HIST363: Global Perspectives on Industrialization

After he had helped create the Soviet state in Russia, Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) introduced a state-controlled economy characterized by the takeover of private businesses, the nationalization of industry, and the forced state requisition of surplus grain and other food products. These policies led to food shortages, a decline in agricultural and industrial production, and civil unrest, which convinced Lenin to introduce his New Economic Policy, NEP, in 1921.

The NEP meant a temporary retreat from the doctrinaire centralization of the economy and the reintroduction of capitalism to the economy. While the government retained control of the "Commanding Heights" of the economy (banking, foreign trade, and large industries), it fostered a mixed economy that allowed private ownership of small businesses and enterprises. The NEP continued until 1928, following Lenin's death in 1924. Here we read a series of short articles from the same source documenting the Soviet experience.

Following his rise to power, Joseph Stalin (1878–1953) abandoned the NEP in 1928 when he introduced his first Five Year Plan to dramatically increase Soviet industrial production and force the collectivization of agriculture. While his industrial goals were unrealistic, Stalin managed to substantially increase the industrialization in the new Soviet Union. However, when he forced the collectivization of agriculture, millions of farmers and agricultural workers starved to death when they were left with too little of their crops to live on. Agricultural collectivization was a failure for the Soviet state.

The Industrial Revolution came late to East Asia. By many accounts, China was more industrially developed than Western Europe before 1800. However, England and the rest of Western Europe soon surged ahead with the aid of cheap coal, steam power, and the vast natural resources and markets provided by the Americas. Many believed that China and East Asia failed to industrialize in the 19th century because they were socioeconomically inferior to the West and England in particular. However, research indicates that China had the resources to undergo an industrial revolution but failed to modernize due to Western imperialism and colonialism, not economics.

Dependency Theory is a way of conceptualizing the effects of the modern globalized economy on poorer nations. Mirroring social classes within a society, it is particularly concerned with the interdependence between developing countries, where resources are extracted and goods are manufactured to be consumed in wealthier countries at low prices; and the wealthier countries, which then sell those goods back to poorer countries at prices that deplete the poorer countries' resources, in a globalized alienation of labor. In this way, poorer countries may be somewhat "stuck" in their development, unable to get any further ahead. In some ways, Dependency Theory is considered a response to the "failure" of Modernization Theory.

Industrialized European states forced their way into traditionally-limited markets in China and Japan during the mid-19th century, flooding both countries with manufactured goods. As Chinese officials bitterly resisted European imperial encroachments and lost a battle against economic and military imperialism, Japanese leaders only grudgingly granted limited concessions to foreign interests.

While China buckled under the weight of imperialism and domestic insurrection, Japan's government adopted the military and industrial technology of the West to build a strong, centralized state. Essentially, Japan responded to the threat of Western imperialism by undergoing its own industrial revolution. By 1900, Japan had met or exceeded the West with regard to being an industrialized, imperialistic power able to successfully resist foreign pressure.

While post-revolutionary Russia and China fostered economic development and created a state-controlled economy based on central planning and five-year plans, India pursued an economic "Third Way", which favored a mixed economy. When it gained political independence from Britain in 1945, the state-controlled major industries but encouraged small businesses and enterprises to operate within a typical capitalist framework. The Indian government also retained the foundation of parliamentary democracy inherited from British colonial rule.

Many developing countries in Africa and elsewhere copied India's mixed economic model. While some argue that their centralized planning helped develop basic industries and foster economic development, others believe it may have delayed greater growth and the bureaucratization of the economy.