We concluded our discussion of Chap.19: Empires in Collision today with a look at why Japan did not succumb to Imperialism. The answer lies with Japan's Meiji Restoration of the late 19th century that leads to the rise of an industrialized and modernized Japan. We began with the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry's fleet in Japan in 1853. During the last three decades of the 19th century, Japan became fascinated with everything western. There were social and political changes. Hundreds of Japanese students were sent to study abroad and return to Japan with their new ideas. Japan adopted a parliament to work in concert with its emperor. Rights for Japanese women also improved. Japan industrialized rapidly with railroads, technology, industry, military, even adopting western styles of dress and fashion. In 1902, the Anglo-Japanese Treaty acknowledged Japan as a world power. Japan begins to launch its own colonial building enterprise and gains control of Taiwan and Korea. In 1905, Japan goes to war with Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. The result: Japan was victorious and seized control of Russia's only port on the Seas of Okhotsk and Japan on Russia's far east coast, just north of the Japanese archipelago. This was a humiliating defeat for Russia. At the same time, other non-western cultures began to take note of Japan's rapid changes and successes with admiration. We then began to look at the events that will be covered in Chapter 20: Collapse at the Center. This chapter covers a stunning amount of 20th century history, beginning with World War I, then the Great Depression and on to World War II. We began with the concept of "total war," which requires mobilization of a country's entire population. We also reviewed the causes of WWI and new weapons of warfare. Anna was introduced to the first genocide of the 20th century: the Armenian Genocide. The Armenians comprised a small Christian minority in Muslim Turkey. Once the Ottoman Turks (allied with the Central Powers) began to lose battles in WWI, he Armenians were used as scapegoats and they were also victims of extreme nationalist racism. As one famous scholar states,"It should not be surprising that both world wars of the 20th century included genocide." We will continue with this chapter at our next class on Monday, April 20, 2020. HW: using pp. 852 - 860, answer the following question: "How did the Meiji Restoration modernize Japan to make it a leading world power by the beginning of the 20th century?" This is due in class on Monday, April 20, 2020.