1. Meiji Restoration
   End of the Warring States
2. Annexation of Korea
   Signing the Kanagawa Treaty

In 1868, Emperor Meiji was restored to power in an event known as the Meiji Restoration. With the guidance of his Council, Emperor Meiji helped modernize Japan until his death in 1912.

1. Buddhist Monks
   Imperial Diet
2. Tokugawa Shogunate
   Council of State

Before the Emperor was restored to power, the Tokugawa Shogunate ruled over Japan. The Tokugawa came to power after the Warring States period when Tokugawa Ieyasu unified Japan.

1. First Opium War
   Boshin War
2. First Sino-Japanese War
   Russo-Japanese War

The Boshin War was fought in 1868 and 1869, as the Imperial forces under the ishin shishi fought against the Tokugawa Shogunate. The Imperial forces won and abolished any remnants​ of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

1. 1865
   1703
2. 1890
   2000

The Meiji Constitution went into effect on November 29, 1890. The Constitution placed the Emperor as the head of the state, and it would be the law of the land until after World War II.

1. House of Representatives
   House of Ministers
2. House of the State
   House of Peers

When the Meiji Constitution was approved, two houses formed the Imperial Diet. The lower house was the House of Representatives, and the upper house was the House of Peers. The House of Peers consisted of members from the Imperial family.

1. Renegotiate Treaties
   Start a War with Korea
2. Take Control of Vietnam
   Establish a Colony in South Africa

The Tokugawa Shogunate signed treaties with foreign nations that the new Meiji government saw as unfair. Therefore, the new Japanese government sent diplomatic leaders to western countries to renegotiate the treaties.

1. The Tokugawa Shogunate regained power.
   Emperor Meiji was removed from power.
2. The Satsuma Rebellion
   The Sino-Japanese War

After the Boshin War, the caste system was ended, which eliminated the samurai class. Unemployed samurai were disgruntled, and many joined a rebellion led by Saigo Takamori.

1. Abolishment of the samurai class
   Westernization of Japan
2. Samurai were unemployed
   The restoration of the Emperor

The Satsuma samurai who fought in the Boshin War believed that the Tokugawa Shogunate was too weak when it came to foreign affairs. They supported the slogan "expel the barbarians." After the war, these samurai believed the new government was showing the same signs of weakness in foreign matters.

1. Ii Naosuke
   Okubo Toshimichi
2. Saigo Takamori
   Kido Takayoshi

Although many samurai helped lead Japan through the Meiji Restoration, the Three Great Nobles were some of the most influential during this turbulent time in Japanese history.

1. He was killed during battle.
   He died of a heart attack.
2. He was executed for treason.
   He was assassinated.

Okubo Toshimichi was extremely influential in modernizing Japan, but after the Satsuma Rebellion, he was seen as a traitor by many samurai. On May 14, 1878, he was assassinated.

1. Influence over Korea
   A port in Vietnam
2. Control over the East China Sea
   China invaded Japan

With major instability, the Korean government under the Joseon Dynasty had a difficult time suppressing a peasant rebellion. Both China and Japan sent troops to help the Joseon Dynasty, which resulted in a war between China and Japan.

1. Control of the Yellow River
   Shanghai
2. Taiwan
   Beijing

After the Empire of Japan defeated China in the Sino-Japanese War, mainly because Japan had modernized its military, Japan gained control of Taiwan and the Liaodong Peninsula. This gave Japan more influence over Korea.

1. Japan
   Spain
2. Germany
   Russia

A Chinese uprising started in 1899 over foreign intervention in China. The Chinese rebels fought against foreigners and Chinese Christians, eventually gaining the support of the Qing Dynasty. This uprising forced foreign nations like Japan to get involved in the conflict.

1. Germany
   China
2. France
   Russia

After the end of the Sino-Japanese War, Japan was forced to withdraw from the Liaodong Peninsula by Germany, Russia, and France. Russia took over control of the Peninsula when Japan was gone.

1. Manchuria
   Taiwan
2. Control of the Yellow River
   Control of Shanghai

Japan wanted to expand its interest in Korea. In exchange, Japan was willing to give up control of Manchuria. However, Russia refused the offer, and war broke out between the two countries.

1. Mukden, Manchuria
   Port Arthur
2. Vladivostok
   Yalu River

After negotiations broke down between Russia and Japan, Japan attacked Port Arthur which was controlled by Russia. The attack came before an official declaration of war was issued by Japan.

1. The ability to combat a Western power
   The ability to defeat China
2. The willingness to negotiate
   The ability to defeat the United State

No country knew the extent of Japanese military power until Japan defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. This victory increased Japan's influence in world affairs.

1. 1900
   1865
2. 1910
   1945

After winning the war with Russia, Japan gained full influence over Korea. In 1910, Japan finally annexed Korea with the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1910, making the peninsula part of the Japanese territory.

1. Winston Churchill
   Theodore Roosevelt
2. Yuan Shikai
   Empress Dowager Cixi

Both Russia and Japan agreed that Theodore Roosevelt would mediate the peace negotiations between the two countries. The result was the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth, which ended the war.

1. Britain promised Japan land in South Africa.
   Britain promised Japan a colony in Germany.
2. Japan wanted to extend its influence by capturing German held bases around China.
   Japan didn't want to start a war with the United States.

When WWI broke out, Japan saw it as an opportunity to extend its influence over China. With the help of British troops, Japan occupied German territories throughout the Pacific.

1. Japan-Korea Treaty
   Twenty-One Demands
2. Treaty of Portsmouth
   Boxer Protocol

At the end of WWI, Japan submitted a list of demands to China, which would increase Japan's control of the country. If China did not sign the document, Japan threatened to attack, and China was extremely weak at the time. Although all of the demands were not met, China eventually agreed to most of them.

1. Taisho Yoshihito
   Nakayama Tadayasu
2. Arisugawa Takehito
   Takamatsu Nobuhito

Emperor Taisho succeeded Emperor Meiji on July 30, 1912, making him the 123rd Emperor of Japan. He reigned until his death on December 25, 1926.

1. Japan invaded Manchuria
   Japan lost control of Korea
2. Japan attacked the United States
   China invaded Japan

The Japanese government staged an attack on a railway in south Manchuria. After the staged attack, Japan invaded Manchuria and established a puppet government under the last Qing emperor, Puyi.

1. Empire of Qing
   East Turkestan Republic
2. Manchukuo
   Reorganized National Government of China

When Japan conquered Manchuria from China in 1932, they established a puppet government called Manchukuo. The government remained in place untill after WWII.

1. Mukden Incident
   Marco Polo Bridge Incident
2. Rape of Nanking
   Invasion of Manchuria

In July of 1937, Japan attacked the Marco Polo Bridge, but the Chinese forces knew they needed to hold the bridge at all cost. With help from reinforcements, the Chinese forces were able to repel the Japanese attack.

1. Civil war in China
   Large scale Russian attacks in west China
2. Direct U.S. intervention on the side of Japan
   Communist support

China was divided during the onset of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Kuomintang government under the Nationalist party was being challenged for power by the Communist Party of China.

1. China and Korea
   Russia and Britain
2. Germany and Italy
   The United States and Canada

Japan knew that the country would need help from European nations as they continued to extend their influence in Asia, especially as tensions grew between Japan and the United States. Therefore, Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy.

1. China was too cruel
   India was extending its influence
2. Asians should rule Asians
   Encouragement from the United States

For centuries, Asian countries were under direct or indirect control by Western nations. As Japan modernized, the country began to realize they were a world power and should take over imperial rule throughout Asia from these western countries.

1. Korea
   Japan
2. Taiwan
   China

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japan captured Nanking, the capital of the Republic of China at the time, killing and raping Chinese citizens after capturing the city.

1. 1930
   1941
2. 1922
   1912

After open hostilities through much of the 1930s over land in Manchuria and Siberia, Japan and the USSR agreed to a nonaggression pact on April 13, 1941, as both countries prepared for a global war.

1. Battle at the Java Sea
   Attack on Pearl Harbor
2. Rape of Nanking
   Doolittle Raid

The relationship between the United States and Japan had been deteriorating for years before the attack on Pearl Harbor. A war between the two coutries was inevitable. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the U.S. Pacific Fleet, forcing the U.S. into WWII.

1. Prime Minister of Japan
   Emperor of Japan
2. Foreign Minister of Japan
   Army Minister

Emperor Showa was the 124th Emperor of Japan. He reigned after his father, Emperor Taisho, who died in 1926. Emperor Showa led Japan through WWII and the nation's subsequent surrender after the war.

1. Battle at Yalu River
   Battle of Port Arthur
2. Battle of Midway
   Battle of the Yellow Sea

In the Battle of Midway, the United States lost one carrier to Japan's four. The defeat of the Japanese Navy here was a turning point in the Pacific War that the Empire of Japan could not recover from.

1. Save American lives
   Test the bomb
2. Beat Russia to dropping a bomb
   Put fear into Germany

Even though defeat was imminent, Japan refused to surrender, hoping for a victory that would give them bargaining room during negotiations to end the war. To save American lives in a drawn out war, the United States decided to drop the atomic bomb, which they knew would force Japan to surrender.

1. Russia
   Germany
2. The United States
   China

The United States occupied Japan after the war to help demilitarize the country and transform Japan into a more democratic state, which was especially important to the U.S. with the fear of Communism spreading.