“Hey Tom—Look, we’re featured in the global newspaper!” A fat man in a pristine suit exclaimed as he sat by a corner of his textile factory, holding a newspaper that obscured the view of his entire workforce behind it. 

 

“Huh, whaddya mean, Tim? Let me see that.” Tom, a fatter man who was dressed in an even more pristine suit, snatched the newspaper from Tim’s hand and leaned in impossibly close. The newspaper crumbled under the weight of his fingers and pressure of his scrutiny. “Well, would ya look at that. We’re on the front cover! Let’s see, ‘The Second Wave of Industrialization Begins—Nations Conspiring to Overtake Britain.’”

 

“The front cover? I didn’t see that.” Tim perked up before butting his head in the newspaper alongside Tom. “Huh, you got a keen eye, Tom. That’s us, the cleanest in the room among these dirty immigrants, hand in hand like professional business partners.”

 

Upon that, they both sneered and pulled down the newspaper. In front of them was a vast space with mills and workers that stretched to every corner. The people, in particular, have started out as purely Irish until the next flood of immigrants after the next poured in. Now, it was filled with all kinds: Russians, Poles, Germans, Chinese, and many more that Tim and Tom did not bother to learn of.

 

All they cared about were high outputs, low labor costs, and money in their pockets. They did not care for safe working conditions nor rest for their slaves. 

 

If anyone were to ask them if they would have gotten rich any other way, they would’ve said no. Canals were too complex and much of a burden to invest into and the railroad business was an absolute no-go, for they could not compete with the tycoons that held a monopoly on the market. Damn the Vanderbilts and whoever the other filthy rich guys were!

 

…

 

“Look what I found.” A grin under the dim flashlight of a helmet emerged, contrasting with the darkness that enveloped the two figures in a space blackened by the walls of coal. With the sound of paper crumbling, Sergey unfolded a newspaper that he had tucked inside his pocket. While its corners were smeared with coal, the rest remained legible.

 

Sergey’s co-worker beside him, Dmitri, widened his eyes as he pointed his light onto the newspaper.

 

“Where did you get that from? The Tsar restricts practically everything.” Dmitri exclaimed as his eyes scanned over the translated Russian words.

 

“Revealing that would get me in trouble, wouldn’t it? But I digress. This is a global newspaper concerning the updates around the world, especially with the boom of industrialization. Aren’t you curious to see how the other nations are responding to this?” Sergey upheld his grin as his blackened fingers trace over the headlines, “‘The Second Wave of Industrialization’”

 

“Why should we compare ourselves to the rest of the world when our nation has so much that needs to be done? We have so much that needs to be done,” Dmitri darted his eyes to Sergey, “The state has barely sponsored anything, nor do as much as give us a ruble, until now! As long as we keep digging our picks into these coals and laboring for the Trans-Siberian railroad, we won’t ever have to go back to the stupid farms. Gosh, what a lucrative opportunity that the Tsar has given us! Glory to the Tsar!”

 

Sergey frowned before elbowing Dmitri. “Don’t be disrespectful! That’s yours and my hard work built over generations from our respective families. We cannot abandon agriculture just because the Russian Empire is finally making use of its steel abundance. Though, we may be able to pocket a few more rubles…perhaps it is tempting.”

 

“Yes, the Russian Empire is finally making use of its lucrative steel! And it is earning money and putting that money into evolving our nation. Sergey! This means that there will be more jobs that pay higher than what we can sell for our sad crops!” It was now Dmitri’s turn to grin widely. He snatched the newspaper from the now fuming man beside him and eagerly flipped over the pages, looking to see whether the other nations had caught up with the same idea as him.

 

His immersion in its contents was short-lived when Sergey took a deep breath before pulling the newspaper back and crumbling it into a ball. He then rolled it onto the rocky ground of the coal mine. With his pick, he pulled back with all his strength before smashing its sharp tip down onto the ball.

 

“Perhaps this silly little newspaper is feeding these silly little ideas into us. Perhaps the Tsar was right to censor such things.” Sergey said as he pulled back again before stabbing his tool repeatedly into the ball, tearing it to shreds.

 

Dmitri sighs, “I guess if we want to get out of this slump of a nation we are in, and perhaps be able to afford bread and put food on the table, then we ought to get on with it.”

 

…

 

“Everyone seems to be joining in on this industrialization thing, I’ve heard.” An old man said as he unsheathed the last katana and placed it upon the wooden stand, balanced upon the bamboo mattress. Tilted against the walls of his minka, a collection of katanas that belonged to former Samurais lined up neatly. With a cloth, he wiped the blade in one seamless motion, revealing the reflection of his wrinkled face and gray beard shone upon the pristine steel.

 

Upon perfect timing, the sliding panel opened behind the old man. With a tray of tea, Hinata stepped in and kneeled beside his grandfather.

 

“What industrialization thing?” He asked as he placed the cup of green tea beside the stand.

 

“A few words spread around. Someone has gotten possession of the global newspaper. Have you also seen the naval technology that American Commodore Matthew Perry arrived with? That succeeds the current technology that we Japanese have.”

 

Hinata blinked before looking ahead at the open panels in front of them, showcasing an array of green bamboo and traditional plants. His eyebrows knitted together as he tried to piece together where he may have heard it. 

 

“But surely Japan can’t be that behind, right?”

 

“The government begs to disagree. Especially after the Meiji Restoration, as the Emperor overtook the Shogun, they sent out heaps of scholars over to the West to discover the technology that they’ve been using. Then, they would be allowed the budgets and money in overseeing the construction of zaibatsus.” The old man said as he put the cloth aside and pushed the katana back in its case. Sighing, he looked ahead at the same scenery ahead.

 

“Well, we’re acting quickly, aren’t we? I am sure that we are in the Emperor’s good hands. Whatever that needs to be taken care of will be taken care of. Japan will get ahead again.”

 

…

 

The Second Wave of Industrialization: The Downfall of the Rest

 

While the west thrived in success from their industrialization, bathing in wealth and new technologies, the rest fell behind.

 

India, once a dominant force in the seas and a master of its crafts, was barred from shipbuilding. Stripped of their resources and power, the nation was surrendered to become majorly dependent on the economic activities of Great Britain. The people of India were devastated, having regressed back into poverty and forced to endure relentless hunger. Perhaps industrialization may not be a period of opportunities for everyone, after all, for certain nations to rise up at the expense of their distant counterparts.

 

Egypt, despite the commendable efforts of its leader Muhammad Ali to introduce state-led textile industrialization initiatives, had fallen behind Great Britain and the rest of the nations that had been successfully industrializing. No matter his efforts to compete with the British, taxing the lower classes and forcing them to yield their land to increase exports, they have all proved futile.

 

The era of industrialization is happening all among us. We, the entire world, are revolutionizing at faster rates than before. We are living in an era of technological advancements, economic shifts, urbanization, major demographic changes, and new cultural clashes, yet also an era of poverty, diseases such as cholera and tuberculosis, environmental degradation, and greed.