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History of the world economy - Polyak GB

Trade Policy

Capitalist industrialization, having strengthened industry and turned England into a "factory, workshop of peace," significantly changed the direction of foreign trade policy.

Mercantilism, with its regulation of industrial production, has lost its former importance. Now England, far ahead of other countries in terms of industrial development, was not afraid of competition. The growth of financial resources has reduced the fiscal role of duties. So, in the 20-ies. XIX century. Duties on manufactured goods fell from 50 to 20%. In the middle of the century, they were significantly reduced by finished products, raw materials and semi-finished products were canceled altogether. At the same time, restrictive "grain laws" were abolished, Cromwell's Navigation Act and restrictions on coastal trade were abolished.

This transition from protectionism to free trade (free trade) contributed to the country's further economic development, the accumulation of capital, and the growth of industrialization.

In turn, low commodity prices, which strengthened the competitiveness of English goods on the world market, also helped to reduce duties for the sale of English goods, which were in great demand in the markets of other countries.

Since the volume of products produced in England was many times higher than the domestic needs of the country, the volume of industrial exports expanded ever more. In the XIX century. England held the lead in the size of foreign trade operations. During the 1800-1870's. The foreign trade turnover grew more than sevenfold (from 85 million to 611 million pounds sterling). Textiles and machinery, coal and products of ferrous metallurgy prevailed among the export goods. Imports were raw materials (cotton, wool) and food (grain, meat, etc.).

Since the second half of the XIX century. The trade balance becomes passive, that is, the amount of exports is lower than the cost of imported products. And in the last third of the XIX century. Imports were already twice as high as exports. These losses were largely compensated by "invisible exports" - income from the export of capital, intermediary trade and banking operations, freight payments, insurance of maritime trade, etc. In particular, at the beginning of the 20th century, The income from placing English capital abroad was five times higher than foreign trade income.

In the late XIX - early XX centuries. England continued to be the leading country in world trade. At its share in the late XIX century. Accounted for half, and by the beginning of the 20th century. - two-fifths of the world's total tonnage.

At the same time, the difficulties and problems of the country's economic development in the last third of the 19th century, the rivalry between Germany and the United States, also affected foreign trade. So, if at the end of the XIX century. English exports grew by 8%, then for the same time in Germany - by 40%, and in the USA - by 230%. The share of English exports in world trade decreased.

England has become a pioneer in the export of capital on a large scale abroad. In the early 70's. The size of its foreign loans and loans amounted to about 1 billion pounds. Art., And by the beginning of the 20th century. Has doubled. At the same time, about half of the foreign investments were in the countries of the British colonial empire.

Often, large international financial transactions were carried out in London. The English currency played the role of international money and was a unit in world trade operations. The financial oligarchy was represented by such bankers as Rothschild, Goshen, Grenfell, Bering, Lloyd. At the same time, the constant growth of export of capital and its shortage within the country made it necessary to resort to the mobilization of financial means through joint-stock companies. By the beginning of XX century. The share capital took the leading place in all branches of the British industry. So, if in 1863 there were about 640 joint-stock companies in the country, by the end of the 19th century, Their annual increase was 4 thousand.

Agriculture

English agriculture did not keep up with the industry, retreating to secondary positions. In addition, the accelerated process of urbanization, which turned England into a country of towns and villages, was accompanied by a decrease in the proportion of the rural population: at the beginning of the nineteenth century, 35% and slightly more than 14% by the 1970s.

The peculiarity of agrarian evolution was the considerable concentration of landed estates and the growth of capitalist entrepreneurship. Half of the land in the country belonged to 35,000 landowners. The main actor of agrarian relations was a large tenant farmer. Renting land from landlords, he led the economy on a capitalist basis, widely used the achievements of modern agricultural machinery (steam plow, seed drill, thresher, winnower I?) And agricultural crops (mineral fertilizers, renewed seed fund, pedigree livestock). To labor in the farm, farm laborers-hired workers-were employed. The greatest successes were achieved in the development of dairy farming, gardening and gardening.

However, the steadily growing demand for agricultural products was largely met through imports, especially from the colonies. The agrarian crisis has complicated the situation of the country's agriculture. In the last third of the XIX century. English farming has been significantly affected by the receipt of cheap American bread on the European market. In the early XX century. England only had enough bread for 2.5 months. The country could only cover its bread needs by one third, which made it vulnerable and dependent on world prices for agricultural products. Part of the way out of the difficult situation, England found itself in intensifying its own agricultural production and intensifying the exploitation of the agrarian resources of its colonies.

Crises

The foundations of an industrial, colonial and commercial monopoly were laid by England during the wars with Napoleon. Over these years, the volume of industrial output has increased 20 times. However, not everything went so smoothly. A number of events (the continental blockade, Anglo-American wars, etc.) led to a reduction in the volumes of domestic and foreign trade and the overproduction of goods. And after a period of economic recovery in the UK in 1825, the world's first crisis broke out, which seized all sectors of the economy.

The cyclicality of the crises was about ten years. And the crises of 1825, 1836-1837, 1847, 1857 , accompanied by difficulties in implementation, the reduction in production, unemployment, the deterioration of the working people and prolonged depressions, became deeper. The most destructive, especially for the leading industry - the cotton industry, was the crisis of 1866. It was from this time on that England began to experience serious economic problems and to lose its world leadership.

The situation of workers

The era of industrialization in England was accompanied by an aggravation of social contradictions. Social polarization intensified. From the motley mass of the landless peasants, the ruined artisans and the manufactory workers, the industrial proletariat has formed . With a total population of about 21 million people, the number of workers by the middle of the 19th century Was 4.8 million.

Against the background of rapid and significant enrichment of the bourgeoisie, the impoverishment of the working people grew. For the first half of the XIX century. With a general increase in the cost of living, the level of wages not only did not reach the level of wages at the end of the eighteenth century, but even decreased. The intensity of labor has increased. The working day was 14-18 hours. The low-paid female, adolescent and even child labor, which at times amounted to 70% of all employed in the factories, was increasingly used. A system of fines and a natural payment for goods from factory shops at inflated prices have spread. In the last third of the XIX century. In the country, almost 1.5 million people were begging. In search of a better life for 1800-1870 gg. From the country emigrated about 10 million Englishmen and Irish.

At first, the dissatisfaction of the workers was spontaneous in character: they were separate strikes, petitions, machine breakdowns and arson of factories. However, in the last third of the XVIII century. And in the beginning of the XIX century. The movement of Luddites, which destroyed machines and equipment in factories , was widely spread. Its destructive power was so great that a special law was passed through the parliament, which established very strict punishments for the breakdown of machines, up to the death penalty. The participation of the workers' unions and strikes was considered a criminal offense. The special law on the poor eliminated social benefits and established workhouses with an almost prison regime, which included poor people who applied for help.

In the 30-40's. XIX century. A powerful revolutionary upsurge of British workers led to the Chartist movement - the creation of the first independent and organized labor movement in the world. The Chartist movement forced the government in 1847 to go for parliamentary reforms, the factory legislation was expanded, a ten-hour working day was introduced for women and minors, and so on.

In the 40-ies. Marxism arose . Living in England in exile, K. Marx and F. Engels maintained close ties with the British labor movement. In their scientific works, they largely relied on the study of the socio-economic processes taking place in England, etc.