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Imperialism In Marius Jansen's The Making Of Modern Japan

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The period from 1868 to 1912 is known as the Meiji era in Japanese history. Japan significantly transformed from a feudal society to a modern, industrialized nation during this time in order to unify the country. Some of the fundamental changes that occurred were political changes, modernization, industrialization, military expansions, and cultural changes.
The Book: “The Making of Modern Japan”, written by Marius Jansen, highlights the main points on exactly why this big transformation took place and how it took place. It gives great detail on the events that occurred prior to the favorable Meiji period as well as the beneficial outcomes afterward.
One of the key factors that led to Japan’s Imperialism during this period was its desire to …show more content…

The first was the rise of the anti-Tokugawa sentiment. Many Japanese people, including the samurai, began to resent the Tokugawa Shogunate for its perceived weakness in dealing with foreign powers and its failure to modernize the country. This sentiment led to the growing unrest and rebellion across Japan. Secondly, the imperial court, which had been sidelined by the Tokugawa Shogunate, formed an alliance with the rebellious samurai. Together, they worked to overthrow the Shogunate and restore power to the emperor. The third reason that helped overthrow the government was the rebellions and uprisings. The alliance between the imperial court and the samurai led to a series of rebellions and uprisings across the country of Japan. These three reasons played a big role in the overthrowing of the Tokugawa Shogunate, which eventually led the last emperor of the government, Tokugawa Yoshinobu to resign in late 1867. At the end of the day, there were countless reasons why this occurred, but these were the …show more content…

Japan’s modernization efforts led to rapid industrialization, with the establishment of modern factories and the growth of a capitalist economy. The government actively encouraged economic development, and the country became a major exporter of goods such as textiles, silk, and ceramics. Which is a big turnaround from what they were previously because they were isolationists. They didn’t associate with anyone else except their own people. As japan quickie modernized, it also began to expand its military capabilities. The government invested heavily in the military, and japan engaged in several wars during this period, including the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War. In 1873, the Meiji government introduced a conscription system that required all able-bodied men to serve in the military for a period of three years. This helped to create a large standing army that could be mobilized quickly in times of war. They also actively sought to acquire modern weaponry from the West, including rifles, cannons, and warships. This helped to modernize the military arsenal and make it more effective in

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Groups of Samurai came together to finally overthrow the shogun, and restore Meiji to power. As stated in Document 2, the Charter Oagth states that all classes, no matter their rankings would unite, “carrying out the administration of affairs of state.” This was a massive change to the past 250 years when class systems were extremely separated with no way to move up or down the social

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