1800s Dbq Analysis

The 1800s were a time full of growth and modernization. The geography of countries plays a big roll in their economy and the resources they can provide for themselves. The fact that Great Britain and Japan are both island nations has lead them to develop around their location and limitations.

Great Britain is a big island located to the west of the European continent. The geography of England made it easy to protect and to trade. "[British] ports command an unobstructed passage to the Atlantic and to every quarter of the world." (Edward Bains, Doc. 4) Britain’s easy access to other markets created an ideal situation for industrialization. Industrialization created new jobs and because of that many people were moving to big cities in search
of better jobs and opportunities. The population increase posed a challenge for British people. “We colonial statesmen must acquire new lands to settle the surplus population, to provide new markets for the goods produced in the factories and mines.” (Cecil Rhodes, Doc.
3) The solution to Great Britain’s population problem was to become imperialistic because this would create many new opportunities and jobs for the citizens. It would also help Great Britain’s economy and help them become a stronger nation. The colonization of other countries created new markets for Great Britain. For example, India was colonized by Britain for their vast products, one being Opium. Opium was being grown in India and then traded to China for China’s many luxuries such as tea, silk and porcelain. Because India was a colony of Great Britain, all of the profits were going to Britain. Britain’s Opium exports to China started in the mid-1700s and peaked in 1832. Another product that was being used by Britain was cotton. Britain was a very industrialized country with many textile factories, therefore they needed a lot of cotton and by 1875 about 125 million pounds of cotton was imported for the British Textile industry. Between
1870 and 1900 the importation of cotton began to really boom. (Doc. 2) Colonization and the importation and exportation of goods really helped nation grow and become a huge imperialist nation. By 1945 the British Empire had grown so much that it spanned from Asia to African to North America. (Doc. 1)

Japan, like Great Britain, is also a big island nation located in South East Asia close to China.
Similar to Great Britain, Japan was in desperate need of resources that they lacked because of their geography. Trade was and still is a huge part of Japan's economy. "Trade was necessary to the functioning of the Japanese economy. When Japan entered the first stage of its modernization in the nineteenth century, it had become dependent on other parts of the world for markets and raw materials... Iron for the steel industry was of particular concern as Japan was almost wholly dependent upon imports... The nearest major sources of iron were in Manchuria and northern China." (William Beasley, Doc. 8) Japan became an imperialist nation because of its lack of natural resources and because China was so close and prosperous they first traded with China and eventually invaded China in hopes to take control of it. In Doc. 9, the map shows the Japanese expansion from 1930 to 1939. During those nine years Japan invaded all of Korea, and a good part of China including one of China's big cities, Manchuria. "The protection of the nation's line of sovereignty and the defense of our line of advantage are essential if we wish to maintain our independence and security.... [W]e must reach as far as possible within the limits of our resources to achieve control of that position. As a result, it is essential that we begin to make significantly larger appropriations for our navy and our armed
forces. (Prime Minister Yamagata Aritomo, Doc. 7) This quote begins to show the cycle of colonization and imperialism. Colonization calls for a bigger army to protect the main nation as well as the nation’s colonies, and with a bigger army you need more and more resources which then calls for more colonies to provide those resources, and as you can see the never ending cycle begins, which in result allows the imperialist nation to continue to grow.

There are many similarities between Japan and Great Britain such as the fact that they are both islands, they have varying geographical features, and were both strong imperialist nations. Japan and China are two island nations who prospered greatly in the 1800s and early 1900s because of industrialization and imperialism. They both developed their countries around their location and learned how to use it to their best ability. To this day they are still very strong and prosperous countries because of their modernization, industrialization, and imperialism.