The French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution had great impact on the history of the world. In many ways, progress is inevitable although there will be those individuals who will wish to retard progress in order to protect their own special interests. This can be seen in the example of the monarchies that existed during the French Revolution and with the traditional egalitarians that existed during the Industrial Revolution. As history has shown us, progress is difficult to suppress and when it succeeds, it can have long reaching effects. In the case of the French and Industrial Revolutions, the impact of the outcome of these revolutions still reverberate to this very day.
In regards to the French Revolution, a great deal of innovation resulted from the damage that had been enacted on the monarchy. Now, while many will look at the French Revolution and see it as a mere struggle of class warfare, but the reality is that there is much more that has derived from the Revolution.
For example, the French Revolution gave way to the Age of Enlightenment and from the Age of Enlightenment, critical thinking became the dominant ideology of the movement. No longer was religion, monarchies and political leaders considered omnipotent. Yes, there are still a great deal of individuals who lack critical thinking skill and require authority figures to present them the ability to think, but of one looks at the totality of the media, the publishing industry and the internet, there are a great number of “iconoclasts” who stress the need to question authority and, most of all, to think critically.
Now, if one returns to the “class warfare” aspect of the French Revolution, one could make a credible argument that the concept of socialism originates from this era. While Karl Marx is most credited as the father of socialism, the reality is the many of the tenants of socialism derive from the French Revolution such as placing power in the hands of the peasants and not the monarchy. Aspects of this are still seen to this very day in governments all over the world.
With the Industrial Revolution, the world changed forever. With the advent of machinery and large factories, the world moved beyond the realm of egalitarian life and into a modern age.
To pigeonhole the Industrial Revolution as merely the era of machinery is not entirely accurate as it was also the birthplace of great thinking as individuals would innovate and improve upon previously developed equipment and take said equipment to the next level of evolution. Oftentimes, the enhancement of developed machinery is logarithmic in approach and many great strides can occur in a very short period of time. From the humble origins of the Industrial Revolution the origins of the wonders of the modern world such as the exploration of space, the advent of the media the invention of the internet are all derived.
If the Industrial Revolution had never occurred, the world that exists today would be a much different one, as we would still be living in a primitive and egalitarian age. Similarly, if the French Revolution has never occurred the entire geo-political spectrum of the Western World would be a very different place. Instead, we live in a world that has largely been shaped by these two events and continues to be shaped by them even many years after their conclusion.