Paper Sample on Industrialization

From 1750 to 1915, the Industrial Revolution, an era of technological advancements, spread globally. The industrialization processes in Japan and Russia were different, however, they both had to accept the Western ideologies in their countries in order to make technological advances. In both Russia and Japan government played a big role in directing and managing the process of industrialization. However, Japan adapted to the Western industrialization and reform process smoothly, while Russia had a harder time adapting. Similarly, womens roles during the industrialization process in Japan and Russia were very different. While in Japan women were able to hold a job, in Russia women's rights were still impossible to achieve. Another difference between Japan and Russia during the industrialization process is the working conditions for the people. Overall, both countries industrialized economically, socially, and geographically, although Japan industrialized more efficiently.

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Russias reform was majority upper class because it was an economic reform. Document 1 asserts this concept because it discusses how the entire economic structure of the empire has been transformed from the government's point of view. Although this document is written by a Russian minister, showing bias, it supports the idea that the government in Russia supports industrialization. Russia created foreign taxes on trade to help support its economy, thus creating a system to buy, manufacture, and sell industrial goods. Document 4 refutes this argument because it states how workers feel about industrialization rather than how the government feels. It discusses how the treatment of workers was horrific and how they were placed in these hot and crowded working conditions and were forced to manufacture goods on ridiculous working hours. Better death than this life one of the workers told author S.I Somoy a Russian Socialist, who was able to write about the negative side of the industrial revolution in Russia from a Russian point of view. Taken together these two documents relate to the perspective of the industrial revolution in Russia.

The government in Japan placed a lot of emphasis on the process of industrialization in the mid-1800s. Japan modeled their society after Great Britain; ending their Samurai culture.

The women in both Japan and Russia played a critical role in their countries. Such is apparent in the high number of women who worked in the in the silk factories in Japan. In the early 1900s. According to a survey that was performed carried out on the 580 former Japan silk workers, there findings reveal various important aspects of the lives of elderly women who worked in the factory and the benefits challenges they had. In terms of food, 10 percent of the respondents revealed that food provided in the factories was average while 90 percent revealed that the food was good. In terms of nature of work, 3 percent submitted that work was hard, 75 percent posited that it was average while 22 percent revealed that work was easy. When comparing pay to other work, 30 percent of the former women silk workers revealed that it was average while 70 percent said that pay was good in comparison with other job. In terms if treatment of sick workers, 40 percent submitted that treatment of sick workers was poo, 50 percent posited that it was average while 10 percent revealed that it was good. Finally, when the elderly women that formerly worked in the silk factories were asked about whether they were glad they worked in the silk factories, 10 percent gave a neutral answer while 90 percent were glad they got a chance to work in the silk factories. Women that worked in the Russian factories had a different form of treatment as their working conditions were much worse than their counterparts in Japan. This is because the average numbers of working hours in the factories where women worked varied from 10 to 11hours 30 minutes per day. The case became worse on Saturdays where they were expected to work between 16 and 18 hours daily, moreover, the workers were forced to work overtime and were could face instant dismissal and were easily transferred to inferior employment opportunities. Moreover, when the women decide to quit their jobs, their children were used to make them work in their places; this was a form of dictatorial form of management in the factories where women worked in Russia. The poor working conditions in factories in Russia led to a protest at a cotton factory on April 25th 1913 where workers at a cotton spinning factory in St. Peteresburg against replacing the old workers by young girls between the ages of 14 and 16 years. On the contrary, instead of the management of the factory solving the issue amicably, the management dismissed all the women and replaced them by young girls. Another case was that of women workers in a tobacco factory in St. Petersburg who asked for a pay rise, in response, the management informed them to augment their income by prostitution.

In terms of the conditions for work, which the government of Japan led to the development of the societies is through the borrowing ideas from the civilized countries to promote the industrial, social, and political institutions to help the factories in Japan to have the right working environments. Another way in which the government helped in building the right work environments is through the establishments of avenues for the citizens to gain practical skills and provide resources to the population. The factories were under a close supervision of the management and its officials, and some of the factories that were built in the country were such as iron foundry, machine factories among others. The factories led to the production of various substances among them being gun powder, implements of war, paper currency, national bonds, stamps among others. Although it is easy to give total credit to the government on the role it played in the building of economies, there is also the need to appreciate the role the women played towards the building of both the Japanese and Russian societies and one is apparent in the way women worked in the factories to produce goods and services. A good example is the women that worked in the reeling silk thread and spinning cotton yarns where the women had great impact in the production of clothes for the citizens. Secondly, the women also engaged in the production of goods for exports and others for domestic industrial use; this helped the factories to have cheap goods for processing in factories thereby reducing cost of production.

In Russia, the government played a critical role in the promotion of Mining and metallurgical industries, sugar production, iron works, and textiles especially cotton which led to the prosperity of such industries in a great way. Moreover, the natural law that was possible through government authority in Russia and the government measures that were promulgated during Sergey Wittes administration provided a good environment for the workers to engage in economic projects. Such created a good working environment for the workers and the conducive environment encourage the building of the society.