1. Japan: The New Imperialism

2. 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

3. Japan’s Response: End of Tokugawa Rule
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”)

4. The Meiji Period
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

5. Governmental Reforms Copy German Model Strong centralized government
Diet: parliament: 2 houses
Model constitution
Shoguns lose power

6. Economic Reforms Banking system Build extensive rail system
Improved ports
Telegraph and postal service
Gov’t supported businesses
Large family owned businesses: Zaibatsu

7. Social reform
Set up schools and universities

8. Japanese Imperialism Grows
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`

9. Japan’s Response: Sino-Japanese War
From 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

10. The Rise of Japanese Imperialism: Russo-Japanese War
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 Russo-Japanese War.