7.5

Source 1 "Under the present circumstances, if we were to find ourselves in a war with France, it will be a people's war that cannot be won in one decisive battle but will turn into a long and deadly struggle with a country that will not give up before the strength of its entire people has been broken. Our own people, too, will be utterly broken and exhausted, even if we emerge victorious at the end." Helmuth von Moltke, German general, letter to the German emperor Wilhelm II, 1905 Source 2 "The integrity of what remains of the Ottoman Empire is one of the principles upon which the world's balance of power is based. Therefore, I reject the idea that it is in our national interest to shatter one of the cornerstones of the international order. What if, after we have attacked Libya* and destabilized the Ottoman Empire, the Balkans begin to stir? And what if a Balkan war provokes a clash between the two power blocs and a European war? Italy must not be the country that bears the responsibility of putting a match to the powder keg." *Italy wanted to colonize Libya, which, at the time, was a province of the Ottoman Empire. Giovanni Giolitti, prime minister of Italy, speech before the Italian parliament as it debated whether to attack Ottoman Libya, 1911 Which of the following best explains how the First World War affected the international order alluded to in the two passages?

By causing the collapse of several multinational empires, the war redrew international borders and led to new international tensions.

"In theory, all of the peoples of the world, though different in their degree of civilization and enlightenment are created equal and are brothers before God. As universal love advances, the theory goes, and as the regulations of international law are put into place, the entire world will soon be at peace. This theory is currently espoused mainly by Western Christian ministers or by persons who are enamored of that religion. However, when we leave this fiction and look at the facts regarding international relations today, we find them shockingly different. Do nations honor treaties? We find not the slightest evidence that they do. When countries break treaties, there are no courts to judge them. Therefore, whether a treaty is honored or not depends entirely on the financial and military powers of the countries involved. Money and soldiers are not for the protection of existing principles; they are the instruments for the creation of principles where none exist. There are those moralists who would sit and wait for the day when all wars would end. Yet in my opinion the Western nations are growing ever stronger in the skills of war. In recent years, these countries devise strange new weapons and day by day increase their standing armies. One can argue that that is truly useless, truly stupid. Yet if others are working on being stupid, then I must respond in kind. If others are violent, then I too must become violent. International politics is the way of force rather than the way of virtue—and we should accept that." Yukichi Fukuzawa, Japanese intellectual, Commentary on the Current Problems, 1881 Ideas similar to those expressed in the passage would contribute most directly to which of the following?

Japanese imperialist policies in East and Southeast Asia in the first half of the twentieth century

"When the proposal to proclaim the equality of races was rejected by the Peace Conference at Versailles, Viscount Makino, the Japanese representative, made it known that Japan would reintroduce the proposal. Obviously, Japan feels that this issue is momentous for the sake of humanity and the peace of the world. Of the non-white countries, Japan has taken the lead in adopting the best parts of European civilization. Japan codified her laws, and reformed her police and judicial systems, her military and naval forces, thus placing herself almost on an equal footing with that of the European countries. Some whites regard the development of Japan as an unjustifiable encroachment upon their own rights. It is, of course, true that there are still peoples in this world who are so backward in civilization that they cannot at once be admitted into the international family on an equal footing. What they need is proper guidance and direction. When they have reached a certain stage of civilization, they should be given an equal place and rank in the family of nations. Although most Asiatic nations are fully peers of European nations, yet they are discriminated against because of the color of the skin. The root of this discrimination lies in the perverted feeling of racial superiority entertained by the whites. If the present situation continues, there is every likelihood that the peace of the world will be endangered." Okuma Shigenobu, Japanese member of parliament and former prime minister, "Illusions of the White Race," article published in a Japanese journal, Tokyo, 1921 Shigenobu's criticism of European race-based discrimination against Japanese people is significant mostly because it shows that advocates of Japanese imperialism

adopted the European attitudes about a "civilizing mission" and used those attitudes to justify Japan's own imperial policies

"When the proposal to proclaim the equality of races was rejected by the Peace Conference at Versailles, Viscount Makino, the Japanese representative, made it known that Japan would reintroduce the proposal. Obviously, Japan feels that this issue is momentous for the sake of humanity and the peace of the world. Of the non-white countries, Japan has taken the lead in adopting the best parts of European civilization. Japan codified her laws, and reformed her police and judicial systems, her military and naval forces, thus placing herself almost on an equal footing with that of the European countries. Some whites regard the development of Japan as an unjustifiable encroachment upon their own rights. It is, of course, true that there are still peoples in this world who are so backward in civilization that they cannot at once be admitted into the international family on an equal footing. What they need is proper guidance and direction. When they have reached a certain stage of civilization, they should be given an equal place and rank in the family of nations. Although most Asiatic nations are fully peers of European nations, yet they are discriminated against because of the color of the skin. The root of this discrimination lies in the perverted feeling of racial superiority entertained by the whites. If the present situation continues, there is every likelihood that the peace of the world will be endangered." Okuma Shigenobu, Japanese member of parliament and former prime minister, "Illusions of the White Race," article published in a Japanese journal, Tokyo, 1921 Asian reactions to Western claims of racial and cultural superiority, such as the reaction by Shigenobu in the passage, were also instrumental in the period 1918-1945 in the

intensification of anti-imperial resistance activities and independence movements

"When the proposal to proclaim the equality of races was rejected by the Peace Conference at Versailles, Viscount Makino, the Japanese representative, made it known that Japan would reintroduce the proposal. Obviously, Japan feels that this issue is momentous for the sake of humanity and the peace of the world. Of the non-white countries, Japan has taken the lead in adopting the best parts of European civilization. Japan codified her laws, and reformed her police and judicial systems, her military and naval forces, thus placing herself almost on an equal footing with that of the European countries. Some whites regard the development of Japan as an unjustifiable encroachment upon their own rights. It is, of course, true that there are still peoples in this world who are so backward in civilization that they cannot at once be admitted into the international family on an equal footing. What they need is proper guidance and direction. When they have reached a certain stage of civilization, they should be given an equal place and rank in the family of nations. Although most Asiatic nations are fully peers of European nations, yet they are discriminated against because of the color of the skin. The root of this discrimination lies in the perverted feeling of racial superiority entertained by the whites. If the present situation continues, there is every likelihood that the peace of the world will be endangered." Okuma Shigenobu, Japanese member of parliament and former prime minister, "Illusions of the White Race," article published in a Japanese journal, Tokyo, 1921 Shigenobu's point of view regarding Western attitudes toward Japan as expressed in the passage is significant in that similar ideas were used by members of the Japanese government during the period between the First and the Second World Wars to justify

militarizing the Japanese state and expanding its territories in Asia