ABSTRACT
Having seen China long dominated and carved up by Western powers and the ease with which a small but disciplined force could compel China to make humiliating concessions, Japan had gradually moved to assert its own hegemony over China. Japan started in 1894 with the First Sino-Japanese War. This had been fought over Korea, which historically had been under Chinese influence, if not domination. Japan won easily, gaining the independence of Korea from China and taking title to Formosa and the Pescadores.
