The Early Modern Scientific Period started with the invention of the Portuguese caravel which paved the way for the rest of the inventions which came along with the concept of trading. The commercial revolution began from the 13th century, and the Middle Ages experienced an expansion of commerce and mercantile progress which was a by-product of the voyages of the Europeans into the Spanish countries of the time (Burlingham). The Industrial Revolution came as another significant change to the economic system whereby handicrafts and products were made at an astonishingly fast rate, which increased the monetary output of the Europeans. Scientific reasoning came to question the power of the religious authorities as opposed to the power of scientific knowledge. Triangle Trade was another important progressive element which boosted the economy of European countries especially after the commercial revolution (Burlingham). Social divisions were obvious in the commercial revolution, and this was related to the individual’s relation to the church, nobility, and social status. On the other hand, there were the wage laborers, who worked as sharecroppers or in the industries. They Europeans went to Asia, particularly South Asia such as India and they meant to ‘civilize’ the Indians by imparting their knowledge and etiquettes and abolishing activities such as Satti and training the men of the time according to the European methods of warfare (Burlingham). The next part of the world that needed to be civilized was Africa. The Berlin Conference was held in 1884-85 which ratified European colonization and trading in the African countries. The main trade held in Africa was of rubber. European colonialism strengthened thereafter but at the cost of killing, punishing and torturing the people of the colonies. This also gave birth to the ‘White Man’s Burden’ which was the phenomenon related to the responsibility assumed by the white man on earth about civilizing the rest of the world and moving it away from barbarianism. Examples of this responsibility and its effects were clearly observed in the Asian and African nations (Burlingham).
In the 19th century, Socialism saw its rise at the hands of its proponent, Robert Owen, who happened to produce a utopian image of socialism in the states. Socialism meant that the assets and businesses are operating in a country need to be under the control of the community in which the business is being carried out (Burlingham). It is a leftist form of rule which employs the use of equality in the distribution of wealth and a means of overthrowing capitalism. Owen came to the States after his philanthropic work kicked off and he turned to looking after the private assets of the people, that he felt could be better controlled with the help of socialism (Burlingham).
Marx and Engels came to the forefront after the failure of socialism because they believed that social conflict only increased with the wealth being distributed unevenly and increasing the gap between the rich and the poor. According to them, the revolution was inevitable because of the growing social difference due to class and wealth and the decreased importance of the proletariat. The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital came up as practical proposals for the world to follow in terms of helping to raise their voice for the proletariat, who formed a major chunk of the population. Marx and Engels believed that there would be perpetual unrest (MensBusinessAsocEduc). A part of the Manifesto deals with declaring to overthrow the bourgeoisie and leading the way to a better and more uniform way of distribution of wealth. Eduard Bernstein came as a political theorist who happened to be a social democratic and is declared the father of revisionism. Revisionism called for a revision of the doctrine of Marxism which rejected the labor theory of Marx and Engels. He believed that capitalism could not fade away and that there was no reason why it should be declared that the labor class was disappearing. Economies can share capitalism and socialism because it is true that the shareholders of businesses deserve more capital as opposed to those who work for them, however, paying them justly can benefit the labor class as well (Burlingham).
Nationalism and Japan collided with the end of the anti-technological era, and the Japanese saw a transition to the Togukawa Era in the 1600s. It brought 250 years of peace and order and fostered great changes in the Japanese society. In the late 19th century the Meiji period saw rapid modernization. Transformations in the Togukawa period shaped modern Japan. It all began with the agricultural output of Japan which mainly affected or hampered the technological growth of Japan at the time (Afe). This also drew a period of Isolation, mainly from the West, which affected the global impact of technology and revolution upon Japanese society. There were rural disruptions which weakened the central government and created a hampered economy. After these riots and chaos, Japan turned towards technology and science from the west. American naval Matthew Perry entered Japan, and he was able to overthrow the reign of those who prevented technological growth and development in the country (Afe). The new emperor Meiji turned to science and technology, which completely changed Japanese society thereon. The impact of the Westernized society upon the Japanese was an eye-opener for the country, and it was a positive impact that has made Japan a successful economy in the present day. It would be wrong to say that the interference of the West was uneasy and difficult because it was perceived positively by the country, in fact, it helped it to succeed in the forthcoming years and made it successful consequently. Before the westernization and involvement of science and technology, Japan was isolated and rather suffering from rural riots, but after the technological advances, the country modernized to a great extent.
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