Westernize Japan example essay topic

How Western Imperialism affects China and Japan China and Japan had very different experiences with Western Imperialism. Their reactions to western interference would lay a foundation for their destiny in a world that was rapidly progressing forward, leaving the traditional world behind. China viewed themselves as totally self sufficient, superior, and the only truly civilized land in a barbarous world. They were inward looking and were encouraged by the conservative Confucianist ic beliefs of their emperors to cling to the ancient and traditional ways of the past. They slid rapidly behind in industrial development, refusing to acknowledge the need for shipbuilding or naval development, and saw no importance in European trade. Then in the 1800's, Europe thrust its way into the heart of the Middle Kingdom, shattering and destroying its isolation forever.

China would then be involved in four wars during the nineteenth century; Britain's opium war (1839-1842), a second war (1856-1860) fought by British and French, the Sino-Japanese war (1894-1895), and a final western invasion involving British, French, German, Japanese and U. S troops (1899-1900). Chinese Emperors were compelled to sign unequal treaties and were forced to open a number of ports, as well as agree to other territorial concessions. China was also forced to open its seacoasts and its rivers to Western intruders. The Europeans also exploited China's land by securing rights to build railways and develop its natural resources. China had been unwilling to learn the ways of the West and so became the next victim to fall prey to Western Imperialism, Japan however, was more open to foreign influences, therefore its outcome to western imperialism was quite different. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Japan also turned inward seeking its own isolation from the larger world.

Then in 1853, Commodore Mathew Perry of the U. S arrived with a naval squadron and Japan signed its first unequal treaty. Soon other western countries would follow, but in 1868 a new ruler was put into power and Japans fate would soon change. Under the sixteen year old emperor - the Meiji, ('Enlightened Rule ') Japan began preparing to resist Western penetration and in the process engineered a remarkable transformation of its country. The Japanese emperor set out to Westernize Japan and adopt Western methods of education, transportation, communication, industry, agriculture, banking and most of all Japan's military was updated and modernized.

Politically and economically, Japan was a nation in rapid growth and vigorous transition. Japan also won two victories over the world's two largest empires -China in 1895 and Russia in 1905, which gave Japan Korea, the Liaotung peninsula in North China, and a new status as a world power. Between 1900 and 1940, Japan's exports would triple, manufactured goods multiplied a dozen times, and it's population would climb to 78 million by 1940. Japan's expanding commercial, industrial and financial economy was due mainly through the small group of wealthy business families known as the Zaibatsu. These included industrial dynasties such as Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Kawasaki, and other major firms. The Japanese used the most effective way to maintain their national identity, which was to adopt Western techniques, become 'civilized ' in the Western view, and deal with foreigners on equal economic and diplomatic terms.

Japan succeeded in understanding the basic political and moral ideas of Western civilization whereas China had not. Both had wanted to rid foreign intervention, however Japan learned the ways of the West to prevent Western intervention and control. Japan rose from an isolated nation to a world power able to control it sown destiny and future of its people. China however, with its traditional and steadfast ways, succumbed to Western Imperialism, and was left behind by the ever progressing world and the power of change. Copyrights I am handing over the copyrights to Essay world. com Thank you Mike Sorrentino.