E. Napp

Europeans were interested in Asiabecause its huge population offered a

giant market for European manufacturedgoods.

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In the early 1800s, Great Britainand Chinawent to

war over

the saleof opium.

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However, China lacked the militarytechnology to defy the British. TheBritish easily defeated China in the

Opium War (1839-1842).

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Of course, China was not the only Asian nation affected by European

imperialism. Japan alsoencountered Western might in the

late 19th century.

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The shogun was the military leader of Japan. The Tokugawa shoguns hadruled Japan for nearly two hundred years. They isolated Japan and almost completely cut it off from trade with Western nations. Japanese were forbidden to travel to other countries and foreigners could not enter Japan.

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In 1853, the United States government sentCommodore Matthew Perry with a navalsquadron to Japan to end Japan’s policy ofisolation, to halt the mistreatment of shipwrecked American sailors, and to gainrefueling stations.

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Yes, the United States wanted to establishports where American ships could obtainsupplies on route to China and of course,develop new Asian markets.

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Knowing what had happened to China, Japanese leaders opened their ports.

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Within a few years, the British, Russians,and Dutch negotiated similarly favorable

trade treaties.

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Neither Emperors nor Shoguns couldstop European imperialism in Asia.

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However, if the Japanese could notdefeat the imperialists, they could emulate them.

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The Japanese began to modernizeand westernize their nation.

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The Japanese ended feudalismand restored the emperor to power.

The Meiji Restoration was a profound turning point in

Japanese history.

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Japan would soon join the European nations as an imperialist power in itsown right.