During the nineteenth-twentieth centuries, crises periodically occurred in the economies of many states. The cause of temporary economic difficulties was the formation and development of an industrial society. The consequences were a decline in production, the accumulation of unsold goods on the market, the ruin of firms, an increase in the number of unemployed, falling prices and the collapse of banking systems. But the crises of the nineteenth century were different from those of the twentieth century or of modern times. So, what characterizes the crises of the 19th century? How often did they occur, which countries did they affect and how did they manifest themselves? More on that later.
The British economic crisis of 1825
The first economic crisis occurred in Great Britain in 1825. It was in this country that capitalism first became the dominant economic system, and industry was greatly developed. The next decline occurred in 1836. He embraced both Great Britain and the United States, connected by trade relations. This was followed by the crisis of 1847, which by its nature was already close to the global one and affected almost all countries of the Old World.
What characterizes the crises of the 19th century is already clear from this small summary of the first three economic crises in the world. Until the twentieth century, a sharp and significant drop in production, a decline in the standard of living of the population, massive bankruptcies and unemployment were not so large-scale, covering, as a rule, one or two countries. Here you can also trace the periodicity of the crises of the 19th century. Difficulties arose every eight to ten years.
First world economic crisis
The first crisis, which can be called global, affected the US, UK, Germany and France. Massive bankruptcy of legal (mainly railroad companies failed) and individuals, the collapse of the stock market and the collapse of the banking system began in the United States in 1857. At that time, cotton consumption dropped by almost a third and pig iron production by a quarter.
In France, iron smelting fell by 13%, and cotton consumption fell by the same amount. Shipbuilding was particularly hard hit in the UK, with production falling 26% in this area. In Germany, pig iron consumption fell by 25%. The crisis even affected the Russian Empire, where the level of iron smelting fell by 17%, and the production of fabrics by 14%.
What characterizes the crises of the 19th century after the most tangible one that occurred in1857? The next economic shock awaited Europe in 1866 - only nine years after the deepest crisis of those times. The main feature of this economic shock was that it was predominantly financial in nature and had little effect on the standard of living of the common population. The cause of the crisis was the "cotton famine" provoked by the American Civil War.
Transition to monopoly capitalism
The next economic crisis of the 19th century surpassed all previous difficulties in duration. Starting in 1873 in Austria and Germany, it spread to the countries of the Old World and the United States. The crisis ended in 1878 in Great Britain. It was this period, as historians later found out, that marked the beginning of the transition to monopoly capitalism.
The next crisis, which occurred in 1882, affected only the United States and France, and in 1890-93, economic difficulties befell Russia, Germany, France and the United States. The agrarian crisis, which lasted from the mid-seventies to the mid-nineties of the nineteenth century, also had a serious impact on all countries.
Here again you can see how the crises of the 19th century are characterized. Firstly, they were most often local, and secondly, they were repeated more often than modern ones, but they did not influence the economy and the world economy so much.
The first crisis of the imperialist era
The first crisis of the era of imperialism occurred at the very beginning of the twentieth century. The decline in production rates was insignificant, but coveredvirtually all European states and the United States. The Russian Empire was having a hard time with this global crisis, as it coincided with a crop failure.
