Why did international trade rise rapidly between 1870 and 1914?

Here is a short article (that misses many points that could have been made, such as mass migration and transmission of knowledge) that I wrote before christmas on the series of events that lead to the rapid increase in international trade between 1870 and 1914.

Between 1870 and 1914 global trade was growing at a rate that was noticeably rapid in comparison to the time period before, and included vast amounts of international trade in capital, goods and ideas. The rapid rise in trade between countries grew for many reasons but is greatly connected to what the World Bank sets out as the first ‘wave’ of globalisation that began in 1870 and finished in 1914. This period of globalisation introduced a reduction in transport costs, which increased the value of involvement with international trade and it also introduced fixed exchange rates and other benefits via the gold standard.