The industrial revolution did not take place in all European countries simultaneously, nor is it possible to fix the exact timings when the industrial revolution commenced because it is a continuous process. In fact the four industrial countries of Europe-England, France, Belgium and Germany, underwent industrialization at different periods and under different conditions.
However, it is admitted at all hands that the industrial revolution began in Britain sometime in the middle of eighteenth century and spread in other countries of continent in the next century and a half.
Thus industrial revolution took place in France and Belgium sometimes in the first decade of the nineteenth century; while in Germany it came still later viz., in the seventies and eighties of the nineteenth century, even though it spread with extraordinary rapidity. Thus broadly speaking the industrial revolution passed through two stages. The first stage is represented by England and the second by the countries of the Continent.