In the second half of the 19th century Japan transformed dramatically from an almost totally closed-in society to a modern industrialized, empire-building and militarily aggressive nation. It seized colonies such as Okinawa, it defeated China in a major war (1894-1895), and to the astonishment of the world it defeated Russia in a full-scale war in 1904-05. It made aggressive demands, took full control of Korea (1910), was expanding into Manchuria, and was demanding special privileges in the Chinese economy.