What is one of the defining characteristics of the modern era?

In the west, the definining feature of the modern era is the development of all forces of modernity, i.e., science, reason, democracy, liberty and equality.

b

explanation:

the fact that could also be added to column b is that during world war ii, specifically between the years 1941 and 1945, japan expanded its territory towards the indonesian territory in what was known later as part of the "pacific war". in that time, japan could conquer the philipines, singapore,   borneo, central java, malang, cebu, sumatra and various other islands of the area, therefore expanding its territory for a brief period of time.