American Reacts to Empire of Japan (Meiji Restoration) | Ten Minute History

[@SoGal_YT]

Quick announcement! Now you can follow me behind-the-scenes and direct message me if you want: Instagram: instagram.com/sogal.yt/ Twitter: twitter.com/SoGal_YT Hope to see you there!

[@cjrecio5702]

The Red Country is Austria-Hungary

[@SoGal_YT]

Thanks, CJ!

[@cjrecio5702]

@@SoGal_YT Also forget about the Spanish Civil War by Feature History. You should watch Spanish Civil War and Francisco Franco by History Matters since he covers the post civil war period.

[@SoGal_YT]

@@cjrecio5702 Okay, I have no idea which ones are good videos, etc., but if you say the History Matters one is better, I'll go with that.

[@hubertwandl5053]

@@SoGal_YT and yes, your assumption, that nowadays it is many countries, is absolut correct: Austria, Hungary, Czech Republik, Slowakia, Slowenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegowina, part of it went to modern Poland, another part to modern Romania, Southern Tyrolia to Italy.

[@wilhelmbrorrson1153]

The thing is- China was internally divided and undeveloped. There were of course some cities with european standard of urbanisation and living, like Shanghai, but they were under high influence of foreign powers. With all of that, the warlords fighting in their own interrest and central government fighting with Mao's communists made China very weak target in eyes of Japanese who were more united then Chinese and more industrialiesed at that time.

[@SoGal_YT]

Ah, yeah I remember from the history of China videos how it was constantly divided. That makes sense then. Thanks.

[@xenotypos]

The mistake may also be to consider Japan's success in Westernizing as the norm. At the time many countries tried to modernize by copying the West, the only complete success as far as I know was Japan (even if the gdp per capita was still far from western countries, closer to Russia's). There are a lot of constraints hindering that process, Japan didn't just try to modernize their army, they changed their entire society on the western model. We could talk about it for hours, but in a nutshell I don't think the Chinese population and elites were ready for such drastic changes. Most countries tried the middle way, to be moderate about it (keeping most of their internal structure most of the time), and that's why they failed. Gdp per capita of Japan in 1914 (in 1990 international dollars): 1387. Gdp per capita in China in 1914: 552. (for the record major western countries such as France or Germany had around 4000 per capita though) Japan's success in modernizing during that era is truly a fascinating legacy.

[@wilhelmbrorrson1153]

Germany joined colonial conquest very late, due to its internal problems (mainly caused by its lack of unity and by that i mean before XIX century there was not united Germany, but a ton of small states with couple bigger kingdoms and empires like Austria and Prussia). But it still got some teritories, like ground in Africa (todays Namibia, Togo, Cameroon and Tanzania) and as mentioned in video- couple isles in Asia, a chunk of teritory on New Guinea and some harbours in China, most importantly Quingdao which was so important for Kaiser Wilhelm the II, that in WW I he said he will faster leave Berlin for Russians than Quingdao for the Japanese. Of course it all was lost after First World War. And the country marked on red in the middle of Europe is Austria-Hungary.

[@SoGal_YT]

Thanks! I honestly don't know a thing about that period in Europe...or much anywhere else. The more I watch, the more I realize I don't know and need to learn.

[@Beliserius1]

Samurai was very similar to the European Knights. They were of upper class nobility and did not make up the majority of the armies at any point in time. Much like European Knights.

[@cultistmeat-shield]

So the invasion of poland was the start of wwii proper. However, once it had started, the war between japan and china was essentially merged into the greater second world war. Hence, one could argue that while it wasn't a world war until 1939, the war had started in 1937.

[@ianprince1698]

in history, there is a lot of one thing that led to another. some of these disputes can be chased down a historic rabbit hole

[@SoGal_YT]

I'm learning about Japan for the first time! Let me know what other videos I should watch. If you enjoyed this one, please like and subscribe 👍🏻

[@thomassugg5621]

If you are interested in medieval Japanese history, there are some very good videos on it by the Kings and Generals history channel.

[@SoGal_YT]

@@thomassugg5621 I've gotten a few requests from that channel, so we'll definitely be looking at them in the near future. Thanks!

[@williambarbosamaia1491]

@@SoGal_YTSince you asked, i do believe that a good video for you to react is History of Japan by BILL WURTZ.

[@ristusnotta1653]

Check out the series on Winter War by the channel Kings and Generals, i guess its pretty unknown war to most Americans :D Basically the David vs Goliath war of 1939, Finland vs Soviet Union. (The order of the videos aren't marked so they must be figured out by the upload date)

[@SoGal_YT]

@@williambarbosamaia1491 I'll add it to my list, thanks.

[@oliversherman2414]

I love your channel keep up the great stuff!!!!!!!

[@andrewcomerford9411]

The Shogun is the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Army. A powerful succession of Shoguns pretty much sidelined the Emperors, turning them into figureheads. While the Divine Emperor ruled all things, the Shogun merely did what he liked and told everyone it was the Emperor's will. Medieval (and later) Japan was a series of semi-independent states, but the land was in possession of the great clans. The Clan Chieftains (Daimyo) each had a bodyguard of Samurai, and raised armies individually (often to fight each other) . The Shoguns could hire more Samurai than anyone else, so tried to keep a lid on greater excesses, but not always successfully. The Meiji restoration stressed that it didn't matter which clan you belonged to, you were still Japanese, and a subject of the Emperor. This upset both the Samurai, and the Daimyo, but some pretty brutal Imperial interventions by the modern, industrialised army (think, "The Last Samurai) led to the gradual loss of power of these two groups.

[@kemal1232]

Great Video. Japan has a Population of 127 milion People almost same as Russia and the 3th Largest Economy in the world after China and the Us, they are pretty Powerful right now.

[@muhammadzakhwan9009]

18:40 Yeah Japan Has Made A Lot Of Military Modernisation And Has Many Aircrafts At The Time Compare To China

[@SoGal_YT]

Yeah, I'm learning more about that through the comments. Thanks!

[@hanng1242]

The Meiji Restoration needs to be understood in the context of the Shogunate. The Tokugawa Shogunate was established in the early 17th Century after Tokugawa Ieyasu's victory over all the other daimyo still around at the end of the Sengoku Jidai ("Period of the country at war"). When we think of the samurai, we tend to imagine the bushi of the Sengoku era. During the Shogunate, the Tokugawa government deliberately kept the country divided, and changed the samurai from warriors to administrators. Daimyo (and their retainers) were required to spend half the year in Edo, and they were essentially paid off with a governmental rice stipend. The purpose of this was to (1) prevent daimyo from building up power in their territories, and (2) drain the daimyo of money (trips to, and living in Edo was expensive). It is during the Edo period that the idea of the courtly samurai developed. The idea was that this class of people should be adept in manners, tea ceremony, flower arrangement, &c. instead of war. Swordplay became less of a battlefield skill, and more of a ritualized art good for one-on-one duels rather than a real battle. Indeed, it was at this time that the sword, rather than the bow, became the iconic weapon of the samurai class. After the arrival of Commodore Perry's "black ships," the Japanese noticed their technological inferiority to the West, and the Meiji Restoration was the first step to closing the gap. The Japanese sent men to learn from the Western powers and bring the knowledge home; they learned how to build and operate a modern navy from the British, and a modern army from the Germans. They learned modern agriculture from the Americans, and whisky-making from the Scots (see the life of Taketsuru Masataka and Rita, his Scottish wife). I believe that one important factor in Japan's modernization was that they had never been the hegemon of East Asia, and did not have the civilizational arrogance of the Chinese. Just as the Japanese learned from the Tang Dynasty in the Heian Period, they would learn from the West in the Meiji era. China, in contrast, was arrogant and divided; the former delayed the start of "self-strengthening," and the latter prevented the development of the same. One of the reasons why the Japanese military was able to take control prior to WWII was that the Taisho Emperor was, unlike his father, weak and not up to the task of ruling. The military stepped in to fill the gap, and by the time the Showa Emperor took the throne, they were already ensconced in government. By the way, the Japanese emperors have two names - one that the have (but doesn't get used within Japan) during their life, and one that will be used after their death, and that gives the name to the era. Emperor Hirohito was never called that by the Japanese - they would refer to him as the ruling emperor. After his death, he would be referred to as the Showa Emperor, and the period of his reign would be known as the Showa Era. Back in 2019, the Heisei Emperor (given name, Akihito) abdicated the throne to his son Naruhito, thus ending the Heisei Era and starting the Reiwa Era. When it comes to WWII, Japan's problem was over-reach. Their strategy relied upon swift military campaigns, followed by a diplomatic settlement that would ratify the territory taken during said campaign. In Asia, China played the role for the Allies that the Soviet Union did in Europe. After Japan's invasion of China in 1937, they attempted to set up a puppet government under Wang Jingwei, but were unsuccessful in getting the Chinese to accept it. Rather than complete their campaigns in China (either by total victory or withdrawal to a more sustainable position) before attacking the United States, they went ahead with the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941, thereby getting themselves in a two front war that they could not win. On one side, they had to deal with a Chinese army that they could defeat but not eliminate, that was being supplied by the allies from British India through Burma, and which would not surrender. Most of the Imperial Japanese Army was tied up in China and unavailable to fight the US. On the other side they underestimated the resolve of the United States. The architect of the Pearl Harbor attack, Admiral Yamamoto, had warned the government that Japan would be unable to defeat the United States in a prolonged war, and the hope was that the Pearl Harbor attack would buy them time to seize and fortify the Pacific such that when the inevitable American retaliation came, they could bleed us so much that we would decide it wasn't worth it to continue. Indeed, the campaigns in the Pacific theatre were some of the bloodiest of all of WWII, but to the disappointment of Japanese high command, we kept fighting. Then Fat Man and and Little Boy from New Mexico got involved and ended the war entirely.

[@jiayi2650]

Taika Reformation(大化改新): China was the teacher, Japan is a student. Meiji Restoration(明治维新): Japan became the teacher and China started to learn from his student.

[@pw3019]

Lieutenant-General Percival surrended Singapore to the Japanese on the 15th Feb 194 and was taken prisoner. He was later a prisoner in Hsian prison in Manchuria. Towards the end of the war an OSS team removed him (and other high ranking British and American officers) from Hsian prison. During the signing of surrender onboard USS Missouri, Percival represented Britain. Everyone who signed, was presented with one of the Pens used. Years later, whilst living in Germany (my father was a serving officer stationed there), I was the regular baby-sitter for Colonel Percival, son of General Percival. On the mantle piece, above the fire, was that said pen, now set in a display stand.

[@gj1234567899999]

The Manchus (where name Manchuria comes from) where a nomadic tribe of conquerors like the Mongols who conquered China and ruled over it from 1636-1912. They established the Qing dynasty. Their heartland is what is now called Manchuria. When the Manchus took over China, they gradually became Chinese in culture and “real Chinese” began moving into Manchuria to farm and make cities where before it was Manchus who lives there. Over time, Manchuria became absorbed into China rather than a separate country which ruled China. There are still 10 million Manchus in China, but most speak standard Chinese and the Manchu language appears to be in danger of being lost.

[@fyrdman2185]

React to the Opium wars by Extra credits

[@SoGal_YT]

I'll add it to my list, thanks!

[@JC-mx9su]

Your reaction on history is nice and I love watching history in different channels. I am a fan from The Philippines.

[@AidestheKiwi]

I know I'm late, but just to confirm what someone suspected earlier: the treaty was signed on the USS Missouri "Mighty Moe". You can still see her at Pearl Harbour, I read the plaque on her deck when I visited a few years ago. Highly recommend.

[@andrewclayton4181]

The battleship which was used to sign the peace treaty - USS Missouri rings a bell, but not 100% on that. When the allies were fighting Japan in WWII they didn't want to waste men and materials capturing far flung territories. The US strategy was to progressively take islands that brought them nearer to the Japanese homeland. So their bombers could reach initially, a jumping off point for invasion was also planned. The Philippines has been criticised as a distracting sideshow by some, but McCarthy said he'd go back and there was political pressure to retake those islands. The British advanced into Burma from India, to regain some credibility after being bundled out a couple of years earlier. But Indonesia, and south-east Asia around Thailand/ Malaysia were all still in Japanese hands when the A bombs were dropped. The Australians had more or less given up on retaking New Guinea as they regarded it as pointless bloodshed for a jungle covered island. Oilfields and port facilities were heavily bombed, but these Japanese conquered were mainly bypassed.

[@Paltse]

Especially the I-O-U part.

[@xenotypos]

Regarding the limited navies for France and Italy, several reasons I think: - Italy wasn't a Great Power. -France was more focused on its continental army (a matter of survival with Germany as a neighbour), in particular, a lot of the national military budget went on the building of the infamous Maginot Line before WW2. So they probably said "yeah ok we don't care that much". They generally counted on their alliance with the UK. -Japan's military, like UK, was centered on its navy, so for them it was the other way around. Japan's land army was never that good, they were successful for a while only because they attacked weakly defended area, the undeveloped China for example. But once (for example) the troops in Manchouria faced the USSR's army, they were slaughtered, the difference in equipement was enormous. Once again, everything was spent on the navy. -Regarding USA I don't know, but I guess they were (kind of) more focused on the navy since they didn't have any real threat on the continent. Also, being a new economic powerhouse (in terms of pure gdp) helped I imagine.

[@za.monolit]

japan's military wasn't centred on naval power until the early 1900s. Japan's Navy before 1900 was dogshit.

[@xenotypos]

@@za.monolit As shown in the video, this conference happened in 1921.

[@antonymash9586]

Linfamy is an incredibly good chanel focused on Japanese history. kzbin.info/door/BkqDNqao03ldC3u78-Pp8g Voices of the past read a first hand acount of a Japanese translator at the time of the Perry expedition and his part of the first official Japanese embasy to the USA. Might find it interesting if not worth a reaction. kzbin.info/www/bejne/f6ezqXarftijjdU Extra credits have done a few videos on thi history of japan. They are always good and well worth checkng out. If you want to find out more about the middle east during the renacance and early modern period I recomend checking out the Ottoman empire. How these people went from nomands north of china to being Turkey is an important one if you want to understand the region. And finaly to the Queen. She is the the queen of Britan, Australia, Canada and quite a few other places besides. She has little formal power and even less room to exorcise that power. Mostly she is a figurehead and engages in charatable and diplomatic work. The Prime minister is the head of government. We do not elect a spesific priminister but they are the head of the largest elected party. A prime minister can resign and can be removed by a vote by parlement. Elections are usualy held ever 4 years but the govenrment can call a snap election at any time.

[@Alexandros.Mograine]

5:47 lmao, this video is too oversimplified to tell the full story, but trust me it wasnt nearly as simple as that. western countries were basically colonizing asia. they imposed a bunch of unequal treaties. its not like the US was gracefully lending a helping hand...

[@AlejandroPRGH]

I've seen old newspaper articles from the English language press in Hong Kong in which young Bruce Lee was called a "boxer". Seemingly it is or was the regular word for a kung fu fighter in the variety of English spoken there.

[@rask004]

To clarify (if not already done), in an oversimplified manner: Japan had a warrior class / caste, The Samurai, with Samurai lords, and with Regional leaders, the Daimyo. Samurai were considered first class citizens above all else. Japanese beliefs included dying in an honorable manner, and for Samurai that meant preferably in battle, and that along with the Samurai prestige and desires for greater power, played a role in frequent wars between the regions in Japan. This had been going on for some time only coming toward an end (meaning an end to frequent warfare) before the Meiji Era. During this warring time, one Samurai became a high status Lord offered privileges by the Emperor, but he rejected those and formed his own position, The Shogun (a military dictator). Desire to gain the prestige of this new position led the country into the Shengoku period, when the whole country was in a state of total war and constant social chaos, from the 15th to the 17th century. The Sengoku era ended over time as two regional clans formed an alliance and slowly conquered and absorbed other clans and regions into their influence. Famous names from the Shengoku period include Nobunaga, who began unifying Japan and introduced muskets, and Tokugawa who completed unification and introduced changes that led to lasting peace. It also meant the Samurai no longer had a purpose, because of no wars, but the strict social heirarchy introduced by Tokugawa kept them at the highest social position. Merchants were kept at the lowest position and banned from trading with foreigners, but were gaining money and influence now that constant war wasn't affecting trade, and that the population could for once want more in their lives than just simply surviving the next battle. Other people were usually forced into the positions and professions of their parents by inheritance, stopping social mobility and perhaps creating some tensions in terms of opportunities to improve, and social status and heirarchy. This was the state of the society, very roughly, when western ships began exploring and colonising other parts of the world, and thus when American ships arrived in Japan to seek trade and commerce. If you're curious about the Sengoku Period, I recommend watching the playlist "Warring

[@chalfo]

Not a history buff by any means, but I saw something many moons ago that said that China was the probably the most technologically\scientifically advanced country for centuries until the west invented glass, weirdly (why specifically, I can't recall). The influx of UK/US involvement in Japan (as stated in this vid) probably allowed Japan to surpass China technologically (as well as providing gunpowder) and thus why they were able to invade and capture Chinese territory easily. I'll try and have a look for something explaining why glass was significant.

[@muhammadzakhwan9009]

Also React To The Fallen Of World War 2. it has a lot of information

[@hrach1384]

A shogun is basically a bunch of samurais got together and formed their own government that became stronger than the actual emperor of japan (Rich and important people hired samurais in order to defend their homes from robbers)

[@quoniam426]

Oh Yes USA messed things, they have been doing so since 1776... To see how the newly formed Imperial Combined fleet won the Russo Japanese war, see admiral Togo's page, he was the equivalent of Nelson for Japan, he studied naval strategy and logistics in UK and modelled his view on modern Japanese Navy on the Royal Navy approach. The Washington Naval conference was the occasion for the USA to gain military superiority above everyone else. Fun fact: the destruction of the railway by Japanese personel blaming Chinese rebels is referenced in Tintin comics in the Blue Lotus episode. China was largely underequipped and poor at that time due to a century of civil war and Western influence (Opium wars). Despite territory, if you lose your fleet and your aviation, you can't control it, so it is as good as game over. USS Missouri was the ship on which the treaty was signed, it is still a museum ship you can visit when there is no pandemic to mess things around...

[@pandanemi-0239]

If you are interested. React to Ancient Rome in 20 minutes, it’s a nice overview about Rome.

[@SoGal_YT]

It's already on my list! Definitely plan to do it. I studied Latin in school, so I'm always interested to learn more about that period.

[@gj1234567899999]

At the end of the war as you say Japan still controlled a lot of territory, but since they were losing at sea, they couldn’t make use of all that territory. What’s not given enough space is the US submarine campaign against japan which sank many of Japan’s cargo shipping and prevented them from bringing supplies to japan and reinforcements from all the territory they controlled. Interestingly if you google list of maritime disasters, you will see a bunch of Japanese troop ships sunk on the list with around 5,000 troops being killed at a time on each ship because of US submarine attacks.

[@mailman5043]

Shogun = Leader of all samurai, dictator that continue by blood line, like a prime ministers and the emperors are like puppets (until meiji). Daimyo is just the leader of samurai's clan

[@morrogin5986]

if you want to know a lot about ww1 and ww2, i can recommend "the great war" and the "world war 2 channels." they bring out an episode every week (2014-18 for the great war chan) on what happened in that week in the relevant war. probably too much content to react to but very informative and gives a nice sense of time that I find is often missing from these shorter vids.

[@rafaelcanosantos3554]

In the minute 13:13 you asked what country was the one in red color. It was the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867-1919)

[@michaelrobinson2687]

The Shogun was basically commander of Japan's military. While Daimyos were regional governors. I might try explaining it this way, It's like how the President/Prime Minister runs the country but still needs the support of senators/ministers from the various states/constituencies. However, I only know that because I watched some KZbin videos by The Shogunate KZbin channel on Japan's Warring States Period₁ (The Sengoku Jidai: 1467 - 1615). It's 148 year duration makes The Wars of the Roses (Britain) and the Thirty Years War look kind of small in comparison. Sorry for going off on a tangent. And yes, it does sound like the U.K. I find comparisons between the two quite fascinating. Both are island nations. Both have a culture that like tea. (Britain once bought up the entire world's tea supply for a year (1942 www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/british-government-bought-tea.html ) while Japan famously has Tea Ceremonies₂.) Both have been involved in long periods of warfare. (Sengoku Jidai vs Hundred Years War) Both created a maritime empire. Both have a parliament with a figurehead monarch. Footnotes ₁I got interested in the time period after watching an anime series set in an alternate version of that era (The Ambition of Oda Nobuna), although it's gender bending of powerful figures meant that it wasn't completely historically accurate. ₂I've never had the chance to witness one though :( Sorry for the long comment, I have a tendency to get carried away.

[@za.monolit]

daimiyos have way more power though

[@viterjeff]

Kings and generals request japanese history, please

[@ianpark1805]

While not generally a reader of fiction, for an account of a rather earlier Japan I recommend James Clavell’s ‘Shogun’. I found it fascinating, possibly because it’s based on actual events with just the names changed, for instance the Shogun in the book is called Toranaga while the actual one was called Tokugawa. And for small islands exerting an undue amount of influence over bigger countries - Great Britain (waves)! I should add that I’ve been to Japan twice and love it and would return at the drop of a hat (and given the money!).

[@SoGal_YT]

Thanks for the book recommendation. I'll write it down. You're right about the British, and I don't know why I didn't apply the same logic to Japan. I think it's because China is built up in my head to be the largest military in the world, and it would be difficult to invade them today...so I was applying a more modern view of things that doesn't quite fit. That's why I'm trying to learn Asian history, because I'm quite ignorant of it.

[@ianpark1805]

@@SoGal_YT The book is quite old now. If you have them you’ll probably be able to pick up a paperback copy from a second hand book shop. It’s quite big - if you can’t get through it, it will make a fine doorstop! Me? Couldn’t put it down. There was a TV serialisation starring Richard Chamberlain (told you it was old!) as the Anjin-san too! Might be on DVD!

[@SoGal_YT]

@@ianpark1805 I'm sure it could be found online somewhere. Thanks!

[@lucaduren6979]

CGP Gray has a good vid on how England works

[@nathanroberts355]

Meiji means emperor to Japanese and with the samurai was protect like police in armour and ninjas are assinations

[@davidjoelsson4929]

Meiji is a name

[@za.monolit]

@@davidjoelsson4929 *era title

[@Man-O-Little-Tan]

The league of nations was the united nations but shittier

[@Svea_LifeGuards]

The reason why Japan was able to wipe the floor with China is because China at the time was going through Civil War and it was split up between two main armies the kmt which for nationalists and the pla or people's Liberation Army which were communist they have been fighting each other since the 1920s and when Japan started to invade the kind of started it rough alliance between each other but they were no match for the Japanese Army which was modernized only one division of the kmt army was modernized with German helmets and equipment the rest wore cloth field caps the standard kmt uniform and most were just equipped with Mauser pistol carbine tactical military boots were not a thing instead they wore cloth traditional shoes some did not even have pistols and charged blindly at the Japanese with Antiquated swords. China did have a lot of people but they just could not equip their army with good enough equipment to make a difference

[@nathanroberts355]

The queen Victoria and now queen Elizabeth the 2nd is head of our commonwealth nations and includes Australia and New Zealand it's because of the one man captain James cookof his 3rd voyages

[@devils9844]

Try Oversimplified

[@ianpark1805]

Check this rather breakneck speed video for the difference between England, Great Britain and the U.K. The video is generally correct except that some parts of the Commonwealth are pondering whether to leave and as you’ll probably be aware GB has left the EU (and that’s going awfully well at the moment, isn’t it?) kzbin.info/www/bejne/qH_YaYt6d7ihZ5I

[@devils9844]

Hey try Oversimplified!

[@tenparabgyae370]

Please react to ( the greco chinese war over heavenly horse 🐴 )

[@SoGal_YT]

It's already on my list, thanks!

[@nathanroberts355]

Shotgun is leader of samurai clans

[@johnc2988]

Shotgun, very amusing, I think you mean Shogun. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iafIeoOrotVob9U

[@za.monolit]

hes not the leader of all the clans. he doesn't own the other clans

[@johnc2988]

@@za.monolit leadership is not ownership

[@DK-cy5mt]

The Queen is Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

[@ericvonmanstein2112]

Hank you madam you always give me hearts on my every previous comment I subscribed German army greatest army

[@SoGal_YT]

Thanks!

[@ericvonmanstein2112]

@@SoGal_YT if you want to ask anything about ww2 ,please do ask Don't listen to stupid fools

[@ericvonmanstein2112]

@@SoGal_YT only America and Germany were victims Americans were forced to force Germany in declaring war

[@darrinslack1269]

@@ericvonmanstein2112 best ask the victims of the gas chambers that one

[@darrinslack1269]

and before you come back with it was all crap and we did`nt do it , have you actually talked to anyone that had to go thru the mass killing of the german jews or anyyone that had to see their family killed by the hands of german soldiers ,I HAVE

[@wilhelmbrorrson1153]

US before it realised its destiny to be world most democraciest shelter for all people who want freedom (well, at least it thinks it's its destiny), it wanted as any other superpower a colony somewhere, or at least new unexplored market to sell its stuff there. That's why it came to Japan and push it to be more open.

[@SoGal_YT]

The whole colonization mindset seems strange to my 21st century sensibilities, but I suppose it's still going on in some ways. The economic/trading thing, I can understand that.

[@kevindiment]

MAY JEE PERIOD

[@kylord20001]

"small island nation" if the Japanese empire (before the annexation of Manchuria) was overlayed on the east coast it could fill out everything east of Ohio and Florida. so it would look a little something like the original thirteen colonies.I think calling it a small island nation is misrepresentative of reality.

[@za.monolit]

Yeah that's in length though. In actual amount of land, it's a small country.

[@kylord20001]

@@za.monolit it's just not.

[@za.monolit]

@@kylord20001 nice argument

[@kylord20001]

@@za.monolit same amount of effort went into your argument as mine. if you consider a country that contained 13.2% of the world population at the time and had a larger core territory than any other European nation (excluding the soviet union) a "small country" there's not much I can say that will change your mind.

[@za.monolit]

@@kylord20001 my argument was straightforward and easy to understand. if you didn't understand what i was saying, then you have some reading problems. regardless, japan is a small country geographically speaking. Stop trying to twist my argument by using population as your statistic. Japan is the 62nd largest country in the world. That's smaller than Morocco and Zimbabwe. Are you saying Zimbabwe is a big country? Please learn how to read numbers before you embarrass yourself, like you just did.

[@Manu-rb6eo]

Lol the explanation is ok but.... It's should be about the boshin war and the Satsuma rebellion, it wasting to much time on ww1 and 2. Also there is not a single word about yhe French officer Jules brunet sent by napoleon 3 to support the shogun (the character of Tom cruise in the film the last samouraï is based on him). This video is ok if you want to know what the empire basically is but for the meiji restoration.... Find another video lol.

[@Japinoyboi2004]

React to History of Japan by Bill Wurtz if you haven't watched it yet.

[@tritojean7549]

21:02 no no he is

[@alejandroparedes2500]

2:28 that doesn't make sense, they're not pictures.

[@YoursTrulyJaden]

Hey can you do a reaction on the gulf war or Kuwait?

[@SoGal_YT]

Absolutely! I was a little kid when that happened and had no real understanding of what was going on. Would be good to go back and learn about it.

[@nsr1532]

While you make your you tube ideas maybe you should at least have an idea to make sure your information is correct. BTW Love the the way you are accepting the the way this is going.

[@roddychisholm552]

British Hong Kong

[@wilhelmbrorrson1153]

Importnant thing to mention is about the story with atomic bombings. The original video makes it the main reason why Japan surrendered, but the truth is pretty different. US Air Force was already bombing shit out of japanese wooden cities, factories and military bases, day and night since they took Iwo Jima. So at the end it made no difference for Japanese to their home be destroyed by hundred bombs or one, huge one. It definently left big psychological wound and make some Japanese think about their presence in war but still, main reason was more pragmatic. Japanese were loosing war on the ocean pretty since Midway. As American Navy comes closer to thier teritorries, their convoy shipping between oil and rubber base in South-East Asia and Home Islands where the factories were placed was under threat of US or Royal Navy attacks. To make matters worse, Soviets attacked Manchuria in August 1945, inflicting heavy loses, and cutting of Japanese coal and iron supply line- the two main resources to produce any weapons.

[@taylordinney1484]

In Japanese history merchants were the lowest class because they did not produce and making money by selling others work was dirty.

[@papercat2599]

Don’t know where you got the impression that China can’t be invaded. Especially considered Britain was also an island country that conquered many huge countries. Japan ain’t even that small when compared to some European countries. Numbers doesn’t mean much when facing guns. Japan was in every way much more technologically superior compared to China. When Japanese invaded China. China wasn’t exactly a single entity. After the collapse of Qing dynasty. Chinese warlords fight each other and exhausted all the resources. When Japanese invaded China. China at the time were so poor and miserable. Japan honestly think they could take china within few months or years. Yet that never happened. Chinese at the time were going through a very tragic time. The republicans had poor control over the land and very few resources. Due to the previous civil war. Yet Chinese just keep on fighting. In facts Soviet and Chinese fought some of the most devastating battle in ww2. Soviet had the biggest casualty, while China had the second biggest casualty. China didn’t even fought anyone else or legit invade any one. That’s just them defending their home from invader. No glory, just pure pain. Consider that France give up to hitler within 44 days. Chinese were inhumanly persistent and brave. There’s nothing shameful about that. In fact I’m very proud of chinese warriors back then. Your impression that Japan can’t beat China were kinda true in ancient history. Chinese won every major war against Japan. For both Han and Tang Dynasty, japan were weakling to them. During the Ming dynasty. Japanese samurai has gotten so strong that they force Korea into near extinction. They lose mainly because chinese come and force them to give up. Ancient Chinese dominance were reason why Japanese culture learn so much from China. Japan in fact has been a tributary state of China for most of its history. Everything changes after the modernization.

[@wilhelmbrorrson1153]

Yes, Chinese fought hard and bravly, but same did the French. France was and still is smaller country, compared to China so every conquest of its territory will be faster in theory. Second of all, Japanese weren't mobile as Germans were and roads in France and entire infrastructure was definently better then those in China. That's why it fell so quickly, compared to Chinese fighting in hard terrain with Japanese with extened supply lines. And by the way- did you heard about the french resistance and Free France? Even tho Petain sign an armistice with Germans, many french continued the fight against their occupiers.

[@SoGal_YT]

Thank you for the detailed explanation. My ignorance is because I've not ever learned the history of China, Japan, or Asia in general - but I'm trying to learn now. My only frame of reference for China is modern China, which is a pretty powerful nation. To me it seems impossible to invade them now, so I just thought they were kind of always that way with such a huge population. But as I'm learning, that wasn't always the case in China, and I can understand how it was possible for Japan to invade. That's why I love chatting with all of you in the comments - you're helping me learn!

[@papercat2599]

@@wilhelmbrorrson1153 I have no doubt French people fought hard. Also yes I know about French resistance. So I don’t think French were weak. It’s just that the declaration of of German victory was very quick. Consider that France were very good during the WW1. Also they are indeed much more technologically advanced than China. Which is why people may have higher expectations for France. But I know that France had its own reason.

[@hanng1242]

Japan was not "way much more technologically superior" to China at the time (at least on land - they were at sea). The difference was that (1) the Japanese were able to manufacture their own equipment, whereas China had to import theirs, and (2) the Japanese army was far better trained than the Chinese one, and therefore able to effectively use stuff like tanks and artillery, unlike the Chinese (who had such equipment, but didn't really know how to use it). For example, the development of the Type 38 Arisaka rifle happened because the imported Mausers that the Chinese were using in the First Sino-Japanese War outclassed the Murata rifles that Japan was using. By the time of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Nationalist Army was much better equipped than the Qing army was during the First war, and with more-or-less up to date weapons (such as the 6.8x57mm Mauser, functionally equivalent to the K98's that the Germans were using). The Japanese indeed have a technological edge over China, but I wouldn't describe it as "very much more."

[@papercat2599]

@@hanng1242 ? Technology include manufacturing capabilities. If you can only buy weapons instead of producing them. Then you are indeed technologically inferior. Do you understand the definition?

[@luciferkotsutempchannel]

Overly Sarcastic Productions made a good 12 part series on Roman History. I'd highly reccomend it. (well, 8-12 parts, depends on what you consider 'roman'. I'm including Byzantine and Ottoman history in this)

[@kevindiment]

CONICHUA

[@АлексейИванов-ъ3ч2ш]

USSR made free the whole China from Japan and took part of Japan it was a huge operation by the end of WW2.. they didnt say anything about that..