NCERT Class 12 World History – PATHS TO MODERNISATION (Summary Points)

1.   Japan’s Paths to Modernisation

• The Tokugawa shogunate ruled Japan with strong central authority while the emperor had symbolic status.
• Daimyo lords were controlled through alternate attendance in Edo to prevent rebellion.
• A strict social order placed samurai at the top, followed by peasants, artisans, and merchants.
• The state enforced land surveys and taxation to regulate villages and strengthen authority.
• Urban centres like Edo and Osaka grew into large commercial cities supporting samurai households.
• Merchants gained economic power through credit and trade despite low status.
• Kabuki theatre, woodblock printing, and lending libraries expanded urban culture.
• The fall of the shogunate led to the Meiji Restoration (1868) and creation of a modern state.
• Tokyo became the new imperial capital symbolising national unity.
• Old domains were replaced by prefectures under a central bureaucracy.
• A conscript army ended samurai monopoly over military service.
• Japan developed railways, banks, and industries under state-led modernisation.
• State factories were sold to zaibatsu, forming powerful industrial houses.
• Silk reeling industries grew rapidly using young rural women as factory labour.
• Urbanisation created a modern industrial workforce and new consumer culture.
• Japan pursued expansion in Asia to secure resources and markets for industry.
• The Russo-Japanese War victory established Japan as a major world power.
• Schooling spread emperor-centred nationalism, strengthening loyalty to the state.
• Urban society changed with nuclear families, department stores, cafés, cinema, and mass media.
• The image of the “modern girl” reflected rising global influence on Japanese lifestyle.
• After World War II, Japan adopted a democratic constitution under US occupation.
• The constitution abolished the right to wage war, reshaping politics.
• Rapid economic growth in the post-war era created the Japanese economic miracle.
• Japan became a global technological and industrial leader by the late 20th century.

2.   China’s Paths to Modernisation

• The Qing dynasty faced decline due to foreign pressures and internal crisis.
• Opium addiction and unequal treaties weakened China’s economy and sovereignty.
• The Opium War revealed China’s military weakness against European powers.
• Reformers like Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao argued for constitutional and educational reforms.
• Reformists insisted that Confucianism must adapt to support modern development.
• The Hundred Days’ Reform attempted rapid change but collapsed due to conservative resistance.
• The examination system ended in 1905, shifting education toward modern subjects.
• Deep crisis led to the 1911 Revolution, ending the Qing dynasty.
• Sun Yat-sen’s Three Principles outlined nationalism, democracy, and livelihood.
• Weak central authority allowed regional warlords to dominate political life.
• The May Fourth Movement (1919) protested foreign domination and demanded modern reforms.
• Students promoted science, democracy, women’s rights, and vernacular literature.
• The CCP developed a peasant-based movement, unlike urban-based revolutions in Europe.
• The Jiangxi Soviet experimented with radical land, social, and gender reforms.
• The Long March became a symbol of Communist endurance and political legitimacy.
• Yanan became the ideological centre of Mao’s movement, stressing discipline and mass mobilisation.
• Land reforms after 1949 ended landlord dominance and redistributed land.
• Agriculture shifted to cooperatives and later people’s communes under socialist planning.
• The Great Leap Forward attempted rapid industrial and agricultural growth.
• False reporting and poor planning produced the Great Famine (1959–61).
• The Cultural Revolution was launched by Mao to regain control and remove rivals.
• Red Guards attacked “old ideas,” teachers, officials, and cultural heritage.
• Production fell sharply due to political chaos and social conflict.
• After Mao’s death, Deng Xiaoping introduced economic reforms in 1978.
• The Four Modernisations strengthened farming, industry, defence, and science.
• Special Economic Zones attracted foreign investment and export industries.
• Household farming under the responsibility system revived rural production.
• The Tiananmen protests (1989) demanded political freedoms but were suppressed by the state.

3.   Korea and Taiwan – Alternative Paths

• Korea experienced severe oppression under harsh Japanese colonial rule, leading to resistance.
• After 1945, the peninsula was divided due to Cold War tensions between superpowers.
• The Korean War (1950–53) ended in stalemate, leaving permanent division.
• South Korea adopted state-led industrialisation, developing chaebols as economic engines.
• The Saemaul Movement modernised rural areas through collective work and community leadership.
• Strong investment in education created a high-skill workforce for industrial growth.
• By the 1990s, South Korea emerged as a major export-driven economy.
• Mass protests in 1987 resulted in democratic reforms and civilian government.
• Taiwan became the base of the Republic of China after 1949.
• Early land reforms stabilised agriculture and redistributed land.
• Industrialisation turned Taiwan into an Asian economic success story.
• Political reforms in the 1980s introduced multi-party democracy and direct elections.