How did the industrial revolution affect the lives of the working class?

Answer: industrial revolution not only affected working class, it created working class. It was the main consequence, because before there was only labour working on the fields. The second consequence was that industrial revolution caused process or urbanization (people moving from country to towns and cities) and the third one was that the social conflict became more visible.

Explanation: European society was mainly rural society before the industrial revolution. Majority of people lived in the countryside and in certain harmony with the nature. Industrial revolution cut off people from the nature and natural life-style. Sometimes it is referred as "alienation". Result of that were masses of "alienated" people suppressing their natural drives and life-style of their ancestors. These people frequently lived in inhuman conditions in towns, were explored and this was something that contradicted to the ideals of Enlightenment and the French revolution. Working class became aware of this social problem in 1848 but at the same time there was a nationalism ... another strong tendency among masses of people. So people became increasingly aware both their social status (and conflict, and alienation) and their nationality.