In the time period of 1840 until 1900 Japan and China were both subjected to western imperialism, but they reacted in different ways. Japan was able to adapt to imperialism much better than China was by changing their economy and government. They abolished feudalism, and in order to become more western, they created a new army and industrialized their economy. China on the other hand, was suffering from many internal conflicts, so it was not difficult for Great Britain and other western countries came to claim parts of China for trade purposes. The peasants in China did not want foreigners controlling trade, and rebelled against their government. The Qing dynasty was unable to control the peasant uprisings and eventually fell. Although the
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They were both very closed off to foreign trade and both of the countries had not industrialized with the rest of the world. When Great Britain and other western countries came to China and Japan, they reacted very differently. When America came to Japan and threatened them for trade rights, Japan was forced to open trade to foreigners. Under the Meiji Restoration, Japan adopted a new form of government in which political power was centralized and feudalism was abolished. They changed the school systems, which influenced a growth in enlightened thinkers. The enlightened ways of thinking led to the Japanese having a very strong sense of nationalism and eventually ultra-nationalism. Japan also adopted a modern army and navy instead of the Samurai. This proved to be a much easier option because it takes many years to become a Samurai, but a short amount of time to become a soldier, which makes fighting wars much more effective. The government sent the Samurai around the world to learn from westernized countries, which helped Japan adapt to the changing world. Since Japan was able to industrialize and become imperialistic, they were able to avoid imperialism from other countries from dominating their
They were both very closed off to foreign trade and both of the countries had not industrialized with the rest of the world. When Great Britain and other western countries came to China and Japan, they reacted very differently. When America came to Japan and threatened them for trade rights, Japan was forced to open trade to foreigners. Under the Meiji Restoration, Japan adopted a new form of government in which political power was centralized and feudalism was abolished. They changed the school systems, which influenced a growth in enlightened thinkers. The enlightened ways of thinking led to the Japanese having a very strong sense of nationalism and eventually ultra-nationalism. Japan also adopted a modern army and navy instead of the Samurai. This proved to be a much easier option because it takes many years to become a Samurai, but a short amount of time to become a soldier, which makes fighting wars much more effective. The government sent the Samurai around the world to learn from westernized countries, which helped Japan adapt to the changing world. Since Japan was able to industrialize and become imperialistic, they were able to avoid imperialism from other countries from dominating their