Korea — regional rivalries and the Korean Empire

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Corrupt local taxation in Gobu county, channelled through the Donghak religious-political movement, which rejected foreign influence and gave scattered peasant grievances a shared national cause.

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Jeon Bong-jun, whose army captured the city of Jeonju in May 1894, forcing the Korean court to request Qing military help.

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A Sino-Japanese agreement that either country could send troops to Korea if the other did — it let Japan legally send its own army once China sent troops to fight Donghak rebels.

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Japanese troops seized the royal palace and installed a pro-Japanese cabinet, engineering political control before the First Sino-Japanese War officially began.

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China recognised Korea's 'independence' (ending its tributary status), ceded Taiwan and the Liaodong Peninsula, paid a huge indemnity, and opened more treaty ports to Japan.

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Russia, France and Germany forced Japan to return the Liaodong Peninsula to China straight after Shimonoseki — a humiliation that fuelled later Russo-Japanese rivalry.

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Gabo: imposed by a Japanese-backed cabinet during occupation, abolished the yangban class system and modernised administration. Gwangmu: launched by Korea's own Korean Empire, built railways/military/schools under the slogan 'Korean tradition as base, Western technology as tool'.

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Empress Myeongseong, who favoured Russia as a counterweight to Japan; she was assassinated by Japanese agents inside the royal palace in October 1895.

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Proclaimed in October 1897 when King Gojong returned from Russian protection and took the title of Emperor, asserting Korea's equal status with China and Japan.

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A Korean reform movement of officials and citizens that published Korea's first private newspaper and called for constitutional government and an end to foreign interference; banned by Gojong in 1898.

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A treaty forced on Korea after Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War, making Korea a Japanese protectorate, stripping its control of foreign affairs, and installing Itō Hirobumi as Resident-General.

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Donghak revolt → Qing and Japanese troops enter Korea → First Sino-Japanese War → Treaty of Shimonoseki ends Chinese influence → Gabo then Gwangmu reforms → Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) removes Russia as a rival → Eulsa Treaty makes Korea a Japanese protectorate.