Russian Industrialization Dbq Analysis

Under the shadow of the great industrial powers of the west, the Soviet Union was forced to rush the process of industrialization in order to catch up with it’s advanced neighboring states. Japan was in a similar position during the 20th century, though Japan’s reaction to the pressure was much more successful than Soviet industrialization. Japan’s industrialization was more prosperous and smooth than Russia’s because of the differences in treatment of factory workers, and adaptations to the developed foreign trade market, which ultimately diminished the efficiency of Russian industrialization. Russia was well aware that the state was in need of great change, even more specifically, the russian finance minister, Sergey Witte, had been writing

The Russian government treated the working class terribly, leading to several protests and boycotts. S.I. Somov was a Russian Soviet who shared his emotions on his overwhelming experience in the demanding Soviet working class. At a protest, he wrote that there was a “...mystical, religious ecstasy...” that peppered the angry workers who fought for their freedom from the exhausting chains of overwhelming labor and inhumane working conditions (Document 4). He added that the working class was deprived of a lively human soul, and their bitterness and dissatisfaction had “overflowed.” Somov was a worker himself, who first hand experienced the cruelty described and developed his own reasonable emotions towards the topic. The extremely strong emotions leading to protests delayed the increase in industrial production as the working class froze at points to fight back against the government. Many times the government dealt with the protests by simply dismissing workers, according to M.I. Pokrovskaya, and filling their openings with progressively younger and more inadequate workers (Document 7). The solution to their problems was stubborn and immoral, firing workers who complained, replacing them with children. Pokrovskaya was a Russian physician who wrote an article about the employment and cruel treatment of young and

The Indian nation peacefully changed themselves to overcome an obstacle, as did the Japanese when attempting to catch themselves up with the rest of the world. The two governments focused on small things, which eventually played big parts in the success of the nations. The Indians focused on small acts of civil disobedience, for example, selling homemade salt. The Japanese government established a ministry of industry and created a national banking system which both at the time were small decision, but both ended up being vital to the advancement of the state. The national banking system helped stabilize the economy during the expansion of foreign trade. The ministry of industry helped keep everything organized and orderly, leading to a clean and easy industrial process. It is made evident by multiple events in history that small acts, though they may seem pointless, can help improve the state of yourself and bring you