Great Divergence - Possible Factors

Possible Factors

Beginning in the early 19th century, economic prosperity rose greatly in the West due to improvements in technological efficiency, as evidenced by the advent of new conveniences including the railroad, steamboat, steam engine, and the use of coal as a fuel source. These innovations caused the Great Divergence, elevating Europe and the United States to high economic standing relative to the East. Scholars have proposed numerous theories to explain why the Great Divergence occurred.

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