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Just as an expansion to the idea of “real-life” Civilizations, my favorite true-to-life Civilization situation would probably be the Japanese in the 1850s. For the previous two hundred and fifty years, Japan played an isolationist posture. It went so far as to execute marooned sailors who washed up on their shores after a shipwreck. This policy served it well; Japan is probably the only Asian nation to reach the modern age without unwanted influence by the European colonial powers.
The United States sent Commodore Perry in 1853 to negotiate with the Emperor to open up its borders to trade. The encounter resulted not only in a treaty with America, but a realization at the leadership level that Japan was technologically behind the other powers. So a new government pushed for economic and social reforms, which included the collapsing the old samurai caste system. It also sent students to Western universities to learn about their culture and technology.
Not only did the Japanese modernize, they did so on their own terms, instead of being forced to do it by means of Western subjugation or conflict with a major power. Within a half a century it became the first non-European nation to defeat a European power in war. (Ok, it was the Russians, but still.) Now if there’s a Civilization-minded deity or spirit behind all the moves that happen in history, he (or she) was definitely at work clicking that mouse with Japan in the late 19th Century.
Japan's human rights abuses in Asia and its record in the Second World War shouldn't detract from the story of its remarkably fast progress. Perhaps those actions and the attitudes that come along with them were simply a remnant of the previous culture that it had abandoned. In any case, Japan became a true modern nation when in the 20th Century it, albeit forcefully, abandoned its militaristic ways and became an industrial power.
I’m glad that the official Civ 3 site made mention of the westernization of Japan in their Civ of the Week feature. In my opinion, Japan’s conversion from a feudalistic and agricultural old world country to a modern industrial power is probably the second greatest success story of the modern age. Of course, we all know which one number one would be.
The United States sent Commodore Perry in 1853 to negotiate with the Emperor to open up its borders to trade. The encounter resulted not only in a treaty with America, but a realization at the leadership level that Japan was technologically behind the other powers. So a new government pushed for economic and social reforms, which included the collapsing the old samurai caste system. It also sent students to Western universities to learn about their culture and technology.
Not only did the Japanese modernize, they did so on their own terms, instead of being forced to do it by means of Western subjugation or conflict with a major power. Within a half a century it became the first non-European nation to defeat a European power in war. (Ok, it was the Russians, but still.) Now if there’s a Civilization-minded deity or spirit behind all the moves that happen in history, he (or she) was definitely at work clicking that mouse with Japan in the late 19th Century.
Japan's human rights abuses in Asia and its record in the Second World War shouldn't detract from the story of its remarkably fast progress. Perhaps those actions and the attitudes that come along with them were simply a remnant of the previous culture that it had abandoned. In any case, Japan became a true modern nation when in the 20th Century it, albeit forcefully, abandoned its militaristic ways and became an industrial power.
I’m glad that the official Civ 3 site made mention of the westernization of Japan in their Civ of the Week feature. In my opinion, Japan’s conversion from a feudalistic and agricultural old world country to a modern industrial power is probably the second greatest success story of the modern age. Of course, we all know which one number one would be.
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