Outcomes of History

[InTheWomblikeCocoon]

I really need help coming up with a hypothesis about some of the outcomes of history. Specifically occurring during the time of the industrial revolution in Europe. Along the lines of, "What would have been different about Britain's econonmy if..." (you would complete the sentence though). Please help, I cannot find anything to ask about.

 

[Top cat]

...if they didn't invent power looms. This is a huge topic

 

[muir]

What would have happened to the British economy if.....

.....Napoleon hadn't lost at Waterloo?
....the American civil war hadn't happened?
....the Boer War hadn't happened?
....the Scottish highland army during the Jacobite rising of 1745 hadn't turned back at Derby and had marched on and captured London, putting the Stuarts back on the throne of Britain?
....the Indian 'mutiny' (arguably a war of independance) hadn't happened?
....the Opium wars didn't happen?

Shit when you look at it history is just one armed robbery after another

From the above i would probably go with one of the first two. The war against France saw the British navy emerge in control of the seas, whilst other European navies were destroyed and it saw Britain avoid bankruptcy, whilst other countries which had also borrowed heavily lost credit. Also the British victory at Waterloo may have stopped the spread of French revolutionary ideals, allowing the rich to continue weilding power in Britain and drawing up policy based around maximising their own profits.

The American civil war cut the supply of cotton to Britain which was a big industry at the time. Britain stayed out of the war though because the north supplied Britain with much of its grain. Britain did however sell arms, machinary and warships to both sides in the conflict.

These two 'what ifs' would be fairly straight forward to research and pretty interesting to study as well. Niall Fergusson made a good series on channel 4 (see 4 on demand) called 'the ascent of money' which covers some of this stuff...good luck!

 

[Shai Gar]

The world would be a better place if Napoleon had won.

 

[muir]

The world could do with some more egalite, liberte, fraternite!

 

[Sithious]

What would happen if Hitler managed to develop the nuclear bomb and a timemachine? Or even better, a nuclear timemachine!

 

[bamf]

What would have happened if Czechoslovakia had fought against Hitler, so as to give the disgruntled in the German military the chance to coup before Hitler had gained too much power?

 

[muir]

What would have happened to the British economy if......

.....over 2% of Britains population hadn't been wiped out in the first world war and a further 3% wounded? Would the working classes have brought about a socialist revolution if they hadn't been bled dry in the fields of France? (Although this is kind of post industrial revolution).

The same question could be asked of Germany as well. Russia had a peasant economy and was therefore not the best place for a socialist revolution to take place. Germany on the other hand was the industrial powerhouse of Europe. If here had been a socialist revolution in Germany (and there realistically could have been) then things would have been very different for everyone around the world.