Colonies, The Industrial Revolution, and USSR Pt. II

By: Sayan Biswas

Email: biswas.sayan@iitgn.ac.in

The dominance of the British Empire was unparalleled and its colonialism had spread all around the planet. We explored how the industrial revolution brought in major innovations and technological endeavours which changed lifestyles for sections of the population. Exploring the inequality in development and improvement of living standards in regions and drawing sharp contrasts between the pace of development in Europe and the rest of the world compared, we came to a rough conclusion that in a way, colonization has been beneficial to Europe and destructive for Asia in comparison. British and European Colonialism also did not spare the indigenous people of Northern America, reducing their status from the actual rulers of their lands to mere servants. This form of expansionism which puts the European population above other ethnicities and races is one of the many drawbacks that came along with the industrial revolution fueled colonization. It is a fact that there are railway tracks and trains running in nations where Britain has not ruled, so the cheap argument of “The British empire gave us trains” is good to be ignored. Not to mention the role numerous trains played in becoming horror chambers in Punjab-West Pakistan and Bengal-East Pakistan border during partition and migration.

The 1917 Revolution

The drawbacks of colonialism far outstrip its good outcomes and thus one can safely say that it is an inhuman, undemocratic, and racist ideologue that has plagued the majority of the world for centuries. Famines, loss of jobs, destruction of traditional and indigenous crafts, textile, and jute work mills broke the knees of Asian nations. In response, there were labor movements, revolutions that brought reforms in the market. There was an upsurge of consciousness among the middle and working classes of the society which led to the formation of trade unions; ensuring eight hours of work per day and higher living wages. However, as we explored in our last article, labor movements, years of proposed philosophies which gave birth to endeavours in establishing socialist societies, many of them prospered and many of them collapsed. We particularly talked about the USSR, a union of fifteen nations that was established in 1917 after overthrowing the Tzar. The only socialist takeover like the 1917 revolution was the Paris Commune, which lasted for a few weeks in the heart of Paris before being crushed by the Italian Army. After being defeated in World War I, feudal Russia was in shambles. Its population was largely illiterate and agrarian. With millions of lives lost in war, Russia was in one of its darkest eras. By 1970, the same low-income agrarian country had turned into an economic and technological powerhouse only second to the United States. The presence of the USSR ensured the distribution of power around the world and in a way prevented the monopoly the US used to enjoy. Although after the collapse of the USSR, it's another Asian nation, the People's Republic of China, that is giving the same or I shall say tougher level of competition to the western counterparts.

Back to the 1917 revolution, the leaders promised the masses through their slogan “Peace, Bread and Land”. The first thing they did after they came to power was land reforms, i.e. allotting private land to every farmer and peasant. They also promised guaranteed healthcare, education, and housing, which is undoubtedly more hopeful and promising than the old feudal system. During the Stalin era, there were government takeovers of land and resources to ramp up industrialization which was necessary for preventing the foreign powers far and near from attacking them. Since a strong military was necessary, the government had to enforce industrialization nationwide which led to the loss of property for many civilians. Although the Stalin era saw rapid industrialization, what came on the other side was massive suppression of dissent, freedom, and liberty. Many died due to these crackdowns and many were put into labor camps popularly known as ‘Gulags’. The second world war also killed millions of soviet people who died fighting Nazi Germany. It brought tremendous destruction across the country, but they fought back the insurgent forces; which to date is celebrated on Victory Day, as the day USSR and its allies defeated the fascist Nazi Germany.

Cultural and traditional changes were tried and implemented in the Soviet Union. There were established efforts to share household chores between both men and women which was radical compared to the traditional patriarchal society feudal Russia and the rest of the world has been. Public daycare centers and canteens were set up to look after children and ensure cooked food for civilians. This ensured that women would be able to work outside of their homes too, an idea that unfortunately even today, numerous people living under rocks find irritating. Although there have been efforts, present-day conditions show that we need to have strong drives for women empowerment, since the Soviet effort was not enough as it did try to keep alive the so-called ‘traditional’ hierarchical family structure.

The Collapse

The United States had bordered the USSR with its presence through military bases in every country bordering the USSR. The invasion of Afghanistan can be taken as retaliation against this. Even though the union had achieved a lot of things, such as land reforms, eight hours of work per day, increased wages, universal healthcare, universal suffrage, rapid industrialization, advances in science and engineering, the union could not simply create a big consumer market to fund its military might. It also came at the cost of lowered standards of living for the soviet people who became aware of the situation across the nation too. Corruption had plagued the bureaucracy which ate it from inside. After all that happened, the union was dissolved in 1991 with Mikhail Gorbachev stepping down as the last premier of the Soviet Union.

Conclusion, The Way Ahead

British Colonialism is one of the worst plagues in the history of humanity. The interference by the United States and their activities in different nations which is largely coined as ‘US Imperialism’ would take another article to discuss. A highly Eurocentric world proved to be a disaster as history states it hence, decentralization of power or the de-monopolization of the United States’ status as a superpower in the present world must change. Asian tigers like Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan which largely followed a form of ‘Authoritarian Capitalism’ have been able to achieve significant development over a small period of time. The Soviet model of handling the economy achieved a lot of major milestones such as peace and prosperity after the years of civil war, land reforms, reducing sixteen-hour workday to eight-hour workday, free healthcare, universal education, equal pay for men and women, and universal right to vote; but the fact is as times change, so must the governance methods. Deng Xiaoping in China followed ahead with the creation of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and economic liberalization, with strict government supervision over the activities of businesses and succeeded in improving the lives of Chinese people. Things did not go similarly for the Soviet Union, since Gorbachev also moved ahead with political transparency along with economic reforms. It eventually led to the collapse of the Union. The ideals followed by the Soviet Union could be an inspiration for humanity to achieve; people in governance should cite them as these are the things that make our lives better - Education, Healthcare, Prosperity, and other human needs. Modern-day nations, especially the Asian ones, since most of the population lives on this continent must recognize the brutality of colonialism and how it has hampered our agriculture and industry. Anyone interested in further reading can refer to famous economist Dr. Subramanian Swamy’s 2019 book “Reset: Regaining India’s Economic Legacy” which presents a well-written critique of British colonialism and the underlying defects with the Soviet model of governance.

It fairly compares the economic journey of China and India, two civilization-based nations having histories spanning over thousands of years and a near equal population. The book also promoted the idea of government supervision on free markets, one of the models that has proven to be well working in nations struck with problems such as huge population and poor starting conditions. Asia has tremendous potential to lead the world; Asian unity through trade, commerce, and exchange of ideas can lead us to prosperity like the ages before colonialism was enforced upon us. We must learn from the mistakes of ourselves and others, and not repeat them. We must learn from our neighbours and question the existence of a multi-party system in a country like India, whether it is even feasible for maintaining a steady execution of policies. A meagre thirty-two million people living on the lands of indigenious natives, would not and shall not be able to decide the fate of the whole world politically, economically, and socially. Numerous Asian nations such as China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore are on their way to topple the United States’ hegemony. It is only a matter of time when we have the right people in our Indian parliament who understand the given conditions and execute things that would change the fate of a billion people forever.

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References and Bibliography:

1. The Rise and Fall of the USSR; Richard Wolff; “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y-TWFKw4tU”.

2. The Michael Brooks Show; “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E8wtXnhhj8”.

3. Industrialization in USSR; “http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1684/stalin-and-the-drive-to-industrialize-the-soviet-union”.