This course examines the modern evolution of Asian countries with special emphasis on imperialism and the rise of nationalism. With distinctive political, cultural, and socio-economic traditions, Asian countries shared the experience of western imperialism’s expansionist pressures. Those traditions helped mould the varieties of nationalistic responses to that intrusion, culminating in the independence struggles which, in the post-1945 era, created the modern nation states of today’s Asia. The three stages – traditional paradigms, imperialism’s impact, and nationalism’s struggles – provide the framework for our survey of modern Asian history.
