Get summaries, questions, answers, solutions, notes, extras, PDF and guide of Class 11 (first year) History textbook, chapter 7 Paths to Modernisation which is part of the syllabus of students studying under AHSEC/ASSEB (Assam Board). These solutions, however, should only be treated as references and can be modified/changed.
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Summary
The chapter describes the contrasting experiences of China and Japan as they sought to modernize in the face of external pressures and internal challenges. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, China was the dominant power in East Asia, with the Qing dynasty appearing stable. Japan, in contrast, was a small island nation in isolation. However, the arrival of Western colonial forces disrupted this balance. China struggled to respond effectively, leading to political instability, civil wars, and eventual foreign domination. Japan, on the other hand, rapidly modernized, adopting Western-style governance, building an industrial economy, and even expanding into an empire.
China’s attempts at reform were slow and faced resistance. The Qing rulers tried to adapt but could not prevent foreign influence. The failure of reforms led to calls for revolution. The Communist Party, formed in 1921, eventually overthrew the old order in 1949. However, by the 1970s, leaders recognized that rigid ideology was slowing economic growth, leading to reforms that introduced capitalist practices while maintaining Communist political control.
Japan’s modernization began in the late nineteenth century with the Meiji Restoration in 1868. The shogun was removed, and the emperor was restored to power, though real authority was in the hands of officials. Fearful of Western colonization, Japan sought to strengthen its military and economy, adopting European industrial models and legal systems. The government promoted nationalism, and Japan defeated China in 1894 and Russia in 1905. However, its expansionist ambitions led to war with Western powers, resulting in defeat in World War II. Under U.S. occupation, Japan adopted democratic reforms and rebuilt its economy, emerging as an industrial powerhouse by the 1970s.
China and Japan had a strong tradition of historical writing, valuing records and scholarship. Chinese intellectuals such as Liang Qichao and Japanese scholars like Naito Konan studied history to understand how their countries could modernize. European accounts from travelers like Marco Polo and missionaries also influenced scholarship.
Modernization brought social changes. In Japan, the feudal system was replaced with centralized governance. The samurai class lost its privileges, and new economic opportunities arose. Cities grew, and a commercial economy developed. Japan also established a strong education system and promoted national unity. In China, the collapse of the Qing dynasty led to struggles between the Nationalists and Communists. The Communist victory led to radical social and economic reforms, including land redistribution and industrialization.
Japan’s industrial growth was supported by government policies and large business groups called zaibatsu. Women formed a significant part of the workforce, and industrial towns expanded. However, rapid industrialization also led to environmental problems, which later sparked social movements.
Japanese nationalism was tied to military expansion. The government promoted the idea of resisting Western domination while establishing its own empire. This led to conflicts with China and Russia and, eventually, World War II. After its defeat, Japan embraced pacifism under a new constitution but continued economic expansion.
China’s path to modernization was shaped by foreign invasions, civil war, and internal struggles. The Opium Wars in the nineteenth century weakened China, leading to the collapse of the Qing dynasty and the rise of the republic under Sun Yat-sen. His Three Principles—nationalism, democracy, and socialism—sought to modernize China, but political instability continued. The Nationalist Party, under Chiang Kai-shek, failed to address economic and social problems, leading to Communist victory in 1949.
Mao Zedong led radical Communist policies, including the Great Leap Forward, which aimed to rapidly industrialize but resulted in economic disaster. The Cultural Revolution in the 1960s disrupted society and weakened institutions. After Mao’s death, Deng Xiaoping introduced economic reforms, allowing market-driven growth while maintaining political control.
South Korea followed a different path. Initially under military rule, it focused on rapid industrialization. Government policies encouraged export-led growth, transforming the country into an economic power. Political movements demanding democracy grew, leading to reforms and the establishment of a democratic government.
Taiwan, under Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government, also underwent economic transformation. Land reforms and industrial policies helped its economy grow, but political repression continued until democratic reforms were introduced in the late twentieth century.
China’s economic rise in the late twentieth century was accompanied by strict political control. The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, which called for democratic reforms, were brutally suppressed. While economic policies continued to favor market reforms, political freedoms remained limited.
The chapter highlights the different paths taken by China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Japan modernized while maintaining its independence but developed aggressive nationalism. China faced foreign control and internal struggles before adopting Communist rule and later market reforms. Korea and Taiwan industrialized under authoritarian rule before transitioning to democracy. Each country’s path was shaped by its unique history, social structure, and external pressures.
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Answer in Brief
1. What were the major developments before the Meiji restoration that made it possible for Japan to modernise rapidly?
Answer: The major developments before the Meiji Restoration that made it possible for Japan to modernize rapidly were:
- Political System: Japan was ruled by the Tokugawa shogunate from 1603 to 1867. The country was divided into over 250 domains under the daimyo, who exercised a large degree of autonomy. The shogun exercised power over them, ensuring stability by ordering them to stay at the capital Edo for long periods. This centralization of power helped maintain internal peace and order.
- Social and Economic Changes: Several key changes in the late sixteenth century set the foundation for future development. The peasantry was disarmed, ensuring peace. The daimyo were ordered to live in their capitals, maintaining stability. Land surveys were conducted to identify owners and taxpayers, ensuring a stable revenue base.
- Urban Growth and Commercial Economy: The capitals of the daimyo grew into large cities. By the mid-seventeenth century, Edo was the most populated city in the world, and other major cities like Osaka and Kyoto flourished. The growth of commerce led to the development of financial and credit systems. A person’s merit became more valued than status, and a vibrant culture developed in towns, with a fast-growing merchant class patronizing theater and the arts.
- Intellectual and Cultural Shifts: There was a growing emphasis on studying ancient Japanese literature, leading to questioning the degree of Chinese influence. Scholars argued that Japan’s essence could be found in its early classics, such as The Tale of Genji and myths of origin that depicted the emperor as a descendant of the Sun Goddess.
- Economic Development: Japan was rich, importing luxury goods like silk from China and textiles from India. However, to preserve its economy, the Tokugawa government restricted the export of precious metals and developed the domestic silk industry in Nishijin, Kyoto. Increased use of money and the creation of a stock market in rice indicated economic progress.
- Awareness of Foreign Threats: Officials and the people were aware of European colonial expansion, particularly the news of China’s defeat by Britain in the Opium Wars. This led to fears that Japan might be colonized. Some scholars and leaders advocated learning from European advancements rather than resisting them entirely.
- Education and Printing: The widespread literacy and culture of reading supported the dissemination of new ideas. The popularity of books and the presence of a thriving printing industry meant that new knowledge and innovations could spread quickly.
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2. Discuss how daily life was transformed as Japan developed.
Answer: Daily life in Japan was transformed as the country developed. The traditional patriarchal household system, where multiple generations lived together under the control of the head of the house, shifted toward a nuclear family model, with the husband as the breadwinner and the wife as the homemaker. This new concept of domesticity created a demand for new types of domestic goods, family entertainments, and modern housing.
In the 1920s, construction companies made affordable housing available, with down payments of 200 yen and monthly installments of 12 yen for ten years, at a time when a bank employee’s salary was 40 yen per month.
Middle-class families began to enjoy new forms of travel and entertainment. Transport in cities improved with electric trams, public parks were opened from 1878, and department stores began to be built. In Tokyo, the Ginza became a fashionable area where people engaged in Ginbura, a word combining “Ginza” and “burbura” (walking aimlessly).
The first radio stations opened in 1925. Matsui Sumako, an actress, became a national star with her portrayal of Nora in the Norwegian writer Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Movies began to be made in 1899, and soon there were a dozen companies producing hundreds of films. This period was marked by great vitality and a questioning of traditional social and political norms.
3. How did the Qing dynasty try and meet the challenge posed by the Western powers?
Answer: The Qing dynasty tried to meet the challenge posed by the Western powers by initiating reforms to strengthen the system. Qing reformers such as Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao initiated policies to build a modern administrative system, a new army, an educational system, and set up local assemblies to establish constitutional government. They saw the need to protect China from colonization. The negative examples of colonized countries, such as Poland and India, influenced Chinese thinkers, making them realize the importance of strengthening the nation to resist Western control. Additionally, the Qing dynasty abolished the centuries-old examination system in 1905, which had acted as a barrier to the development of science and technology, as it was based on classical Chinese learning that had no relevance to the modern world.
4. What were Sun Yat-sen’s Three Principles?
Answer: Sun Yat-sen’s Three Principles were nationalism, which meant overthrowing the Manchu who were seen as a foreign dynasty, as well as other foreign imperialists; democracy, or establishing democratic government; and socialism, regulating capital and equalizing landholdings.
5. How did Korea deal with the foreign currency crisis in 1997?
Answer: Korea dealt with the foreign currency crisis in 1997 through emergency financial support provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Simultaneous efforts were also made to improve the country’s economic constitution as the citizens actively contributed towards foreign loan repayment through the Gold Collection Movement.
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6. Did Japan’s policy of rapid industrialisation lead to wars with its neighbours and destruction of the environment?
Answer: Japan’s policy of rapid industrialisation was accompanied by an aggressive nationalism that led to wars with its neighbors and had significant environmental consequences. The military pressed for a vigorous foreign policy to acquire more territory, leading to wars with China and Russia, in both of which Japan was victorious. The aggressive expansionist policy continued with Japan’s invasion of China in 1931 and its wars in other parts of Asia, eventually merging into the Second World War after Japan attacked the USA at Pearl Harbor. This period saw greater controls on society, the repression and imprisonment of dissidents, and the formation of patriotic societies to support the war.
The rapid and unregulated growth of industry and the demand for natural resources, such as timber, led to environmental destruction. Tanaka Shozo, elected to the first House of Representatives, launched the first agitation against industrial pollution in 1897, leading a mass protest with 800 villagers to force the government to take action. By the 1960s, industrialisation had been pushed with utter disregard for its effects on health and the environment. Cadmium poisoning led to a painful disease, mercury poisoning in Minamata occurred in the 1960s, and air pollution problems emerged in the early 1970s. Grassroots pressure groups began to demand recognition of these problems, as well as compensation for the victims. Government action and new legal regulations helped improve conditions, and by the mid-1980s, Japan enacted some of the strictest environmental controls in the world.
7. Do you think that Mao Zedong and the Communist Party of China were successful in liberating China and laying the basis for its current success?
Answer: Mao Zedong and the Communist Party of China were successful in liberating China and laying the basis for its current success. The CCP emerged victorious from the civil war in 1949. The People’s Republic of China government was established in 1949 and was based on the principles of the ‘New Democracy’, an alliance of all social classes. Critical areas of the economy were put under government control, and private enterprise and private ownership of land were gradually ended. This program lasted until 1953, when the government declared that it would launch a program of socialist transformation.
The Great Leap Forward movement, launched in 1958, was a policy to galvanize the country to industrialize rapidly. People were encouraged to set up steel furnaces in their backyards. In the rural areas, people’s communes (where land would be collectively owned and cultivated) were started. By 1958, there were 26,000 communes covering 98 percent of the farm population. Mao was able to mobilize the masses to attain the goals set by the Party. His concern was with creating a ‘socialist man’ who would have five loves: fatherland, people, labor, science, and public property. Mass organizations were created for farmers, women, students, and other groups.
However, the steel produced in the backyard furnaces was unusable industrially, and some party members argued for more attention to industrial organization and economic growth. The conflict between Maoists, who wanted to create a ‘Socialist Man,’ and those who objected to Mao’s emphasis on ideology rather than expertise, culminated in Mao launching the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in 1965 to counter his critics. The Cultural Revolution began a period of turmoil, weakened the Party, and severely disrupted the economy and educational system.
From the late 1960s, the tide began to turn. In 1975, the Party once again laid emphasis on greater social discipline and the need to build an industrial economy so that China could become a power before the end of the century. The Cultural Revolution was followed by a process of political maneuvering. Deng Xiaoping kept party control strong while introducing a socialist market economy. In 1978, the Party declared its goal as the Four Modernizations (to develop science, industry, agriculture, and defense). Debate was allowed as long as the Party was not questioned.
The Party has now carried out market reforms and has been successful in making China economically powerful, but its political system continues to be tightly controlled. The society now faces growing inequalities, as well as a revival of traditions long suppressed. This new situation again poses the question of how China can develop while retaining its heritage.
8. Did economic growth in South Korea contribute to its democratisation?
Answer: Economic growth in South Korea played a significant role in its democratisation. Following the Korean War, South Korea relied heavily on economic assistance from the United States. Under President Park Chung-hee, elected in 1963, the government adopted a state-led, export-oriented policy that prioritised economic growth. The five-year economic plans favoured large corporate firms, expanded employment, and increased Korea’s competitiveness.
South Korea’s economic development was driven by a shift from import substitution industrialisation to export-oriented policies. The government initially supported labour-intensive light industries such as textiles and garments, then moved to heavy and chemical industries like steel, shipbuilding, and electronics. The Saemaul Movement encouraged rural development, modernising the agricultural sector and empowering rural populations.
The high level of education also contributed to economic growth, as literate workers could quickly acquire new skills. The open economic policy helped absorb advanced technologies from other countries, while foreign investment and domestic savings facilitated the expansion of heavy industries. Economic growth, however, allowed Park to consolidate power by revising the constitution and imposing the Yusin Constitution in 1972, giving him absolute authority.
Despite economic success, political dissatisfaction grew, especially among students, scholars, and opposition groups. The second oil crisis in 1979, along with increasing protests against political suppression, led to Park’s assassination. However, another military coup by Chun Doo-hwan in 1979 delayed democratisation. The demand for democracy intensified, leading to the Gwangju Democratisation Movement in 1980, which was suppressed.
The growing economy, urbanisation, and rising education levels increased political awareness, leading to demands for constitutional amendments allowing direct presidential elections. The June Democracy Movement of 1987, sparked by government suppression of democratic demands, gained mass participation. This led to constitutional amendments permitting direct elections, marking a turning point in South Korea’s democratisation.
Thus, economic growth laid the foundation for democratisation by creating an educated middle class, strengthening civil society, and increasing demands for political rights. The transition to democracy was further solidified with the election of Kim Young-sam in 1992, marking the end of military rule. South Korea’s democracy continued to mature, with peaceful transfers of power and increased civic participation, culminating in the candlelight protests of 2016, which led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.
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