China, India, and Japan Responds to Western Imperialism
CHINA, INDIA, AND JAPAN RESPONDS TO WESTERN IMPERIALISM
C. H.
HIS 351 Asia in Age of Decolonization and Globalization
August 2012
Western imperialism or expansion ignored a country’s sovereign right to self-rule and independence from dominant foreign powers. Using the premise of colonization or Manifest Destiny, the search for trade routes, raw goods and materials, and cheap sources of labor legitimized imperialistic might. Whether it was the undiscovered countries of the Americas, the dark continent of Africa, or the countries of Asia, the response to the encroachment of Western Imperialism would be filled with meek acceptance, opposition, rebellions, and eventual violence. As Western Imperialism penetrated the Asian countries of China, India, and Japan their responses were both similar and vastly different. India initially succumbed with a seemingly meek style while China and Japan responded both defensively and arrogantly. Each country in its own way was opposed to foreign rule but Japan managed to flip the script with its own version of imperialism that was just as superior and devastating as Western Imperialism. Western imperialism in India began as early as the 1600s when the British East India Company set up trading posts in Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta. Initially, the ruling Mughal Dynasty kept the European traders under control until the empire collapsed; smaller states and their maharajahs set up independent rule and became vulnerable to the military power of the East India Company.
Britain’s superior navy allowed them to become the dominant imperialistic power in India. By bargaining with the prince of Calcutta, they gained control of a strategic point for trade and fortification. Calcutta was later retaken by an Indian ruler from Bengal along with British prisoners who eventually died from overcrowded conditions. Using Indian sepoy fighters and British military forces, the inexperienced Bengalese ruler lost his advantage through
C. H.
HIS 351 Asia in Age of Decolonization and Globalization
August 2012
Western imperialism or expansion ignored a country’s sovereign right to self-rule and independence from dominant foreign powers. Using the premise of colonization or Manifest Destiny, the search for trade routes, raw goods and materials, and cheap sources of labor legitimized imperialistic might. Whether it was the undiscovered countries of the Americas, the dark continent of Africa, or the countries of Asia, the response to the encroachment of Western Imperialism would be filled with meek acceptance, opposition, rebellions, and eventual violence. As Western Imperialism penetrated the Asian countries of China, India, and Japan their responses were both similar and vastly different. India initially succumbed with a seemingly meek style while China and Japan responded both defensively and arrogantly. Each country in its own way was opposed to foreign rule but Japan managed to flip the script with its own version of imperialism that was just as superior and devastating as Western Imperialism. Western imperialism in India began as early as the 1600s when the British East India Company set up trading posts in Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta. Initially, the ruling Mughal Dynasty kept the European traders under control until the empire collapsed; smaller states and their maharajahs set up independent rule and became vulnerable to the military power of the East India Company.
Britain’s superior navy allowed them to become the dominant imperialistic power in India. By bargaining with the prince of Calcutta, they gained control of a strategic point for trade and fortification. Calcutta was later retaken by an Indian ruler from Bengal along with British prisoners who eventually died from overcrowded conditions. Using Indian sepoy fighters and British military forces, the inexperienced Bengalese ruler lost his advantage through
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