The Commodore Perry of the US navy compelled the reluctant Japanese to modify their policy of seclusion. The blow to Japanese pride was severe. An agreement was signed in a village which was later to become the city of Yokohama and the Japanese opened two small ports to the American vessel. The Shogunate (Regents) lost face as a result of the treaties that it had been forced to sign. The foreigners were looked upon as intruders and the Samurai (Japanese Knights) class considered them as an unsettling influence on the mass of people.
It was feared that these people would be corrupt by foreign ideas and customs. The key members of the new government were Samurai retainers mainly from Satsuma and Choshu clans. This able oligarchy of clan warriors pushed Japan into the modern world. Rapid westernization began and Japan was quickly Europeanized militarily, politically, and educationally. The army was reorganized on the German pattern and the navy followed the advice of the British.
In the 19th century in China, traditional values and systems were facing strong challenges and pressure for reform from within and without. Internally, a commodity economy had emerged and there was widespread social unrest like the Taiping Rebellion and the Boxer Rebellion. There were also intellectual attempts to modernize and to press for reform. Externally, western economy, cultural and political ideas had penetrated China. A climate for change was thus created which undermined the foundation of traditional ideology, culture, and social structures.
In the middle of the 19th century, an important development became apparent in the multi-ethnic Ottoman Empire. Non-Turkish people began to play a leading role in the economic activities of the Empire. The suppressed minorities showed signs of developing and exercising entrepreneurial skills but were impeded by the ruling Turkish political and feudal elite which served to deter the overall development of the country. Ottoman Empire was a composite of over 60 nationalities of different cultural and religious affiliations. There was also the difference in their levels of social, economic, political, and cultural development. The growing economic strength of the Christian minorities and the reawakening and the growing realization of their national identities increased pressure from the European powers on the Porte, thereby rendering impossible any attempt by the Sultan’s government to islamize the Empire.