History Notes Japan, 1850 - 1914 Notes
Bullet point notes looking in great detail at the development of modern Japan. From the collapse of the closed feudal state to the expansionist empire-builder, it notes the transformation of a country, and the controversial imposition of western culture - as well as the global spread of Japanese culture. Covers Japanese foreign policy, domestic politics, economics, intellectualism, society, and military. Complete with quotes, maps, and timelines....
The following is a more accessible plain text extract of the PDF sample above, taken from our Japan, 1850 - 1914 Notes. Due to the challenges of extracting text from PDFs, it will have odd formatting:
Japan
Contents
Past questions
Quotes
The Meiji Restoration
Meiji Japan
The Japanese Empire
Japan and the West
Maps
Japan in 1894
The Japanese Empire in 1914
Chronology
Domestic developments
Foreign affairs
The Meiji Restoration
Edo Japan
Kaikoku
Japanese reaction
The prelude to revolution
The fall of the Shogun
Modernisation
Historiography
Nation-state
Westernisation
Foreign affairs
Administration
Economy
Military
Reaction
The Japanese Empire
Formal empire
Reasons for expansion
Rule
Domestic response
Japan and the West
The Dutch
Rangaku
Western settlers
Migrants
Cultural imports
Cultural exports
Past questions
Why did Japan acquire a colonial empire in the years 1895 – 1914?
Trinity 2013
How receptive was Japan to western influences?
Tutorial essay
How important was the state for the success of Meiji reforms?
Trinity 2012
How significant was universal conscription to the modernisation of Japan?
Trinity 2011
What role did international trade play in the modernisation of Japan??
Trinity 2010
Why was Japan able to industrialize so rapidly during the Meiji era?
Trinity 2009
How important was agriculture to the modernisation of Japan?
Trinity 2008
How receptive was Japan to western influences?
Trinity 2007
Why was Japan able to industrialise so rapidly during the Meiji era?
Trinity 2006
How far was the programme of the Meiji regime constrained by the need to appease traditional Japanese élites?
Trinity 2005
Quotes
The Meiji Restoration
“Our first priority is to save our world: if we are forced to permit trade for now… at a later time we will be able to redeem our honour”.
Sugita Gempaku.
“I am someone who can “bring fifty men-of-war to these shores”.
Townsend Harris, American consul-general at Shimoda.
It would “disturb the ideas of our people and make it impossible to preserve lasting tranquillity”.
Emperor Kōmei on the Harris Treaty.
To “honour the emperor, expel the barbarian”
Isolationist slogan.
“The price of things is daily increasing,” because of foreign products.
The shogun’s council.
Japan must “follow the example of the foreigners in using the profits from trade to construct many ships and guns”.
Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi, 1865.
A promise ‘to unite the hearts of all people regardless of rank’.
Emperor Meiji’s Charter Oath, April 1868.
Meiji Japan
“There is a great difference in our constitution compared with those of other countries.”
Itō Hirobumi, Privy Council President.
Any attempt to take power from the Emperor to the people would be “contrary to our national polity”.
Itō Hirobumi, Privy Council President.
We are “sleeping on a powder keg” of samurai dissatisfaction.
Saigō Takamori.
“Do not the police seize on a single word or phrase to throw the speaker in jail and disband the meeting?”
A speaker at a People’s Right Movement meeting.
“Gentlemen, it is your duty to advance the status of Japan”.
Takahashi Korekiyo’s farewell speech to Tokyo Agricultural College students, 1889.
The Japanese Empire
“If the sun is not ascending it is descending… If the country is not flourishing it is declining. Therefore to protect the country well is not merely [to prevent] it losing the position it holds, but to add to the position it does not hold.”
Yoshida Shōin.
Seizing Korea would “eliminate recrimination and jealously among its people” (the Japanese people).
Kido Takayoshi.
“I insist on war with China to transform Japan, hitherto a contracting nation, into an expansive nation.”
Tokutomi Sohō.
“Patriotism and militarism are our common foes”.
The People’s Daily.
Japan and the West
“Hence we must imitate them in these respects”.
Okubo Toshimichi.
“I knew the principle of telegraphy even if I had not seen the actual machine before”.
Fukuzawa Yukichi.
“Japan is the museum of Asiatic civilisation”.
Okakura Tenshin.
Maps
Japan in 1894
The Japanese Empire in 1914
Chronology
Domestic developments
March 1854 – Treaty of Peace and Amity
1859 – Japanese ports open to trade, Kōmei expresses the force majeure worry
August 1864 – Attempted coup d’état
1865 – Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi offered to resign
1866 – Chōshū defeats Bakufu; treaty convention signed
1867 –Tokugawa Yoshinobu relinquished Shogunate; end of 267-year Tokugawa rule
1868 – Boshin War; Meiji Revolution; new foreign policy memorandum; Zola painting at Salon
April 1868 – Emperor Meiji’s Charter Oath
1871 – Centralisation of Japan
1872 – Western clothing becomes compulsory for government officials; education reforms
1873 – Prohibitions against Christianity lifted; Conscription Act
1876 – Frock coats become standard business attire; end of topknots and sword-wearing
1877 – Satsuma Rebellion
1890 – Japanese Diet set up; Imperial Rescript on education; proposed legal reforms
1898 – Japanese legal reforms
1903 – Book of Tea
1908 – Imperial Rescript urging domestic tranquillity
Foreign affairs
1641 – Start of Dutch trade with Dejima
1853 – Commodore Matthew C Perry arrives in Edo Bay
1862 – International Exhibition; development of Gatling Gun; Nishi Amane sent to Leiden
1863 – Indemnity agreed between Britain and Satsuma
1864 – European ships attack Chōshū batteries in the Shimonoseki Straits, truce agreed
1868 – New foreign policy memorandum; Zola painting at Salon
1883 – Delegation sent to Prussia
1884 – Berlin Conference; patenting of the Maxim Gun
1885 – Nitrocellulose invented
1886 – Sinking of the Normanton
1894 – Start of Sino-Japanese War
1895 – Japanese triumph in First Sino-Japanese War; Taiwan taken, Korea client state
1900 – Boxer Rebellion
1902 – Alliance with Great Britain
1904 – Start of Russo-Japanese War
1905 – End of Russo-Japanese War; Japan gains Manchuria, half of Sakhalin, and Korean protectorate
1910 – Formal annexation of Korea
The Meiji Restoration
Edo Japan
The Japanese revolution had many of its roots in Japanese society, as well as western ideas.
There had...
Buy the full version of these notes or essay plans and more in our Japan, 1850 - 1914 Notes.
Bullet point notes looking in great detail at the development of modern Japan. From the collapse of the closed feudal state to the expansionist empire-builder, it notes the transformation of a country, and the controversial imposition of western culture - as well as the global spread of Japanese culture. Covers Japanese foreign policy, domestic politics, economics, intellectualism, society, and military. Complete with quotes, maps, and timelines....
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