Reasons for falling behind and final review

In Western Europe manufactories appeared from the mid-16th century, and in the second half of the 18th century the steam engine was invented, giving rise to factories, locomotives and railways. These changes spread unevenly around the world; according to the textbook the Uzbek states stayed outside this process. The causes given are the division of the country into three states, war and internal strife, unchanged government, an old way of holding land, heavy taxes, traditional farming, neglect of industry and mining, and the lack of a single internal market. As a result economic backwardness, military weakness and political instability grew; the book writes that this created favourable conditions for the Russian Empire’s conquest of Central Asia. According to the author the dependence lasted until 31 August 1991. Historians add outside factors to the internal ones, so the matter should be seen as a combination of causes rather than one-sided.