The Creation of a Modern State
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vantage of this golden opportunity and made deep inroads into rich markets previously monopolized by the Europeans.
War in Europe permitted Japan to expand both her economic and political empire, and brought unprecedented prosperity to the land. Only fifty years after the “Restoration,” Japan went to the peace conference at Versailles in 1919 as one of the great military and industrial powers of the world and received official recognition as one of the “Big Five” of the new international order.
