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It depends on what you call industrial revolution. If you refer only to manufacturing powered by steam engines (Savery's, Newcomen's, Watt's) then yes, Britain
by diego_moita 4y ago
It depends on what you call industrial revolution. If you refer only to manufacturing powered by steam engines (Savery's, Newcomen's, Watt's) then yes, Britain was the first mostly because they were the ones with enough coal for those machines.
However the steam engine marks what is commonly called the second phase of the industrial revolution.
Manufacturing with machines with other sources of power was widely spread in other parts of Europe long before steam engines. They used wind, water currents and horses for grain mills, textiles production, wine production, etc.
- vixen99 4y agoThis kind of suggests that if only there had been readily available coal in location X (a statement copied over in a majority of history websites) then the industrial revolution might have started in X. [ there was such availability in many locations other than Britain ] Innovation and imagination were likely prime drivers necessarily allied with the geographic features conducive to its advance. https://academic.oup.com/ej/article/131/635/1135/5955447 https://academic.oup.com/ej/article/131/635/1135/5955447