ABSTRACT
In 1815 Great Britain emerged from a war which had lasted, with slight intermissions, for nearly quarter of a century. During these years the country had also been experiencing the consequences of the changes which are comprehended under the term Industrial Revolution. So to understand the problems of the years of peace immediately following Waterloo it is necessary to form some conception of industrial developments as they were affected by the abnormal conditions arising out of the war. War withdraws from productive labour a considerable proportion of the adult men on whose shoulders the chief burden of maintaining the industrial fabric normally rests. In the later stages of the war there were about half a million men serving in the army; the strength of the navy was increased from 50,000 in 1803 to 112,000 in 1814. In the course of the war the revenue raised by taxation had been increased from seventeen to over sixty-eight millions.
