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- was to conquer and acquire colonies. They realized that Japan needed greater access to regional resources if they wished to become a true world power, so they grew determined to take control of adjacent areas, which meant the weaker regimes of Asia; namely China and Korea. The leaders believed that they should not be content simply to maintain the status quo of national sovereignty, but should seek to establish a broader interest on the continental mainland, in order to enhance their imperial and national prestige.
In 1874 Japanese forces landed in Formosa (Taiwan) demand�ing and receiving an indemnity from China for some Ryukyu islanders who had been killed there. Two years later, in 1876, Japan forcibly acquired economic privileges from Korea. China had claimed suzerainty over Korea and resented Japan's grow�ing influence on the peninsula. The Japanese government began a military build-up aimed at curtailing China's control over Korea's independence. To Japan, Korea was of utmost strategic importance, for China had always posed a threat and the geo�graphic location of the Korean peninsula was like "a dagger pointing at the heart of Japan." Prior to 1894 Japan did not feel militarily strong enough to challenge China outright. However by 1894, Japan felt it was time to test their new military. They demanded China remove their troops from Korea and, by sink�ing a Chinese troopship, started a war with China over control of Korea in July of the same year. The Japanese military had modern weapons and a Western-style navy which was well- equipped and well-trained. Over the next several months they easily quelled the Chinese naval forces and completely trounced their land forces, thus forcing them out of Korea. The Japanese captured southern Manchuria and the Liaodong peninsula, and they succeeded in taking the port of Weihaiwei in the Shandong province of China proper, where the Chinese fleet was bottled- up and forced to surrender.
Back in Japan the success of the war was greeted with great enthusiasm and patriotic fervour. Nearly every gallant deed and episode of the war was captured in woodblock prints or drama�tized on the stage almost as soon as it was reported. Occasionally print artists and actors would visit the battlefields to study the setting as well as the troop movements.
The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 was over in nine months. In April of 1895 a treaty was signed requiring China to cede a number of territories to Japan, including Formosa, the Pescado�res Islands, Port Arthur (Lushun), and the Liaodong peninsula. China had to recognize the full independence of Korea as well, and pay a large indemnity to Japan.
The euphoria of victory over China did not last long. Three Western powers, Russia, France and Germany, known as the Tripartite Intervention, forced Japan to give up two of its terri�torial acquisitions; Port Arthur and the Liaodong peninsula. Japan had no choice but to grudgingly meet their demands. Japan was further enraged a few years later when Russia, France and Germany began to annex or lease Chinese territories to themselves. Russia took the two areas Japan had been forced to give up earlier, that of Port Arthur and the Liaodong peninsula. Japan was infuriated with this affront and would not let it go unchallenged. Armed conflict seemed inevitable, and indeed it would eventually be one of the causes of war between Russia and Japan. The Japanese government tried to deflect the public's hostility towards this intervention by adopting the slogan gashin shotan (suffer present privation for future revenge).
The Western powers were stunned and astounded by the result of the Sino-Japanese war. They fully expected China, with her greater army and navy, would secure a quick and decisive victory over Japan. But the war proved that quality could triumph over quantity. With the tremendous victory, Ja�pan emerged as Asia's first imperialist power and marked her successful beginning as empire builder. The war won Japan recognition from the Western countries as a major power.
Traditionally Japan had great respect for China and had emu�lated many aspects of Chinese culture. This had now turned to an attitude of contempt. Japan was now the dominant power in Asia and eventually the oppressor of the Far East. The easy victory over China resulted in extreme chauvinism and served to foster a belief in the superiority of the Japanese race. This was especially directed towards other Asian peoples for years to come. After their incredible victory, the Japanese wanted the foreign press to refer to Japan as Nippon, meaning the "rising sun." The Sino-Japanese War had been brutal and had many
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