The period surrounding the late and early 20th century was the most dramatic era in modern history. It was a period where Western ideals were pushed by motivated empires with ambitions of wealth and expanding territory and, while impossible to distinguish the most influencing factor that led to the Westernization of nations on a global scale, it is easy to determine key points that played important roles in world history. With Western cultures emerging with both technological and military advantage over secluded and obsolete empires, it was only a matter of time before the West inspired and impacted subjugated nations to build an empire of their own. Countries such as Japan, Russia, as well as Europe’s scramble for Africa are prime examples of existing legacies from the imperialistic era of the late 19th century and onto the early 20th century. A balance of imperial expansion and their eventual collapse were the key components utilized by Western nations to modernize and westernize the world between the periods of 1850 and 1950. Perhaps the most dramatic example of a country highly influenced by Western ideals was Japan in the early 20th Century. Initially, Japan faced severe social issues, primarily with crop failure, economic turmoil, and a rising merchant class in the late 19th century under the Tokugawa rule. To further exacerbate domestic issues, Japan was also under pressure from European nations who wanted to open trade ports in Japan. These demands were
The 1920s was a time of prosperity and new ideas that challenged the social norm and began the movement into modernism that we know of today. The economy was still coming off of the First World War and tax policies were creating an economic boom with the increase of discretionary income. The United States was in a scary position on what to do after coming home from such a brutal war that was going to end all wars. The young generation brought out the best in people and challenged the intellect of many bright minds that had the solid traditionalist views with the new fast paced modernistic thoughts. The 1920s were a time of growth and led the United States and the modern views came quick and made a lasting impact.
By the nineteenth century Western nations had developed superior military technology than other countries. Western countries were able to control other nations by coercing them into unfair trading treaties which would leave the country economically dependent on them. The countries rarely resisted successfully due to their insufficient military power. This occured often Asia with only Japan and Thailand remaining independent. Only Japan thrived however and became an imperial power. Japan was an isolated country until the United States forcibly opened it to trade. Japan experienced a regime change following a tumultuous time in which western nations coerced Japan into trade treaties. The new government favored capitalism and industry which lead to Japan industrializing impressively fast through “top down” government mandated modernization. Western imperialism forced Japan to modernize in order to remain a sovereign and successful state. Modernization in this case was synonymous with becoming more like the West. Imperialism drastically changed Japanese economic interaction as well as Japanese culture and class system because modernization included becoming more like the West in most aspects but their treatment of women remained the same because the West did not treat women very differently.
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
Driven by their ambition of increasing commercial profit, protecting their interests in the region from other European competitors, and expanding economic influence in Asia, the Europeans played an irreplaceable role in the transformation of Asian countries in the era of 1700 to 1900. The Europeans transformed Asian empires that enforced “closed country” policy, which threatened the European commercial interests in Asia in the 19th century, to polities that were forced to open up ports to trade. The increasing commercial interactions between the Europeans and the Asians also triggered the transformation of the political and social structures of Asian countries, ending feudal dictatorships and influencing new polities to adopt western legal framework. Furthermore, European religion and other western cultural features were also introduced and later integrated into the eastern cultures. In the meantime, European empires expanded their commercial activities from coastal cities to the interior Asian lands, increasing their presence and domination from the 16th century colonial era to the period of imperialism in the 19th and 20th century. The extensive interaction in the era integrated the two sides of the world, fostering the communication and mutual development that shaped the world order in the 20th century.
Throughout history, many powerful nations interfered with nations that were weaker than they were. This form of sabotaging a nation is economic, political or cultural life is called as imperialism. Imperialism is often separated into two sects. The first one is old imperialism, which was the period from the 1500s to the 1800s, where European nation started to colonize many areas such as the Americas, and parts of Southeast Asia. On the other hand, the new imperialism was the period between the years “1870-1914”, where Europe became more focused on expanding their land into Asia and Africa. Imperialism had many pros and cons. In addition, it also had many causes led by the feeling of nationalism.
Underneath the façade of dancing and parties, the decade of the 1920s was a violent clash of culture between the conservative Protestants mostly from rural, small town America and the liberal, modern city dwellers. The liberals embraced and celebrated their newfound freedoms, such as sexual liberation, while the conservatives tried desperately to hold onto their traditional religious standards. The World War sent many Americans abroad for the first time and blacks were introduced to foreign societies where they were equal to whites. The post-war years saw mass immigration, which brought new religions and cultures to America. Prohibition became law, and failed miserably to produce the moral society its supporters had predicted. While this was a time of economic prosperity, the inability of the conservatives and the liberals to reach a common ground on moral issues provided a backdrop for the instability and social
The rise of the West refers to a period of time when Western Europe rose to power due to many environmental, political, and social factors. Many historians attribute the Rise of the West to the time period of 1450 to 1850. This power surge of Western Europe has been attributed to the global dominance of Western Europe and America in the 21 century. The interesting aspect regarding the Rise of the West is how Western Europe developed so differently from other parts of the world, leading it to be the superpower of the world. Over the past 50 years, the idea of the rise of the West has been closely re-examined. Prior to the 1950s, historians believed that the rise of the West occurred because it was destined to; because Europe is the best and
During the last thirty years of the nineteenth century, Europe's invented traditions arose through education, ecclesiastical, politics, military and monarchical. This period of time the European rush into Africa also took place. Europe was in the search of power and prestige and sought Africa as a prime target, therefore, colonies of white settlement emerged throughout Africa. The essence of the idea of the Empire the Europeans had as a background aided them in recreating that tradition in Africa as they had in their homeland and in Asia. However, the Empire tradition in Africa took on an odd character, distinguishing it from past imperial forms. This occurred because African empires came late in the day and were influenced by the established
Early in the twentieth century, imperialism was brought up by European powers of the time; Germany, Great Britain, France, and Russia. These nations were after raw materials in Asia, Africa, and South America and when they realize that they could not retrieve it, they began to colonize smaller counties that contain the many resources they need and used it for their benefit. Western values played a big part in European imperialism. European civilization experienced a period of extraordinary rapid expansion worldwide during the nineteenth century and the twentieth century. European nation-states had become very powerful because of industrialization. Imperialist projects will unite European industrial power with smaller nation-states.
There was an abundant amount of ideological trends that took place in the twentieth century that formed the political and social landscape of the world today. Nazism had a huge impact on the historical development in Germany and overall, influenced the whole world tremendously. Nazism as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary states, “the body of political and economic doctrines held and put into effect by the Nazis in Germany from 1933 to 1945 including the totalitarian principle of government, predominance of especially Germanic groups assumed to be racially superior, and supremacy of the führer.” Germany began to struggle in many important areas in the 1920s under the Weimer government. Germany especially struggled economically and the lack of funds left the Germans feeling quite uneasy. These struggles opened the doors for Communism to creep its way into Germany. The German people were looking to any alternative that would replace the Weimar reign.
Throughout premodern history, the West held relatively idle next to their Asian and Middle Eastern counterparts. However by the middle of the nineteenth century, the West emerged as a global powerhouse. The West stood apart from their counterparts as the world’s dominant economic, military, and geopolitical powers. Their transformation didn’t happen overnight, a chronological evaluation of premodern events supported their emergence. From their plaques in late 14th century to their dominance in by the 19th century, this chronological approach tracked the economic, military and geopolitical changes of the West compared to their Asian counterparts. The chronological approach included the Renaissance, the West’s integration of gunpowder and print products, investments in the British and Dutch East India companies, and their exploration for new land.
According to Moritz Bonn, “the modern world is the result of colonisation,” and colonisation is generally defined as “the transfer of political, economic, and cultural institutions from one society to another.” During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the world was in chaos. A number of countries from all over the world had colonised other states or had been colonised by others. However, among the states that had escaped from the fate of being colonised, Japan stood out more noticeably as it had become westernised, and turned itself into the only nation in East Asia with a strong and competent military power as other Western countries, such as the U.S., Germany, and British. There are several major factors that contribute to the fact that Japan was not colonised by the Western powers. Firstly, it is primarily related to the success of social and cultural reforms of Japan during the Meiji period. Secondly, it is correlated to the Japan’s completion of westernisation and industrialisation.To begin
From the late eighteenth to the mid twentieth century, European countries - predominantly England and France - oversaw the expansion and collapse of their empires, during which time they had come to understand their Eastern colonies through the lens of ‘Orientalism.’ A term coined by the literary critic Edward Said in 1978, Orientalism refers to the project through which Western artists and intellectuals fabricated an image of ‘the Orient’ - an area stretching between ‘India and the Bible Lands’ - in order to legitimise their control over it. This project characterised the East as an inferior, post-civilised realm, where order had been displaced by - as Said writes - an ‘Oriental backwardness.’ However, by the end of the nineteenth
Situated along routes going in every direction were the merchants of Constantinople, which allowed them to maintain direct commercial links with manufacturers and other suppliers from all over Europe and Asia. Byzantium drew enormous amounts of wealth from the control of trade and the levying of customs duties on merchandise that passed through (Bentley, Ziegler, & Streets-salter, n.d.). Therefore, success came easily to Byzantine merchants, who enjoyed a very strong position in international trade. Eventually, the purchasing power of Byzantine merchants became such that it could influence prices in markets as far as Cairo and Alexandria (Laiou & Cecile, 2007). Also, in response to their success, emperors gave merchants the right to become members of the Senate, thus elevating their position into nobility (Laiou & Cecile, 2007).
Sociological roots can be traced back in the works of thinkers like Plato, Aristotle, and Confucius. However, according to ‘classical origins’, it emerged in the early 19th century as a reaction to the challenges of modern society. Growing, belief in science, mobility and technical development brought crucial changes in the way people saw life, such as the collapse of traditional norms and loss of religion authority. Social scientists and thinkers of that time reacted to these changes and tried to learn and understand what keeps social groups together and find out potential solutions to the breakdown of social solidarity. Nevertheless, theorists and philosophers of the period of Enlightenment, in the 18th century, helped to build a base