Transcript Japan: The New Imperialism

Japan: The New Imperialism
Introduction
 Early
1600s Japan isolates itself for almost
200 years.
 Commodore Matthew Perry US Navy.
 Demands: opening of trade; refueling
stations and safety for shipwrecked sailors
 1854 Treaty of Kanagawa
 Japanese angry with shoguns
Japan’s Response: End of
Tokugawa Rule
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The sudden intrusion of foreign
powers in Japan resulted in the
collapse of the Tokugawa and the
restoration of imperial rule
The dissident slogan was “Revere
the emperor, expel the
barbarians.”
On Jan 3, 1868, the boy emperor
Mutsuhito took power
– He later became known as
Meiji (“Enlightened Rule”)
The Meiji Period 1867 - 1912
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Intense modernization and Industrialization.
15 year old Emperor Mutsuhito
Oppose Western Imperialism need new ways
Borrows and adapts western ways (selective
borrowing)
Study European Governments
German gov’t/ US education system/British navy
Hire western experts
Governmental Reforms
Copy German Model
 Strong centralized government
 Diet: parliament: 2 houses
 Model constitution
 Shoguns lose power
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Economic Reforms
Banking system
 Build extensive rail system
 Improved ports
 Telegraph and postal service
 Gov’t supported businesses
 Large family owned businesses: Zaibatsu
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Social reform
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Set up schools and universities
Japanese Imperialism Grows
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Why? Need for raw materials and security
Island location few raw materials
Defeats China in the Sino Japanese War, gaining
its 1st colonies: Taiwan
Japan wins the Russo Japanese War and gains
control of Korea
1st Asian nation to defeat a western nation
Brutal treatment of Korea
WWI Allied side`
Japan’s Response: Sino-Japanese
War
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From 1894-1895 Japan defeated China in a war
over Korea
showed how modern and powerful Japan had
become and how weakened China had become
The Japanese victory alarmed European powers,
especially Russia, who shared interests with
Japan in Korea and Manchuria
The Rise of Japanese Imperialism:
Russo-Japanese War
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When Russia refused to withdraw
its troops from Manchuria after the
Boxer Rebellion, Japan attacked
and defeated the Russian Far
Eastern Fleet anchored at Port
Arthur
It was the first time in modern
history an Asian military force had
soundly whipped the army and
navy of a major western imperial
power
With the victory, Japan gained
recognition as a major imperial
power
President Theodore Roosevelt
meets with Japanese and
Russian envoys to discuss peace
at the end of the RussoJapanese War.