The Development Trend Of Wool Industry In The UK Is On The Rise.

British

Why can we come back from behind and keep up with the development trend for a long time?

One of the most important reasons is that the wool industry in Britain has been pferred to the countryside.

This is the result of a series of accidental factors.

At that time, a new technology of fulling (also called felting) was used.

In the past, it was usually done with human shrinkage, namely, using human feet to trample in water. After replacing manpower with water wheels, the efficiency increased greatly. But more subtle, because the class struggle took place mainly in cities, and there were artisans' guilds in the city, it was easy for them to exchange voice and achieve collective action. After moving to the countryside, sporadic employees were hard to unite and form a powerful force, even if they were crushed, they could only swallow up, which made the new capitalist mode of production easy to carry out in rural areas.

Therefore, unlike our usual view, the sprout of British capitalism first appeared in the countryside, not the city.

Of course, not all production links can move to the countryside. The last link of the value chain often focuses on the nearest place to the consumer market.

Then why does F Randall and Florence do not have water vehicles to replace the labor force? Not because F Randall and Florence don't know the technology of the water car, but because the resource endowment determines the technical path.

F Randall is lowland, no waterfall.

There is a waterfall in Florence, but its seasonality is too strong, the water flow is very fast in the flood season, and there is almost no water in the dry season. If the production workshop is pulled to the mountainous area, it can only be used for half a year, so it is not economical for Florence to replace the labor with water wagon.

Of course, there are many reasons why the wool industry in Britain is coming from behind.

Compared with F Randall and Florence, wool is abundant in Britain.

Most of the wool used in the UK was used for export. After the improvement of production technology in the country, the export duty on wool was levied, and wool was no longer encouraged to be shipped abroad.

To some extent, this protectionist policy promoted the early development of the wool industry in England.

Related links

In thirteenth Century, the center of the wool industry was in F Randall, that is, to the East Flemish and West Flanders of Belgium, to the Calais and northern provinces of France, and to the province of Holland.

This is a pportation hub linking northern Europe, Central Europe and southern Europe.

F Randall's early wool industry was concentrated in Ghent, Ypres, Douai and Burges, and later pferred to bradant (Brabant), mainly in Brussels, Leuven (Louvain) and Antwerp.

F Randall himself does not produce wool, so he imports mainly from England and Spain.

And then processing and production.

The main reason for the prosperity of the wool industry is the expansion of the market. F Randall's wool industry not only supplies the local market, but also supplies the whole European market.

Trade will certainly bring benefits, but it can not be overlooked that trade will often bring more uncertainty (changes in distant external markets will affect local production and employment), and will also lead to changes in income distribution (large producers are bigger and many small master become employees).

At that time, a group of handicraftsmen called "blue nail" (blue nails, because they worked for a long time, dirty fingers), had to run to the employment market every week, waiting for recruitment.

The main reason for the decline of F Randall's wool industry is class struggle and intensified competition.

Because of the widening gap between the rich and the poor, the handicraftsmen at the bottom are poor and poor. They will rise to rebellion in despair, and many artisans will migrate to Italy and Britain.

Bradant's rise also aggravated F Randall's decline.

In Fourteenth Century, the wool production center was pferred to Florence, Italy.

Florence was probably the largest city in Europe at that time.

The production chain continues to lengthen. In the city, the last link of the supply chain is concentrated, such as dyeing and clothing, and other production links are pferred to the external manual workshops by outsourcing.

Wool industry in Florence

More than F Randall.

But Florence did not avoid F Randall's fate.

The root cause is also the polarization between the rich and the poor and the class struggle in the process of rapid expansion of production.

Florence is not only the most industrialized city in Europe, but also the most turbulent and revolutionary city.

In fifteenth Century, the wool production center was pferred to Britain.

Unlike F Randall and Florence, the wool industry in the UK has not only come back from behind, but also maintained a sustained growth momentum.

Beginning in fifteenth Century, the wool industry in Britain has been far ahead until eighteenth Century.