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there was expansion not only in Europe and the Americas, but in East Asia as well

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1868 Meiji [MAY-gee] Restoration

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a chain of events that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji

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powerful army trained by Prussian officers

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powerful navy modeled on British expertise

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Port of Edo

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today the Port of Tokyo

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navy displayed their power with new technology such as a set off hot balloons

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acquired 12 modern war ships

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although not the battleships that would become famous in the 1890s

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like Europe and the United States, Japan was looking beyond its boundaries for new colonies for two reasons

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1. symbolism of power and control

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2. security

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one Prussian military advisor noted to his Japanese colleagues that Korea resembled a dagger pointed at the heart of Japan

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Korea was a tributary state in Beijing's orbit

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Japanese saw Korea as an opportunity to secure territories for primary product production

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imports to Japan

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grains in Manchuria

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Japanese drew commodities

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Japan was on a collision course with China

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China had a very large army and navy

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China was different from the Europeans looking at Africa

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different from how the United States spanked Spain in the Philippines and in Cuba

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Japan had to go up against a traditional and relative powerful neighbor

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China's army and navy were large by antiquated

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poor morale

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could not field the modern weaponry and tactics that Japanese could

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broken chain of command within the Chinese military

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1894 war finally erupted

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China was quickly trounced

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most of China's fleet was sunk

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so impossible to hang on to the Korean peninsula

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atrocities committed by Japanese troops

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looked upon the Chinese and Koreans as racially inferior

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race gets tied into imperial expansion

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November 1894 Port Arthur massacre

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6,000 soldiers killed leaving 36 behind to bury the cadavers

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a pattern in imperial expansion

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this was humiliating to China

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Korea became a dependency of Japan

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later annexed to Japan

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Chinese forced to sign agreement

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Japan was allowed to trade all the way up the Yangtze River

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China had to make onerous indemnity payments

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one of the first filmed wars

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struggle was not over in the 1890s

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the arrival of Japan destabilized the balance of forces in East Asia

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compelled the Russians to intensify their race toward the Pacific

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to thwart Japanese advancement

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Russia had designs on the Pacific

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expanding into Persia

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Persia empire was a hobbled one

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British empire in India bearing down on Persian state as well

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The Great Game

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1901 Kipling, "Kim"

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using railroads as a weapon to penetrate into Persia

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the railroad to Baghdad

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access to oil and pipelines

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1907 Anglo-Russian Convention

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the partition of Persia into two spheres of influence

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identified respective control in Persia, Afghanistan, and Tibet

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neither country would interfere in Tibet’s internal affairs

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recognized Britain's influence over Afghanistan

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settled the scores for a time between Britain and Russia

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both were concerned about German expansion

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a looming tension between Russia and Japan

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two emerging empires

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Port Arthur

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gateway for Russians to Pacific

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access from Baltic Sea to Pacific

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not unlike the United States

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Trans-Siberian Railroad

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1891 Vladivostok

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1904 Russo-Japanese War

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Japanese war ships attacked Russians in Port Arthur

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Japanese knew they had to be swift and decisive

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before Russians that came via the Suez Canal

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could avoid Africa

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also because of the Trans-Siberian Railroad

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first full-scale naval battle in modern

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the Russian Pacific fleet was annihilated in one day, May 1905

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losing 8 battleships in one encounter

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like China, Russia was deeply humiliated

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sought its revenge in the Second War War

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Japan triumphant in the Pacific

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Russia and China are left defeated with fiscal problems

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both then reformed

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by 1900 the world map had changed

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rising nationalism did not expel the impulses of empire

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free trade did not put an end to the idea of foreign intervention

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empires increasingly jostled from Java to the Amazon