Which of the following nations had difficulty industrializing?

Russia and japan. First Russia was very underpopulated and to have a industrialized state it needs a large centralized population. Russia was very large owning the largest land mass in the world. Also, Russia didn't invest in industrial type fields it was much more involved in farming and agriculture. A agriculture based society is hard to change. Also Russia suffered from its nonexistent transportation network. Japan because it was mostly ruled by emperors and was very isolationist most of its life span. It was very traditional in its way of society and governing.

 However, during the second world war it became more open and after world war 2 America rebuilt japan into a thriving economic power.

The answer would be west.