Similarities Between 19th And 20th Century Imperialism

Europe; a key contender that seems to be involved with every country throughout the 19th and 20th century. During this time period was the imperialist expansion of Japan and China by the Europeans. While both countries were forced to comply to the wishes of the Europeans states due to advanced weaponry, China received worse treatment than Japan. The Chinese were forced to into unfair trade, unfair opening of ports, and other disadvantages. Imperialism caused China to become weaker, meanwhile Japan was over all strengthened by it.

During the nineteenth century, the Manchu - or Qing - Dynasty were at the height of their power. Under the rule of the emperors Kangxi and Qianlong, the country was able to flourish and remain in a state of peace

and prosperity. The Dynasty was able to uphold the ideals that were envied by many other countries for over 2,000 years until it has collapsed due to the modern western culture. The main factor in the fall of the Qing Dynasty was internal conflict. The corruption of officials, incompetence at court, and the unrest of the peasants. By the end of the 19th century there were over 400 million people living within China. The Manchus were more than likely to repeat the events of previous Dynasties.

Not only was there internal conflict, but the British were also putting a lot of pressure upon the Chinese. It began with the Macartney Mission that was led by Lord Amherst. It soon failed in 1793 and strained the relationship with Britain and China even further. In the opinion of the British, the solution to the problem was opium! This product was grown in eastern India, shipped to China, and turned out to be addictive than tea, which is what the British were originally after. Opium had been originally used for medical purposes, but began to be demanded in southern China and was impossible to satisfy. Lin Zexu - a Chinese official - tried to stop the trade of opium within China by writing a letter to Queen Victoria; however, if she were not to respond they would cut the trade and sale of rhubarb to Great Britain; which was used as a laxative in 19th century Europe. Soon followed the Opium war which was the first conflict between China and a European power.

China; a reserved country with only one port open in Canton for trading, was now forced into the Treaty of Nanjing, where now five coastal ports were open for trade with the British.

The Chinese also ceded the island of Hong Kong to Great Britain. Later on with the legislation of the opium trade, the opening of more ports, and the peninsula of Kowloon to the British; while other territories in the north were given to Russia - due to the Treaty of Tianjin. So much began to happen to and around China that people grew confused and somewhat angry. One major event of the people that occurred was the Boxer Rebellion. The people were set off by the damage drought and the high unemployment rates.The boxers began to attack the foreign residents and surrounded the foreign legation in Beijing. Not until late summer were the foreigners were rescued by a expeditionary force. As punishment, temples in the Capitol suburbs were destroyed and the government felt the need to pay a lump sum to the foreign governments that helped to suppress the

uprising.

The final string in the downfall of the Qing Dynasty was the Revolution of 1911. It took place in the industrial city of Wuhan from October 10, 1911 to February 12, 1912. It was led by the Revolutionary alliance and their leader, Sun Yat-Sen. Although, the middle class at the time was to small to form a new political order. Another aspect was Qiu Jin, a well-known female revolutionary. She wrote a passage calling for the liberation of women and then organized a revolt against the government. She was later captured and executed in 1907 at the age of 32 due to her actions.

Imperialism was a much easier process in Japan.

While Japan was a reserved island that only had real relations with Korea, they were not totally opposed to western culture. When men such as Matthew Perry and Townsend Harris came along, the Japanese were able to compromise and come to agreements. Same happened with the revolution from above. Japan was able to remove unfair treaties that were imposed during the mid-century. Luckily it contained little to no violence.

Plus the people began to modernize in their government, social life, and many other aspects. The genro were a class of modernizing samurai which were later known as the Elder statesmen, or the Sat-Cho clique. There were two political parties based off western culture; the Liberal Party and the Progressive Party. There was also a system to limit the amount of corruption among the officials known as the Meiji Constitution. Also another section was referred to as the dancing cabinet. The dancing cabinet was the ministers who had taken up western style ballroom dancing and

baseball.

While they were progressive in their reforms, the treatment towards women was not equal to men. There was an action called the three obediences which was about the people who women must obey through their life. This continued throughout the period of time. Along with the yellow peril, also known as the yellow terror. Due to immigration into the Western states it brought up much racism towards the eastern asians. The people believed that due to heredity a person was able to accomplish certain things. It is where most modern racism had rooted from.

While both countries went through their own ideals, China was forced into much harsher circumstances. China was weakened by the opening of ports and the entrance of western culture. Being reluctant to change did not help either, causing much external and internal conflict. Japan - while losing some of its culture - was able to comply with the wishes of the Europeans and still remain successful. Both Asian countries were reserved in their own ways and very intelligent, but Japan was the one to come out strengthened by imperialism.