OCR A-Level History A H505
Y101: Alfred and the Making of England 871–1016Unit group 1
Y102: Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest 1035–1107Unit group 1
Y103: England 1199–1272Unit group 1
Y104: England 1377–1455Unit group 1
Y105: England 1445–1509: Lancastrians, Yorkists and Henry VIIUnit group 1
Y106: England 1485–1558: The Early TudorsUnit group 1
Y107: England 1547–1603: The Later TudorsUnit group 1
Y108: The Early Stuarts and the Origins of the Civil War 1603–1660Unit group 1
Y109: The Making of Georgian Britain 1678–c.1760Unit group 1
Y110: From Pitt to Peel 1783–1853Unit group 1
Y111: Liberals, Conservatives and the Rise of Labour 1846–1918Unit group 1
Y112: Britain 1900–1951Unit group 1
Y113: Britain 1930–1997Unit group 1
Y201: The Rise of Islam c.550–750Unit group 2
Y202: Charlemagne 768–814Unit group 2
Y203: The Crusades and the Crusader States 1095–1192Unit group 2
Y204: Genghis Khan and the Explosion From the Steppes c.1167–1405Unit group 2
Y205: Exploration, Encounters and Empire 1445–1570Unit group 2
Y206: Spain 1469–1556Unit group 2
Y207: The German Reformation and the Rule of Charles v 1500–1559Unit group 2
Y208: Philip II 1556–1598Unit group 2
Y209: African Kingdoms c.1400–c.1800: Four Case StudiesUnit group 2
Y210: Russia 1645–1741Unit group 2
Y211: The Rise and Decline of the Mughal Empire in India 1526–1739Unit group 2
Y212: The American Revolution 1740–1796Unit group 2
Y213: The French Revolution and the Rule of Napoleon 1774–1815Unit group 2
Y214: France 1814–1870Unit group 2
Y215: Italy and Unification 1789–1896Unit group 2
Y216: The USA in the 19th Century: Westward Expansion and Civil War 1803–c.1890Unit group 2
Y217: Japan 1853–1937Unit group 2
Y218: International Relations 1890–1941Unit group 2
Y219: Russia 1894–1941Unit group 2
Y220: Italy 1896–1943Unit group 2
Y221: Democracy and Dictatorships in Germany 1919–1963Unit group 2
Y222: The Cold War in Asia 1945–1993Unit group 2
Y223: The Cold War in Europe 1941–1995Unit group 2
Y224: Apartheid and Reconciliation: South African Politics 1948–1999Unit group 2
Y301: The Early Anglo-Saxons c.400–800Unit group 3
Y302: The Viking Age c.790–1066Unit group 3
Y303: English Government and the Church 1066–1216Unit group 3
Y304: The Church and Medieval Heresy c.1100–1437Unit group 3
Y305: The Renaissance c.1400–c.1600Unit group 3
Y306: Rebellion and Disorder Under the Tudors 1485–1603Unit group 3
Y307: Tudor Foreign Policy 1485–1603Unit group 3
Y308: The Catholic Reformation 1492–1610Unit group 3
Y309: The Ascendancy of the Ottoman Empire 1453–1606Unit group 3
Y310: The Development of the Nation State: France 1498–1610Unit group 3
Y311: The Origins and Growth of the British Empire 1558–1783Unit group 3
Y312: Popular Culture and the Witchcraze of the 16th and 17th CenturiesUnit group 3
Y313: The Ascendancy of France 1610–1715Unit group 3
Y314: The Challenge of German Nationalism 1789–1919Unit group 3
Y315: The Changing Nature of Warfare 1792–1945Unit group 3
Y316: Britain and Ireland 1791–1921Unit group 3
Y317: China and Its Rulers 1839–1989Unit group 3
Y318: Russia and Its Rulers 1855–1964Unit group 3
Y319: Civil Rights in the USA 1865–1992Unit group 3
Y320: From Colonialism to Independence: The British Empire 1857–1965Unit group 3
Y321: The Middle East 1908–2011: Ottomans to Arab SpringUnit group 3
Y217: Japan 1853–1937
- 8 subtopics
- 19 things to know
- Unit group 2
- Non-British period study, one unit of twenty-four
What Y217: Japan 1853–1937 covers
Japan 1853–1937 is unit Y217 of OCR History A, one of the twenty-four options in unit group 2, the non-British period study; a student sits one of them. Its four key topics are the impact of foreign intrusion on Tokugawa Japan 1853–1868, westernisation and nationalism in Meiji Japan 1868–1912, foreign relations and overseas expansion 1868–1920, the growth of nationalism in Japan 1920–1937. 307 recall questions across 8 subtopics.
Where it is assessed
Unit group 2
Non-British period study, one unit of twenty-four.
Check the OCR specification ↗The 8 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- The impact of foreign intrusion on Tokugawa Japan 1853–1868: Tokugawa society, Perry and the unequal treatiesRecall questions on shogun and emperor, the social hierarchy and samurai discontent, sakoku, peasant unrest, epidemic disease and the currency crisis, Perry, Kanagawa and the treaties of 1858.Open →
- The impact of foreign intrusion on Tokugawa Japan 1853–1868: resistance to the Shogunate and civil warRecall questions on resistance to the Shogunate, civil war, the end of the Shogunate and the restoration of the Emperor Meiji in 1868.Open →
- Westernisation and nationalism in Meiji Japan 1868–1912: the end of samurai power and early Meiji reformsRecall questions on the abolition of the domains, the dismantling of the samurai and the Satsuma Rebellion, conscription, land tax reform, the Iwakura Mission and the model for the constitution.Open →
- Westernisation and nationalism in Meiji Japan 1868–1912: the 1889 Constitution, industrialisation and educationRecall questions on the 1889 Constitution and franchise, the genro, the leading export industry, state enterprises and coal, the business combines, Matsukata’s finance, the navy, education reform and the Rescript on Education.Open →
- Foreign relations and overseas expansion 1868–1920: population pressure, early expansion and the Sino-Japanese WarRecall questions on population pressure, the Ryukyu Islands and northern territories, Korea and the treaty of 1876, and the causes, course and Treaty of Shimonoseki of the Sino-Japanese War.Open →
- Foreign relations and overseas expansion 1868–1920: the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, war with Russia and the First World WarRecall questions on the Triple Intervention, action in China in 1900, the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, the Russo-Japanese War and Portsmouth, tension with the United States, the 21 Demands, Siberia, Versailles and the Washington Conference.Open →
- The growth of nationalism in Japan 1920–1937: Radicalism and repression in post-war JapanRecall questions on radicalism and repression in post-war Japan, the 1923 earthquake, social change and electoral reform 1925 and growing police powers, resentment about western influences.Open →
- The growth of nationalism in Japan 1920–1937: the Depression, Manchuria and the rise of the armyRecall questions on the Depression in Japan and the countryside, pan-Asianism, the Manchuria incident and its effects, the assassination of 1932, the coup attempt of 1936, military control of policy and war with China in 1937.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Why was the land tax reform unpopular with many peasants?
Why was Korea so important to Japanese strategists?
Outline the course of the Sino-Japanese War.
What was the Triple Intervention and how did Japan react to it?
What did the Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902 provide, and why did each side want it?
What was radical about post-war Japanese politics in the early 1920s?
What was the significance of the assassination of the prime minister in May 1932?
Why is Meiji Japan described as westernising and nationalist at the same time?
Paradoxically, how did the failed 1936 coup increase the army's power?
Who held real political power in Japan in 1853, and what was the emperor's position?
Why did the imperial side win the civil war of 1868–1869 relatively quickly?
What did the abolition of the domains in 1871 achieve?
How democratic was the franchise created in 1889?
What happened in the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923?
Describe the social hierarchy of late Tokugawa Japan.
Which industry earned Japan most of its foreign exchange in the Meiji period, and why did that matter?
How did population pressure encourage Japanese expansion?
How did the Great Depression reach Japan?
Take Y217: Japan 1853–1937 further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Meiji Restoration vs Satsuma Rebellion
Meiji Restoration: the transfer of authority to the emperor in 1868 after the fall of the shogunate. Satsuma Rebellion: the samurai rising of 1877 against the new government's reforms.
Unequal treaties vs Twenty-One Demands
Unequal treaties: the agreements imposed from 1858 granting foreign residents extraterritorial rights and fixed tariffs. Twenty-One Demands: the terms pressed on China in 1915 to extend Japanese rights and influence.
Conscription Law of 1873 vs Satsuma-Chōshū alliance
Conscription Law of 1873: the measure introducing universal military service and ending the samurai monopoly of arms. Satsuma-Chōshū alliance: the secret agreement of 1866 between two domains which made the overthrow of the shogunate possible.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Who held real political power in Japan in 1853, and what was the emperor's position?
Model answer
Real power lay with the Tokugawa shogun, ruling from Edo through the bakufu, while the emperor remained a ceremonial figure secluded in Kyoto.
- 2
Describe the social hierarchy of late Tokugawa Japan.
Model answer
Society was formally divided into samurai at the top, then peasants, artisans and merchants, with movement between the ranks officially forbidden.
- 3
Why were many samurai discontented by the 1850s despite their high status?
Model answer
Long peace had left them with no fighting role, and their fixed rice stipends lost value against rising prices, leaving many in debt to merchants they were supposed to outrank.
- 4
What was the policy of sakoku, and which single European nation was allowed to trade under it?
Model answer
Sakoku was the policy of national seclusion that barred foreigners and forbade Japanese from leaving; only the Dutch traded, confined to the artificial island of Dejima at Nagasaki.
- 5
Give two causes of peasant unrest in the last Tokugawa decades.
Model answer
Heavy rice taxes combined with poor harvests and famine, and sharp price inflation that made food unaffordable, both provoked repeated village protests and urban rice riots.
- 6
What epidemic disease swept Japan after the ports opened, and why was it blamed on foreigners?
Model answer
Cholera spread from 1858 and killed tens of thousands, and because it arrived with foreign shipping it was widely blamed on the newcomers and fuelled anti-foreign feeling.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Y217: Japan 1853–1937 revision questions
- What does Y217: Japan 1853–1937 cover in OCR A-Level History A?
- 8 subtopics: the impact of foreign intrusion on tokugawa japan 1853–1868: tokugawa society, perry and the unequal treaties, the impact of foreign intrusion on tokugawa japan 1853–1868: resistance to the shogunate and civil war, westernisation and nationalism in meiji japan 1868–1912: the end of samurai power and early meiji reforms, westernisation and nationalism in meiji japan 1868–1912: the 1889 constitution, industrialisation and education, foreign relations and overseas expansion 1868–1920: population pressure, early expansion and the sino-japanese war, foreign relations and overseas expansion 1868–1920: the anglo-japanese alliance, war with russia and the first world war, the growth of nationalism in japan 1920–1937: radicalism and repression in post-war japan and the growth of nationalism in japan 1920–1937: the depression, manchuria and the rise of the army. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Y217: Japan 1853–1937 organised?
- By the OCR H505 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Y217: Japan 1853–1937, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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