Europe became the center of the world economy in the nineteenth century and its influenced expanded as Europeans migrated outside Europe. The expansion of their empires weakened the sovereignty of states in Asia, and spurred change. China’s role was reversed dramatically in the world economy as it went from being the center of trade to becoming weak and dependent on Europe. However, Japan was able to modernize and become a powerful, united and industrialized nation.
With the arrival of Matthew Perry, Japan went from a lacking feudal state to a westernized Asian power. From the 1870s to the 1900s Japan’s imports and exports increased by a multiple of ten or even more. The Tokugawa Shogunate’s decision to follow the United States into the western world was good for Japan from a long term perspective, but it did cost the shogunate. With the Meiji Restoration and Japan’s rush to become one of the powers alongside Britain and the United States, the people of Japan overthrew the Tokugawa Shogunate. Japan began to modernize its infrastructure and military along with its education. A constitutional government arose, allowing a small percentage of the people to vote. With the feudal order abolished, equality slowly grew as over time technology and manufacturing also grew. Japan was a power far above its other Asian competitors. The Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War established the country one of the most powerful empires in the East.
Comparing Japanese naval fleets to Chinese naval fleets may seem strange, because Japan used powerful fleets modeled after the French navy while the Chinese used subpar fleets of weak ships that were nearly half the size of the Japanese ships. The war ended with Japan taking the victory and crushing the Chinese economy through one of the first unequal treaties which drained China of their resources and money. Japanese victory didn’t end there, the Russo-Japanese War marked the first time a non-European power defeated a European power. This is where Russia began to slip. The country fell into a state of reform, while Japan inclined in power. Japan survived westernization because of its ability to keep its conservatives at bay and let the ones who support industrialization thrive. Although the west did not view Japan as a power, there is no denying that Japan was the overlord of Asia.
Unlike Japan, China was not able to adapt and failed. The Qing Dynasty was conservative and inflexible. When dealing with foreign issues they did not treat other countries as being equal to China and when the Western world attempted to make contact, they initially failed. At the same time, China was facing enormous internal problems. A growing population resulted in land shortages, famines, and an impoverished rural population. China’s bureaucratic government did not enlarge along with the population and this led to an inefficiency in collecting taxes, social welfare, and public security. The central state lost power to local officials and the gentry and these officials became more corrupt. There was a growing number of bandit gangs and peasant rebellions. The Taiping Uprising between 1850 and 1864, led by Hong Xiuquan, denounced the Qing dynasty as foreigners and called for revolutionary change. However they were stopped by Qing dynasty loyalists and Western military supporting the Qing. The Qing dynasty was saved, but was weakened as the local gentry consolidated their power. This war weakened China's economy and delayed andy real change for China.
The opium wars in China further weakened its economy because there was a massive outpour of silver, but very little coming in. The British were offended by an effort to stop the trade of opium and sent a naval expedition to China to end the restrictive trading conditions. The Treaty of Nanjing ended the war and severely diminished the sovereignty of China. It was only the first in the series of unequal treaties that would contribute to the decline of China’s power. China’s efforts to “self-strengthen” did not work because the reforms came too late and the conservative leaders felt that their privileges would erode. The Boxer Uprising led by militia organizations killed many Europeans and and seized many of the foreign embassies. When the Japanese and the Western powers had to occupy Beijing to stop the rebellion, it was clear that China was a dependent nation. More extensive reforms that were put into place, were inadequate and and in 1911, the Qing Dynasty fell.
A country's ability to survive the onslaught of Western powers was subject to its willingness to adapt and play by Europe’s rules. Japan was able to emerge as an industrial power because it opened trade to other nations, industrialized , and changed its government and policies. On the other hand, China was slow to change and that coupled with the internal social pressures it was facing and the external pressures from the Europeans, led to the collapse of the Qing dynasty, and made a once powerful nation into one that relied heavily upon others for survival.
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