Over the past two centuries, Europe’s grasp on the world has strengthened and tightened increasingly, the “Western” influence becoming one that is looming and inevitable. Europe’s pre-eminence emerged almost accidentally, the product of an incidental group of conditions in the world economic system that Europe and America were able to properly exploit. This western influence that they exhibited was one that gleamed of new technologies and modernization, expecting the eastern world to quickly adopt their version of idealistic treasures. In the 19th century, after an extended age of separation, China, Japan and Korea were burdened from the West to open to foreign trade and relations. Because of the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the United
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Before the treaties signed by either countries, they were both generally isolated. China was fine with foreign trade but all of it was strictly placated to one city and where the western merchants really had no privileges. Japan had similar policies, but only trading with the Dutch through on port. Western countries were not happy with this situation and in 1834, Lord Napier from England was sent to China to request more free trade. When he was rejected, hostility between the two countries grew while illegal opium dealings between the British and underground China increased. When Lin Tze-hsu, the imperial commissioner in 1839, went to confiscate almost 20,000 chests of opium from the British, a naval confrontation occurred, marking the beginning of the Opium Wars. These tragedies eventually ended in China admitting defeat and signing the unfair trade treaties proposed by the …show more content…
Japan wasn’t forced to end its separation by Western nations until the 1850s. This was far after the beginning of the first Opium War in China. This was because they were previously involved with other parts of Asia and served as a sort of safeguard because for a while, Japan didn’t really have a lot of demand for Western goods nor a lot of attractive resources. However, through their trade with the Dutch, they were kept informed about China’s relationship with the western powers and their steady loss of authority when it came to trade relations. They were able to see first-hand the effects on China before they were met with curiosity from the West. China was the first to really deal with the West and thus was not very prepared for what was thrown at
Before the treaties signed by either countries, they were both generally isolated. China was fine with foreign trade but all of it was strictly placated to one city and where the western merchants really had no privileges. Japan had similar policies, but only trading with the Dutch through on port. Western countries were not happy with this situation and in 1834, Lord Napier from England was sent to China to request more free trade. When he was rejected, hostility between the two countries grew while illegal opium dealings between the British and underground China increased. When Lin Tze-hsu, the imperial commissioner in 1839, went to confiscate almost 20,000 chests of opium from the British, a naval confrontation occurred, marking the beginning of the Opium Wars. These tragedies eventually ended in China admitting defeat and signing the unfair trade treaties proposed by the …show more content…
Japan wasn’t forced to end its separation by Western nations until the 1850s. This was far after the beginning of the first Opium War in China. This was because they were previously involved with other parts of Asia and served as a sort of safeguard because for a while, Japan didn’t really have a lot of demand for Western goods nor a lot of attractive resources. However, through their trade with the Dutch, they were kept informed about China’s relationship with the western powers and their steady loss of authority when it came to trade relations. They were able to see first-hand the effects on China before they were met with curiosity from the West. China was the first to really deal with the West and thus was not very prepared for what was thrown at