Industrialization: Government’s Role

As Western domination and technology spread, they met with varying degrees

of acceptance in different nations. Each country experienced competing pressures between preservation of traditional values and modernization. Egypt and some other countries early adopted policies that encouraged the use of industrialized innovations, such as the steam engine, to boost textile productivity. Others, such as China, had weakened central governments under European ascendency that were unable to promote industrialization effectively.

The Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, although bordering Europe, had not adopted Western technology or Enlightenment ideas. Moreover, rampant corruption led to rapid decline, and ethnic nationalism among the empire’s diverse population led to widespread unrest. The empire earned the nickname “the sick man of Europe.” Europeans, particularly Russians, saw opportunities to expand their own empires at the expense of the weakening Ottomans. Though they feared the results of a power vacuum from a total collapse of the Ottoman Empire, they dismantled it after World War I. A smaller nation-state, the Republic of Turkey, and several independent countries replaced the former empire.

China China suffered two great humiliations at the hands of Europeans in the 19th century: the Opium War and the split into “spheres of influence.” In the 20th century, China shook off foreign domination and briefly became a republic. However, its traumatic 19th century left a central government too weak to promote industrialization effectively for decades. (See Topic 6.5.)

Japan In Japan, in contrast, the central government grew stronger in its struggle to maintain independence and territorial integrity in the face of Western challenges. As the quote at the beginning of this chapter from Emperor Meiji’s letter to President Grant indicates, Japan actively sought Western innovations that it felt would help make it the equal of Western countries.