The Boxer Rebellion
When a militant anti-imperial movement spreads China, an allied army of eight nations moved quickly to suppress the rebels, leading to a reactionary swing from the Qing Dynasty’s government.
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Losing Korea
Although Japan had seemingly won influence over Korea as a war prize from the Chinese, Joseon itself was still an independent state. Because of the actions of one inexperienced Japanese diplomat, that independence was about to be asserted in an undeniable way.
The First Sino-Japanese War
Mounting tensions over the future of Korea turned violent after the end of the Donghak Rebellion, resulting in a war between Japan and China.
The Battlefield of Ideas
With its new constitutional structure in place, the Japanese government began to take on a more permanent political shape. However, war with China over the future of Korea lurked on the horizon.
The Qing Dynasty’s Self-Strengthening
In light of its repeated defeats and humiliations at the hands of imperial powers, the Qing Dynasty attempted to modernize its military, economy, and society through a series of reforms known as the “Self-Strengthening Movement.”
The Hermit Kingdom
By the mid-1800s, the Joseon Kingdom had become an isolated polity which was famously hostile to unwelcome visitors. Nevertheless, imperial powers vied to force the nation to open to international trade, offer paths toward modernization, and jealously eyed the strategic and economic value of Korea’s many ports.
The Meiji Constitution
As pressure mounted from grass roots organizations like the Freedom Party, the Meiji government decided to finally draft a constitution. The process which brought it about, and the language which it employed, would determine the course of Japan’s political future.
Clans, Corporations, and Capital
The early years of the Meiji period saw an explosion of economic growth as Edo Period merchant houses transformed into conglomerates called Zaibatsu.
Counter-Revolution
The Meiji Revolution very rapidly changed nearly every aspect of public life in Japan. Such rapid progress led, inevitably, to counter-revolutions among various groups who felt discarded by the march of modernization, including a large body of samurai in the land formerly known as Satsuma Domain.
The Meiji Reformation
The Buddhist temples throughout Japan had worked hand-in-hand with the Shogunate to help prevent the spread of Christianity in Japan. Now that the Shogunate was gone, anti-Buddhist sentiment in the country boiled over into a violent response.
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