Page:A Short History of the World.djvu/402

382 A Short History of The World to sign the treaty. Incredulous crowds watched this visitation from the outer world, marching through the streets. Russia, Holland, and Britain followed in the wake of America. A great nobleman whose estates commanded the Straits of Shimo- noseki saw fit to fire on foreign vessels, and a bombardment by a fleet of British, French, Dutch and American warships destroyed his batteries and scattered his swordsmen. Finally an allied squadron (1865), at anchor off Kioto, imposed a ratification of the treaties which opened Japan to the world. The humiliation of the Japanese by these events was intense. With astonishing energy and intelligence they set themselves to bring their culture and organization to the level of the European powers. Never in all the history of mankind did a nation make such a stride as Japan then did. In 1866 she was a mediaeval people, a fantastic caricature of the extremest romantic feudalism ; in 1899 hers was a completely Westernized people, on a level with the most advanced European powers. She completely dispelled the persuasion that Asia was in some irrevocable way hopelessly behind Europe. She made all European progress seem sluggish by comparison. We cannot tell here in any detail of Japan's war with China in 1894-95. It demonstrated the extent of her Westernization. She had an efficient Westernized army and a small but sound fleet. But the significance of her renascence, though it was appreciated by Britain and the United States, who were already treating her as if she were a European state, was not understood by the other Great Powers engaged in the pursuit of new Indias in Asia. Russia was pushing down through Manchuria to Korea. France was already established far to the south in Tonkin and Annam, Germany was prowling huiigrily on the look-out for some settlement. The three powers combined to prevent Japan reaping any fruits from the Chinese war. She was exhausted by the struggle, and they threatened her with war. Japan submitted for a time and gathered her forces. Within ten years she was ready for a struggle with Russia, which marks an epoch in the history of Asia, the close of the period of European arrogance. The Russian people were, of course, innocent and ignorant of this trouble that was being made for them half-way round the woi-ld, and the wiser Russian statesmen were against these foolish thrusts ; but a gang of financial adventurers, including the Grand Dukes, his cousins, surrounded the Tzar. They had gambled deeply