Remaking the State: Meiji Japan 1600–1912 and Post-Soviet Russia 1964–2000 · TEST YOURSELF
Meiji Japan and post-Soviet Russia quiz: 8 questions
8 multiple-choice questions on Remaking the State: Meiji Japan 1600–1912 and Post-Soviet Russia 1964–2000, free to try here. Answer, then read the verdict: every answer is an argument, not a flashcard.
Alternate attendance required every daimyo to spend every other year in Edo. What was its most important political effect?
The processions and mansions consumed a large share of every domain’s income, and wives and heirs stayed in Edo permanently. The system kept 250 years of peace and left the domains in debt.
Under the treaties of 1858, what did extraterritoriality mean?
Extraterritoriality placed foreigners in the treaty ports beyond Japanese courts, together with tariffs fixed by treaty. Ending it became Japan’s main diplomatic goal and was achieved only in 1899.
Why did the abolition of the domains in August 1871 meet almost no resistance from the lords?
Abolition was a buyout backed by force. Many domains were near bankruptcy, so the lords exchanged responsibilities they could not afford for titles and secure incomes, and the imperial guard deterred anyone who objected.
When Japan’s first elected lower house was chosen in 1890, roughly what share of the population could vote?
Only men over 25 paying at least 15 yen in direct tax could vote, about 450,000 people. The constitution let elected politicians block new budgets while keeping real power with the emperor’s ministers.
What did the Triple Intervention of 1895 teach Japan’s leaders?
Russia, Germany and France forced Japan to give back Liaodong, and in 1898 Russia took its tip for itself. The lesson that power decided everything drove rearmament and the alliance with Britain in 1902.
The Law on State Enterprise of 1987 let factories set wages and sell part of their output. Why did the shortages get worse as a result?
Freeing wages without freeing prices or controlling credit created a growing pile of unspendable money. Shops emptied, rationing spread and the reform discredited itself, a classic danger of partial reform.
Why did the freeing of prices in January 1992 hurt ordinary Russians’ savings so badly?
Soviet households held large savings because there had been little to buy. When prices were freed and the central bank kept printing money, inflation wiped those savings out, and many Russians blamed the reformers.
Which statement best compares the sequence of the two transitions?
Japan abolished its domains in 1871 and granted a limited constitution only in 1889; the Soviet Union held contested elections in 1989 and freed prices in 1992 before courts and tax collection worked. That order shaped who paid for each transition.
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