Meiji Restoration and Imperialism in Japan

Posted on Dec 3, 2024 in History

Meiji Japan

The industrialization of feudal Japan was unusual. In 1854, a U.S. warship threatened to bomb Tokyo if Japan did not open its markets. Emperor Mutsuhito appointed a government that initiated major reforms and adopted Western industrialization models. The state nearly monopolized business between 1868 and 1880.

After 1880, the state facilitated the takeover of government by large capitalists, known as Zaibatsu in Japan. Rapid economic development relied on abundant, cheap labor. However, the domestic market could not consume all the production. Consequently, large corporations advocated for Japanese expansion into the Pacific and Asia.

Causes of Imperial Expansion

Economic Reasons

In the colonies, the metropolis sought economic resources, primarily raw materials, energy sources, and markets for manufactured goods.

Political Factors

Major powers demonstrated continuous interest in controlling strategically important routes like the Suez Canal (1869) and Panama Canal (1914). Strategic reasons, along with the desire for prestige and power (defense of national interests), served economic policy.

Ideological Factors

With rising nationalism, imperialist mystique spread, exalting each nation’s values. This was combined with patriotism and racist connotations. Postulates asserting the superiority of the white race and its “civilizing” mission against the “inferior races” of colonized countries proliferated.

Religious Reasons

Catholic and Protestant missions performed extensive humanitarian work.

Scientific Motivations

Geographical societies were centers of colonial propaganda.

Forms of Colonial Domination

1. Colonies where the indigenous population was entirely under colonial power, exercised by a governor. This system predominated in Africa.
2. Domains of the British Empire implementing self-government through assemblies elected by colonists, as in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the South African Union.
3. Colonial protectorates, territories with existing sovereign states and political/cultural structures. The colonial power theoretically respected the government but controlled military and economic exploitation.
4. Concessions, a less visible control system where a state temporarily ceded power over territories, like Hong Kong.

The Berlin Conference (1885)

Agreements included:

• Free trade and navigation on the Niger and Congo rivers.
• Prohibition of slavery.
• The principle of effective occupation, requiring actual occupation to claim a territory.

New powers, notably Italy and Germany, joined the scramble for Africa.

International Conflicts

The UK’s attempt to create a Cairo-to-Cape African empire clashed with France’s west-to-east colonial axis, leading to the Fashoda Incident (1898), resolved diplomatically.

In southern Africa, tensions between English and Dutch settlers escalated after gold and diamond discoveries, resulting in the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). Defeated Boers received some autonomy within the British Union of South Africa. Early 20th-century clashes erupted in Morocco over French protectorate claims and German opposition.

Traces of Imperialism

Economic Exploitation

Europeans practiced an economy of plunder, operating at low cost in resource-rich areas. Settlers appropriated land, displacing indigenous populations. Large companies freely exploited plantation concessions.

Colonial Company

Demographically, European medicine (hygiene, vaccines, hospitals) reduced mortality. Imperialism impacted perceptions of primitive communities, leading to acculturation.

Bloc Formation and Arms Race

From 1907, major European powers divided into two blocs: the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy), created by Bismarck to isolate France, protect Austria against Russia in the Balkans, and guarantee Italy against French attacks; and the Triple Entente (France, Russia, UK).

This alliance system, rather than deterring conflict, became increasingly difficult to control. The arms race escalated, with compulsory military service and improved weapons technology.

The July 1914 Crisis

In this climate, a new crisis proved fatal after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo (June 1914) by a Bosnian Serb nationalist.

In July, Austria-Hungary, with German consent, sent Serbia an ultimatum demanding an investigation. Despite accepting most demands, Serbia’s response was deemed unsatisfactory by Austria, which wanted its army to enter Serbia to pursue terrorist groups.

On July 28, Austria declared war on Serbia. Russia, unable to accept Austrian hegemony in the Balkans, mobilized its troops. The alliance system was activated. Germany and France supported their allies. On August 4, the UK intervened after German troops violated Belgian neutrality. Italy, allied with Austria-Hungary and Germany, remained neutral.

The Great War

Characteristics

The first modern war, it utilized all human, economic, and technical aspects of participating countries. Seventy million soldiers were mobilized, along with modern weapons (artillery, machine guns, battleships, submarines, poison gas, tanks, aircraft).

Belligerent countries imposed war economies, with war industries providing arms and ammunition. Unprepared for the conflict’s length, governments issued public debt and borrowed from the U.S. Propaganda was another key feature.

Phases of War

The War of Movement (August-December 1914)

The German Schlieffen Plan aimed for quick victory by defeating France early and then focusing on Russia. However, the Allies halted the German advance (Battle of Marne, September 1914). On the Eastern Front, Russian troops invaded East Prussia, but Germany counterattacked successfully at Tannenberg.

The Peace Treaty and the New Map of Europe

The Paris Peace Conference

In January 1918, President Wilson outlined his “Fourteen Points” for a just and lasting peace, including:

• Abolition of secret diplomacy.
• Freedom of navigation and international trade.
• Reduction of armaments.
• Breakup of empires and self-determination for minorities.
• Creation of a League of Nations.

At the Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920), five treaties stipulated peace terms and new borders. Defeated countries were unheard, merely signing treaties imposed by the Council of Four (Clemenceau, Lloyd George, Wilson, Orlando).

A Peace Imposed by Victors

The Treaty of Versailles, regulating peace with Germany, was most important.

• Germany lost Alsace-Lorraine to France, Poznan to Poland (creating the “Polish Corridor” separating East Prussia), and its colonies were divided between France and the UK.
• Held responsible for the war, Germany paid heavy reparations, surrendered its merchant fleets and locomotives, and ceded Saar coal mine exploitation to France for 15 years.
• Germany eliminated conscription, limited its army to 100,000 men, and the Rhine’s left bank was occupied for 15 years. Union with Austria was forbidden.

Other treaties reorganized Eastern and Central European and Balkan borders. Austro-Hungarian and Turkish empires were dismembered. A “cordon sanitaire” (Poland, Finland, Baltic states) was formed around Russia to contain Bolshevism.

Consequences of War

Demographic Consequences

Around 10 million died, with similar numbers wounded. Indirect civilian casualties and the 1918 flu pandemic added to the toll. Demographic losses reduced birth rates in later generations.

Economic Consequences

Destruction of production and transportation infrastructure, along with high financial costs from increased government debt and foreign borrowing, led to European indebtedness. World War I marked the end of European economic hegemony, with the U.S. and the dollar replacing the UK and the pound.

The Russian Revolution

Russian military defeats, losses, and social unrest peaked in 1917.

The February Revolution

In February 1917, a spontaneous revolution began in Petrograd, spreading to Moscow. Troops joined strikers. Revolutionaries reorganized the Petrograd Soviet. Tsar Nicholas II abdicated, and a provisional government formed.

The Provisional Government (March-October)

Two parallel powers existed: the provisional government and the Soviets. Bolsheviks opposed cooperation with the government. Reforms included amnesty, civil liberties, land redistribution promises, election preparations, and independence for Finland and Poland. However, continued participation in World War I clashed with the Bolsheviks’ and Mensheviks’ desire for peace.

The NEP and the Birth of the USSR

In 1921, Lenin announced the New Economic Policy (NEP), a temporary, partial return to a market economy. Private property was recognized, and monetary economics restored. By 1927, production recovered to 1914 levels.

In 1922, the USSR was created, with a constitution in 1924. The Communist Party held all power, enforced by the army and political police.

The Triumph of Stalin

Political Struggle

Trotsky and the opposition denounced Stalin’s concentrated power, attempting to remove the growing bureaucracy.

Economic and International Struggle

Stalin defended “socialism in one country,” prioritizing the USSR’s socialist society over world revolution.

Absolute Power

Stalin eliminated opposition. Trotsky was dismissed (1925), expelled (1929), and assassinated (1940).

The Five Year Plans

Stalin’s industrial policy aimed to create powerful heavy and military industries. Five-year plans set state-directed goals. Heavy industry developed spectacularly, at the expense of consumer goods and the population’s living standards.

The Roaring Twenties in America

The U.S. experienced dramatic growth between 1922 and 1929, with new industries (automotive, electrical, appliances) booming. The automobile industry symbolized the era. Taylorism and Fordism were applied, lowering prices and increasing production. Advertising and hire purchase schemes developed, fostering mass consumption. Large business groups emerged through mergers.

Causes of the Stock Market Crash

• Crisis in traditional industries (textiles, coal, steel, shipbuilding) and agriculture.
• Decreased purchasing power and falling incomes.
• Crisis in the construction sector.

Despite this, stock market speculation continued, creating a bubble. The imbalance between economic stagnation and excessive stock growth made the market fragile.

The Great Depression

• The crash destroyed savings, reduced credit, consumption, and investment.
• Banks collapsed due to withdrawals and unpaid loans.
• Demand and investment ceased, causing industrial crisis and unemployment (12 million in 1932).
• Millions became homeless.

Effects on the Rest of the World

Countries dependent on raw material exports or U.S. credit/investment suffered most, including Eastern Europe, Latin America, China, and Southeast Asia. Industrialized European economies dependent on U.S. support also suffered. Lack of international cooperation worsened the banking collapse and debt crisis. The British abandoned the gold standard in 1931, followed by others. France experienced a less severe, later crisis.

Common Features of Totalitarianism

• State control over all spheres of life.
• One-party dictatorship with a charismatic leader.
• Anti-communism and anti-capitalism, advocating “national socialism.”
• Aggressive, expansionist nationalism.
• Racism and anti-Semitism.
• Violence against opponents.
• Militias or paramilitary organizations.

The Weimar Republic

In November 1918, Social Democrats proclaimed a republic in Berlin. In January 1919, the Spartacist uprising occurred. A Constituent Assembly in Weimar drafted a democratic constitution. The government signed the Treaty of Versailles. Hyperinflation ruined the country in 1922-1923. Stability returned between 1924 and 1929 with international assistance.

The Beginnings of Nazism

In 1919, the German Workers’ Party was founded in Munich. With Hitler’s arrival (1920), it became the NSDAP, forming the SA. Hitler became party leader, establishing a hierarchical structure. The 1923 Munich putsch led to Hitler’s imprisonment. Released in 1925, Hitler revised his program, focusing on anti-Semitism and using propaganda to gain support.

The Crisis of the Republic and the Rise of Nazism

The Great Depression devastated German democracy and propelled the Nazis to power. In 1930, the NSDAP became the second-largest party. Hindenburg won the 1932 presidential election. In January 1933, Hindenburg appointed Hitler Chancellor, hoping to moderate him, but was mistaken.

The Nazi Dictatorship and the Third Reich

Hitler retained his radicalism. The Reichstag fire (February 1933) was blamed on communists. The March 1933 elections gave Hitler full powers, which he used to eliminate other parties.