On the basis of research into the social systems of the countries of “peripheral capitalism”, this article characterises models of “catch - up modernisation”, and using the examples of the Russian Empire, Japan and China during the initial stage of their accelerated industrial development, provides a comparative analysis. The chronological period during which the transformations being examined took place extends through the second half of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the First World War. The features that these models have in common - of which one of the most important is the leading role of the state - are identified and described. Particular attention is devoted to the national peculiarities that determined the unique experience of “catch - up modernisation” in each of the countries studied. The authors conclude that common approaches and tools were present in the implementation of the changes; that there were multiple variants of development within the framework of the modernisation process; and that the results were ambiguous, which on the whole was a consequence of the peculiarities of the economic policies enacted by the states concerned.