HB]