Nationalist Yearnings and the Modernization of China and Japan: The Importance of Economic Changes in Society to Revolution and Imperialism
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published 27/05/2008
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SummaryWestern nations like Portugal or England did not simply encroach upon China’s territory in the name of some abstract imperialist ideal. They had strong economic interest in the area, especially in keeping the tea trade alive. When diplomacy failed to win over the Chinese, military force was used to subdue them during the Opium War and Asia was rudely awakened to the power and political thought of the West. In China intellectuals blamed the country’s downfall on the foreign origins of the Qing and believed that nationalism would unite the people and inspire them to rise to the challenge of foreign might. But it wasn’t the Qing’s foreignness which allowed Westerners to take over the country, there was a deeper problem of corruption and financial backwardness which would needed to be dealt with. The Japanese had succeeded in rapidly modernizing by unifying their country under a national principle and creating a stable economy.
Table of Contents
- From the beginning the discourse over modernization in China was focused on national pride and not on economic reform.
- The nationalists wanted modernization.
- Chinese defeats in the Opium War and the Boxer Rebellion.
- In 1880 the zaibatsu were created when the government began selling its monopolies as private enterprises.
- Yamagata Aritomo developed reforms - brought the lower classes up in touch with samurai ethics.
- The Japanese occupation of Manchuria.
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