“Until August 1914, sensible and law-abiding Englishmen could go through life and hardly notice the existence of the state …”
AJP Taylor, British historian
Before 1900, most of the people in the world made a living and survived by producing food. But in Britain in 1900, less than half the population was employed in agriculture and it was the only country in the world with such a high statistic.
The only real world power at the time was Great Britain. German industry was at the beginning of accelerated growth and was thus becoming a rival to the planetary dominance of Great Britain. But the colonies of the British Empire were such a rich source of resources that Britain remained at the top of the world economy.
Before 1900, the Industrial Revolution had transformed the manufacturing and mining sectors. Technical advances in spinning and weaving made it possible to produce more meters of fabric with less human involvement. This meant cheaper clothing was produced and the mechanization of the clothing market began.
When the 19th century was left behind, a “second” industrial revolution began. Technological changes occurred in especially heavy industry and electricity supply. In the rail and maritime sectors, steam turbines replaced piston engines in power generation. Very quickly, electricity became the main source of energy for industry and for rail traction. Electricity was produced cheaply and reliably, and this also helped the urbanization process.
Inventions such as the telegraph and the telephone revolutionized communications. Marconi’s invention of the radio in 1901, the Wright brothers’ first air flight in 1903, and the mass production of the automobile in 1909, all contributed to this revolution.
With the changing industrial landscape, society also began to change. The trade union movement was in its infancy and governments did not intervene to protect workers from poor living or working conditions, or the consequences of unemployment.
Wars, until now, had been intermittent and their impact was limited. Consider the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902, the American Civil War of 1866, and the Crimean War of 1856, although they were all very costly wars, human costs, and of course financially, the devastation of the wars was limited to the region where the war already took place the antagonists.
You could say that Britain, and most of the world, had liberal economies until the outbreak of World War I in 1914, when all of this changed dramatically.