Japanese Imperialism | World History | Khan Academy
Japanese Imperialism | World History | Khan Academy
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An overview of Japanese Imperialism in the 19th and 20th centuries. Discussion of imperial powers in East Asia, the Opium Wars and the Meiji Restoration.
World History on Khan Academy: From prehistory to today, this course covers the human events that have shaped our planet.
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Content
0.16 -> what we're going to discuss in this
2 -> video is the evolution of japan from
5.12 -> being one of the most isolated countries
7.359 -> in the world during the tokugawa
9.2 -> shogunate to being the first asian
11.84 -> country to truly industrialize and
14.639 -> become a world power historians will
17.6 -> often categorize imperialism or
20.08 -> colonialism in one of two categories you
23.199 -> have settler colonialism and economic
25.599 -> colonialism settler colonialism is
28.24 -> exemplified by the americas australia
31.119 -> south africa where you have the empire
34.239 -> sending people from their country to
36.64 -> settle that territory oftentimes
39.52 -> displacing indigenous people and
41.44 -> becoming the ruling class then you have
44.64 -> economic colonialism whose primary goal
47.84 -> is to feed the purported needs of the
50 -> industrial revolution
51.84 -> india and indonesia are good examples of
53.92 -> this you're looking for raw materials to
56.48 -> feed your increased productivity and
58.64 -> you're also looking for markets and so
61.28 -> in this context as we think about the
62.879 -> evolution of japan from being extremely
65.04 -> isolated to becoming an imperial power
67.6 -> think about which of these motivations
69.92 -> was primary to japan or maybe was there
72.72 -> a third motivation
75.6 -> let's begin in the 19th century japan is
79.439 -> in control of the tokugawa shogunate who
82.08 -> has closed the country to foreigners one
84.799 -> of the purported reasons is fearing the
87.52 -> influence of christian missionaries as
89.84 -> early as the 17th century
92.32 -> you have the british in india you have
94.96 -> the spanish who have been in the
96.64 -> philippines for several hundred years at
98.88 -> this point you have the dutch in control
102.159 -> of much of what will eventually be
104.479 -> indonesia this orange color shows where
107.52 -> the french already have a stronghold in
110.399 -> indochina and southeast asia and then
113.119 -> this peach color this is what they would
114.72 -> eventually control as we get into the
116.96 -> latter half of the 19th century but to
119.6 -> really understand japanese motivations
122.479 -> in the 19th century you have to think
124.799 -> about what was happening in qing china
127.92 -> as we talk about in the video on the
129.84 -> opium wars the british and other
132.48 -> imperial powers want access to chinese
135.2 -> markets the europeans want chinese
137.12 -> porcelain and chinese silk but the
139.36 -> chinese weren't interested in trading
141.2 -> with the europeans
142.959 -> the europeans especially the british
144.48 -> eventually do find something the chinese
146.64 -> want and that's opium which is an
148.08 -> addictive drug it's the core ingredient
150.319 -> in heroin and in morphine the chinese
153.2 -> government of course does not want that
155.36 -> opium inside the country but as we talk
157.68 -> about in previous videos the british are
159.599 -> able to force their way in with the
161.36 -> first opium war often referred to as gun
164.319 -> boat diplomacy and after winning the
166.48 -> first opium war the british are able to
168.48 -> extract concessions from the chinese
170.879 -> including opening up these ports and
173.2 -> even that does not satisfy the british
175.84 -> and so you have the second opium war
178.159 -> from 1856 to 1860 after which opium this
182.8 -> addictive drug is legalized and to make
185.84 -> matters worse for china
187.84 -> during the same period they have an
189.84 -> incredibly bloody civil war where over
192.72 -> 20 million people die historians think
195.76 -> in part due to the lack of confidence in
197.68 -> the qing dynasty because of the opium
200.72 -> wars and the opium itself that is very
203.04 -> destructive to society now the japanese
207.36 -> were watching all this and they also had
209.76 -> their own interactions with the west
212.72 -> in 1853
215.12 -> the american commodore matthew perry
218.159 -> comes in with some of his ships into edo
221.519 -> harbor which is modern-day tokyo and is
224.319 -> able to convince the japanese to trade
228.239 -> with the united states the term
230.08 -> convinced should be used very carefully
232.48 -> because once again this was a form of
234.48 -> gun boat diplomacy the japanese saw the
237.12 -> ships that commodore perry traveled with
239.439 -> and they knew what had happened during
241.519 -> the first opium war and they were in no
243.76 -> mood to have the same thing happen to
245.519 -> them especially when commodore perry
247.68 -> returned in 1854 with even more ships
250.239 -> the japanese decided why fight them we
253.12 -> will open up and allow some trade and
255.599 -> this is a very big deal remember the
258.32 -> tokugawa shogunate had closed the
261.199 -> country for over 200 years but now they
264.88 -> saw the writing on the wall they could
266.88 -> not defend themselves against the
269.04 -> american warships like in china these
272 -> concessions in japan to the americans
275.04 -> began to undermine trust in the tokugawa
278.639 -> shogunate and to get a feel for what
281.28 -> people were thinking in the mid 19th
283.68 -> century in japan
286.88 -> we have some quotations from shimazu
290.24 -> nariakira who was the daimyo of satsuma
294 -> which is at the southern tip of japan
296.56 -> right over here but he was considered to
298.479 -> be a leading thinker of the time and
300.639 -> this photograph it's not so clear but
302.56 -> this is believed to be the first
304.24 -> photograph taken by a japanese it gives
307.12 -> you a sense of the time that photography
309.36 -> dagger types were starting to be in use
313.12 -> it was inconceivable that china would
315.52 -> deteriorate to such a degree remember
317.919 -> we're talking about the opium wars we're
319.68 -> talking about the taiping rebellion with
322.08 -> its vast territory and population there
324.72 -> could not have been a dearth of loyal
326.96 -> and devoted patriots yet since the opium
330.08 -> war its administration has been in
331.919 -> disorder and ineffective it has been
334.88 -> plagued by rebellion while england and
337.199 -> france have invaded it from without
340.8 -> japan lies to the east of china and is
343.759 -> in such a position as to necessitate
346 -> immediate steps to prepare against
348.08 -> meeting the same fate as that which has
350.56 -> befallen the chinese
352.56 -> as soon as england achieves its design
354.56 -> in china it will most certainly direct
357.28 -> its military might eastward
359.759 -> if we take the initiative we can
361.68 -> dominate if we do not we will be
365.44 -> dominated
366.56 -> and this last sentence is often quoted
369.36 -> if we take the initiative we can
372 -> dominate if we do not we will be
375.28 -> dominated it's almost advocating for a
377.44 -> reactionary imperialism become an empire
380.4 -> or become part of someone else's empire
383.44 -> and this is the path that japan goes
386.319 -> down
387.199 -> in 1867 you have the young emperor meiji
391.68 -> come to power who is only 15 or 16 years
394.8 -> old at the time this would be the
397.36 -> beginning of what is known as the meiji
399.759 -> restoration you could say that it's a
401.759 -> restoration of power back to the emperor
404.88 -> the emperor existed even during the
406.639 -> shogunate but was a figurehead it was
408.639 -> the shogun who had the power but now the
411.28 -> emperor was able to take back the power
414.16 -> from the shogun but the meiji
415.919 -> restoration is perhaps even more
418.08 -> important in that it took japan from
420.8 -> being a closed feudal country and in
423.759 -> only a few decades to a modern
426.319 -> industrial imperial power
429.12 -> here is some data that gives you a sense
431.039 -> of this 1875
433.039 -> 600 000 metric tons of coal produced
436.52 -> 1913 21.3
439.52 -> million so it's grown almost 40 fold
443.16 -> 1873 26 steamships
447.08 -> 1913
448.68 -> 1500 1514 steamships
452 -> railroad track 1872 only 18 miles by
456.28 -> 1914 7
458.639 -> 100. emperor meiji dies in 1912 but as
462.16 -> we get into 1914 you start to see world
465.199 -> war one and as we talk about in other
467.52 -> videos this industrialization of japan
470.56 -> allows it to be a major actor in world
473.28 -> war one as we exit the 19th century and
476.08 -> we also go into the 20th century we see
479.199 -> japan leveraging its industrial might
481.68 -> that we see in numbers here in terms of
483.84 -> taking over territory and becoming an
486 -> imperial power
488.56 -> in this flashing red this is what japan
492.4 -> is able to take over by the end of world
496.16 -> war ii they were able to take over korea
499.039 -> at the beginning of the 20th century and
501.36 -> even though hitler's invasion of poland
503.199 -> is often given as the start of world war
505.36 -> ii japan's occupation and very brutal
508.8 -> occupation of northeast china is often
511.52 -> considered the real start of world war
513.519 -> ii as world war ii progresses japan is
516.08 -> able to take more and more territory
518.08 -> french indochina british burma the dutch
521.519 -> indies indonesia philippines and this
524.24 -> empire
525.36 -> only comes to an end when japan has to
528.08 -> surrender at the end of world war ii in
531.88 -> 1945. so go back to the previous
534.24 -> question what type of colonial power was
537.2 -> japan
538.16 -> it definitely wanted the natural
539.6 -> resources in fact especially when it was
541.44 -> at war it needed access to oil which
543.92 -> indonesia had it needed access to
546.72 -> natural resources that all of these
548.32 -> areas had but there was also this
550.399 -> element of wanting to be a major player
553.36 -> on the global stage and fear that if it
555.279 -> wasn't it might become a victim of
557.92 -> colonialization itself
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5SkpVqjWmg