A World in Motion: The Rise of a Global Economy, 1783-1914

Module code: HS2318

This module introduces you to the history of the global economy from the end of the American war of independence to the eve of the First World War, a time when economic change transformed the lives of millions of people. Some believed the expanding economy would make the world ‘one city’.

From the 1870s, international economic relations became more complex as countries like the United States and Germany industrialised and competed with Britain for markets and investment opportunities. Economic power, as well as military force, subjected people throughout the globe to the influence and control of the wealthiest nations, most notably Britain itself.

The economies of leading European nations were so entwined that many thought that they could never benefit from war. However, the dawn of the World Wars meant the first great era of globalism had ended.