Chapters 19, 20, & 21 Online Commentary
In this series of chapters, what I found most interesting was the comparison of the Chinese, Ottoman, and Japanese Empires. Europe had a strong influence on the way these Empires conducted business, even to the point of forcing their will upon them. China was a very good example of that.
I find it ironic that China, with all of its technology and intelligence, found itself conquered by the Europeans at that time and never truly recovered from that. China grew in population, yet was unable to accommodate this influx of people. Resources were scarce and so were opportunities. With the economic state in disarray, peasants revolted. This event caused the necessary use of monies and other resources to defend itself from its own people that in the end, the state had significantly weakened. This opened the door for outside influences to enter, and that's exactly what they did.
The Ottoman Empire was no less fortunate. It went from being a powerful empire on its own accord to acquiring the name of "The Sick Man of Europe". I find it puzzling how it went from one extreme to the other. Christianity was infiltrating its influence into this empire with unyielding strength and the Ottoman Empire could do nothing to stop it. After World War I, the Ottoman Empire collapsed.
Japan, on the other hand, played the smart card and was able to bypass becoming one of the collapsed empires that preceded it. It learned from the mistakes of China and used that knowledge to the best of their abilities. Sure, they had some difficulty and had to enter into unjust treaties with the West, but they had a window of opportunity and went for it. When the American Civil War ensued, the spotlight was no longer on Japan, so they were able to strategize accordingly. Japan ended up becoming one of the more powerful empires in the world. Not bad, I say.
So there you have it. The moral of this chapter's story would be to learn from your predecessors. That's what Japan did and it definitely worked out in their favor.
I find it ironic that China, with all of its technology and intelligence, found itself conquered by the Europeans at that time and never truly recovered from that. China grew in population, yet was unable to accommodate this influx of people. Resources were scarce and so were opportunities. With the economic state in disarray, peasants revolted. This event caused the necessary use of monies and other resources to defend itself from its own people that in the end, the state had significantly weakened. This opened the door for outside influences to enter, and that's exactly what they did.
The Ottoman Empire was no less fortunate. It went from being a powerful empire on its own accord to acquiring the name of "The Sick Man of Europe". I find it puzzling how it went from one extreme to the other. Christianity was infiltrating its influence into this empire with unyielding strength and the Ottoman Empire could do nothing to stop it. After World War I, the Ottoman Empire collapsed.
Japan, on the other hand, played the smart card and was able to bypass becoming one of the collapsed empires that preceded it. It learned from the mistakes of China and used that knowledge to the best of their abilities. Sure, they had some difficulty and had to enter into unjust treaties with the West, but they had a window of opportunity and went for it. When the American Civil War ensued, the spotlight was no longer on Japan, so they were able to strategize accordingly. Japan ended up becoming one of the more powerful empires in the world. Not bad, I say.
So there you have it. The moral of this chapter's story would be to learn from your predecessors. That's what Japan did and it definitely worked out in their favor.
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