Application and Reflection Questions
1
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What were some of the obstacles to industrialization faced by India, Egypt, and China? How might industrialization have played out if these obstacles had been addressed differently?
2
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What role did the Japanese government play in Japan’s industrialization during the Meiji Restoration? How did their approach to industrialization differ from that of governments in Europe and North America?
3
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What role did racism play in motivating those from industrialized nations to colonize other lands?
4
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Which of the inventions of the industrial world do you think played the greatest role in enabling the colonization of Asia, Africa, and the Pacific? Why?
5
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What role did geography play in determining where and how industrialized nations built empires in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?
6
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What role did violence play in industrialized nations’ attempts to build their empires? Do you think it is ever justifiable to use violence against other nations except in self-defense? Why or why not?
7
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Are people in the poorer parts of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific still exploited by wealthier nations? If so, how?
8
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If you lived under colonial rule, would you consider resistance an option? What factors might influence your position one way or the other?