levo

Y217: Japan 1853–1937

Foreign relations and overseas expansion 1868–1920: population pressure, early expansion and the Sino-Japanese War

  • 3 things to know
  • Unit group 2

Overview

Recall 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.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

Why was Korea so important to Japanese strategists?

Numbers

Outline the course of the Sino-Japanese War.

Who and when

How did population pressure encourage Japanese expansion?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    How did population pressure encourage Japanese expansion?

    Model answer

    A population growing rapidly on a small area of farmable land raised fears about food and employment, and overseas territory was presented as the outlet for settlers, markets and raw materials.

  2. 2

    What did Japan do about the Ryukyu Islands from 1875?

    Model answer

    It ordered the kingdom to stop sending tribute to China and to accept Japanese authority, absorbing the islands outright as Okinawa Prefecture a few years later.

  3. 3

    How did Japan strengthen its hold on its northern territories?

    Model answer

    It set up a colonisation office to settle Hokkaido and develop its farming and mining, and in an 1875 exchange with Russia it gave up its claim to Sakhalin in return for the whole Kurile chain.

  4. 4

    Why was Korea so important to Japanese strategists?

    Model answer

    Korea lay directly opposite Japan across a narrow strait, so a Korea controlled by a strong power such as China or Russia was seen as a dagger pointed at Japan, while a Korea under Japanese influence offered security, markets and raw materials.

  5. 5

    What did Japan impose on Korea by the treaty of 1876?

    Model answer

    It forced Korea to open ports to Japanese trade and granted Japanese subjects extraterritorial rights, applying to Korea the same kind of unequal terms Japan itself resented.

  6. 6

    What triggered the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895?

    Model answer

    A peasant rebellion in Korea brought Chinese troops in at the Korean king's request, Japan sent its own forces and seized the palace in Seoul, and the two powers went to war over which would dominate Korea.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book
2Open book
3Closed book

See a huge jump in your memorisation

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

Y101: Alfred and the Making of England 871–1016
Y102: Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest 1035–1107
Y103: England 1199–1272
Y104: England 1377–1455

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

Franz Ferdinand was shot at in June.
SarajevoBelgradeVienna

Blank Blitz consolidates the facts

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

AA republic replaced the sultanate.
BThe caliphate was abolished in 1924.
CThe Latin alphabet was adopted.

Build It trains answer structure

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

Simony means the buying and selling of Church office.
TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

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.

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.