Sino-Japanese War

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

sinojapanesewar.com/
I am fascinated by the complicated and intricate diplomacy that emerged in the late 19th century between China, Japan, Korea and Russia as all of them battled for East Asian positions of power as well as dealing with the emergence of the industrialized West. I teach AP world history and it is a period fertile in comparisons between nations and across time periods in the way that they deal with each other and with the expansion of the West. You can link what happens in this area during this time period to so much of the 20th century and today. So I went looking for a website dealing with the First Sino-Japanese War as I view this event as a keystone that the other events of this time period are built upon.
I came upon the website after a quick google search and immediately took a liking to it. There is a quick intro to the war that runs down the middle of the viewing page, with images to support the narration. To the left of the page are the detailed stages of the war from beginning to end and you can click on each and follow in depth the back and forth, blow by blow account of the war. It is very in-depth. On the right hand side are images of books and posters that will provide you with greater detail about the war from various different perspectives. So at first I thought that it was a really great resource.
Then I went back with a finer toothed comb and I changed my mind. There are very few bells and whistles on the site if you are in to that. There are a few language issues, though on the positive side I did not discern any bias, so I could not tell you who produced the site. And therein lies the first major issue. Who produced the site? There are no names or organizations mentioned. There are a couple of ads that pay for it... but you would think someone would claim responsibility. There is a contact e-mail but that tells you nothing. I worry about anything without an author... and I worry about anything without citation. I think the writing and the history are solid but there is no indication about where it came from... no sources... no bibliography... no nothing. Where did this come from?
I explored the books and maps on the right hand side of the home page and they referred me to EBay to purchase the items shone. In a couple of circumstances I got lost on a Korean version of YouTube trying to track down the videos that the site is linked to.
How to use it? Without the documentation...I would hesitate... as I said the info appears legit and straight forward and unbiased and matches with everything I know of the time period... but I am no expert in any way. On the other hand it is a quick one stop, here are the facts website on the war that does not bog down into overly academic expressions and references. Your students will navigate it and understand it easily... like the textbooks, but more in depth. Use it for supplemental info, use it to create annotated timelines, use it to create cause and effect graphic organizers, use it to create reaction charts... Read the info... how would you react/feel if you were China, Japan, Korea, Russia... and then share and compare... I recommend a trifold personally.
Take a blank piece of white computer paper, fold it in thirds, create a trifold pamphlet from it... you now have a cover, four inside pages and a back page. On the cover have them give the war a title/argument/thesis ( the Sino-Japanese War resulted in.....). On the first inside page, have them explain how the result of the war affected China, on the three pages inside, have them explain how the war affected Korea, Japan, and Russia. On the back page have them write a concluding sentence/graph about the long term effect of the Sino-Japanese War. They are in essence writing an essay... without writing the essay... and without you having to grade it. Good Luck.

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