Collapse at the Center

World War I began a revolution in our modern world. Nineteenth century  Europe contributed to some of its causes. The intense nationalism of Europe encouraged thoughts of war, as then it was considered manly to fight. Women were to present a white feather representing cowardice to men not fighting, so the competitive mentality of Europe brought on much of the war. The war changed the course of history in many ways. The war denounced Enlightenment values. Many Europeans did feel as though the war was a waste. The war made numerous changes to the ways of the world.

The war brought on many changes, as well, to the United States. One such change is the Great Depression. It was brought on by a major crash in the stock market after a booming economy in the 1920s. It escalated so much that Americans could no longer afford American goods. Everybody was affected by this time in some way.

Unfortunately, this was also the time that democracy was denied to many people based on race. The rise of fascism denounced ideas of early democracy. An idea of materialism came about that disgusted many. Independence was taken as big business took over. Of course, with fascism came the rise of the Nazis. Previously, German imperial government had collapsed and the Treaty of Versailles was signed. Many Germans blamed Jews for this defeat by claiming they had betrayed them. Japan found themselves in a somewhat similar situation. They too had adopted an authoritarian way of government. However, Japan had barely participated in the first World War, and their economy had flourished as they had avoided British rule. Overall, fascism quickly found its way into the world, damaging millions of lives.

The Second World War proved equally as damaging. Europe and Asia were in similar situations heading into the war. In many ways, both continents had been heavily involved with these alliances and struggles. However, what fueled Japan was the thought the racism kept them from being an equal power. Although similar, World War II was very different from the first. The war was very harsh, with a want to wipe out entire races. Also this time, they had the means to carry this out. It was a brutal war, with an extreme number of lives lost.

These struggles eventually took their toll on Europe. However, they did recover. An imperialistic government is strong, once it is built, and that helped restore the prosperity of Europe quite a bit. Europe was also finally able to calm the nationalism in order to restore peace and tranquility. Europe underwent many changes over this period.

Empires in Collision

In the nineteenth century, hordes of Chinese peasants rebelled against the circumstances that they were under. Several factors account for this. Due to the large population of the country, corruption was frequent and often soldiers were ordered to beat and pester the peasants. Also, taxes were increased upon them. This was around the time that Europe began to influence a change in China. This influence was forced after Britain began a war when China opposed am opium trade and ended the war by opening ports for European trade. This greatly impeded Chinese independence. Surrounded by issues, China used both old and new strategies to try to solve them. They relied on foreigners for expertise in certain areas. They also worked to strengthen individual local authorities rather than the country as a whole. Overall,  the nineteenth century was a trying time for China.

Also in the nineteenth century was the fall of the Ottoman Empire. There are also factories that led to this fall. The Ottoman Empire was heavily overthrown by the British. The British had gained plenty of momentum during this time and had become much stronger. Like China, the Ottoman Empire faced a great deal of issues, and their solutions defined them quite a bit. The Empire had advised the military to use European techniques to make them strong as well. A group called the Young Ottomans favored a stronger more European style military and government. The Ottomans struggled to remain strong in the nineteenth century.

Elsewhere in the eastern world, Japan faced changes during the Tokugawa Era. Over time, Japan began to change for the better. Fertilizer and rice business was booming and laborers were becoming more literate. This was likely due to the peaceful nature of the Japanese as a whole at the time. This change was revolutionary to the Japanese. The nation became more United than ever before. Also, unlike the Ottoman Empire, Japan focused on a central government rather than individual authorities. This also changed Japan's  relationship to the rest of the world. Japan escaped colonialization from the west. Also, they became a stable military powers. Of all of the eastern countries, Japan especially held their own.

Colonial Entounters in Asia and Africa

The Industrial Revolution had shaped European imperialism in that goods were beginning to be sold in other continents rather than Europe. With all of the technological advances produced in the industrial revolution, Europe was producing more products than what Europeans could afford. Therefore, Europe turned to other countries. These countries include China and India. This has sparked interest in trading with other countries. China is a highly populated country and there was potential for great business. Success with China was significant to Europe. This changed European imperialism drastically.

This caused Europeans to gain a superiority complex. Europeans gained such wealth from their endeavors, they became arrogant. They felt that their religion made them superior as well. They thought that they could "help" those on other continents by overthrowing and assimilating them. These events made Europeans rather unreasonable.

Europe soon gained control of Africa and Asia. Europe forcibly established empires in these continents through the military. They enforced rule upon these continents using the power that they lack. It was simple to overpower them, which is unfair. This is partly due to the advances in firearms. European had developed automatic forearms which, by a long way, overpowered others. They clearly used this to their advantage. They used their developments to gain control over others.