How Did The West Become Successful?

The Industrial Revolution in the 18th century was an immensely important time period in the world’s history. The revolution brought about changes throughout the whole world that transformed countries from premodern to modern. Typically, students in school are taught about modernization by examining The West: Britain, United States, Germany, and France. This is because The West had enormous success during the Industrial Revolution, which leads many people to believe that the Industrial Revolution was a great time for the world and brought success to all countries. After further research, however, the progress is actually better understood by researching modernization as a global process and analyzing the countries that did not have as great of success. Many countries were damaged greatly due to the revolution
Before the 1800s, Ethiopia did not specifically exist as one country because it was made up of many different kingdoms who rarely interacted with one another. 4 This created a disadvantage for the country because a strong sense of nationalism is crucial when transforming a country from premodern to modern. Menelik II recognized this early on in his life. Born in 1844, Menelik became the emperor of Shoa, a kingdom in Ethiopia, when he was just twenty years old. 5 Menelik understood the importance of modernizing his country and initiated progress in his country by working with European countries in a way that played them against each other to his advantage. 6 By 1889, Menelik became the emperor of Ethiopia and he began creating a unified country. 7 By interacting with other countries, Menelik was able to gain European technology, railroads, and military understanding. 8 Eventually, Ethiopia began creating modern buildings, schools, and hospitals, began using cash instead of trade, had a government that was not controlled by one person and was one, unified country.