20th Century Japan: Empire & Aftermath

Undergraduate

In 1905, in a victory which shocked the world, Japan defeated Imperial Russia in a regional conflict over control of Korea. To many in Asia and the non-Western world, Japan looked like a new model of anti-Western, anti-imperial modernity. However, the ensuing decades would see this image contested. The expansion of Japan’s political and economic power into East Asia over the first half of the twentieth century has shaped the region in ways still visible today. This course is split into three parts, each covering roughly two decades. First, we look at the legacies of Japan’s Meiji Restoration and the development of what has been called an “Imperial Democracy” in early 20th century Japan. Next, we look at the crises which rocked Japan in the 1930s and marked a new era. Finally, we deal with the aftermath of empire—both in the immediate “postwar” era for Japan, and in the debates over imperial legacies and history which still reverberate in Japan and many of its former colonies today. HU 0 Course cr HTBA