The Industrial Revolution In the last part of the 18th century, a new revolution gripped the world that we were not ready for. This revolution was not a political one, but it would lead to many implications later in its existence. Neither was this a social or cultural revolution. This revolution was an economic one. The Industrial revolution, as historians call it, began the modern world. It began the world we live in today and our way of life in that world. It is called a revolution because the changes it made were so great. They were also sudden, although the preparation for these changes took many years. I