BRITISH AND JAPANESE EMPIRE

British and Japanese Empire

British and Japanese Empire

Purpose of the Study

Any discussion of the Japanese empire must begin with a definition of the geographic and conceptual scope of the subject. Over the course of a relatively short history, Japan exercised dominion over its East Asian neighbors through a variety of means that entailed different degrees of control and that changed significantly over time. The relatively small colonial component of the empire, which Japan ruled directly, consisted of Taiwan (annexed 1895), Karafuto (southern Sakhalin, annexed 1905), Kwantung (the present day Lushun-Dalian metropolitan area, leased 1905), Korea (annexed 1910), and the Nan'yo (Caroline and Marshall Islands, League of Nations Mandate, 1922). Although Japan's imperial architects regarded these colonies as vital, it was the indirect domination of China that, over the long run, drew the lion's share of their attention.

Significance

Japanese power insinuated itself into the national life of its larger neighbor through a variety of means: the unequal treaty system in which Japan became an increasingly dominant player as the gendarme of East Asia, the control of regional spheres of influence, the management of a network of treaty port enclaves, the establishment of special economic and cultural institutions and, when conditions permitted, the cultivation of client regimes.

Meanwhile, at its peak, the British Empire was the largest formal empire that the world had ever known. As such, its power and influence stretched all over the globe; shaping it in all manner of ways. This site is dedicated to analysing the history of the British Empire: The triumphs, the humiliations, the good that it brought and the bad that it inflicted. For better or worse the British Empire had a massive impact on the history of the world. It is for this reason that this site tries to bring to life the peoples, cultures, adventures and domination that made the Empire such a powerful institution. It is neither an apology for, nor a nostalgic reminiscince of the institution that so dominated the world for over two centuries. Rather, it analyses and describes the vast institution that so influenced the shape of the world that we see today.

Background of the Study

In 1900 Britain was in many respects the world's leading nation, enjoying a large share of world trade, a dominant position in the international money market, and possessing a far flung empire supported by the world's most powerful navy. Japan was a complete contrast, sharing with Britain only the fact that it too was a nation of Islands lying off the shore of a major continent. Until the 1860s it had possessed a social and economic structure more akin to that of feudal, rather than twentieth century, Europe. By the 1990s, the positions were almost reversed. This paper sets out to examine the contrasting democratic political systems of the two nations and to explore the social and democratic consequences of the changes that have occurred.

The establishment of the Japanese archipelago assumed its present shape around 10,000 years ...