Animation: A World History

3The Silent Pioneers (1908–1928)

The Cradle

Days of Heaven and Hell

Politically, economically, and militarily, the first fourteen years of the twentieth century were the continuance of the century before. The only novelty was the dawning of Japan as a modern power after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the annexation of Formosa (which later became Taiwan) in 1896, the victorious war against Tsarist Russia in 1904–1905, and the conquest and colonization of Korea in 1910.

The global map was only slightly and peripherally retouched according to new colonized areas or because of changes of influence (since 1898, for instance, after having defeated Spain, the United States has exercised a de facto protectorate on Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines). ...