Key Idea: Between 1860 and 1912, China tried to modernise and failed, while Japan modernised fast, defeated China and Russia, and took Korea.
China's two reforms
| Reform | Leaders | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Self-Strengthening (1861 to 1894) | Prince Gong, Cixi, Li Hongzhang | Arsenals and schools only; shown up by defeat in 1894 to 1895 |
| Hundred Days' Reform (1898) | Guangxu, Kang Youwei | Reversed by Cixi's coup; reformers exiled or killed |
Japan's rise and Korea's fall
- The Meiji Restoration (1868): samurai reformers used the emperor to unite and modernise Japan.
- Domains abolished (1871), a conscript army (1873), the 1889 Constitution; schools, state industry and zaibatsu.
- Shimonoseki (1895) gave Japan Taiwan; victory over Russia (1904 to 1905) was the first Asian defeat of a European power.
- Korea was forced open in 1876, and the Tonghak Rebellion (1894) led to war; Japan annexed Korea in 1910.
China borrowed Western guns but kept its old government; Japan changed its government too, and won.
Why did Self-Strengthening fail? It added Western technology to an unchanged Confucian government.
Who held real power under Japan's 1889 Constitution? The emperor, though there was an elected Diet.
How did Queen Min try to protect Korea? By balancing rival powers against each other.
What set off the Sino-Japanese War? The Tonghak Rebellion in Korea, 1894.