How did nationalism spur the Industrial Revolution?

Answer 1

As with many complex situations, there is more than one answer. One good way to look at the relation between nationalism and the industrial revolution is in terms of markets and mercantilism. In mercantilism a country tries to boost its wealth through colonies, which serve as a source of raw materials, and also as a purchaser of finished products. The ability to manufacture more finished goods through industrialization allowed England to build wealth faster than France, which started with a larger population and greater wealth (most of it through agriculture). Greater competition also spurred the growth of the military, and the new state-of-the-art weapon was artillery and guns (think Napoleon). This required more precise tooling of metal to make cannons that do not explode, and raised the skill level to make more powerful machines. This is one reason why thermodynamics becomes a prominent scientific concern in the eighteenth century. There are other factors as well, as revolutions of every sort involve changes in many fields.