Russia+and+Japan-Industry+outside+the+West

Homework 1.1 Q's. 1-8 on Russia

1.The **Decembrist Uprising** was a revolt of the western oriented army officers lead by wealthy aristocrats fighting for liberalization. It was caused by the censorship of intellectual liberalism in Russia, and political debates over the proper successor for Tsar Alexander I (who had no children). This lead to the newly crowned Tsar Nicholas to become more politically conservative.Repression of political opponents increased, secret police expanded activity, and Schools and Newspapers were more tightly controlled.Also, as a part of the political repression and increased government control brought on by this uprising, Russia managed to avoid major revolution and political upheaval.

2.Russian Economic Weaknesses:
 * Russia began to fall increasingly behind Western Europe in technological and trading advances, leading to military, as well as economic weakness.
 * Peasants were even more oppressed, and Russia's economy was maintained largely through their forced labor, and labor services became yet harder and more backbreaking.Russia remained a profoundly agricultural society at this time, and was beginning to stagnate from a societal standpoint.

3. The **Crimean War** was a minor war which made painfully obvious the widening gap between Russian and Western strength.Tsar Nicholas I argued that Russia was responsible for protection of the Holy Land, and openly attacked the Ottoman Sultan. However, surprisingly, Britain and France came to the aid of the Ottomans, Britain out of fear for Russian power and advancement, and France, believing itself to be the champion of CHristian values and looking for a chance at glory. Though both sides had massive losses (about the same number of troop casualties), the Russians considered it a major failure, and saw industrial expansion among western nations as the cause.This prompted a large scale era of reforms, as it was particularly disturbing to the Tsars for the militarily centered Russia to tie in a war.

4. Russian Serfs were emancipated because neither slavery nor serfdom properly suited Russia's goals: to become an independant and important power in the World Trade. The Slave emancipation, gave slaves more freedom than the American emancipation in the form of land, but gained no new political rights, and was in fact largely designed to maintain the control of the Tsarist state, tying the serfs ever stronger to the village .did create a stronger urban force, but did not prompt a move away from agriculture, and peasant uprising became even more popular.

5. In an attempt to appease the Serfs, the Tsar created **Zemstvoes**, local political councils which had a voice in regulating schools, roads, and other public/regional projects.Thus, the nobles no longer directly ruled the peasantry. The Zemstvoes also gave the lower class russians new political power and representation, however they were not entirely successful, as the Tsar remained in control on a national scale.

6. Russia began to create a massive railroad network in the 1870s, and the establishment of the **Trans-Siberian railroad** was viewed as the crowning achievement, connecting European parts of Russia with the Pacific.The railroad boom also directly stimulated Russian needs for coal and iron, and the need to trade grains to the west in exchange for expensive machinery. It also opened up Siberia to new developement, bringing Russia into a stronger role in the Asian pacific.

7.Economic Reforms by Sergei Witte: 8. Signs of Russian Revolution: Homework 1.2- Qs 1-6 on Japan. 1. Major Developments in Japan in the 1800s century: 2. Effects of Commodore Perry:
 * Enacted high tariffs to protect Russian industries, improved the banking system, and encouraged western inventors to build factories in Russia with advanced technologies.
 * Witte believed that foreign capital was the only way to support the changing russian economy, and by 1900 (due to his efforts), Russian industry was approximately half-owned by foreign powers, becoming a debtor nation. However, Soon after, RUssia had surged to 4th largest producer of steel, and was second to the US in petroleum and textile production, mending the previously sagging economy.
 * Increasingly common social uprisings, particularly by peasants (in times of famine) and the Intelligentsia (the russian intellectual/articulate class).INtellectuals often clung to radical beliefs, and intellectual radicalism began to border on terrorism.
 * Many Russian radicals were in turn anarachists, who sought to abolish government entirely, in the face of a Tsarist autocracy.Many anarchists attempted to rally the peasants to their cause, and teach them of political activism.
 * Emergence of Marxist groups such as the Bolsheviks, and Lenin who brought power and focus to the revolutionaries actions by varying on Marxist theories.
 * During the 1st half of the 19th century, the shogunate was continuing the process of combination with a central bureaucracy, and a feudal-style alliance with various daimyo and samurai. However, the government ran into financial problems, as taxes were based on agriculture (Despite the growing commercial economy in Japan), and the government had to pay stipends to samurai to ensure loyalty.
 * Japan gradually became more secular, and public schools called Terakoya began to emerge, teaching reading, writing, and Confucianism. This increasing education lead to increasing debate, and increasing tensions between traditionalists and intellectual reformers.
 * Dutch Studies allowed Japan to advance technologically without need for a revolution.Dutch was used for purposes of trade, and Japan learned from dutch medical technology, moving away from Chinese culture and practices.
 * Expanding commerce, with big merchant companies creating monopolies, and manufacturing gained ground, including soy sauce and silks.
 * Move away from isolationism- In the face of American threats and western naval superiority, Japan opened it's ports to the world at large, which appeased the anti-isolationists who were influenced by debates in the Dutch Studies.
 * Shift in Japanese culture- America's bombing of Japan's capital lead to Japanese importation of American weapons, allowing the Samurai to defeat the shogun, and causing Japanese beleif in inferiority to the West.
 * Social/Political crisis- Divisions among the Daimyo and Samurai related to disagreements about Isolationism, and the emperor was eventually forced to step in.This conflict came to an end with the victorious reform group proclaiming a new emperor Mutsuhito with the title of Meiji or "Enlightened One".

3. Actions of the Meiji Government: 4-5. Japanese Industrialization: 6. Social Change as a result of Industrialization:
 * Abolition of feudal systems, and a bureaucratic system of dividing the country into prefectures, each ruled by a local official. Political powe was centralized, and expanded greatly under the emperor and the new bureaucracy.
 * Anti-Isolationist movement gained great strength, and Japan sent Samurai out to other lands to study economy, technology, and political institutions. Their basic goal was strengthening domestic development in Japan, without upsetting Western Powers.
 * Improvements of social system, and economy, with the abolishment of the Samurai class, reforming taxes to accept money as a payment, and national conscription policy allowed the government to fend off a Samurai uprising in 1877, establishing it's military security.
 * Reorganization of the bureaucracy, and a system of hiring based on personal talent, leading to the formation of a parliament and a constitution.
 * New government banks funded growing trade and capital, state funded railroads spread across the country, Islands were connected by rapid steamships, and new methods were used to increase agricultural production to feed the growing urban populations.
 * New Industrialization was also largely a byproduct of government abolition of old restrictions. Guilds and tariffs were abolished to make a new japanese national market.Land reforms also helped invigorate farm production and introduction of new fertilizers.
 * Government initiative dominated manufacturing, not only in the creation of transportation, but also in regulation of mines. THe unfamiliarity of Japan with western advances and new technologies lead to an increased importance of state direction, and directly effected the founding of Japan's Ministry of Industry.Expansion of government trainig, setting up of post offices and regulating commercial laws allowed Japan to grow in many feilds.
 * Japanese need for costly imports lead to an influx of poorly paid workers, and Women were often confined to sweatshops to help fund the Silk industry which lead to increased tensions.
 * More aggressive foreign policy, as a result of population boom after introduction to new crops.Reduced death rates and increased birth rates helped fuel the basis for this population boom.
 * Primary school education being directed towards science, as well as loyalty to the emperor and traditional values.Many japanese students were also allowed to study abroad in other countries to learn of new technologies.
 * Japan began to copy western fashions ,calendars, the metric system and standards of hygeine.
 * Child labor became less useful, due to rise in importance of factories.Strains on the family, and increased divorce rate.Shintoism also became increasingly important, as Japanese nationalism spread.