WHII-14

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=Identify major developments in Japanese history in the 19th and early 20th centuries.=

Link [|here] to watch a brief, entertaining video on the history of Japan.



D. Growing role in international affairs

 * **Dramatic Event Page on The Great White Fleet**
 * **First Sino-Japanese War**
 * **Russo-Japanese War**
 * **World War I**
 * **Second Sino-Japanese War**
 * **World War II**

A. [|the Meiji Restoration]
[|Interpretations of the Restoration]
 * 1) Political revolution in late 19th century that led to industrialization
 * 2) Signified end of Tokugawa Era
 * 3) Emperor Meiji returned to Tokyo & regained power.
 * 4) Actual political power was transferred from Tokugawa Bakufu to a small amount of nobles and former [|samurai].
 * 5) Meiji pushed to reform economy & military to “keep up” with western countries.
 * 6) Reforms effect religion: human rights was now considered a religious freedom.
 * 7) The government created an educational system modeled after the French & German.

The [|Meiji Restoration] from Asia for Educators. Again from Asia for Educators, [|here] is an activity that can be used in the classroom for students to understand the distinctions between the periods of Japanese history.
 * [|The Meiji Restoration] from the History Channel
 * Click [|here] for a ten-minute video about the Restoration.

The status of [|women] was identified as important for Japan to receive full recognition from western governments.
 * Another resource: [|Women and Public Life in Early Meiji Japan] -
 * "Women’s founding of and participation in conflicting discourses over the value of women in Meiji public life demonstrate that during this period active and vocal women were everywhere, that they did not meekly submit to the dictates of the government and intellectuals over what women could or should do, and that they were fully integrated in the production of Meiji culture."

B. [|the abolition of feudalism]

 * 1) Started by Meiji attempt to decentralize feudalist system[[image:http://www.museevirtuel.ca/media/edu/EN/uploads/image/LO1DA26813.jpg align="right"]]
 * 2) Ended complicated class structure
 * 3) Starting in 1869, Lords began to turn their land over to the Emperor & others began to do the same.
 * 4) Standardized the various “domains” administration; creating “governors.”
 * 5) 250 former “domains” were redone into 72 prefectures & three cities.
 * 6) After redistricting the domains, “governors” were eased out of political power.

[|Chart of Japan's Feudal System] that preceded the Meiji Restoration.

C. the borrowing and adaptation of western technology and industrial growth

 * 1) Japan became an industrial country because it was seen as a sign of strength.
 * 2) The already-existing treaties with western countries limited Japan’s economic success until after the turn of the century.
 * 3) Schools’ philosophy & methodology were based on western ideals
 * 4) Then schools put an emphasis on ethics & created a nationalist education, which is a European ideal
 * 5) Army was modeled after Prussia’s & Navy was modeled after Britain’s
 * 6) Currency was reformed & a national bank was created in 1880’s
 * 7) 1889: European-style constitution was created
 * 8) 1872: the first railway was created from Tokyo to Yokohama

[|Japan's Modern History: An Outline of the Period] [|Essay about the Industrial Revolution in Japan]

[|Industrialization of Japan]

D. Japan’s growing role in international affairs
====**1. [|First Sino-Japanese War] ** 1894-95; defeated China; making Japan the first non-western imperial power. ====
 * Click [|here] to read about the war from the point of view from modern Chinese strategist.
 * Click [|here] to read about the Sino-Japanese War from the perspective of Leon Trotsky.
 * [|Here] is an animation video of the war.
 * Click [|here] to watch a short video about the Sino-Japanese War from 3 Minute History

==== **2. [|Russo-Japanese War]**: 1904-05; Japan was trying to fight westernization by expanding its borders of control; showed non-western country could defeat a western power. ==== [|Video] of the history of the Russo-Japanese War in 3 minutes.
 * [|The Treaty of Portsmouth and the Russo-Japanese War, 1904-1905]
 * [|The Russo-Japanese War Research Society], with plenty of primary documents, maps, and history articles.
 * [|Website from MIT] which has maps and text about the war.

Here is a lesson plan on [|The Russo-Japanese War, 1904-1905: A Turning Point in Japanese History, World History, and How War is Conveyed to the Public] suggested by Columbia University.



Click on the picture to look at more political cartoons from the Russo-Japanese War.

** 3. Joined allied forces in World War I in 1914-18. **
[|Here] is a video from Khan Academy about the involvement of Japan in World War I.
 * Click [|here] to read about the ultimatum Japan gave Germany in 1914.
 * Click [|here] to read about the legacy of Japan's involvement World War I.



**4. [|Second Sino-Japanese War]: 1937-45**
Before the war started, Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931. Read more about the invasion [|here].

Part of the Second Sino-Japanese War was the rape of Nanking in 1937, where the Japanese committed atrocities against the Chinese people.

Click [|here] to read eyewitness account and [|here] to read a general history.

[|Read] about how the war shaped modern China.

[|Prezi] of the consequences of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
 * [|Here] is a short animation video of the war.
 * [|Here] is an hour long documentary about the Japanese invasion of China.

Click [|here] to learn more about Japan and China's history as rivals in the 19th and 20th centuries from BBC.



**5. World War II: 1938-45**

 * Japan's Quest for Power and World War II in Asia, from Asia for Educators**


 * [|Here] is a brief history of World War II in the Pacific.
 * [|Article] from Slate: What caused Japan's aggression during World War II.
 * [|View] a short video about Pearl Harbor and [|view] a short video about the Battle of Okinawa from the History Channel.
 * Click [|here] for a Crash Course video that follows the course of Japanese history and focuses on the nationalism aspect.

[|Timeline]of Japanese involvement in World War Two.

**For more about Pearl Harbor and the war against Japan, see World History II 24.**

To learn about Japan, Women and the Home Front, and World War II, Click [|here.] Here is a [|website] that gives some insight to the life of women during the Meiji restoration. This [|essay] describes the changes in the roles of women over time in Japanese culture.

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Examining the Japanese Textbook Controversies, Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education