576 General History of Europe invasions. Napoleon III, supported by the English, waged war on China in 1858 and compelled the emperor to open new ports to European trade, including Tientsin, which was dangerously near the imperial city of Peking. Recently China has been thrown open to the foreign merchants to a very great extent, and the "concessions" demanded by the great powers have caused some fear that the whole country might be divided among them. 1047. The Extraordinary History of Japan. To the north- east of China lies a long group of islands which, if they lay off the eastern coast of North America, would extend from Maine to Georgia. This archipelago, comprising four main islands and some four thousand smaller ones, is the center of the Japanese Empire. Fifty years ago Japan was still almost completely iso- lated from the rest of the world; but now, through a series of extraordinary events, she has become one of the conspicuous members of the family of nations. Her people, who are somewhat more numerous than the inhabitants of the British Isles, resemble the Chinese in appearance and owe to China the beginnings of their culture and their art. 1048. Commodore Perry and the Modernizing of Japan. During the sixteenth century Dutch and English traders carried on some business in Japan, but they, as well as the missionaries, became disliked and were all driven out. For nearly two cen- turies Japan cut herself off almost entirely from the outer world. In 1853 Commodore Perry landed in Yokohama and asked that' United States ships be allowed to dispose of their cargoes at one or two ports at least. This was allowed, and soon other powers got the right to trade with Japan, and the Japanese decided that they must acquaint themselves with European science and inven- tions if they hoped to protect themselves against European en- croachments. In 1871 feudalism was abolished, serfdom was done away with, and the army and navy were rapidly remodeled on a European pattern. In 1889 a constitution was established pro- viding for a parliament. Factories were built, several thousand miles of railroad were constructed, and Japan was pretty thor- oughly modernized within a generation.
