During the 1700s and 1800s, european society entered a new historical period, which was characterized by a shift toward an urban and industrial economy and an increased reliance on science and reason to explain the natural and social worlds. this period is known as

The name of this period is the (First) Industrial Revolution. It started in Great Britain in the middle 16th century as it was here where the technological innovations that triggered the whole proccess were started. It lasted until 1820s-1830s in GB but it was also consistently spread to other European countries. Most countries ended up experiencing this same process but at different speeds, depending on the kind of economy they had before.

Less people were required to produce agricultural goods due to new machinery and innovations. These people moved from rural areas to cities where they could find opportunities for different types of unskilled industrial work. Also the craftery was substituted by industrial type of production, where goods were elaborated in chain and such type of production did not require artist skills, but only to understand how the machine worked. This is how all unskilled workers from rural areas could find jobs in the new urban and industrial production system.

Moreover, the whole process was fostered by the great amount of raw materials coming from the colonies that European countries had all over the world and that were transformed into goods in the factories.

Finally, technological innovations go hand in hand with scientific development and to the extension of human knowledge about the world.