Expert: Mark Smith - 12/7/2005

Question


Hi, I have come to you before and you were very helpful. I have an essay due and need some help with a jumpstart.

The essay prompt is: Which problems did the Chinese and Japanese governments have to confront in the nineteenth century? How were their solutions similar or different? What, in your opinion, best explains these similarities or differences?


I assume the path to take here is "imperialism" and how each country dealt with imperialism on thier own. Do you think I am on the right track? Could go in depth on Opium War, Taiping Rebellion, etc. Any other ideas what to cover. It's a 1500 word essay and don't know how to get all that out of it.

Answer
Hello Jimmy.
I think the answer lies in the quite different results contact with the West (Europe and the USA) had on China and Japan.
Up until the middle of the 19th century Japan traded with only one western nation, the Dutch, through just one port, Nagasaki. But in 1853 an American squadron entered Japanese waters and requested to use her ports. An treaty was signed with the USA in 1854 which led to commercial agreements with GB, France and Russia. This contact with the West led to political reform and overall modernization after 1868 and by the early 20th century Japan was one of the world's leading powers.
However in China contact with the West had the opposite effect. Many European nations took advantage of China's weakness to make themselves rich whilst giving no benefit to the Chinese. Furthermore they took over many Chinese ports to use as their own trading stations; Hong Kong, Macau etc. The wars you mentioned were China's ineffectual attempts to rid herself of foreign interference. The Boxer Rebellion in 1900 failed and led to the collapse of the Chinese monarchy in 1911.
Mark