Imperialism in the
Far East
Boxer Rebellion: Review
• 1898: European powers force the Chinese Emperor
Guangxu to reform Chinese society
• 1900: Empress Cixi seizes power
- Allows Boxers to spread throughout China
- Boxers begin massacring Europeans and Christians
- Over 30,000 dead by the end of 1900
- Europeans intervene to crush rebellion
Empress Cixi, 1902
Aftermath of Rebellion
“The people are afraid of officials, the officials are
afraid of foreigners, and the foreigners are afraid
of the people"
• Cixi is allowed to stay in power
• Some educational reforms are passed
• Qing Dynasty = weak and unpopular
• Europeans don’t colonize China completely
Xinhai Revolution
• 1908: Empress Cixi dies, replaced by her two
year old nephew, Puyi
• 1908-9: Sun Yat-Sen leads a failed coup
- Kuomintang: Nationalist Party (KMT)
• 1911: Royal Guard joins Revolution against the
new Emperor
• Sun Yat-Sen elected China’s first president
• Abdicates in favor of Yuan Shikai, an Imperial
general
Democracy?
• 1913: First democratic elections
- KMT score huge victory
• 1915: Yuan proclaims himself Emperor, bans
KMT
• Sun Yat-sen calls for “Second Revolution”
• Yuan forced to reestablish Republic
• After Yuan’s death, political fragmentation
• KMT unifies country in 1928 under Chiang Kaishek
Chiang Kai-shek
& Mao Zedong
Japan
Meiji Restoration
• Beginning in late 1800’s
• Change traditional ways to Western ways
• Military updated
• No more Samurai
• Centralized the Japanese government
Rise of Japanese Imperialism
• Response to European Imperialism
• Modernization of Economy
• Government Centralization
• Nationalism
• Racism
Japanese Imperial Wars
Japanese Imperial Wars
Sino-Japanese War
• 1894-1895
• Japan crushes China
• Japan establishes protectorate in Korea
• China cedes Taiwan to Japan
Russo-Japanese War
• 1904-1905
• Japan annexes Korea, Southern Manchuria
• Japan gains concessions from Western powers
Co-Prosperity Sphere
• Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
• “Cooperative” effort to rid East Asia of Western
influence
• Replace Western Powers with Japan
• Japan was the only beneficiary
Document Activity
• Who wrote this document? What is their point
of view?
• Do you feel this document is accurate? Why or
why not?
• What does this document tell you about
Japanese modernization?
• What does this document tell you about the rise
of Japanese imperialism?
Document Activity, Part II
Imagine you are the leaders of Country X. Your country is fairly
well-off, but you lack modern infrastructure, a modern
economy, and a modern governmental system. Your country is
very isolated both politically and economically. Recently,
several imperial powers have created colonies in your region.
These powers have been putting pressure on you to open your
country up to foreign trade and investment.
You have been doing research on the history of Japan, which
faced an almost identical situation a century ago. Based on the
documents you have, evaluate Japan’s actions.
As leaders of Country X, would you follow’s Japan’s model?
Why or why not?
What you would do differently?
Southeast Asia
French Indo-China
• Modern day Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia
• Reasons
- Counter British holdings in India
- Path to China
- Source of Resources
- “Civilize” indigenous people