Nationalism in East Asia

• Taiwan


  Islands invaded by the Dutch and Spaniards in the early 1700s, incorporated as a province of the Qing dynasty of China in 1887, given to Imperial Japan after the first Sino-Japanese war, taken under care by the Republic of China (R.O.C) after Japan's defeat in WWII, pending question if Taiwan is part of China or an independent nation, recognised as part of "one China" by the US and Australia
• US and Australia recognised the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of "one China"


  1971
• Taiwan celebrates its independence day every 10th of October
• Korea (before division)

  Invaded, influenced, and fought over by larger neighbors, Mongols occupied from 1231 to early 1400s, Imperial Japan followed in 1592 to 1597, earned nickname "Hermit Kingdom", annexed to Japanese Empire after Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars
• North Korea and South Korea were created after Japan lost WWII


  1945
• North Korea and South Korea

  Recognized as 2 different countries
• Japan


  Known for "closed door policy", pre-independence government was "shogunate" led by "shogun", became an imperial power and started WWII by bombing Pearl Harbor, occupied by the US after WWII, encouraged by General Douglas MacArthur to adopt liberal governance practices, officially entered the list of independent nations in the world after the San Francisco Peace Treaty in 1951
• Opium Wars


  Sparked Chinese Nationalism, fought by locals against the British Empire because China attempted to limit the entry of the depressant drug - Opium, China failed both wars, resulting in the surrender of lands and ports to the British Empire
• Mao Zedong led the creation of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ending the civil unrest between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang)


  1949
• Mongolia


  Home to various ethnic tribes considered as nomads, Genghis Khan founded the Mongol empire in 1206, Kublai Khan conquered China, civil war among Mongols led to conquest by the Chinese Ming Dynasty in 1919, Bogd Khan proclaimed independence in 1911 but it was not true independence, Mongolia was free from Chinese colonizers and Mongolian People's Republic was declared in 1921