Japanese Imperialism Dbq Essay

During the 1800s, the island nations of Great Britain and Japan depended on their location to move them forward. Although they share many geographical similarities, they began handling their government policies very differently. While Japan's isolationist policies kept it locked in the past, imperialist Britain charged forward into a bright and powerful future. It would take the weakening of one Japanese government to bring about the rise of another, a government that would be far more modern and progressive than the last. Overall, when handled to their advantage, the geography of these island nations seemed to positively influence them.

Among the industrialization and imperialistic growth of Japan and Great Britain, we are guided to effects on these two nations. Great Britain and Japan are both island nations with limited resources. As a result, each nation grew with its particular geographic location and limitations.

The industrial revolution is the biggest milestone of human history. Factories and machines greatly improved productivity of manufacturing. Japan and England are countries with similar geography, both being islands around the same size of the coast of large countries (doc 1). England was technologically ahead of Japan, due to Japan’s foreign policy which limited contact with other countries in order to preserve culture. The Industrial Revolution started around 1760 in England, and 1868 in Japan (background). There were now a plethora of job opportunities, with many people going to work at factories. These jobs gave little money and lasted long hours. One of the biggest industries was the textile industry; people in England and Japan both worked in this industry with many parallels. Female English and Japanese mill workers had similar experiences with their work hours, similar work conditions, and gender equality within the job.

Two ships can arrive at the same destination; however that does not necessarily mean that they used the same route on their journey. Such is the same with the industrialization of Britain and Japan. Both rose to become the two great pioneers of the modern world; however the paths they took to success were different. This paper will compare Japan and Britain, exploring the causes of its industrialization, and how the countries drastically changed because of it. What sets Britain’s industrialization process apart from Japans is that it did not have a role model to base its development on; it was the first industrial nation. Therefore the cause of its industrialization must have much

Although Japan changed in many ways from 1853 to 1941, there were also many factors that remained the same throughout the history of Japan. One such continuity was the maintained existence of a figurehead ruler controlled by other political authorities. The feudalistic emperor of Japan was the supposed “highest, most powerful authority” in the land, but was actually controlled by the military leaders- the shogun. Similarly, the militaristic emperor of Japan decades later continued to remain a figurehead ruler controlled by military and government officials. In addition, Japan continued to remain reliant on exports in order to maintain its economy. As a result of Japan’s small geographical size, the island nation had few natural resources and was forced to rely on exports to survive economically. The nation also grew increasingly reliant on other nations to provide materials and supplies that it could not provide for itself. This complete reliance on other nations was seen illustrated when the Japanese military was provoked to attacking another superpower- the United States, in response to the 1940 United States embargo

From 1880s-1930s mechanization has increased in both Japan and India. More machines had started to be used than using one’s hands which produced more cotton than hand spinning would have. Female workers were overworked in the cotton factories that favored using machines instead of hand spinning to increase the production of cloth and yarn.

The mechanization of the cotton industry in both Japan and India exploited factory workers by paying them very low wages. The production of cotton drastically increased in both Japan and India. However, the majority of workers in India were men while the majority of workers in Japan were women.

In document 10, William Radcliffe is describing the textile industry and the new system of manufacturing. He paints laborers as having a good and easy life. This is contradictory of historical

According to Dr. Lalvani, “Both Nations benefited from the trade links” (Paragraph #10). While this is true, Document 6 states that there was barely any woven cotton exported to Britain. The evidence shows that there was not a fair trading system between the countries, the British gaining an unfair amount the tradable resources, leading to more money. In addition to Dr. Lalvani, “British worked to preserve the environment and animals in India” (Paragraph #17). On the other hand, Document 7 illustrates that “Cash crops like indigo, cotton, and tobacco as they were very profitable crops for them but it totally degraded the farmland and made it unfit for growing other crops”( Doc # 7). With this evidence, it proves that the British used India’s land to gain revenue, while destroying the farmland in the process, making the Indian’s barely able to grow crops for themselves, leaving them starving and to

The trade later would grown unfair, being that the British begun taking more than they were giving. They begun building textiles and factories, with the Indians being the ones doing the labor. It was not long before the British begun to not only endorse heavy labor upon the Indians, but also convert them to

Imperialism is when one country that has a lot of strength and takes over another country that is weak. The British only had control on India for 89 years. How was India affected by the imperialism of the British. Before India got taken over by the British they had a perfect government, had good wealth and ate plenty of food. I guess not enough.

Especially the women and children. The work space and living spaces during the industrial revolution were dirty, smoky and small. The experiences between the Japanese and the English are almost icentical in their work spaces. They were also similar in how people of higher authorities would boss them around. Document E states, In England the workers worked from 5:30 am and finnished at 8 pm with breaks from 30-50 minutes for breakfast and dinner, thats it. ALso in Document E, the Japanese worked from 4:30am to 6 pm on a normal day and on a busy days they were kept to 10 pm. Sometimes massing up to 14 hours at a time. They only were alloud 15 minute for lunch and a ten minute break from 3:30 - 3:40. They had very little breaks that were spread

The Japanese scholars were sent to study abroad and observe the Western sciences and languages to transform the Tokugawa Japanese agrarian economy. The introduction of Western technologies and ideas advanced the Japanese economy. The development of infrastructures such as railroads and telegraphs allowed Japan to develop new industries. Transportation and communication networks were advanced from large governmental investments. The government supported the growing businesses and

Western Influence on Japan Japan, as a nation, is a continually changing society. Ever since western nations became involved with Japan, its changes over recent times have increased at a substantial rate. Japan now faces cultural, economical and social differences as a result of the western involvement. The involvement was initiated by the Japanese themselves, beginning during the Meiji Period1 through current times.

Throughout the course of East Asian history, Japan has been largely influenced by the Asian mainland. From ancient times to the medieval period, significant contributions to Japan can be seen coming from both Korea and China. Both of these countries diffused elements of their cultures to form the basis of Japanese society – namely China. These foreigners would influence various aspects of society including technology, philosophy, politics, and religion.