Japanese Imperialism

JAPANESE IMPERIALISM

Japan's imperialism was riddled with social Darwinism, they stroved for respect in every country that they imperialize, forcing the people to do so. Japan believed that they were the chosen people of Asia, deserving of all power. It was social Darwinism at its finest - a group of people placing themselves as the ultimate power of all. For the people of Japan that justified their imperialistic acts, believing that they were doing all of Asia a favor by taking control of their country. However for the people living in those imperialist countries it made Japanese ruthless, superiority beating out any sympathy for the natives. 

If the Japanese had anything they sure had nationalism. The belief that they were the best, or at least striving to be the best was what they were striving to be, kept the Japanese motivated. With the formation of the Mojo in Japan, there was a goal set for Japan to be the better of all nations, better technology, richest economy, more power. It was a goal to promote their nation setting them all up for the way that they imperialized, with pride for their country.

Korea was one of the places most affected by the Japanese imperialist movement, they were one of the areas that Japan hit hard. On the one hand, Japanese colonialism was often quite harsh. For the first ten years Japan ruled directly through the military, and any Korean dissent was ruthlessly crushed. Their rule lost a lot after a nationwide protest \, but there imperialist ruling was still brutal. Many Korean women were used as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers, Korean citizens were abused, rights were denied, in 1939 there was even a law passed demanding that all names be turned into Japanese one.

Japan was full of raw material, the of export of which became huge after Japan ended there spurt of isolation. Hopping onto the industrialization band wagon ,Japan found itself easily able to produce goods and export them, quickly allowing them to rise to the top of the manufactured goods trade and became determined to assert itself as a great nation and not to suffer domination by the West as was China.

In 1868 the Tokugawa shôgun ("great general"), who ruled Japan in the feudal period, lost his power and the emperor was restored to the supreme position. The emperor took the name Meiji doubling Japan's empirical come back as the Meiji Restoration. During the time before the restoration there had been a shut down of exports from the area due to the lack of a proper leader and the fact that here was not enough goods for there to be given as an export. That stunt ended when the new empire was formed, coxed by the Americas to end their period of isolationism Japan found themselves with a reformed empire and a open trade route.

Military was a big contribute to the imperialistic ways of Japan. The Meiji empire was all about building up militaristic power, using that to impress other nations. To the Meiji rulers having a strengthen military was the number one, to command respect and become Asia’s super nation - it was why so much of then Mejie government way was aimed towards constructing the perfect army.

Japan's relations with its neighbors also changed after the Meiji Restoration. Reform-minded Samurai soldiers reflect the outcome of the shift back into the empire, like leading that came during Japan's reform. The reform itsellf involved a lot of borrowing, using western traditions as there own, reforming military structures, economic structures, and of course immperialism. This new ruling of Japan lead to the reformation of japanese natonalism and that only fueled them to join the great race of imperlization.

When Russia began to become a threat in the late 1800’s, Japan took that as a threat to their growing empire. Using the looming Russian empire as an opportunity for there nation, Japan began to strengthen military, looking at Korea as their front line of defence. War was on the verge between China and JApan and Korea found itself in an imperialized predicament with no option really open.

Power had brought Japan respect from fellow imperial powers, Britain found itself leaning towards Japan more. With Russian imperialism on the cusp of conquering english territory, Britain found itself against Japan, the U.S. doing so in their own respects. The U.S. made an order for there to be no talk of disrespect towards Japan. The Western --- started to move to the Japanese’s side.

The Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation, signed by Britain and Japan, on July 16, 1894, was a breakthrough agreement. The treaty deemed the end of the unequal treaties and the system of extraterritoriality in Japan. The treaty came into force on July 17, 1899.

From that date British subjects in Japan were subject to Japanese laws instead of British laws. This was the treaty that helped the Japanese gain the support of Britain, directing itself against Russian expansionism in the Far East. The treaty remained intact up until after World War One when Russia lost its political stamina and England nor Japan feared their imperialistic take over.

Karl Marx

KARL MARX

As one of the world’s most well-known philosophers, Marx is still important today because of his great contributions to the ways that the world works and concepts of how governments should be run. With his socialist ideals Marx helped pave way for future communist leaders, forming the Communist Correspondence which lead to the Communist League, writing numerous essays on socialism within society, Marx changed how socialist philosophies were thought of.

Born in 1818 in Germany, Marx was raised in a household of Jews - turned - Christians in attempt to get out of some rather unfortunate rules directed towards Jews. His parents were big supporters of the Prussian reforms raising Marx and his siblings on their beliefs. For his education Marx went to a Jesuit Gymnazium (Germany has three schools: Gymnazium, Realshule, and, Hauptschule. Gymnazium is the school system that allows students to go to college). There he was taught by a respected liberal until the school was shut down when he was in year eleven.

Enrolling in the University of Bonn, seventeen year old Marx tried for a law degree. However his plan of getting a degree from Germany’s part school did not work out for Karl Marx as he was arrested during his freshman year for having a drunken bar fight, prompting his parents to transfer him to a different University. Moving to the University of Berlin, Marx, was introduced to the philosophy of G.W. F. Hegel, something he found - after a few semesters of --- - fascinating. At the university he was also introduced to philosopher Bruno Bauer, and his wife, Jenny von Westphalen.

Hegelianism: the thing every German teen was into. Based on the beliefs of Georg Hegel (hence the name), this philosophy was set on principles of Absolute. A thought movement based on history and logic, Hegelianism, caught on fast in Germany. Marx was just one in millions of supporters. George Hegel believed that everything should be based off of a series of what he claimed as “Absolutes”. This coined Absolute claimed itself as embracing total reality, that way, at least Hegel thought, nobody would be forgotten- a consideration of all of history.

Karl Marx as Prometheus

Wilhelm Weitling

Manuscript of Das Kapital

After graduating Karl got a job as editor of a Rheinische Zeitung, a liberal magazine in Cologne, Germany. Then Germany decided that they much rather preferred not to have a liberal magazine slamming their political decisions and the Rheinische Zeitung was shut down.To run away from a very ticked off government, Marx, went to France. In France he became acquainted with his good friend and partner Frederick Engels. The two where philosophy buddies, earning their reputation for life long essay places with their criticism on Bruno Bauer's philosophy -on of Marx’s old university friends. It was here where Marx became a communist instituting his new found philosophies within his series of writings, Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts.

Being expelled from France by the Prussian Government, Marx took off to Brussels with Engels and his wife. In Brussels, Marx, found himself infatuated with yet another philosophy, Socialism. To Marx, socialism was a way of disbanding inequality, the answer to society's ever increasing bourgeoisie, and a chance to study a topic that fascinated him: historical capitalism and how its increase due to the industrial revolution will eventually collapse. This belief lead Marx to write the German Ideology, construct the communist correspondence committee , and write many other essays, the famed Communist manifesto among them.

The communist manifesto is an essay written in attempts to explain communist views and the underlying theme of the way that the communist movement works. Explaining the difference between the bourgeoisie (upper class) and proletariat (lower class) Marx shares his opinions on how the two social classes get divided and how communist ideals would deal with the inequality.

The Communist Correspondence Committee was a community founded by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels in Brussels. The committee was aim around uniting socialist of March 03 1846, Marx gave a speech chastising  Wilhelm Weitling leveling of communism. Marx’s view of Scientific Communism influenced the committee's attributes in the movements to create a better workplace for people who strive for progression in the workplace. This committee paved way for the communist league.

A series that Marx began writing before his death was Das Kapital. This series expounded on his theory of the inevitable demise of a capitalist society. In Das Kapital,  Marx, establishes his theory on surplus value in labor and how that affects capitalist beliefs, claiming his purpose was to lay bare “the economic law of motion of modern society.” According to Marx it is not the population growth that is increasing unemployment, but capitalism instead, urging the use of communist philosophies to govern instead - the main point of his unfinished series.

Marxism: It takes a lot of effort to get a philosophy named after you, Karl Marx achieved that. With his ideals of how the classes should live together, Marx’s theories constructed Marxism. It is a philosophy based on his thoughts of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, how the two classes should live together in a way that would not be such a way of causing both of the parties to be so unequal to one another.

Vikings

The Vikings believed in the pagan Norse gods, with the broach to the left we see a bird of prey, this is often guessed to portray the Odin, the father of Thor. This broach is one of the first examples of how animals where used to represent humans in Viking art.

A Viking Broach, the design popular among the broaches of the era. It's simple yet, intrecite design skillfully etched into the circular pendant.

A brooch made of crystal and silver, the rose like shape causing controversy among historians as to what exactly it symbolizes.

The goat shape represents the god Thor. In the myths Thor, the thunder god, is said to be pulled by goats. This broach represents the god, yet again representing how the vikings used animals to preserve people and/or gods.

This silver and bronze crafted pin shows advancements in not only craftmanship skill but also, the technology of being able to stab a broach into something.

Continuing the trend of broach work found in the classical Viking age, the artifact to the left is a piece of a broach, originally much larger in size. In it's full form, the decoration would have covered a large surface, taking on a bow shape.   

With its elaborate open ring this broach is especially intricate. With its thermal shaped body, this is one of the heaviest broachs ever to be found.

Moving on from the broach, the artifact to the left is a pendent. Jewelery was quite a staple in the viking society, these pendants often crafted with gold, a circle pattern surrounding the center where a carving of a god is placed.

Completely separate from the many jewelry items, the Vikings where not shy with there ability to weld weapons. This is a sword cast of twisted iron and steel rods, thus creating a tough blade. Weapons of this sort were advanced for the time period, there crating of more bulky blades creating a different sort of weaponry to that of more delicate fighting tools.

Gupta

The Gupta where a member of India, there main religion hat of buddhism, like many other empires of the time. To the left is a bust of the Buddha, his stretched ears symbolizing that of which he gave up to become a monk.

The specialty of the Gupta was their skill in architecture. Building caves from the sides of mountains, the Gupta showed off their abilities with there carved archways, and elaborately crafted windows etched into the rock, these caves where a way to build without support of scaffolding.  

Inside these mountian caves archeologists have discovered carvings of the hindu religion. Some are extravagant dipictions of their Gods, others showed the Buddist beleif of Nirvana. To the left siad picuter is of there leader turned god, Buddha; the lotus flowers being held up in his hands are a symbol often used in artifacts of Buddist heritage.

As well as the sighting of Buddhist artifacts in these caves, there a well good amount of Hindu culture assimilated into the group. Despite the vast growth of Buddhism through the Gupta era, many monarchs adamantly spread Hindu beliefs throughout their reign, this forced use of the religion causing many artifacts found to have Hindu's gods in them. For example to the left, there is a carving of the god Krishna, defeating the demon Keishi.

One of the Guptas other architectural masterpieces where there temples. With advanced technological skills in both building as well as in there sculptures, these temples are still admired today. 

A popular trend around central Asia, was the construction of temples to the god Shiva. Within the confines of these temples, a plethora of carvings and statues can be found. The Guptas contribution to these temples is a cave, one of the most famous carvings found inside being that of the Eternal Shiva, one of the great masters of yoga. 

Along with there mastery in architecture, the Guptas craftsmanship skills came in handy with the minting of coins. Using their eye for detail, the Gupta used materials such as gold to construct the coins before then stamping on elaborate usuals of there rulers. Tot eh left the gold coin is stamped with the image of Kumargupta I  (415-455 CE).

A statue of the buddha, shows the simple forthcomings of the god, the gold its made out of showing of Guptas skills.

To the left is a picture of tools; the of ten forgotten about artifacts infact show just how savy the Gupta where with techknolwgy. There advanced carving tools used to create there caves, scutptures, etc., in looking at these tools we get insite into advancments of the Guptas.

Polonisia

Polynesian Artifacts

Dating back to almost 3,ooo years ago, the Polynesian islands where an empire full of skilled builders and strict social rankings. One of there famous contributions was there intricate canoes, crafted with a

double vessel allowing for travelers to go for longer hauls. There advancements in sailing technology lead way to the ideas of star tracking, wave predictions and even, cloud patterns. Interestingly, the Polynesian canoe is one of the first artifact to be found and brought to Europe.





As well as their specialized ship craftsmanship, many artifacts depict the Polynesians as excellent carvers. For instance this wooden carving of a person in a canoe is an excellent example of the tiki (or human sculpture) that were found in the Polynesian island of Marquese. There distinct use of facial details decorate many of the found artifacts from the islands.




A commonly shared factor that the Polynesians practiced was the
idea of religion. Gifting there deities with the power to help them lead successful lives. A representation of that kind of higher power can be shown through this sculpture of a fishermen god, the Polynesians deity for wishing upon them a good catch. Yet again the figure is representing the Polynesians use of sculpting in there artifacts, in this ones case, as a means to honor there ideas of  religion.



Yet another carving of a deity, this one depicts a large bellied man the bodies of three other boys attached to his chest. It was common in their carvings for the Polynesians to show there gods as larger bellied men often with big ears and long genitals. It has been theorized that this is a representation of the god Tangaroa. The item itself made out of ironwood.







There where a variety of objects such as, blades, axes, and hammers such as the one shown on the side, that are being preserved in museums form the Polynesians ancient times. The findings of the tools shows cultures advancements in society at the time, using technology to manipulate the earth around them.




Along with tools, the Polynesian also showed advancement in sea travel technology. Now the use of an anchor seems almost plaintively obvious, the idea of how to make a boat stop seems like a simple construct but, at the time of the Polynesians the idea of being able to stop your canoe to fish was a relatively new one. Seeing as these people were primarily a fishing-based society, the invention and use of the anchor, or even just the ability to have fishing net, was astronomical.

Weaving is a textile concept still used today. Through the weavings found on the Polynesian islands of Astrul, it gives the viewer an idea of there agricultural life: their material usage allowing an insight into the resources of the time period. Weavings where found to be used as furniture, fans, and other household objects.

This bark cloth is another example of the use of natural resources to create functional art. With this artifact one gets a look into the usage of bark as medium for Polynesian art, thus, providing information about the availability of certain textile materials. 

Of most peculiarity, the discovery of intricately carved toilet seat holders is one of the most interesting of found Polynesian artifacts. The use of complicated detail work on such an item shown is fascinating. Discoveries of such objects shows the beginnings of humans idea of effective technology to get rid of waste.

Minoian -

An artistry mastered by the Minoans was the art of the seal. Through the mastery crafting and with the many images of the past cultural clues are provided. 

In this seal artifact, an image of a hieroglyphic is pressed in. The meaning of the hieroglyph is unknown to modern man, though it is in a text similar to that of the hieroglyphs of Egypt. 

The mosaic of the bull and women is an interesting artifact to ponder. The women in the mosaic are white, a peculiar depiction of the Minoan people at the time. This particular mosaic remains a mystery to historians. 

This is one of the Minoan's stone vases, a contribution to the many carved vases found from the Minoan era. The civilization is known for there great artistry, as shown greatly through the many intricately carved vases. 

Depictions of gods and goddesses through sculptures is a universal theme it appears and The Minoans are no different. With the artifact to the left, there is a sculpture meant to represent a goddess of the Minoan's religion. A peculiar thing about this sculpture though is that the veracity of the collection it is a part of has been questioned on more than one occasion.

 Resting places for the gods is a tradition in which the Minoans upheld. The throne in this picture is a seat dedicated to their mother goddess,  or also arguable the Queen Ariadne. With the throne being dedicated a more matronly women, it begins to show the shift in having women who where more maternal in a hierarchy society. 

Portable vases provide a way to transport goods such as water or grain. With the intricate octopus design, the incredible artistic talent of the Minoan period is again evidenced. Along with the show of creative talents, the clever use of technology is also shown, as seen in this closed container designed to transport grain more easily.

With holes poked into the animal's skull, this artifact was used as a pitcher for ceremonial occasions. Containing the ability to hold water, blood, or other various ceremonial beverages, this bull's head was a leading piece in rituals performed by the Minoan people. 

Presenting a Minoan ritual of jumping over a bulls head, this bronze cast shows a tradition of a man leaping over the head of a bull. In this specific example, the ability to preserve the statue was shattered as the man has lost the bottom half of his legs but, the skill of the maker is still evident. The use of a bronze cast and wax provides intel into not only the ritual at hand but also, the artistry's medium of choice in the Minoan's society.