Imperialism is defined as a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force without having to be there presently. It’s also referred to as “modern colonialism”, and also used to force core countries to gain economic power cheaply and quickly. Though colonialism is seen as a practice of the far past, imperialism has happened quietly recently and even today. As of the 1900’s, two infamous cases of imperialism occurred during the operation of the East India Trading Company and British Raj, and Japan’s rule over Korea. Both nations had similar scales of dynamics, such as exports, treatment of natives, and declarations of independence but still differed, and in this passage the purpose is to inform upon the …show more content…
The cases between Japan and Britain show a lot of similarities, even though their scale and dynamics differed. One of these similarities was the use of exports, with this being a leading cause of imperialism for Britain. During the peak of British imperialism a peak in cotton exports took place in India, Before British imperialism(1820-1850) India cotton exports grew a steadily approximate 57 million pounds of cotton, while during the imperialistic times of 1870-1900 exports increased by 100 million pounds. Doc 2, Longman Group. 1963). The. Japanese used Korean land to produce the popular rice crop, Korea was used to grow rice to be exported to Japan ( Doc. 6, Korea and Japanese Imperialism). Trade was a strong reason for imperialism back then and even today, but that wasn’t the only similarity between the ruling parties in Asia, the treatement of the natives, and their respective declarations of independence. In India many were put into agriculture and textile jobs as the desire for the cash crop cotton increased, leading to less time for education and improvement in technology whilst creating an economic gold mine for England. Britain used and taken much of India’s resources while simultaneously encouraging those of high political, public, and intellectual power to not reside there. “...of the poverty of our resources caused by the drain of so many men of public, …show more content…
Great Britain was culturally foreign to Asia, and during British reign in India, contrary to Japan, Indians were given some power in government, and Indian workers were treated with great disrespect and abuse. It’s also important to note that this imperialism wasn’t started by the country of Britain as a government, but instead by the private business The British East India Company, but developed into the British Raj. The control of Korea via Japan resulted in the state of Japan expanding territories into the Korean Peninsula. During this expansion, direct actions were taken to make Korea assimilate with Japan, including persecution. According to Doc 7 by Kang Sang’uk of the North P’uyongan Province, Christian Koreans were presupposed to refuse to bow at Shinto shrines. Unlike British rule, Japan pushed to censor and silence Korean culture by banning the teaching of certain aspects of Korean culture. They also set up Shinto temples in almost every community and ordered everyone to attend the monthly ceremonies. Another major difference is their economic abuse. During this economic exploitation, Britain favored their industries and profit, leading to little to no industrial development and no economic independence among Indian people. In contrast, Japanese imperialism focused on the development of Korean industrialism and infrastructure while extracting their