What were some of the global consequences of European industrialization?

OOVER THE COURSE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, the economic system created by the Industrial Revolution expanded across the face of the earth. Some of this extension into non-Western areas was peaceful and beneficial. If peaceful methods failed, however, Europeans used their superior military power to force non-Western nations to open their doors to Western economic interests.

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Britain and China at WarBritain capitalized on its overwhelming naval superiority in its war against China, as shown in this British painting celebrating a dramatic moment in a crucial 1841 battle near Guangzhou. Having received a direct hit from a steam-powered British ironclad, a Chinese sailing ship explodes into a wall of flame. The Chinese lost eleven ships and five hundred men in the two-hour engagement; the British suffered only minor damage. (© National Maritime Museum, London/The Image Works)