Valerie Kwok 9D
Russia and America;
Change and its Different Impacts
Technological and social changes during the 19th and early 20th century had both
positive and negative effects on society. This paper will present these changes using
19th century Russia and America as examples, comparing and contrasting the
countries’ different events as a result of the global changes.
Russia had generally negative impacts from the global technological and social
changes that were occurring in the 19th century. If there was one positive thing that
happened to Russia, it was due to the Technological Revolution (Second Industrial
Revolution) that lasted from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century. This was
the time when the famous Trans-Siberian Railway was built, connecting the entire
country of Russia and enabling more efficient communication/transportation across
the huge nation. [Bloy, Marjorie “A Web of English History”] Apart from positive
technological change however, it was absolute chaos for Russia in terms of politics
and society.
All around the world, long-ruling monarchies in several different nations have
started to fall – especially in Europe. The Revolutions of 1848 is a powerful example
of the movement’s domino effect in the central parts of Europe – France, Germany,
Hungary, and so on. [Pojer, Susan M. "The Revolutions of 1848."] These revolutions
were mainly caused by the economic monopolies and greed of the higher classes,
which caused lower classes of people to not be happy. Although these revolutions
never reached Russia and eventually failed, rumors and stories of the revolutions did
spread through the upper class of the nation – influencing the people to hold their
own revolutions and rebel against the then-ruling monarchy, the Tsars of Russia.
[Pojer, Susan M. "The Revolutions of 1848."]
Personally, if I were a citizen of any class while the Tsars were ruling, I would join the
demonstrations and rebellions against them too. Autocracy was the main belief of
the regime, which meant that the people had absolutely no say in what was decided
for the nation – and left them to watch their nation slowly fall. Nicholas I, Alexander
II, Alexander III, and Nicholas II (all the Tsars that ruled during the 19th century) all
had what were considered ‘failed reigns’, which had devastating effects on the
nation. [Bloy, Marjorie. "A Web of English History."] Nicholas I initiated and was
defeated quite miserably in the Crimean War (broke Vienna Settlement, lost
influence over Prussia, and lost reputation of Russia) [Lambert, Andrew. "The
Crimean War.”], Alexander III tried to “russificate” the entire country (failed policy
and increased public out roar) [Bloy, Marjorie. "A Web of English History."], and
Nicholas II initiated and lost disgracefully in the Russo-Japanese War (made that the
first Asian win, further reputation loss of Russia) [The Columbia Electronic
Encyclopedia. "Russo-Japanese War."]. The economic stress from the losses at war
was heavy, and even worse the pride and might of the nation was almost all lost.
Valerie Kwok 9D
Slowly, the ideas of socialism and communism spread amongst the citizens
(originating from Germany, France, and etc.), and eventually led up to the
development of the Russian Revolution of 1917 – overthrowing the Tsar regime and
let Russia to be reborn as a Communist state.
The most frustrating thing is that all these negative impacts on this nation could
have been avoided if the Tsars followed the global trend of democracy (or
socialism), and reacted accordingly to the people’s wants. The October Manifesto of
1905 declared that there would be a parliament establishment (the Duma)
[Harrington, A. K. "Manifesto of 17 October 1917."], but Nicholas II was persistent in
keeping autocracy dominant in Russia and followed a cycle of dismissing and
reforming it - leading people to develop an even further opposition to the Tsar.
["Nicholas II." Gale]
Now looking towards a land across the Atlantic, America (just barely) had a more
positive situation than Russia. The global technological change proved to be hugely
beneficial for the growing nation, since it was one of the central engines of the
Second Industrial Revolution as well as a main receiver. ["technology, history of."
Encyclopædia Britannica] Like all other nations, this revolution not only proved to be
beneficial for common life, but also economically. Industrialization helped create
more jobs and larger businesses, letting the nation gain more wealth. [Europe,
history of." Encyclopædia Britannica.] Furthermore, monopolies and economic
problems in the U.S. were less seen because of the government system of
federalism and democracy; the president doesn’t have the power to do that sort of
thing or else he could be sent to jail. This interestingly contrasts with Europe and
Russia, where revolutions started to come up because of the bourgeoisie constantly
monopolizing and taking advantage of the growing economy. [Pojer, Susan M. "The
Revolutions of 1848."]
The global social trend of socialism and communism also reached America, but
didn’t really have much effect because the nation was already operating under the
government system of federalism, which already lets people have a say and have a
lot of freedom in what they do. Unlike Russia, most conflicts and revolutions were
either due to the issue of land (Mexican-American War) [Sánchez, Joseph P.
"Mexican-American War."], foreign conflicts (War of 1812) [Heidler, Jeanne T., and
David S. Heidler. "War of 1812." ] and internal conflicts (American Civil War) ["The
Civil War (1861–1865)." Gale Encyclopedia of World History]. For most of these
battles, America was the main winner and received a lot of advantages (e.g.
Mexican-American War = America claiming present Texas, California, New Mexico,
Utah, Nevada, Arizona and western Colorado for $15 000 000). [Sánchez, Joseph P.
"Mexican-American War."]
Of course, there were some not-so-good things that happened in America too. The
American Civil War was devastating, and one of the worst conflicts in American
history – if not the world. However, again in contrast to Russia, this huge
conflict/war was handled by a dependable and responsible leader who acted
accordingly and did everything he could to preserve the Union – Abraham Lincoln.
Valerie Kwok 9D
Unlike the Tsars, Lincoln had a mindset of saving the nation instead of saving
himself; and although he paid a heavy price, America was preserved and eventually
prospered – becoming the hegemonic power of the present world. ["Abraham
Lincoln." Historic World Leaders.]
In this paper, it was shown that technological and social changes during the 19th and
early 20th century had both positive and negative effects on society. The most
specific example was the contrast between Russia and America’s disparate
reactions to global changes, which resulted in very different impacts on the two
countries. The most important factor to this was the different philosophies on
power (leadership). Therefore, technological and social changes during the 19th and
early 20th century had both positive and negative effects on society, depending on
the reactions of the highest powers in the country.
Works Cited
1. "The Civil War (1861–1865)." Gale Encyclopedia of World History: War. Vol.
2. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Gale World History In Context. Web. 21 Sep. 2011.
2. STEINBURG, JOHN W. “Russo-Japanese War.” Encyclopedia of Russia
History. Ed. James R. Millar. Vol. 3. New York: Macmillan Reference USA,
2004. 1333-1335. Gale World History in Context. Web. 21 Sep. 2011.
3. "Abraham Lincoln." Historic World Leaders. Gale, 1994. Gale World History
In Context. Web. 21 Sep. 2011.
4. "apprenticeship." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online
School Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2011. Web. 22 Sept. 2011.
5. "Europe, history of." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica
Online School Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2011. Web.
22 Sept. 2011.
6. Sánchez, Joseph P. "Mexican-American War." Encyclopedia of Latin
American History and Culture. Ed. Jay Kinsbruner and Erick D. Langer. 2nd
ed. Vol. 4. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2008. 555-558. Gale World
History In Context. Web. 21 Sep. 2011.
7. Lambert, Andrew. "The Crimean War." History BBC. The BBC, 29 Mar. 2011.
Web. 21 Sept. 2011.
8. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. "Russo-Japanese War." The
Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. 2000-2006 ed. 1994. Infoplease. Web. 21
Sept. 2011.
9. BYRNES, R. F. "Nicholas I, Emperor of Russia." New Catholic Encyclopedia.
2nd ed. Vol. 10. Detroit: Gale, 2003. 358-359. Gale World History In Context.
Web. 18 Sep. 2011.
10. Tse, Cheeng, Chay Beng, and Doron. "Second Industrial Revolution."
Industrial Revolution. Library Thinkquest, 2001. Web. 10 Sept. 2011.
11. Mokyr, Joel. The Second Industrial Revolution. Joel Mokyr, Northwestern
University. Northwestern University, Aug. 1998. Web. 5 Sept. 2011.
Valerie Kwok 9D
12. Bloy, Marjorie. "A Web of English History." Russia 1870 - 1917. Marjorie Bloy,
Jan. 2011. Web. 5 Sept. 2011.
13. "Alexander, I." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Gale
World History In Context. Web. 20 Sep. 2011.
14. "Mexican-American War." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica
Online School Edition.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2011. Web. 26 Sept. 2011.
15. AllAboutPhilosophy.org. "What is Marxism?" AllAboutPhilosophy.org.
AllAboutPhilosophy.org, 2011. Web. 25 Sept. 2011.
16. St.Petersburg-Life. "1917 Russian Revolution." St.Petersburg-Life. St
Petersburg-Life.com, 2011. Web. 25 Sept. 2011.
17. Klatt, Arthur. Personal interview. 23 Sept. 2011.
18. Pojer, Susan M. "The Revolutions of 1848." Horace Greeley High School.
Chappaqua, NY. 2010. PPT file.
19. Harrington, A. K. "Manifesto of 17 October 1917." Russian History. Durham
University, 2011. Web. 25 Sept. 2011.
20. "Nicholas II." Historic World Leaders. Gale, 1994. Gale World History In
Context. Web. 25 Sep. 2011.
21. "technology, history of." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica
Online School Edition.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2011. Web. 26 Sept. 2011.
22. Heidler, Jeanne T., and David S. Heidler. "War of 1812." History.com. A&E
Television Networks, LLC, 2009. Web. 25 Sept. 2011.