In the 19th century china and japan were under pressure when the west opened up foreign trade and relations. The industrial revolution created a wide gap between them and the west and left them behind in technology and the military. They both signed unequal treaties that forced them to open their ports and cities to foreign merchants. Both country's reacted very differently and this will be the topic of this essay.
I picked The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson as my one book to read this summer because the serial killer aspect of the novel really appealed to me as compelling and interesting. Larson tells two different stories in the novel that are tied together by happening in the same city of Chicago in the 1890s. It tells of Daniel Burnham and his determination to create something good and H. H. Holmes, a serial killer who practices great evil. This book has a meaningful impact on how I view life as it divulges the difference between good and evil. I have always thought I was a good person or at least I try to be.
Japan’s economic development had been shaped in various ways, including Japanese internal forces, and external forces from other countries. Although during the Tokugawa era, the Japanese were very closed off from the world for 250 years, once Commodore Perry and the rest of America threatened Japan with war Japan was forced to open ports for trade. Due to the Japanese lack of weapons the trading environment was very biased on the side of America with unequal trade. The shogun was once a Samurai and is now almost in control of Japan.
The country’s isolation came to an end in 1825 when there were “reports of landings on Japanese soil by foreign seamen in search of water and fuel” and “all daimyos whose domains bordered on the sea [had] an order to drive away by gunfire any foreign ship approaching the coast…” The hostile attitude of the Japanese was due to the fact that foreign countries were overstepping the boundaries Japan set in the exclusion policy. Additionally, “[t]here was much fear of English warships after the news of the Opium War reached Japan.” The Japanese feared that a similar event would take place on Japanse soil. Therefore, the Tokugawa took military action in order to combat the foreign
There are many nations that are continuously changing. Japan is one of the nation that is continually changing not only economy, but also the culture. According to the book, “the Western world was increasingly impinging upon Japan..” which result isolation from Europe and American. In the document 19.1 it stated, “We have issued instructions on how to deal with foreign ships on numerous occasions up to the present”. This have shown that the Japanese have isolated from foreign.
After trade was cut off with Japan, it was thought that it would stop Japan’s expansion, and everything would return to normal. The opposite happened. The trade being cut off led Japan to hold their ground,
Tensions had been high between Japan and America for a while, and restricting trade between the countries only fueled the fire. “July 1941, The United States freezes all Japanese assets and bank accounts. Aug 1941, the United States imposes an embargo of oil shipments to Japan.” (Doc C) Losing America as one of their consumers caused the Japanese economy to suffer. Japan believed that this separation of trade was the United States preparing to distance themselves from Japan to make it easier for America to attack Japan.
Japan, at this time, relied on fossil fuels from The United States. However, The United States cut off trades with Japan due to Japan’s obsession with becoming rich (Doerr, Paul Walker). Japan tried to cripple The United States by targeting its Navy. The United States and its Navy had the power to block Japan’s expansion in Asia (Doerr, Paul Walker).
“To guard against external influence, they also worked to close off Japanese society from Westernizing influences, particularly Christianity. When the Tokugawa shogunate grew increasingly weak by the mid-19th century, two powerful clans joined forces in early 1868 to seize power as part of an “imperial restoration” named for Emperor Meiji.” This restoration was the beginning of the end of feudalism, or the way of structuring society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour, in Japan. The Tokugawa regime acted to exclude missionaries because of suspicion of foreign intervention and colonialism. Eventually, they issued a complete ban on Christianity in Japan.
During the economic power play, the Us played direct offense to the Japanese subtle defense. While the Us was interested in Japan as a source of coal to have better access to China a global economy the Japanese wanted to maintain their Tokugawa Government and self-independence while profiting from Western technologies. Japan’s foreign policies also affected their domestic affairs. In contrast, the US sought to assert its own economic power on the global scale. Both nations saw the power in new technologies in particular militaristic weaponry, valued modesty, and had a strong sense of pride and nationality.
Japan never had the supplies that they needed because it was an island country so they relied on China and America for resources. However, Japan got into an argument with China and China would not trade with Japan anymore. Because of this Japan went over to America demanding more resources, but The United States took China’s side and also cut off trade with them.
One cause was the rising tension between the United States and Japan. The two parties were not coming to an agreement so the United States placed an embargo and refused to do any business with Japan. The embargo prevented Japan from getting crucial
Secondly, restrictions the United States also had an interest in the natural resources just like Japan. So the United States Congress placed a restriction on Japan to monitor their movements and lastly, expansion
The United States decided to embargo Japanese economic sections to prevent war between Japan and China. British and the Dutch did not export oil to Japan that consumed 90 percent oil from two these countries after the United States’ intervention. Japan’s military could not work well when they did not
Imperialism in Japan Background: Japan prior to the Meiji restoration was ruled in a hierarchy very similar to other European countries. The hierarchy was that of lords, samurai and then peasants. The Japanese equivalent to a king at the time was a military dictator called a shogun. During this time the capital was Kyoto and the shogun was part of the Tokugawa clan. That is why this period is referred to as the Tokugawa Shogunate.
