Chapter 30: The Locomotive

The first practical automobiles were invented in 1886 and, for the next 20 years, such vehicles gradually spread around the world. Then, through new mass-production techniques, they would spread like wildfire – dramatically altering the physical, social, and economic landscapes of our planet like nothing before.

In the wake of the Panic of 1893, people across the world cried out for reform. They were tired of the corruption and inequalities that defined the Gilded Age. Over the next 20 years, major changes were seen across Europe and the Americas: expansions of democracy and technocracy alike; new business regulations; the emergence of the social welfare state; and more. “Progress” was the buzzword of the age, and it set the tone for an extraordinary new century.

In the late 19th Century, the nature of imperialism was evolving. Driven by Realist geopolitics, capitalist forces, and racist assumptions, Westerners scrambled for power over the rest of the world. In this chapter, we will explore the impact of this transformation in China, Africa, and the empire of the United States.

A guest episode from the podcast History Daily! As we discussed back in Chapter 52, the new railroads played a major role during the U.S. Civil War. About a year into that war, a band of Union spies stole a train to sabotage the Western & Atlantic Railroad, a vital supply line at the heart of the Confederacy.

In the mid-19th Century, two eastern empires were humiliated by industrialized powers. To avoid further humiliation, they both decided to industrialize themselves. In the late 19th Century, Russia and Japan went through rapid modernization. But which of the two succeeded would shock everyone, come 1905.