The Dragon and the Iron Horse: The Economics of Railroads in China, 1876-1937 (Harvard East Asian Monographs) Review

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The Dragon and the Iron Horse: The Economics of Railroads in China, 1876-1937 (Harvard East Asian Monographs) ReviewRailroads are necessary for the development of any nation. Certainly for one as large as China. This book delineates the laying of railroads, up till the onset of World War 2. The record is distinctly mixed. Several European nations underwrote many of these railroads. But much unlike where Europeans also invested in building up the American rail network. For the latter, the Europeans were strictly limited to providing capital, to be invested in a sovereign nation. Whereas for China, as the book makes plain, the investments were often in the context of European gunboat diplomacy. Railway rights obtained by coercion were by no means unknown. The main beneficiaries of the railroads were to be the European investors. Often by presumably allowing access from their national companies to the Chinese consumer market, as it then existed.
There is a piquant irony in this. Given that nowadays, China has grown by the reverse process. Where goods made in China travel overseas to consumers in developed countries.
Another drawback of the European involvement in China's railroads was that gauges were often incompatible. Reflecting perhaps the lack of compatibility between the various European railroads. For China, this was indeed a serious problem. By limiting the benefits of providing rolling stock compatible across a vast nation.
On balance, the building of the railways was probably a net gain for China. But in retrospect, matters could have been more efficiently handled. If it's any consolation, other nations with large land area, like the US and Australia, also suffered from incompatible railways in the 19th century, albeit for different reasons.The Dragon and the Iron Horse: The Economics of Railroads in China, 1876-1937 (Harvard East Asian Monographs) Overview

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