In the 19th century, France was dominated by Napoleonic power and the industrial revolution. While the revolution began in England before 1850, the economies of the other European countries, handicapped by continental wars, the shortage of money and weak banking structures, remained primarily agricultural. Industrial capitalism was rooted in mechanised coal and steel production made possible by the steam engine, and also in the development of transport. The construction of rail networks worldwide from 1832 onwards, particularly in France, Belgium and Germany, was the decisive factor in the advent of capitalist companies. In its wake, the movement led to the development of banks and joint-stock companies, and the creation of a world economy. At the same time, the new order also heralded the rise in class-based political parties and trade-unionism, and the decline of the nobility with the transfer of political power to the middle classes.
