Download ssia and !apán: Industrialization

ssia and !apán:
Industrialization
Outside the West
THINKING HISTORICALLY: The Separate Paths of Japan
and China
Russia's Reforms and lndustrial Advance
DOCUMENT: Conditions for Factory Workers in Russia's
lnd ustria lization
VISUALIZING THE PAST: Two Faces of Western lnfluence
Protest and Revolution in Russia
GLOBAL CONNECTIONS: Russia and Japan in the World
Japan: Transformation Without Revolution
l-ukuzawa Yukichi (le¡+-tgo+) was one of the most ardent
þeducational reforÀers in late 19th-century Japan. Very soon
I
after Japan began to have greater contact with the West, he
concluded thatJapan needed to change. He began to travel to the
United States and Europe as early as 1860. He was not uncriticalhe did not like the outspokenness of Western women or divisive
debates in parliaments. But he firmly believed that, in key respects, Western education surpassed Japanese. As he put it in his
autobiography, in 1899: "When I compare the two . . . as to wealth,
armament, and the greatest happiness for the greatest number,
have to put the 0rient below the Occident." (Figure 27.1)
The problem in Japanese education, according to Fukuzawa,
I
was Confucianism. The Confucian tradition, he believed, undervalued science and mathematics. lt also suffered from a "lack of the
idea of independence." Although independence was hard to de-
fine, Fukuzawa argued that it was essential if "mankind [was] to
thrive" and if Japan was to "assert herself among the great nations of the world."
Japanese conservatives were deeply offended by this enthusiasm for Western education. Fukuzawa, a member of the elite and
family friend of key conservatives, was sensitive to their critici
ln a letter to one observer, he seemed to back down. He talked
his commitment to "the teaching of filial piety and brotherly
mony." He said he worried that he was not being faithful to
memory of his own parents (who had been Confucianists). He
mitted that he jumped into "Western studies" at a young age
did not know as much as he should about Confucianism. He
argued that (by the late 1870s) the traditions had recon
"Western and Confucian teachings have now grown into one,
no contradiction is seen."
Fukuzawa's dilemma was a common one for reformers:
to prompt real change in a Western direction without und
fending traditionalists and without wanting
to
become
Western. Russian reformers, though different from the Japa
faced similar problems, and handled them less su
Fukuzawa himself bent but did not break in his reformist
his autobiography he returned to defiance: "Again and agai
to rise up and denounce the all-important Chinese i
even though "it was not altogether a safe road for my
spirit to follow."
r
This chapter deals with two important nations that defied the common pattern of
domination during the 19th century. By 1914 Russia and japan had managed to launch
their
Programs of industrialization and to make other changes designed !o strengthen
social systerns. Russia and |apan differed from the Pattern of halting reforms characteristic
and the Middle East in the 19th century. Theirs were the only societies outside the West
wholesale process of industrialization before the 1960s. In the process, |apan
other Asian societies, while Russia ultimately enhanced its power in world affairs.
Russia and Iapan did have some common characteristics, which help explain
maintain economic and political independence during the West's century of power'
prior experience of imitation: Japan from China, Russia from Byzantium and then
knew that learning from outsiders could be profitable and need not destroy their
Both had improved their political effectiveness during the 17th and lSth centurles'
Tokugawa shogunate and the tsarist empire, respectively. Both nations could use the
sor changes that, in the West, had rested in part with private businesses. At the sarne
took distinctive directions in each society: Russia's road to industrialization
626
tarian traditions: it was marked by political re_
pression and harsh conditions for workers that
undercut social stability. Meanwhile, Japan's
long experience with cultural adaptation in the
face of change helped it manage the same tran-
sition from a feudal to an industrial society
while retaining a great deal of political and socohesion.
Industrialization outside the
complicated economic power relationbut it also illustrated the growing roles of
capitalism and the new forms of inte_
capital and labor.
Reforms
Industrial Advance
s
rulers, beginning with Catherine the
in her later years, sought ways to protect
country from the contagion of the French
The sense that Western policies
serve as models for Russia faded dramatiNapoleon's 1812 invasion of Russia also
a
new concern with defense. Conservative
supported the move toward re-
isolation. In the eyes ofthese aristocratic
Russia knew the true meanirlg of comand stability. The system of serfdom
ignorant peasants with the guidance
of paternalistiç
¡¡4s1s¡s---:-¿¡
i¡-
social analysis but a comforting one.
Before Reform
changeless. To resist Napoleons
earþ in the 19th century the governsome improvements in butraining. A new tsar, Alexander I,
liberal rhetoric, but at the Congress
Figure 27.1 Japdnese children at school. Showing children the latest in naval
technology suggests
sponsored the HolyAlliance idea.
relationship between educatiôn and other aspects ofJapanese
development in the later tgth century.
the conservative monarchies of
and Austria would combine in defense of religion and
the established order. The lair- - in a Europe gone mad was appealing, although in fact the al- (@1.
tBG1, Russia
the
stood our among
European powers by the extent
of its
political conservatism. The nation's
reform period began in l86l with the
emancipation of the serfs. Russian
leaders tried to combine change with
continued tsarist autocracy.
j;
HolyAllimce
Alliance among Rusia, Prusia,
defense of religion and the estab-
md Austria i¡
lished order; formed at Congres ofVienna by
most conseruative monachies of Euope.
Decembrist uprising Political revolt in Russia in
f825; led by middleJevel army oftcers who advocated reform; put down by Tmr Nickolas I.
627
628
PartV
1700
'
The Dawn of the Industrial Age, 1750-1914
1800
c.E.
1825
c.E.
1850
c.E,
1875
c.E.
1900
c.E.
c.e.
1825 Decembrist
1853 Perryexpedition
'1875-1877 Russian-
1902 Loose alliance
Revolt, Russia
to
between Japan and
'1854 Follow-up
American and British
Ottoman War; Russia
wins new territory
1877 Finalsamurai
nsrng
.lapanese War; Japan
1878 Bulgaria gains
defeats Russia
Western books in
1800-1850 Growth
of "Dutch Studies" in
Japan
Japan
1762-1796 Reign of
1812 Failure of
1825-1855 Heightening of repression by
Catherine the Great
Napoleon's invasion
Tsar Nicholas
1773-1775 Pugachev
of Russia
1Bt5 Russia reacquires
1829-1878 Serbia
fleet visit
1854-1856 Crimean
gains increasing
War
independence
1905-1906
autonomy in
'1856 Romania gains
1881 Anarchist
Revolution results in
Ottoman Empire,
assassination
then independence
1830-1831 Polish
virtual independence
l860-1868 Civilstrife
in Russia
1881-1905 Growing
duma (parliament)
1910 Japan annexes,
nationalist revolt
I B60s-1 B70s
repression and attacks
Korea
repressed
Alexander ll
on minorities in Russia
1BB4-1887 New
Russian gains in
1912 Growing
strife in Russian
1912-1918 Balkan
Wars
conquests in central
central Æia
1 884-1 91 4
Asia
Beginnings of
1867 Mutsuhito,
ind ustria
emperor ofJapan
near-completion of
1867 Russia sells
Alaska to United States
1868-1912 Meiji
trans-Siberian railway
holdings in
(fulllinkage
and China
1720 End ban on
Rebellion
1772-1795
Partitioning of Poland
Poland through Treaty
of Vienna; Alexander I
and the Holy Alliance
183]
I
Greece wins
Edo Bay
reforms
1861 Russian
independence after
emancipation of serfs
revolt against
Ottomans
1833, '1853 Russian-
1855-1879 Russian
Ottoman wan
184'l-1843 Brief
shogun reform effort
of
Alexander ll
1904-1905 Russo-
Russian
peasant reforms and
1914 World War
Russian
lization;
1916)
lndustry established
1890 New constitution and legal code
1892-1903 Sergei
Witte, Minister of
in Japan
Finance
1870-1940 Population
growth in Rusia
Japanese War
1872 Univenal
military service
of Marxist Social
established in Rusia
Democratic
1872 Education Act,
Russia
period in Japan
1870 Ministry of
Britain
I
begins
1916-1918 Japan
seizes former
1917 Russian
Revolution
Bolshevik
1894-1895 Sino1898 Formation
Pafi
Japan
elements of the Russian elite, but its failure was more significant. Repression of political
stiffened, and the secret police expanded. Newspapers and schools, already confined to a
norit¡ were tightly supervised. 'vVhat political criticism there was flourished mainlY
places such as Paris and London; it had little impact on Russia. '
Partly because of political repression, Russia largely avoided the wave of
spread through Europe in 1830 and in 1848. In its role as Europe's conservative
even intervened in 1849 to help Austria put down the nationalist revolution in
in favor of monarchy but also a reminder of Russia's eagerness to flex its muscles in
pean affairs.
While turning more conservative than it had been in the 18th centur¡ Russia
tradition of territorial expansion. Russia had confirmed its hold over most of
gress ofVienna in 1815 after Napoleon briefly sponsored a separate Polish duchy.
ment, inspired by the growth ãf romantic nationalism in Poland and backed
landowners with ties to western Europe, roused recurrent Polish opposition to
rising occurreä in tS¡O and 183 t, triggered by news of the revolutions in the West
aristocrats and loyal Catholics who chafed under the rule of an Orthodox Power'
put down this revolt with great brutality, driving many leaders into exile.
,
chapter 27
'
Russia and fapan: Industrialization outside the
west
629
At the same time, Russia continued its pressure on the
Balkans, including the Greek independence war in the lg20s;
to cut back the Turks outweighed Russia,s com_
fnitment to conservatism. Overall, although no massive ac_
quisitions marked the earþ 19th centur¡ Russia continued
be a dynamic diplomatic and military fo rce (Map 27 .t),
here, a desire
and Social Problems:
Peasant Question
economic position did not keep pace with its diploaspirations. As the West industrialized and central Eupowers such as Prussia and Austria introduced at
the beginnings of industrialization, including some rail Figure 27 .2 lhe 1B2s Decembrist revott in St.
Petersburg arose when there was a
Russia largely stood pat. This meant that it began to fall disagreement over the successor to Tsar Alexander l, who
had no son. While the leaders of the
behind the West in technology and trade. RuS_ revolt were well educated aristocrats fighting for I iberalization, many of their followers were
landlords eagerly took advantage of Western markets for
but they incrçased their exports not by lmProvrng
techniques but by tightening the labor obligations on
serfs. This was a common pattern in much of eastern
the earþ lgth centur¡ as polish and Hungarian
increased labor service to gain ground in the ex_
In return for low-cost grain exports, Russia and
illiterate and ill_informed subjects of the authorita rian regime.
Soldiers who supported the
of the dead tsar's liberal brother, Constantine, marched through
the streets, chanting,
"Constantine and Constitution." Many of
these soldiers later admitted that they had assumed
Constitution was the name of Constantine's wife. The revolt failed,
and its leaders
accession
were executed
or exiled to Siberia. Nicolas l, who became tsar, was even
morerepressive than his predecessor,
but the courage of the Decembrists provided inspi ration to future generations
of reformers.
(Federal State
Entity of Culture, thc St¿te Histor¡cal Museum_Moscow, Russian
Federation.)
east European areas
imported some Western machinery and other costly equipment
as well as
goods for the great aristocrats to display as badges of
cultured respectability. A few isolated
that used foreign equrpment were opened up in imitation
of western European industrialbut there was no significant change in overall manufacturing
or transportation mechanisms.
remained a profoundly agricultural society based
mainly on serf labor, but it was now a visisociety as well.
widening gap between Russia and the West was driven
hqme dramatically by a minor war
between 1854 and 1856. Nicholas I provoked conflict
with the Ottoman Empire in
among other things that Russia was responsible for protecting
Christian interests in the
This time, however, France and Britain were not
content with diplomatic maneuverings to
gains but came directly to the sultan's aid.
Britain was increasingly worried about any
advance in the region that might threaten
its hold on India, whereas France sought diploand also represented itself as the Western champion
of Christian rights. The resultant
War was fought directly in Russia's
bacþard on the Black Sea, yet the Western forces won,
Russian armies from their entrenched
positions. (Each side lost about 250,000 troops in a
struggle.) The loss was profoundly disturbing
to Russian leadership, for the Western
this little \4¡ar not because of great
tactics or inspired principles but because oftheir in_
They had the ships to send masses of military supplies
long distances, and their ar_
weaPOns were vastly superror to Russia's
home-produced models. This severe blow to
prided itself on militaryvigor
was a frightening portent for the future.
for
a
War helped convince Russian leaders, including the
new tsar, Alexander II, that
change. Reform was essential, not to
copy the West but to allow sufficient eco_
for Russia to keep pace in the military arena. First
and foremost, reform meant
Russia's leading social issue, the issue that
most distinguished Russian society
serfdom. Only if the status of serfs changed could
Russia develop a more vrglabor force and so be able to industrialize.
Russian concern about this issue paralthe Americas in the same period, reflecting a desire to meet
Western
need for cheap, flexible labor.
C¡imeanWar
Fought between lg54 and lg56;
began as Russian attempt to attack Ottomm Empire; Russia opposed by Frmce and Britain as well;
resulted in Russian defeat in the face ofWestern ildustrial technology; led to Russian reforms under
Tsar Alexmder
II.
630
PartV
'
The Dawn of the IndustrialAge, 1750-1914
ARCTIC'
OCEAN
Map27.1 RussianExpansion, lBlS-1914 Russiacontinuedtopushtothewest,south,andeast.Atfirst,itsmalnconflictswere
Ottoman Empire. Later, however, conflicts in east Asia loomed larger.
for two decades Russia returned to a policy of reform, based on Western
amples; serfdom had been abolished in western Europe after 1789 and in east central
as Prussia and Hungary in the aftermath of the revolutions of 1848. As before, however'
tion was not to duplicate Western measures fuþ but to protect distinctive Russian
cluding the landed aristocracy and tightþ knit peasant communitiå. The result was an
series of changes that, with tragic irony, created more grievances than they resolved
the way to further economic change.
So
The Reform Era and Earþ Industrialization.
se¡fs Tsa¡ /tlexander II
ended rigorous serfdom in Russia in 1861; serfs obtained no political rights; required to stay in villages untl they could repay aristocracy for lmd.
emancipation of the
the same time
The final decision to emancipate the serfs in 1861 came at
serfdom suited
rigorous
nor
slavery
Neither
free
slaves.
to
States and Brazil decided
world
Western-dominated
position
in
independent
an
needs of a society seeking
accepted
new
of
them
also
some
concerns,
sian reformers had specific
spreading globaþ that attacked systems of unfree labor.
In some ways, the emancþation of the serfs was more generous than the
in the Americas. Although aristocrats retained part ofthe land, including the most
the serfs got most of it, in contrast to slaves, who received their freedom but
chapter 27
'
Russia and fapan; Industrialization outside the
west
Russian emancipation was careful to preserve essential aristoçratic power;
the tsar was not interested in destroying the nobilit¡ who remained his
post reliable political allies and the source of most bureaucrats.
Even more,
smancipation was designed to retain the tight grip of the tsarist state. The
serfs obtained no new political rights at a national Ìevel. They were stijl
tied
to their villages until they could pay for the land they were given. The remoney went to the aristocrats to help preserve this class.
Re_
payrnents added greatly to peasants'material hardship (
Figure
.3), and peasants thought that the land belonged to them with no
need to
for its return.
t¡ms-Siberianrailroad Constructed i¡ 1870s
to connect Europem Russia with the pacific; completed by the end ofthe 1880s; brought Russia into
a more active Asian role.
63r
Conditions for Factory Workers
in Russia's Industrialization
Russia passed several laws protecting workers, but enforcement was
minimal. The Ministry of Finance established a factory inspectorate
in the 1880s, which dutifuþ reported on conditions; these reports
usually were ignored. The following passages deal with a number of
Moscow factories in the 1880s.
In the majority of factories there are no special quarters for the
workers. This applies to workers in paper, wool, and silk finishing.
Skilled hand craftsmen like brocade weavers can earn good wages,
and yet most of them sleep on or under their looms, for lack of anything else. Only in a few weaving factories are there special sleeping
quarters, and these are provided not for the weavers, but for other
workers-the winders and dyers, etc. Likewise, the velveteen cutters
almost always sleep on the tables where they work. This habit is particularþ unhealth¡ since the work areas are always musty and the air
is saturated with dye fumes-sometimes poisonous ones. Carpenters also generally sleep on their workbenches. In bastmatting factories, workers of both sexes and all ages sleep together on pieces and
mats of bast which are often damp. Only the sick worke¡s in these
bast factories are allowed to sleep on the single stove' . . , Work at the
mill never stops, day or night. There are two twelve-hour shifts a da¡
which begin at 6:00 ¡.u, and 6:p0 p'tn'r. The men have a half-hour for
breaKast (8:30-9:00) and one hour for dinner (1:00-2:00).
The worst violations of hygienic regulations were those I saw in
. . . AJ-
most of the flax-spinning mills where linen is produced.
though in western Europe all the dust-producing carding and combing machines have long been covered and well ventilated, I saw only
one Russian linen mill where such a machine was securely covered.
Elsewhere, the spools of these machines were completely open to the
air, and the scutching apparatus is inadequatelyventilated. . . '
In many industrial establishments the grounds for fines and the
sizes of fines are not fixed in advance. The factory rules may contain
only one phrase like the following: "Those found violating company
rules
will be frned at
the discretion of the mønager."
The degree of arbitrariness in the determination of fines, and
thus also in the determination of the worker's wages' was unbelievably extreme in some factories. In Podolsk, for instance' in factories
No. 131 and No. 135, there is a ten-ruble forfeit fo¡ leaving the factory before the expiration of one's contract. But as applied' this covers much more than voluntary breach of contract on the worker's
part. This fine is exacted from every worker who for any reason has
Eafy Russian
Factory
H
Witte, Sergei Russian minister of finance from
I892 to 1903; economic mode¡nizer responsible for
high tariffs, improved banking system; encouraged
Western investors to build factories in Russia.
632
to leave the factory. Cases are known of persons who have had to pay
this fine three times. Moreover, fines are levied for so many causes
that falling under a severe fine is a constant possibility for each
worker. For instance, workers who for any reason came into thq 6ffìce in a group, instead of singl¡ would be fined one ruble. After ¿
second offense, the transgressors would be dismissed-leaving behind, of course, the ten-ruble fine for breach of contract.
In factory No, 135 the workers are still treated as serfs.
are paid out only trvice a year' even then not in full but only enough
to pay the workers'taxes (other necessities are supplied by the factory store). Furthermore this money is not given to the workers directl¡ but is sent by mail to their village elders and village clerks.
Thus the workers are without money the year around. Besides
are also paying severe fines to the factor¡ and these sums will
subtracted from their wages at the final year-end accounting.
Extreme regulations and regimentation are very
our factories-regulations entangle the workers at every step
burden them with more or less severe fines which are
from their often already inadequate wages. Some factory
tors have become real virtuosos at thinking up new grounds
fines. A brief description of a few of the fines in factory No. 172
excellent example of this variety: on October 24,1877 , an
ment was posted of new fines to be set at the discretion of the
for fourteen different cases of failure to maintain silence and
of minor fines prescribed for
on August 4, 1883, a huge fine
for
example,
offenses:
dividual
rubles was set for singing in the factory courtyard after
any time in any unauthorized place. On June 3, 1881, a fine
levied from workers who took tea and sugar, bread, or any
ness. There were also dozens
foodstuffs into the weaving building, "in order to avoid
insects or vermin." On May 14, 1880, a fine was set for
wrote with pencil, chalk, or anything else on the walls in the
or weaving buildings.
QUESTIONS Were
rope during early
why? How did
create a
about the nature
ment sPonsor
of such a report
early industrial
Western machinery. The railroads also opened Siberia up to new development'
brought Russia into a more active and contested Asian role.
By the 1880s, when Russia's railroad network had almost quintupled since 1860',
tories were beginning to spring up in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and several Polish
urban working class was growing rapidly. Printing factories and metalworking shoPs
skilled artisanry in the cities, and metallurgy and textile plants recruited a still newer
dustrial labor force from the troubled countryside.
Under Count Sergei Witte, minister of fìnance from 1892 to 1903 and an
modernizer, the government enacted high tariffs to protect new Russian industrY'
banking system, and encouraged Western investors to build great factories with
our
ogy. As Witte put it, "The inflow of foreign capital is . . . the only way by which
chapter 27
'
Russia and lapan: Industrialization outside the
west
633
to supply our country quickly with abundant and cheap products." By 1900
approximately half
Russian industry was foreign owned and much of it was foreign operated,
with British, German,
French industrialists taking the lead. Russia became a debtor nation as huge
industrial developloans piled up. Russia had surged to fourth rank in the world in steel production
and was secto the United States in the newer area of petroleum production and refining.
Russian textile
was also impressive. Long-standing Russian economic lags were
able
beginning to yield.
This industrial revolution was still in its early stages. Russia's world rank
was a function more
its great size and population, along with its rich natural resources, than of thorough
mechaniza_
Many Russian factories were not up to Western technical standards, nor
was the labor force
trained. Agriculture also remained backward, as peasants, often illiterate,
had neither capital
motives to change their ways.
other reforms also produced ambiguous results. Russia remained a traditionar peasant
sociin many ways. Beneath the official military reorganization, discipline and military efficiency
lax. Even more obvious was the absence of a large, self-confident middle class
of the sort that
arisen earlier in the West. Businesspeople and professionals grew in numbers,
but often they
dependent on state initiatives, such as zemstvo employrnent for doctors and
economic guidfor businesspeople. They were not as assertive as their Western counterparts had
been ( for exin challenging aristocratic power and values).
and Revolution in Russia
II's reforms, as well as economic change and the greatr'r population
mo bility it involved,
minority nationalities to make demands of the great empire. Intellectuals explored
the
traditions of Ukrainians and other groups. Nationalist beliefs initially were
imported from
Europe, but here and elsewhere in eastern Europe, they encouraged
divisive
minority agitamultinational states, such as Russia and Austria- Hungar¡ found very hard
to handle. Napressures were not'the main problem in Russia, but given
Russia's mainstream nationalist
on the distinctive superiorities of a Russian tradition, they did cause
concern.
protest was more vigorous still, and it was heightened not only
by the limitations of reby industrialization itself. Recurrent famines provoked peasant
uprisings. peasants
â\.
@ù.
and also the timits of change
destabilized Russian society. Marxist
leaders helped focus unrest.
deeply
redemption payments and taxes and often seized and burned
the records that indicated
owed.
to Revolution
discontent among the masses, many educated Russians, including
some aristocrats, also
revolutionary change. Two strands developed. Many business
and professional people,
aggressive, began
seek a fuller political voice afid new rights such as greater freeschools and press; they argued for liberal reforms.
At the same time, a group of radical
Russian term for articulate intellectuals as a class-became increasingly
active. As
as well, and many were impatient with Russia's
on political activity. Women students played
I
the protest current, and some specificaþ feminist
demands (for example, toward
opportunity) emerged as well.
later toned down their goals as they entered the bureaucracy or
business
inspired by radical doctrines, and more than a few devoted their lives
to a
cause. This kind of intellectual
alienation rested on some of the principles that had
in the West, but it went deeper in Russia. It was the first
example of a kind of incapable of motivating terrorism, which would
characterize other societies
transitions during the 20th century.
The Russian intelligentsia wanted political freesocial reform while maintaining
a Russian culture different from that of the West,
materialistic. Their radicalism may have stemmed from the demand.attacking key Russian institutions while building a new society that
injustices and crippling limitations of the Western world.
radicals were anarchists, who sought to
abolish all formal government. Alwas not unknown in the
West, it took on particular force in Russia in opposition
I
;
mùchists
Political groups seeking abolition of all
formal goverment; forned in mmy parts of Europe
i¡ late 19th and euly20th centuries;
prevalent in Russia, opposing twist
and,¿tmeriø
paticululy
autocrary md becoming
sponsible for
a
msination
terrorist movement reof A.lmder II in 1881.
634
PartV
'
The Dawn of the IndustrialAge, 1750-1914
hoped that they could triumph by winning
out to teach the peasantry the beauties q¡
fanned
peasant support, and a host of upper-class radicals
methods and thus to the formation q¡
to
violent
political activism. Failure here led many anarchists
to tsarist astocracy. Many early anarchists in the
1860s
movement in the modern world. Given the lack of poPular support and
other politiãal outlets, assassinations and bombings seemed the only way to attack the existirg
order. As anarchist leader Bakunin put it,
ih. fitrt large terrorist
destruction.
ofs
We consider
',
Powers to
have
to
fruitless
task that
We
refuse
king out
We
d
as
cult
the
dream that we will have enough strength and knowledge for creation.
Not surprisingl¡ the recurrent waves of terrorism merely strengthened the tsarist regime's
solve to avoid further Political change in what became a vicious circle in l9th-century Russian
By the late 1870s, Alexander II was pulling back from his reform interest, fearing that change
getting out of hand. CensorshiP of newspapers and political meetings tightened; many dissidents
arrested and sent to Siberia. Alexander II was assassinated by a terrorist bomb in 1881 after a series
Utyano¡Vladimirlþich [VLAHD-ih-mihr
IHl-lihch ool-YAH-nuhfl Better known
as Lenin;
most active Russian Marxist leader; insisted on importance of disciplined revolutionary cells; leader
of Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.
botched attempts. His successors, while increasing the effort to industrialize' continued to opPose
ther political reform. New measures of repression also were directed against minority
partly to damPen their unrest and partly to gain the support of upper-class conservatives. The
and other groups were supervised carefully. Russian language instruction was forced on peoples
Ukrainians. Persecution of the large |ewish minoritywas stepped up, resulting in many mass
called pogroms-and seizures of property. As a conseçluence, many Russian ]ews emigrated.
By the 1890s, the currents of protest gained new force. Marxist doctrines spread
Western socialist movement to a segment of the Russian intelligentsia, who became
tightly organized proletarian revolution. One of the most active Marxist leaders was
IþichUlyanov (VLAHD- ih-mihr IHl-lihch ool-YAH-nuhf), known as Lenin. Lenin, a man
bureaucratic family whose brother was hanged after a trial, following his arrest by the
lice, introduced important innovations in Marxist theory to make it more appropriate for
He argued that because of the spread of international capitalism, a Proletariat was
worldwide in advance of industrialization. Therefore, Russia could have a proletarian
without going through
Bolshevilc Literall¡
the majorityparty; the most
¡adical brmch of the Russim Marxist movement;
led byV. I. Lenin and dedicated to his concept of
social revolution; actually a minority in the Russian
Marxist political scheme until its triumph in the
1917 revolution.
a
distinct middle-class phase. Lenin also insisted on the importance
plined revolutionary cells that could maintain doctrinal purity and effective action even
vere police repression. Lenin's approach animated the group of Russian Marxists
Bolsheviks, or majority party (though, ironicall¡ they were actually a minority in the
Marxist movement as a whole). The approach proved ideal for Russian conditions.
Working-class unrest in the cities grew with the new currents among the
sian workers became far more radical than their Western counterparts. Thev formed
conducted strikes-all illegal-but many of them also had firm political goals in mind'
calism stemmed partly from the absence of legal political outlets. It arose also from
for these new workers pulled in peasant grievances against the existing order-and from
conditions of early industrialization, with its large factories and frequent foreign
though many workers were not linked to any particular doctrine, some became
shevism, and they were urged on by passionate organizers.
By 1900 the contradictory currents in Russian society may have made
The forces demanding change were not urlited, but the importance of mass protest
tryside and city, as well as the radical intelligentsia, made it difficult to find a
more, the regime remained resolutely opposed to compromise. Conservative
vigorous policy of resistance and repression.
The Revolution of 1905
1905 finally lit this tinderbox. Russia had maintained
late
19th centur¡ in part because oftradition and in Part
foreign policy through the
from internal unrest. It also wanted to match
the
venom
matic success might draw
war with the Ottoman Empire in the 1870s
powers.
A
great
strides of the Western
Military defeat in 1904 and
chapter 27
'
Russia and Japan: Industrialization outside the
west
63s
tial gains' which were then pushed back at the insistence of France and
Britain. Russia also successfully aided the creation in the Balkans of new
slavic nations, such as serbia and Bulgaria, the "little slavic brothers" that
filled nationalist hearts with pride. Some conservative writers even talked in
9økh¿lín
terms of a pan-slavic movement that would unite the slavic people-under
Russian leadership, of course. Russia participated vigorously in other Middle
Eastern and central Asian areas. Russia and Britain both increased their influence in Persia and Afghanistan, reaching some uneasy truces that divided
of activity early in the 20th century. Russia was also active in china.
development of the trans-Siberian railroad encouraged Russia to incor-
I¡.
RUSSIA
Í
I
/
(Evacur(ed
tmty of
Liaodong
some northern portions of Manchuria, violating the 18th-century
(æded
Seo of
forccd
River agreement. Russia also joined Western powers in obtaining
CHINA
-term leases to Chinese territory during the 1890s.
These were important gains, but they did not satis$, growing Russian
and they also brought trouble. Russia risked an overextension beits diplomatic aspirations were not backed by real increases in military
The problem first came to a head in 1904. Increasingly powerful
Seu
became worried about further Russian expansion in northern china
efforts to extend influence into Korea. The Russo-fapanese war broke
in 1904. Against all expectations save fapan's, the lapanese won. Russia
RsoJ¡p¿nsc Ws¡ì l90rLl905
SlnoJapal* War,
not move its fleet quickly to the pacific, and its military organization
! Japanese territorial
G Japansse te[itorial
gains,1905
too cumbersome to oppose the more effective J apanese maneuvers
gains,l895
E Japanese forces
EE Japanese fo¡cq
27.2).lapan gained the opportunity to move into Korea as the balance
E Major battles
rn Major brttles
in the Far East began to shift.
E Russian flee¡
unexpected defeat in war unleashed massive protests on the home front
Map 27.2 The Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese war
Russian Revolution of 1905 (Figure 27.4).rJrbanworkers mounted well
focused on disputes over Chinese territory. Japan had acquired
general strikes that were designed above all for political gains. Peasthe Liaodong peninsula after its victory over China, but Russia
a series of insurrections, and liberal groups also agitated. After trying
and others forced it out and then maneuvered for territory of
police repression, which only infuriated the urban crowds, the tsarist
their own. Japan proposed a split of Manchuria but assumed
had to change course. It wooed liberals by creating a national parlianegotiations would fail, and so attacked the Russian fleet at port
the duma. The interior minister Piot¡r Stoþin (pee-UH-tuhr Arthur, and later won over Russian armies in China as well. A
introduced an important series of reforms for the peas- Russian fleet sent from the Baltic was humiliated at Tsushima
Under the Stoþin reforms, peasants gained greater freedom from reStrait, which effectively ended the war.
payments and village controls. They could buy and sell land more
The goal was to create a stratified, market-oriented
Peasantry in which successful farmers Russo-fapmesewar Warberween /apan and
away from the peasant masses, becoming rural capitalists. Indeed, peasant
unrest did die Russia (1904--1905) over territory in Manchuria;
a minority of aggressive entrepreneurs, called kulaks (KOO-laks),
began to increase agrr'production and buy additional land. Yet the reform
packag'e quickly came unglued. Not only
new workers' rights withdrawn, triggering a new series of strikes
and underground actividuma was progressively stripped of power. Nicholas II, a weak man
who was badly adnot surrender the tradition of autocratic rule, and the duma became a
hollow institution,
no one. police repressron also resumed,
creating new opponents to the regime.
in the diplomatic arena by the |apanese advance yet eaget to counter internal pressome foreign policy success,
the Russian government turned once again to the Ottoman
Balkans. various strategies to acquire new rights of access
to the Mediterranean and
allies in the Balkans yielded no concrete
results, but they did stir the pot in this vulhelped lead to World War I. And this war, in which Russia participated
to maintain
standing and live up to the billing
of Slavic protector, led to one of the great revolu-
times.
Eastern Europe
patterns were paralleled in smaller eastern European states such
as Hungary
autonomous after 1866), Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece. These
were
Russia. And emerging after long Ottoman dominance, they had
no access
to
rnfluence of
their giant neighbor. Most of the new nations established parliaments,
lapan defeated the Russims, lugelybecause ofits
naval power; lapan annexed Korea in 1910 as a result of military dominmce.
duna
National parliament created in Russia in
the aftermath of the Revolution of 1905; progressively stripped ofpower duing the reign ofTsar
Nicholas II; failed to forestall furthe¡ ¡evolution.
Stoþin reforms
Reforms introduced by the
Stoþin intended
to plaøte the peasantry in the aftermath of the
Revolution of 1905; included reduction in redemption payments, attempt to create ma¡ket-oriented
Russian interior minister Piotyr
Peasantry.
kulalß
[KOO-lalc]Agriculturalentrepreneus
who utilized the Stoþin and later NEP reforms to
increase agricultural production and buy addition¿1 land.
636
Part
V.
The Dawn of the Industrial Age, 1750-1914
tigure 27.4
Women marching in the Russian Revolution of 1905.
in imitation of Western forms, but carefully restricted voting rights and parliamentary
Kings-some of them new' as the Balkan nations had set up monarchies after gaining
ence from the Ottoman Empire-ruled without many limits on their power. Most eastern
pean natioris abolished serfdom either in i848 or soon after Russia's move, but landlord
remained more extensive than in Russia, and peâsant unrest followed. Most of the smaller
European nations industrialized much less extensively than Russia, and as agricultural
they remained far more dependent on Western markets.
Amid all the problems, eastern Europe enjoyed a period of glittering cultural
the late 19th centur¡ with Russia in the lead. Development of the romantic tradition
Western styles continued. National dictionaries and histories, along with the collection of
and music, helped the smaller Slavic nations gain a sense of their heritage. The Russian
joyed a period of unprecedented brilliance. Westernizers such as Turgenev wrote
that promoted what they saw as modern values, whereas writers such as Tolstoy and
tried to poftray a special Russian spirit. Russian music moved from the
Tchaikovsþ to more innovative, atonal styles of the early 20th century. Polish and
posers such as Chopin and Liszt also made an important mark. Russian painters began
ing in modern art currents, producing important abstract work. Finail¡
advanced at levels of fundamental importance. A Czech scientist, Gregor Mendel,
derstanding of genetics, and a Russian physiologist, Ivan Pavlov, experimenting on
flexes, explained unconscious responses in human beings. Eastern purope thus
fully than ever before in a cultural world it shared with the West.
I
@'.
pressure forced Japan to
consider reforms beginning in the 1850s.
ap
an Tiansformation Witho ut Revolution
On the surface, Japan experienced little change during the first half of the 19th
tainly this was a quiet time compared with the earlier establishment of the
(see Chapter 27) or the transformation introduced after the 1850s.
Japan was able to combine existing
strengths and traditions with significant
reform.
The Final Decades of the Shogunate
During the first half of the 19th centur¡ the shogunate continued to combine a
with semifeudal alliances between the regional lords, the daimyo and the military
ernment repeatedly ran into financíal problems. Its taxes were based on
Chapter 27
.
Russia and /apan; Industrialization
Outside the West
growng commercialization of the fapanese economy;
this was a severe constraint. At
the same time,
rnaintaining the feudal shell was costly. The government
paid stipends to the samurai
in return for
their loyalty. A long budget reform spurt late in the
tgth century built a successful momentum
for a
dme, but a shorter ef,6ort between 1841 and 1g43
was notably unsuccessful. This
weakened the
shogunate by the 1850s and hampered its response
to the crisis induced by
Western
pressure.
life and culture also developed under
the Tokugawa regime. Neo_
continued to gain among the ruling
elite
/apanese intellectual
at the expense of Buddhism .
lapan gradu_
became more secular, particularly
among the upper classes. This was
an important
precondifor the nation's response to the Western
challenge ih that it precluded a strong
religious_based
to change. Various Confucian schools
actively debated into the mid-l9th
century, keep|apanese intellectual life fairly creative. Schools
and academies
expanded, reaching well below
upper class through commoner schools,
or terakoya, which taught reading,
writing, and the
of Confucianism to ordinary people.
By 1859 more than 40 percent of all
men and over
percent of all women were literate-a far
higher percentage than anywhere else
in the world outthe West, including Russia, and on a par
with some of the fringe areas of the West (including
American South).
Although Confucianism remained the
dominant ideology, there were lmportant
rivals. Ten_
between traditionalists and reformist
intellectuals were emergmg, as in
Russia in the same
A national studies group praised
fapanese traditions, including the office
of emperor and
Shinto religion. One national studies
writer expressed a typical sentiment late
in the lgth cen_
"The'special dispensation of our Imperial
Land, means that ours is the native
land of the
Goddess who casts her light over
all countries in the four seas. Thus
our
country is
and fountainhead of all other countries, ,and
in all matters it excels all the others."
The
of the national
studies school grew somewhat in
the early
19th centur¡ and it would help
ultranationalist sentiment at the end
of the century and beyond.
second minority group consisted
of what the Japanese called Dutch Studies.
Although
Western works had been banned
when the policy of isolation was adopted,
a
group
of þpankept alive the knowledge of Dutch
to deal with the traders at Nagasaki.
The ban on
books was ended in 7720, and
thereafter a grouP of fapanese scholars
interested in ,.Dutch
created a new interest in Western
scientific advances, based on the realization
that West_
texts were superior to those
of the Chinese. In 1850, there were schools
of Dutch Stud_
major cities, and their students
urged freer exchange with the West
and a rejection of
medicine and culture. ,.Our general
opinion was that we should rid our country
of the inof the Chinese altogether.
Whenever we met a young student
of
Chinese
literature,
we simfor
him."
as Japanese
culture showed an important capacity
for
lively debate and fruitful internal
the Japanese economy
continued to develop into the 19,th
century. Commerce expanded
companies established monopoly
privileges
in many centers. Manufacturing
in the countryside in such consumer
goods industries as soy sauce and
silks, and
was organized by crty merchants.
Some of these developments were
comparable
to
changes in the West and
have given rise to arguments
that economically /apan had a
on industrialization once
the Western challenge revealed the
necessity of further eco1850s, however, economic
growth had
stress /apan's
backwardness
slowed-a situation that
has prompted some
compared with the West. Technological
limitations conexpansion and population increase.
At the same time, rural riots increased in
from the late lSth century
onward. They were not overtly political
but rather, like
aimed at wealthy peasants,
merchants, and landlord controls. Although
the authis unrest with little difficulry
the protests contributed to a willingness
to
conthey were joined by challenge
from the outside.
to Isolation
had become
ncreasingly worried about potential
outside threats. In l79l a book
a strong navy. Fears
about the West's growrng power and particularly
Russia's
these concerns in later
decades. Fear became reality in 1853
when American
A Comic
Dialogue,
'1855
637
The Sep arate Paths of fapan and China
Japan's ability
to change in response to new Western pressure con-
irårt.¿ strikingly with the
sluggishness of Chinese reactions into the
erLergy,leaving scant capital for other economic initiatives. Iapan's
population stability into the 19th century pressed resources less severely. fapan's island status made the nation more sensitive to Western naval pressures.
20th century. The contrast draws particular attention because China and Japan had been part
of the same civilization orbit for so long, which
means that some of the assets Japan possessed
in dealing with change were present in China as
well. Indeed, fapan turned out to benefit, by the
mid-l9th century, from having become more
like China in key respects during the Tokugawa
period. The link between Chinese and Japanese
iraditions should not be exaggerated, of course, and earlier differ-
Finally, China and Japan were on somewhat different paths when the Western ch¿llenge intruded in the mid-l9th century. China
was suffering one of its recurrent dynastic de.
clines. Government became less effìcient' intel
lectual life stagnated, and popular
surged. A cycle of renewal might have
new dynasty seizing more vigorous
But Western interference disrupted this
complicating reform and creating various new discontents that
mately overturned the imperial office,
In contrast, |apan maintained political and economic
with
a
into the 19th century. Whereas by the late 19th century
needed Western guidance simply to handle such bureaucratic
tariff collection and repression of peasant rebellion, fapan
fered no such breakdown of authorit¡ using foreign advisors
more selectively.
Once a different pattern of response was established,
decade increased the gap. Western exploitation of Chinese
and dilution of government Power made conditions more
while Japanese strength grew steadily after a very brief period
certainty. By the 20th century, the two nations were
to be in
fapan, for the first time, the stronger-and seemed
orbits. Japan enjoyed increasing industrial success and had
servative state that would yield after World War II to a
parliamentary form. China, after decades of revolution'
its 2Oth-century political solution: communism.
as
them unprepared. China's power. and wealth roused Western greed
and interference first, which gave ]apan some leeway'
However, China surpassed Japan in some areas that should
have aided it in reacting to the Western challenge. Its leadership, devoted to Confucianism, was more thoroughly secular and bureaucratic in outlook. There was no need to brush aside otherworldly
commitments or feudal distractions to deal with the west's material
onset ofthe 2lst centur¡ it is unclear
split as PermanentlY as 19th- and earlY
developments had suggested. Japan's industrial lead
China's economy is beginning to soar. Common cultural
Yet
toda¡ at the
east Asia was
in responding to the West.
However, that role fell to |apan' Several aspects of fapanese
tradition gave it a flexibility that china lacked. It already knew the
benefits of imitation, which china, save for its period of attraction to
Buddhism, had never acknowledged. |apans slower government
growth had allowed a stronger, more autonomous merchant tradiiiorr.rr"tt as both societies became more commercial in the 17th and
group cooperation and decision making remind us that
ferent political systems, a fruitful shared heritage
ate. The heritage is quite different from that of the West'
adaptable to the demands of economic chånge' And so
begin to wonder whether a Pacific centurY is about to
Feudal traditions,
QUESTIONS What
",1ffi*:'.t"|^;
the West. In contrast, China's government probably tried to control
too much by the 18th century and quashed initiative in the process'
China was also hampered by rapid population growth from
the 17th century onward' This population pressure consumed great
638
shared before the 19th'
cal institutions more
Russia also able to
19th-century China?
',
''.
Chapter 27
.
Russia and fapan: Industrialization Outside the
Commodore Matthew Perry arrived with a squadron in Edo Bay near Tokyo and used threats of
bombardment to insist that Americans be allowed to trade. The United States, increasingly an active
part of the West's core economy, thus launched for fapan the same kind of pressure the Opium War
had created for China: pressure from the heightened military superiority of the West and its insistence on opening markets for its burgeoning economy. In 1854 Perry returned and won the right to
station an American consul in fapan; in 1856, through a formal treaty, two ports were opened to
commerce. Britain, Russia, and Holland quickly won similar rights. As in China, this meant that
living in |apan would be governed by their own representatives, not by Iapanese law
The bureaucrats ofthe shogunate saw no alternative but to open up japan, given the superiof Western navies. Ald of course, there were |apanese who had grown impatient with strict
their numbers swelled as the Dutch schools began to expand. On the other hand, the
intensely conservative, were opposed to the new concessions, and their opposition forced
shogun to appeal to the emperor for support. Soon, samurai opponents of the bureaucracy were
appealing to the emperor, who began to emerge from his centuries-long confinement as a
religious and ceremonial figure. Whereas most daimyo defended the status quo, the samurai
more divided. Some saw opportunity in change, including the possibility of unseating the
The fact was that the complex shogunate system had depended on the isolation policy; it
not survive the stresses of foreign influence and internal reactions. The result was not immecollapse; indeed, into the late 1850S, |apanese life seemed to go on much as before.
In the 1860s, political crisis came into the open. The crisis was spiced by samurai attacks on
including one murder of a British official, matched by Western naval bombardments of
forts. Civil war broke out in 1866 as the samurai eagerly armed themselves with American
War surplus weapons, causing |apans aristocracy to come to terms with the advantages of
armaments. When the samurai defeated a shogunate force, many |apanese were finally
out of their traditional reliance on their own superiority. One author argued that the nawith the West and its technology, science, aird humane laws, was only half civilized.
This multifaceted crisis came to an end in 1868 when the victorious reform group proclaimed
ernperor named Mutsuhito whose region was commonly called "Meiji," or "Enlightened." In
key samurai leaders managed to put down the troops of the shogunate. The crisis period
shocking enough to allow further changes in |apan's basic political structure-changes
much deeper at the political level than those introduced by Russia from 1861 onward.
and Political Change in the Meiji State
Meiji government promptly set about abolishing feudalism, replacing the daimyo in 1871
of nationally appointed prefects (district administratÖrs carefully chosen from differthe prefect system was copied from French practice). Political power was effectively
and from this base the Meiji rulers-the emperor apd his close advisors, drawn from
of the aristocracy-began to expand the power of the state to effect economic and
the ]apanese government sent samurai ofñcials abroad, to western Europe and the
to study economic and political institutions and technology. These samurai, deeply
what they saw, pulled back from their earlier anti-foreign position and gained increasother ofÊcials in the government. Their basic goal was ]apan's domestic development,
by a careful diplomatic policy that would avoid antagonizing the West.
improvements in government finance soon followed. Between 1873 and 1876,
introduced a real social revolution. They abolished the samurai class and the
had received. The tax on agriculture was converted to a wider tax, payable in
were compensated by government--backed bonds, but these decreased in value,
became poor. This development sparked renewed conflict, and a final samurai
in 1877. However, the government had introduced an army based on national
1878 the nation was militarily secure. Individual samurai found new opportuand business areas as they adapted to change. One former samurai, Iwasaki Yataro
started his career buying weapons for a feudal lord; set up the Mitsubishi Comgovernment contracts for railroad and steamship lines designed to comcompanies in the region (Figure 27.5). Despite his overbearing personalit¡
West
639
Perry, Matthew Arnericm commodore who visited Edo Bay with Anerican fleet in 1853; insisted
on opening ports to American trade on threat of
naval bombardment; won rights for dmerican
trade with Japan in 1854.
640PartV'TheDawnofthelndustrialAge'1750-1914
former samurai, and bY his deat\
transportation. The continued
ht revolution, would Yield diverse
as
samurai
:::ä
He founded
the company still
known as Mitsubishi (which means
fortune in
Three Diamonds) in 1870 and made his
shipping.
,onlf,',,yålll
Eil
*.J.'Jj
Two Faces of Western Influence
fhese pictures show an 1850s cartoon portraying American ComMatthew Perry as a greedy warlord and the first meeting of
fapanese parliament in 1890
represent?
attitudes toward
of the
of costume in a
tfi
.$
s
å
åA
tl lt
ffi
could develop on many fronts. Measures in this arealargely copied established pracwith adaptation suitable for Japanese conditions; thus, well before any EuroTokyo Imperial University had a faculty of agriculture.
enterprise quickly played a role in |apan's growing economy, particularþ in the vital texSome businesspeople came from older merchant families, although some of the great
been ruined with the financial destruction of the samurai class. There were also newcomfrom peasant ranks. Shuibuzawa Eüchi (SHoo-ih-buh-zah-wah EYE-ee-chee), for
a peasant, became a merchant and then an ofûcial,of the Finance Ministry. He turned
1873, using other people's money to set up cotton-spinning mills and other textile oper1890s huge new industrial combines, later known as zaibatsu (ZEYE-baht-soo), were
asa result of accumulations of capital and far-flung merchant and industrial operations.
Iapanese economy was fully launched in an industrial revolution. It rested on a postructure different from that of Russia-one that had in most respects changed more
success in organizing industrialization, including its careful management of formodels, proved to be one of the great developments of later l9th-century history.
to keep these early phases of Japanese industrialization in perspective.
apan was far from the West's equal. It depended on imports of Western equipsuch as coal; for industrial purposes, ]apan was a resource-poor nation. Algrowth and careful government policy allowe d Japan to avoid Western
was newly dependent on world economic conditions and was often at a disadexPorts to pay for machine and resource imports, and these in turn took hordes
Silk production grew rapidl¡ the bulk of it,destined for Western markets.
was based on the labor of poorly paid women who worked at home or in
mechanized factories. Some of these women were sold into service by farm famiorganization or other means of protest were met by vigorous repression.
äfi
West, but
zaibatsu
[ZEYE-baht-soo] Huge industrial
combines created in Japan in the 1890s as p¿rt
of the process of ildust¡ialiation.
64t
642
PartV . The Dawn of the Industrial Age, 1750-1914
Social and Diplomatic Effects of Industrialization
The Industrial Revolution and the wider extensions of manufacturing and commercial agriculture,
along with political change, had significant ramifications within Japanese culture and socrety,
changes also helped generate a more aggressive foreign policy. ]apanese society was disrupted
massive population growth. Better nutrition and new medical provisions reduced death rates,
the upheaval of the rural masses cut into traditional restraints on births. The result was steady
ulation growth that strained fapanese resources and stability, although it also ensured a
supply of low-cost labor. This was one of the causes of |apan s class tensions.
The |apanese government introduced a universal education system, providing primary
for all. This education stressed science and the importance of technical subjects along with
loyaþ to the nation and emperor. Elite students at the university level also took courses that
sized science, and many Iapanese students went abroad to study technical subjects in other
Education also revealed fapanese insistence on distinctive values. After a heady reform
in the 1870s, when hundreds of Western teachers were imported and a Rutgers Universþ
brought in for highJevel advice about the whole system, the emperor and conservative
stepped back after 1879. This was when reformers like Fukuzawa Yukichi began to tone down
rhetoric. Innovation and individualism had gone too far. A traditional moral education was
tial, along with new skills, which would stress "loyalty to the Imperial House, love of countr¡
piety toward parents, respect for superiors, faith in friends, charity toward inferiors and
oneself." The use of foreign books on morality was prohibited, and intense government
of textbooks was intended to promote social order.
Many |apanese copied Western fashions as part of the effort to become modern.
style haircuts replaced the samurai shaved head with a topknot-another example of the
ization of hair in world history. Western standards of hygiene spread, and the |apanese
enthusiastic toothbrushers and consumers of patent medicines. |apan also adopted the
endar and the metric system. Few ]apanese converted to Christianity, however, and despite
popular cultural fads, the ]apanese managed to preserve an emphasis on their own values.
Japanese wanted and got from the West involved practical techniques; they planned to
with a distinctively |apanese spirit. As an early Japanese visitor to the American White
in a self-satisfied poem that captured the national mood,
We suffered the barbarians to look upon
The glory of our Eastern Empire of fapan.
Western-oriented enthusiasms were not meant to destroy a distinctive fapanese spirit.
|apanese family life retained many traditional emphases. The birth rate dropped
population growth forced increasing numbers of people off the land. Meanwhile, the rise
industr¡ separating work from home, made children's labor less useful, This trend,
Iier in the West, seems inseparable from successful industrialization. There were new
instability as well; the divorce rate exploded until legal changes made procedures more
the more traditional side, the |apanese were eager to maintain the inferiority of
home. The position of Western women
States were appalled by what they saw
here is like the way parents are respected in our country." Standards of Japanese
trasted with the more open and boisterous behavior of Westerners; particularþ
scenity is inherent in the customs of this country," noted another samurai visitor
States. Certain Japanese religious values were also preserved. Buddhism lost some
it remained important, but Shintoism, which appealed to the new nationalist concern
distinctive mission and the religious functions of the emperor, won new interest.
Traditionalism was not the only theme in the situation of fapanese lvomen
ization. As in Russia, women were widely used in the early factory labor force-and
also in sweatshop silk production-because their low wages were an
competitive global markets. At the same time, the government carefi;lly
girls, as part of its new commitment to mass education. And many upper-class
had opportunities even for high education, in secondary schools or separate
sion they encountered, between assumptions that women should play subservient
'
chapter 27
Russia and /apan: Inclustrialization outsicle
the
west
roles and the cxcitement of new eclucational opportunities,
were particularly sharp, but not entirely
different from contemporary conditions in Russia or the west.
outright fèminisrn, however., was far
less common than in either western or eastern Enrope. Industrialization
ond urbanization
eral
made
traditionalism impossible alnid rapid ccono
Economic change, ancl the tensions as wel
foreign policy. This sirift was partly an ir
lit-
also produced a shift in
japanese
reii.ved.u,n. rt.ui,r, *ithi,,1upo,r.r. ,.li.i¡
nrilitary talents elsewhe¡e. Eve' no¡e than \destern cou'tries, which
ii"
:nï;:.tätî:l1i:ï,i:ì:
usecl similar arguments for
imperialism' the Japa'ese economy also r.reecled access to markets and raw materials.
Because Japan
was poor iu many basic materials, including coal ancl oii for energ¡
th. p...r.,." for expa^sio' was
particularly great.
|apan's quick victory over Chilra in the Sino
a
over a
sula it
agains
(Map 27.2). Ja
iliated l¡y west
l\¡as
the Japanese p
,i\ 1902 allia
arrival as an equal nation in thc Western_clomin
e.
to dent Russia's growing str.ength in eas
railroad. Disputes over Russian influence in
ìvlanchuria and /apanese influence in Korea lecl
to the Russo-Japanese War in 1904 (Map 27.3),
which /apan won handily because of its supe_
rior navy. /apan annexed Korea in 1910, enter_
ing the ranks of imperialist powers.
also eager
S¡ A
¡V
R U
'
':
,Set o.[
klto ¡,r k
..'
Lukc
Þ_
ßuikt I
,lI
è
Strain of Modernization
I
O
?
achievement had its costs, including
living
stanclards
in the crowclecl
cities.
Many iapanese conservatives r.esentecl
the Passion other-lapanese ciisplayed
MONGOLIA
CHURIA
for Westcrn fash-
Disputes between generations, with the
clinging to traditional standards and
the
t¡ore interested in Western styles, were
troubling in a society that stressed
the im_
of parental authority.
Some tension enterecl political
life. polit-
Chang.chun
Þ
É
?
aPck ng
*
uqr.
Se
parties
ll
(Inchon)
The government often had to cliselections,
a rnore workable
parliamentary
the
Diet and call f-or new
(Ger.
major-
phiìosophies
I
Y¿l ô tt!
a
assassinations and a ttempted asreflected grlevances, inclucling
action impulses
in the samurai tradition
hincl of friction emerged in inlife. Manv
Japanese scholars copied
u of
Japatt
in Iapan's parliament clashed with
elrperor,s ministers
over rights to deter-
,9¿u
rÃz-t
Ct
Russta¡
U
Dalltc
and literary styles, ancl
enough aclaptation
to prevent the
of a full Russian-style
intelligentsia.
i'
E
E
El
E
E
El
Russian tenirory
Russian sphere of influence
Japanese
reritory
Chinese territory
Japanese troop ¡ìtovemcnt
Russian troop movernent
(Japail, Ì895)
PACIFIC OCE.4N
5M KILOMETTRS
i{lap 27.3 Japane se colonial Expansion to 19r
The map shows Japan,s principal gains, but
also the limitations that still frustrated Japanese nationalists.
4
643
644
Part
V'
The Dawn of the Industrial Age, 1750-1914
conflicts such as those
from which we will not be able to recover." Others dealt with more Personal
in the following Poem:
Always wear a
Do not be loved by others; do not accept their charity, do not promise,an¡hing' ' ' '
Don t fortime'
any
head
at
on
the
man
mask. Always be ready for a fìght-be ãble to hit the next
him'
with
to
break
certain
later
oI
sooner
ale
you
get that when yon -uk frienãs with someone
loyalty and
As an antidote to social and cultural insecurit¡ Japanese leaders urged national
promoted Japanese virtues of
devotion to the emperor, and with some success. The official message
obedience and harmony that the West lacked. School texts thus stressed,
the nation is but a single famil¡ the imperial
the unbroken imperial line with the same feelhis parents. . ' . The union of loyalty and filial
PolitY'
built on traditions of superiorit¡ cohesion, and deference to
force, probably in I
well as on the new tensions generated by rapid change. It became a deep
in a national
struggle
justifring
and
sacrifice
in
role
a
unique
played
more than elsewhere, that
with firm
along
Nationalism,
world.
hostile
in
a
dignity
and
sion to preserve independence
fapanese nationalism
peril
Western term for perceived th¡eat
Japanese imperialism around 1900; met by inc¡eased Western imperialism in region.
yellow
of
certainly helps explain
repression of dissent and the sweeping changes of the early Meiji Years'
countries after 1900.
other
and
China,
Russia,
hit
that
pressure
|apan avoided the revolutionary
outside the
society
other
No
it
was'
unusual
how
us
of
Yet iapan s very success reminds
example
in its
Western
to
responding
Russia,
achievements
ern world was yet able to match its
further
that
disarray
social
such
amid
but
power'
way, continued its growth as a world
to or
inevitable. Most of the rest of the world faced the more immediate concern of adjusting
many
when
toda¡
Even
prospect.
remote
a
was
mg Western dominance; industrialization
of rapid
are striving for greater industrialization, the ability to emulate the ]apanese Pattern
the
leading
enough,
interestingly
Asia,
Pack.
east
seems very limited-with other parts of
Global Connections
Russia and fapan in
theWorld
world role, founded on its huge size and territorial expansion, had already been established in the earþ modern period'
There were, however, new twists during the 19th century' Russian
troops and diplomats periodicaþ gained direct roles in western
Europe. Russian forces entered France as part of the coalition that
defeated Napoleon. A side result was the development of new
restaurants in France, called bistros, based on the Russian word for
put down the Hungarian revolution
4r.rlck. Russian armies helped
in 1849. Russian involvement in Middle Eastern diplomacy resulted from its steady Pressure on the Ottoman Empire' By the
later 19th century, Russia extended its influence in eastern Asia,
seizing new territories in northern China and claiming a role elsewhere, in china and Korea alike. This set the collision course with
in the
Japan. Russia also participated somewhat more broadly
internain
participating
glãbaüzation of the later 19th century,
iional conferences and contributing to "international" styles in art.
just emerging by
fapan's world role was much newer, and
one previous atonly
1914. Long isolated, Japan had experienced
century invalate-16th
tempt at assertion beyond its borders, the
fueled by
increased,
sion of Korea. Now however, ambitions
and popstrength,
economic needs, growing industrial and military
that
era
|apanese leaders
ulation pressure. It was during the Meiji
Russia's
decided to open the wave of globalization, though without
distinctive identiry rather than trying to resist it' More
fapan sought to be regarded as a great nation alongWestern
alist lines. This brought the conflicts with China and
1914, and wider exPeriments thereafter. In the long
clearþ
|apans strfüng economic success that would most
new place in the world. Initiall¡ the unfolding of
eastern Pacific region, along with the coryPlex
West, marked fapans dramatic entry as a force to
The beginnings of serious industrialization
fapan, and the entry of ]apan into world affairs,
tant new ingredients to the global diplomatic picture
20th century. These develoPments, along with the rise
States, added to the growing sense of competition
lished Western Powers. faPan s surge promotedafeat
newyellowperil that shotild be opposed through
efforts. Outright colonial acquisitions bY the new
rectly to the competitive atmosphere, particularlY
Further Readings
Important comParative work includes Rudra
" Moder
nity" : Work, CommunitY, and AuthoritY
ized lapan and Russiø (2002) and Kaoru
China, and the Growth of the Asian In
ø
chapter 27
1850-1949 (2005). A. Gerschenkron, Economic Backwardness in
Perspective: A Book of Essays (1962), helps define the
of latecomer industrialization. The best survey of Rusin this transitional period is Hans Rogger, Russia in the Ag, of
ylodernization and Revolution, 1 88 1- 1917 (1983). See also GeofHosking, Russia: People and Empire, 1532-1917 (1997). Rusreforms and economic change are discussed in Alexander
Russia in the Nineteenth Century: Autocracy, Reþrm ønd
Change, 1814-1914 (2005); Sharon Hudgins, The Other Side
Russia: A Slice of Life in Siberia ønd the Russian Far Eøst (2003);
O'Meara, The Decembrist Povel pestel: Russia,s First Repub(2003); Sidney Harcave, trans., The Memoirs of Count Wixe
), includes a brief biographical sketch and his collected writof this influential "modernizer." On social and cultural develsee Victoria Bonnell, ed., The Russian Worker: Life and
Under the Tsarist Regime (1983); Barbara Engel, Mothers
Daughters: Women of the Intelligentsia in Nineteenth Century
(1983); and )effrey Brooks, When Russia Learned to Read:
and Popular Culture (l9BT). On another vital area of east_
Europe, see A. Stavrianos, The Balkans, 1815-1914 (1963).
in the lgth century is viewed from a modernization
in R. Dore, ed.., Aspects of Social Change in Modern Japan
also Ian Inkster, Japønese Industrialization: Historical
Perspectives and The Jøpanese Industrial Econonry: Late
and CulturøI Cøusation (2001); W. W Lockwood,The
Development of Japøn: Growth and Structural Change
(t9sa); f. C. Abegglen, The lapanese Factory: Aspects of lts
Organization, rev. ed. (1985); Andrew Gordon, The Evolution
Relations in lapan (1985); and Hugh patrick, ed., lapanese
and lts Social Consequences (1973). E. O. Reislapan: The Story of ø Nation (l9BL) remains a good general
of the period. For more closely focused works on socloecosee Masa¡rki Tanimoto, ed.,The Role ofTradition in
Another Path to Industrialization (2006);
Breaking Open lapan: Commodore perry, Lord Abe,
Imperialism in 185i (2006); |anet Hunger, Women
Market in Jøpan's Industrializing Economy: The Texthe Pacific War (2003); S. Ericson, The Sound òf
Røilroads and the State in Meiji lapøn (1996); Peter N.
and Students in Industrial Society: lapan and the
and E. P. Tswumi, Factory Girls: Women in the Thread
Iapan (1990) Additional studies include R. H. Myers
The lapanese Colonial Empire 1895-1945
Beasle¡ JaPanese ImperiøIism, 1894-1945 (1987);
and
Abacus and the Sword: The
Japønese penetration
"f
r0 (1 995). On fapan and Russia, see Frederic A.
Much RecordedWar: The Russo-lapønese War in His-
'
Russia and |apan: Industrialization outside the
west
64s
ever, the riches of the tsars could not conceal
the dismal world of
the Russian peasantry, whose lot was little improved by Russian
economic modernization. This world and how it was illuminated
by the works of the Russian writer Nikotai Gogol are addressed at
http ://www.kirj asto.sci. fi /gogol.htm, http ://www:sp
artacus.schoolnet
co, ul</RUSserfs.htm, http://www. geocities. com/Athens/Forum/4 r 23l
.
krimlife.htm, and h
The Crimean War
-grempel/courses/r
is described at
famous battle
gogol.htm.
wnec.edu/
Its most
http://www.nationalcenter.orgl
ChargeofthelightBrigade.hrml and http://www.lo c.govI n I ptiitl
coll/251_fen.html.
Russian liberalism reached its high_water mark with the
äbolition of serfdom, an institution whose rise and demise is described at http I I av alon.law.yale. edu/ 1 9th_century/koval6. A copy
of the Emancipation Manifesto ending serfdom can be found at
http //en.wikiso urce. org/wiki/Russian_Emancip atio n_Manifesto_
of_1861: English_Translation. However, reaction soon set in. The
failure of the Revolution of 1905, examined at http://mars.wnec
.edu/-grempel/courses/russia/lectures/23revl 905.html, to achieve
any significant degree of political and social reform paved the way
for those favoring more radical change, such as the Bolsheviks, led
by Madimir Iþch Uþnov, whose life and work is examined at
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/ and whose voice can be
I
:
2.htm. Count Sergei
glimpsed athttp:ll
:ï1}ii,:î.H11
intetlectuat Leon Tlorsky's brief evaluation
http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/works/ 1 905/ch 1 0.htm, is
dramatically written and full of interest,
Life in Meiji lapan canbe glimpsed through an exhibition of
contemporary woodblock art at http I lwww. artgallery. sb c. edu/
:
ukiyoe/historyofivoodblockprints.html. A virtual tour of Meiji
culture and politics is offered at http://www.virtualmuseum.cal
Exhibitions/Meiji/english/html/index.html. This tour offers an examination of the Russo-Japanese War of 1905 at http://www
.virtualmuseum.
ml/war3.html. Meiji
era
-guide.comlele2
Restoration
at http://www.japan
kaut.ac.jplmikami/
IDEAS/home.htm. Iwasaki Yataro's role in this process is illuminated at http://www.mitsubishi.com/e/history/series/yatarolindex
.html, http://wwwmitsubishi.com/e/history/series/yataro/index
.html, and http://content.cdlib.orglxtf/view?docId=ft 0w1 003k0
&chunk.id=d0e8030&toc.id=d0e8010&brand=ucpress. A key to
the process of modernization in fapan is the Constitution of the
Empire of |apan (1889), which is reproduced at hnp://history
.hanover.edu/texts/1889con.html. For further insight into this
process, this document can be compared with the Constitution of
I apan (19 47 ) at htt¡ I I hisrory. hanover. edu/texts/ 1 947con.html.
An essay comparing the course bf "westernization" in Russia and
Iapan (and China as well) can be found at http://www
tsarist Russia are revealed
in a virtual tour of the
at lrttp://www.alexand erpala
ce.orgl palacel . How-
.socyberty.com/Social-Sciences/A-Comparison-of-Westernization-
in-Russia-fapan-and-Chin
a.67
924.
646
PartV
'
The Dawn of the IndustrialAge, 1750-1914
Nineteenth-century ruling elites in Russia embraced which
philosophy and ideas?
(A)
autocratic government, Orthodox religion, and extrene
nationalism
(B)
liberalism, including the emancipation of serfs and
British-style democracy
(C)
socialism, with land reform for peasants and protections for workers
(D)
constitutional monarchy, with an elected parliament
3.
Russia's lag in economic development in the l9th-century
was most dramaticaþ revealed bY
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
4.
In Russia, the supporters of westernization and radical ideas
were often
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
land-owningelites.
intellectuals and university-educated students.
the ability to avoid revolution until after 1900.
the Crimean War.
(A)
meant that imported slaves did most of the
labor.
(B)
immediately resulted in a flood of peasant workers
joining the factories or industrial worKorce for
wages.
(C)
the Russian Orthodox clergY.
the land-owning peasants and serfs'
Napoleon's invasion of Russia'
The emancipation of the serfs in Russia
and limitations on the ruler's Powers
2.
the French Revolution's impact on Russia.
meant Russian agriculture was unable to produce
port goods.
(D)
did not require the government to surrender its
rial and aristocratic Power.
o
a
chapter 27
5.
The unexpected defeat bythe /apanese in the Russo_fapanese
War led Russia to
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
industrialize the military.
massive protests that became the Revolution of 1905.
'
7.
Russia and fapan: Industrialization outside the
Prior to the arrival of the American fleet and Commodore
Percy,Iapan
(A) had not developed a literate and educated population.
(B) was in self-imposed isolation from Europe and the U.S.
(C) lacked a centralized, effective government.
(D) knew little of Western developments or ideas.
Response Question
the abilities to respond to western pressure in two of
the
countries: China, Japan, Russia.
647
As a way to smooth ove¡ strains within
]apanese society
caused by the Industrial Revolution, the
(A)
(B)
the emancipation of the serfs.
attack the power of the Orthodox Church.
west
(C)
(D)
government
established a social welfare and retirement
system.
tolerated unions and radical groups iftheyworked
with the government.
gave the fapanese parliament (Diet) powers
over minis_
ters and government.
supported Japanese nationalism and devotion to
the
emperor.