Similarities Between China And Japanese Imperialism

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Leading up to the First World War, Japan began pursuing modernization and imperialism. Before the wars however, Japan was isolationist for much the same reason China was isolationist. Both China and Japan viewed themselves as superior to other countries but acted differently on this idea. China was focused on defense while Japan began to plan for world conquest. Arguably while China was focused on self-stabilization, Japan was focused on projecting their imperialism towards the rest of Asia. This lead to the invasion of the North Easter Chinses province of Manchuria in September 1931 which was occupied by Japan until the end of the Second World War. The invasion was the first step of Japan’s plan to conquer China and ultimately the world. The Japanese planned to take Manchuria for its resources to build its army then attack each province …show more content…

This atrocity is partially the result of extreme colonialism. Imperialism and colonialism are similar but not exactly the same. Whereas colonialism is the colonization of countries for exploitation and control, imperialism is the means of projecting nationalism and influence onto other countries. According to Dr. Lanza, the “ideological justification for the Japanese was Asianism.” The Japanese believed themselves to be superior to the rest of Asia which was their justification for invading China, much of the South Pacific and later Pearl Harbor. This is not dissimilar to Britain as they colonized China and India to both exploit resources and assert their power and superiority. Japan is simply both intentionally or unintentionally emulating the colonialist tendencies of the West and slightly modifying it into imperialism. Arguably, the difference is Britain generally initially viewed China as equal trading partners whereas Japans interests were in total control over China and

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