At first, the Industrial Revolution was a British phenomenon. Britain was determined to hold on to its manufacturing lead and made it illegal to export machinery or manufacturing technology. Skilled workers were not allowed to emigrate. It took a full generation for the Industrial Revolution to spread from Great Britain to the rest of Europe, or at least to Belgium, France, and the United States.

Other European powers lagged even further behind. Some parts of Germany, for example, did not begin industrial expansion until unification in 1870.