AHC: A Korean Meiji?

So this question has probably been asked before, but here goes:

Japan's Meiji Restoration saw that country modernising rapidly, to the point that it became a Great Power. All the while, the other nations of Asia either remained mired, or became colonies.

Could Korea have experienced a similar growth to Japan? Is there a feasible way that we could have had a Great Power Korea, or even a Korea that modernised at the same pace as Japan OTL?
 
Ah, sir, this question has been asked many times, particularly by myself.
This would be a good place to start:
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=287214

If you have further questions, I'll be glad to answer.

Thanks for that!

This is really interesting. Reading through it ATM - I can see a definite amount of obstacles to a Meiji-esque shift with a 19th-century POV.

Also, I like your map. Though...Japanese Somaliland? Good heavens...
 
Thanks for that!

This is really interesting. Reading through it ATM - I can see a definite amount of obstacles to a Meiji-esque shift with a 19th-century POV.

Also, I like your map. Though...Japanese Somaliland? Good heavens...
As all of us were once, I was a lot crazier back then. The idea was that rogue Ronin armies, in order for greater glory for the emperor, establish control over a strategic region that ensures a secure trade link between themselves and Europe. Korea having Malaya was due to my recent(then) Vic2 game, because after development they're the first country they could invade. :p
 
As all of us were once, I was a lot crazier back then. The idea was that rogue Ronin armies, in order for greater glory for the emperor, establish control over a strategic region that ensures a secure trade link between themselves and Europe. Korea having Malaya was due to my recent(then) Vic2 game, because after development they're the first country they could invade. :p

Fair enough - the first AH-related thing I wrote had an America divided three ways: the Confederacy, the United States of Pacifica, and Britain, who'd occupied the rest of the US as it deteriorated into a second Civil War after Confederate independence. In the 2000s...

So yeah, I get being crazier before :D
 
Both Japan and Europe had been feudal societies before they initiated their modernization, while Korea had always been a centralized bureaucratic state.

This meant, beyond other things, that Japan could response quicker to foreign-induced changes due to its decentralized power system. The Meiji restoration was started by the Satsuma and Chōshū domains, not the Tokugawa central government.
 

Cueg

Banned
Both Japan and Europe had been feudal societies before they initiated their modernization, while Korea had always been a centralized bureaucratic state.

This meant, beyond other things, that Japan could response quicker to foreign-induced changes due to its decentralized power system. The Meiji restoration was started by the Satsuma and Chōshù domains, not the Tokugawa central government.

What are you talking about? Are you suggesting that Europe wasn't centralized during the industrial revolution? Although, you did say "modernization". In that case, what exactly does modernization entail? If the level of centralization is a factor, why didn't the Ottoman Empire and Russia modernize? Why didn't the kingdoms of Africa and South-East Asia modernize?

I guess we need to define "modernization", "centralized, and "decentralized". A conversation can not be had until we address these generalizations.
 
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