AMC historical results

As Western states industrialized and made significant scientific and technological developments, previously prominent industries of handmade goods were transformed to highly profitable industries of goods manufactured from technology as mass production put forward the economic idea of capitalism which established extreme economic prosperity for middle-class people such as factory owners and merchants. As Western states industrialized, there was an increasing need for raw materials to supply the technologies of industrialization, and thus European powers looked toward less developed countries, many of which were in non-Western areas to provide sources of raw materials and often cheap labor that could facilitate the extraction and/or processing and the eventual manufacturing of industrial goods; these less developed regions could also be potential markets of industrially mass-produced goods, boosting the economic prosperity of European powers further. European colonizers often, through private firms and corporation authorities, imposed their capitalist systems on colonies, often through exploitation and coerced labor to raise cash crops for exports to help nourish the colonial power’s economy. Furthermore, through the ideas of Social Darwinism and Scientific Racism, Europeans viewed their race as inherently superior, as they were viewed as a “civilized race” meant to conquer and subordinate the more inferior peoples so that the “fittest” would dominate the world. Because of these reasons, Europeans looked toward imperializing less developed countries and establishing political and economic influence to at least some extent in order to develop more civilized systems of government, education systems, free-trade capitalist economies, and Christianity, which was viewed as a civilized faith by Europeans in the otherwise “backward societies”. European nationalism also further invigorated the race of European powers towards imperialism as it developed competition between different countries who could now suddenly further develop their political influence and economic power through their imperial possessions and gain advantages compared to rival colonial powers. As traditional states and empires declined due to various issues such as unstable authority and nationalist movements, European imperialism was suddenly facilitated as they could take advantage of local rivalries and political fragmentations to eventually enhance their own colonial power. As imperialism spread, it impacted non-Western regions in various ways including through transformations of political systems and inspiring attempts at reform and industrialization as these regions suddenly became exposed to Westernized political ideals and economic principles that would shape their own modernization programs, as well as being exposed to cultural diffusion of Western ideals and principles that would be synthesized with their own growth. More specifically, some states like the Ottoman Empire adapted Westernized political ideals to a moderate extent as it utilized multiple reform attempts to develop more secular systems of government and education even as the political solidarity of the empire itself crumbled, while other states like Japan were able to utilize these Western inspirations to a stronger extent as it transformed into a significantly democratic society as hierarchical systems and ancient orders toppled after and political structures following European ideals were implemented; economically there was a drastic range of economic effects as China, due to refusal to capitulate to unequal economic treaties and establish trade networks with European powers that would ultimately benefit the colonial powers, experienced almost complete economic takeover by foreign powers and investments which impeded its own weak attempts at reform and industrialization and thus it developed to a weak extent, while by contrast Japan gradually built up commercial developments and industrializing reforms from centuries of existing peace and its government sponsored industrialization program was highly successful due to economic independence and a stable political system, an isolated location that wasn’t as desirable for resources, and agreement to unequal treaties with European powers, building up an industrialized state almost comparable to those of Europe, being successful to a high extent; cultural effects were to a moderate extent as Western ideals diffused to Japan and were synthesized with existing Confucian traditions but to a weaker extent in China which for the most part refused to incorporate foreign culture even as it implemented Western education systems and was inspired by scientific developments. The Ottoman Empire put forward significant secularized reforms as it transitioned from a state tied to religious tradition to a secular one that guaranteed democratic rights and modernized, Western-inspired political systems while Japan’s attempts at developing democratized societies through modernized law codes and radical transformations in political structures, were more successful as old social orders collapsed and guaranteed equal political influence for all people while the Ottoman Empire was dissolved by nationalist movements. The Ottoman Empire was a vast empire that historically covered regions extending from the Balkans to North Africa and Arabia, and it began politically crumbling as soon as industrialization inspired nationalist movements and imperialist penetration of European powers occurred due to the continually weakening central government. In contrast, Japan had a historically politically stable system under the Tokugawa shogunate, which subordinated the authority of the daimyo lords and their elite samurai warriors, and kept a long-lasting peace in the empire, which spurred economic as well as political development, especially after the Europeans decided to approach Japan again after centuries of politically and culturally isolationist Japanese policies. More specifically, in response to massive political capitulations the Ottoman Empire had to make to European powers, the Ottomans went through a series of defensive reformse termed the Tanzimat reforms, in which modernized infrastructure was developed, educational and political systems, including law codes and judicial systems were modernized and measures of primary and secondary schooling were guaranteed, and educational opportunities emerged for women. A group that emerged during the Tanzimat reforms further advanced these modernization attempts, as a parliamentary/constitutional system was developed in order to limit the absolute power of the sultan and ensure a more democratic system that would better shield against European imperialism and hegemony. Even as these secularizing developments challenged Islamic tradition, reformers sought to slightly stray away from religious ideals and placed more emphasis on secularization when developing a new Ottoman society. The radical Young Turks further secularized school and education systems based on Westernized ideals and developed fair court systems, as well as equal administrative systems in which even non-Muslims and minority groups could hold office. They established Turkish as the official language of the empire, avoiding any ties to Islam or the sultan as the ultimate caliph. Similarly in Japan, as the Tokugawa regime declined due to its ineffectiveness in resolving issues of peasant uprisings and famines, Japan’s reformers began to vision a more democratic society as a group of reformist samurai opposed to the rule of the traditional shogunate as well as European imperialism, in the Meiji Restoration aimed to utilize Westernized ideals as inspiration for their modernization program to come, aiming to establish a secular society that would no longer be susceptible to European conquest or economic infiltration. More specifically, Japan replaced daimyo lords with local administrators and consolidated authority in the central government in order to facilitate the effectiveness of reforms. It also established a mandatory conscription system that crumbled down the elite samurai orders that were now democratically equal to the rest of the population in the empire. Japan decided to form a parliamentary system and a democratic Constitution of 1889, which was inspired by German political ideals. Japanese society was now extremely secularized as democratic rights were guaranteed, elections and competing parties existed, and democratic law codes. As a result, Japan turned to be more politically successful than the Ottoman Empire which did not stay stable as a state. While after major internal conflict and refusal to comply with unequal economic treaties and European attempts to establish trade networks China was hegemonized by foreign powers, trade, and investment which prospered from the economic resources China had to offer but economically destabilized the progress of China’s industrialization, Japan was much more successful in its industrialization attempts as it was completely economically dependent and did not have to rely on European powers for investment or resources. After China’s agricultural innovations did not keep up with its massive population growth and the Qing dynasty wasn’t able to adequately control peasant impoverishment and famines, or perform other government functions such as collecting taxes, its overall level of sovereignty and influence weakened. As Britain smuggled the highly profitable opium drug into the empire, bypassing Chinese law codes, massive proliferation of addiction ensued and Commissioner Lin Zexu cracked down on the spread of the harmful opium trade. The British, with its immense military power, forcefully established the Treaty of Nanjing in response to China’s resistance to the opium trade, which established foreign ports and massive restrictions on Chinese sovereignty. Massive spheres of influence were developed in China, in which individual foreign countries established their own military bases as well as infrastructure; they also extracted local raw materials which combined with foreign investment would guarantee major prosperity. However, China itself suffered as it had to suffer major economic drains from this process. In contrast, Japan’s state sponsored industrialization program following years of commercial developments and rural economic enterprises and developments led by peasants was much more successful. The government developed labor-intensive industrialization programs that relied less on machinery and technological developments but more on the massive labor force that Japan contained in order to develop a industrialized state. Major firms termed zaibatsu firms were highly influential and eventually Japan became a major exporter of certain goods such as textiles, transforming it into an industrially prosperous society. These effects extended to affect Western societies through the effects of Japonisme art which was inspiration of Europeans by Japanese art techniques and global migrations and cultures like those of India spread to places like Guyana. Sunrut R. Kumar