Acquisition of Empire. Japans wins due to its victory over China Essay

Acquisition of Empire. Japans wins due to its victory over China - Essay Example Japan’s victory over China strengthened national cohesion in Japan resulting in the renegotiation and eventual supersession of the unequal treaties with Western powers and Japan’s appearance as the supreme economic power and chief imperialist authority in East Asia. From the economic aspect, its win over China encouraged resources that Japan could activate in the growth of its military-industrial apparatus. â€Å"The acquisition of Chinese territory, most notably, Taiwan, as well as China’s recognition of Japanese suzerainty over Korea, endowed Japan with valuable outposts from which to launch future attacks on China, as well as with more secure overseas supplies of cheap food†. Moreover, Chinese indemnities which amounted to over one-third of Japan’s GNP aided Japan to fund the further growth of heavy industries and to put the currency on the gold standard. In this way there was improvement in Japan’s credit rating in London along with its a bility to tap additional finance for industrial expansion at home and imperialist growth overseas. Politically speaking, its victory over China placed Japan in a respectable position in the imperialist game. For long, Korea remained the principal client state for China. However, its strategic location opposite the Japanese islands and its natural resources always tempted Japan. Hence, Korea became a common target for both China and Japan. By 1893 a religious issue turned into a political movement involving innumerable peasants under a common umbrella of anti-foreignism and anticorruption (â€Å"China†).