10 - Competing Empires in Asia

Summary

At the end of the nineteenth century, Japan and the United States stepped forward onto the world stage as two non-European great powers that would dominate the Asia Pacific region, eclipsing the European military and economic powers that had prevailed before. After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–5 and the Spanish-American War of 1898, overseas expansion and spheres of influence began to play major roles in both nations’ self-conceptions. Japan, seeking to avoid becoming a colonial possession itself by acquiring colonial territory, eventually chose to become a continental power and would dominate the Asian mainland. The United States, by contrast, focused less on the imperialist acquisitions of territory per se than on the expansion of American commerce and trade. These two world views and approaches to expansion in Asia would eventually collide at Pearl Harbor.