Chapter 3 2. This rise is unusual

From the perspective of world history, the biggest feature of China's rise is peace. It has not waged war externally and maintained stability and unity internally. This is an extraordinary miracle in human history.Looking back at world history, the process of the rise of the West is almost a history of turmoil and war.Take the mid-to-late 19th century, when the European and American industrial revolutions developed rapidly, as an example. In 1840, Britain launched the Opium War against China. In 1848, revolutions and unrest broke out almost all over Europe.By the second half of the 19th century, Western powers such as Britain and France had already carved up Africa, during which conflicts and wars among Western countries were almost uninterrupted.Outside of Africa, the Crimean War broke out in 1853 between Britain, France, Turkey and Russia. In 1858, France invaded and occupied Indochina, and in 1865 it realized the control of Indochina. In 1860, Britain and France launched the second Opium War against China, captured Beijing, looted and burned the Old Summer Palace.In the same year, France also marched into Syria and intervened in Mexico's internal affairs in Latin America, fostering a pro-French emperor (1861-1867).During this period, Italy also experienced national unification of blood and fire (1859-1870). In 1871, the Paris Commune in France was brutally suppressed.After the Franco-Prussian War (1868-1871), with the collapse of the Second French Empire, Germany was unified under the leadership of Iron Prime Minister Bismarck.

The war between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1847 allowed the United States to obtain large tracts of land and rich resources, including California. In 1861, the Civil War broke out in the United States, and 630,000 soldiers were killed, accounting for 30%-40% of the soldiers on both sides.The American Civil War also had a shadow of Britain, because the agriculture of the American South based on slavery was the supplier of raw materials for British industry.From this perspective, the American Civil War was actually a civil war in which the United States tried to get rid of its dependence on Britain.In 1867, after the Civil War, the United States began a mass killing of Indians.That year, the U.S. Congress passed a bill to drive out the Indians and establish so-called Indian settlements. Americans began to move to the grasslands west of the Mississippi River.By 1883, that is, 15 years after the passage of this act, tens of millions of Indians had been killed, and the United States had acquired a large amount of land and resources without compensation.The fate of the Chinese is also very bleak. In 1870, Chinese accounted for one-third of the population of Idaho. They helped the United States build the East-West Railway, but like blacks, they had no land and freedom.Cowboy freedom belongs only to white men, most of whom are poor from Europe.

Today, some domestic scholars discuss the rise of the West, and they are unwilling to mention these histories that the West itself no longer denies. This is really puzzling.Through 30 years of reform and opening up, Chinese people know what the "first pot of gold" is, and understand the significance of the "first pot of gold" for wealth accumulation.The "first pot of gold" in the rise of the West is undoubtedly brought about by blood and fire.Mining disasters occur frequently in some places, which is very sad. Some people even describe this situation as "bloody GDP".

The rise of China is not the rise of ordinary countries, but the rise of people who account for one-fifth of the world's population. It is the rise of a "civilized country" with a long history and a vast territory.The problems we encounter today have also been encountered in Western history.During the period of the European Industrial Revolution, the gap between the rich and the poor, the lack of social justice, the seriousness of corruption, and the bloody aggression and plunder were outrageous.But compared with today's China, these countries at that time could "resolve" various social conflicts relatively easily. For example, Britain could export criminals to Australia, export the unemployed to Africa, and export heretics to the Americas. All the "rules of the game" of world politics and economics, if the gap between rich and poor is dozens of times larger than today's China, there is no problem, because tens of millions of black slaves and Chinese coolies are legal.Today, China must resolve all kinds of contradictions and problems brought about by the process of industrialization and modernization on its own land.During the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, Britain had a local population of just over 10 million, less than any major city in China today.During the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, France had a population of just over 20 million, while China is now a large country with a population of 1.3 billion. Under such unfavorable conditions, to carry out such a large-scale industrial revolution and social revolution within its own territory Digested all the problems, did not launch wars, did not plunder externally, but brought tangible benefits to most people in China and the people of the world, and made China a locomotive driving world economic growth.It is from this perspective that the significance of China's success and its model is extraordinary.The Chinese insisted on relying on their own wisdom, hard work and even sacrifice to break through their own development path and model, opening up broad prospects for China's modernization.With such an accumulation of material and spiritual wealth, we can calmly and confidently deal with various challenges in today's world.