partially modernise in the late 19th century/early 20th century
i’d say the level of ‘modernization’ in China would’ve been a rough parity or even less than India overall. in both cases most the rail was built to serve imperial interests, like the most developed system in Manchuria—but China had 27k km of lines in 1945 vs. probably a bit less than 77k in india (when they reorganized it in 1951, can’t find earlier overall figures). i’d say most of the progress from the late Qing was more-or-less erased in the warlord era & japanese invasion
i mean it was to the point colonial-developed Manchuria is seen as a big advantage for the Communists to acquire (which btw the Soviets didn’t “hand over”, i don’t know who started that myth the GMT occupied most of it but lost it in early fighting)
My point is that unlike China, India was “deindustrialised” over the 19th century from a fairly advanced 18th century economy.
They had approx same amounts of 19th century tech, sure, but China still had a large base of skilled artisans that could bootstrap internal development of production, while India had a much more vestigial capacity.
China still had a large base of skilled artisans that could bootstrap internal development of production
did they though? China wasn’t industrialized yet but forcibly opened up as a market for western goods. their attempts at building a domestic industrial base were disrupted by the warlords & japan. i don’t think there was a nucleic handicraft economy waiting to develop into an industrial one, at least not outside of the most remote places which factory products had never reached.
