Correct answer: A. Japan
Explanation: The direct answer is A: Japan. The Meiji Restoration was a major political change in Japan that began in 1868. Power was formally restored to the emperor, and Japan then undertook rapid modernization in government, education, industry, the military and transport. The reasoning is to connect the term “Meiji” with Japanese history and the transformation of Japan from a feudal system into a modern centralized state. Option A is correct. Option B, France, experienced major changes during the French Revolution and later industrial development, but the Meiji Restoration is not a French event. Option C, Russia, had important reforms and revolutions, including the 1917 Revolution, but these are separate from Meiji Japan. Option D, America, underwent its own independence and constitutional history, but it was not the country of the Meiji Restoration. A useful fact chain is: 1868, Emperor Meiji, Japan, modernization. Do not confuse a restoration with a simple technological invention; it involved political restructuring as well as social, economic and military reforms. Memory cue: Meiji means Japan’s modernization beginning in 1868.