Download In the 19th century Tokugawa Japan, Qing China, the Ottoman

Chapter 16
Asia in the Nineteenth Century
In the 19th century many cultures and empires faced profound challenges, which, if not successfully met,
would spell disaster. The Ottoman Empire and Islamic states of Southwest Asia and Northern India,
Hindu India, the Russian Empire, the Qing (Manchu) Dynasty and tiny Japan all lagged behind
Europeans technological and industrial development. All faced a variety of problems including
population pressures, agricultural productivity, internal tensions and corruption. Only tiny Japan would
be able to meet the challenges of the nineteenth century and be able to create effective change. All the
others would whither and be exploited by European powers.
I - The Ottoman Empire
a - The Sick Man of Europe
As we have seen Ottoman armies make a thrust at Vienna in 1683 and almost took the city. This marked
the high point of Ottoman expansion and the Austrians went on the offensive. By the treaties of
Karlowitz (1699) and Passarowitz (1718), the Ottomans lost most of Hungary and Transylvania. As the
eighteenth century unfolded, continual conflicts with Austria and Russia continued to sap Ottoman
strength. But the root problem was not the Austrians or Russians; Ottoman problems were internal:
military decline, economic contraction and governmental corruption at every level. The result was that
this once powerful state that had threatened Europe’s political existence, now found itself economically
and politically exploited by the European powers and had become the Sick Man of Europe.
Ottoman military forces lagged behind European Armies in strategy, tactics, weaponry and training.
Moreover, it was the once elite Janissaries, which had been the backbone of the Ottoman military and
innovators in technology that had stagnated, and turned a blind eye on both training and technology.
They had become little better than parasites. This loss of military effectiveness meant that the central
government was less and less able to rule its outlying provinces effectively. This was a signal for
governors to adopt semi-independence of the Istanbul government, withhold taxes and mercenary
armies.
Only in Anatolia and Iraq could the government maintain its authority. Elsewhere the Empire began to
break up. The Russians took over territories in the Caucuses and the Austrians took large areas in the
Balkans. Dhimmi peoples, fired by Nationalism, became restless. Nationalist uprisings caused bitter
wars for independence in Serbia and Greece. Serbia rebelled in 1807; the Ottomans compromised
granting autonomy but keeping troops in Belgrade; but by 1867 Serbia had won full independence.
Greece rebelled in 1821and after, desperate fighting, atrocities and bloodshed, Russia, France and Great
Britain (stirred to action by English poet Lord Byron who fought and died with the rebel Greek forces) aided
the Greek rebels who won independence in 1830.
Worst of all was the loss of Egypt. In 1805, Muhammad Ali seized power and built a powerful state by
drafting peasants to serve as infantry and hiring European officers to train them. He also launched a
program of industrialization, concentrating on cotton textiles and armaments. By 1820 he was the most
powerful leader in the Dar al-Islam. He attacked the Ottoman Empire and would have toppled the
Istanbul government, except for British intervention. The British feared that an Ottoman collapse would
allow Russia to expand southward towards the Mediterranean. By his death in 1848, Muhammad Ali
had made Egypt a de-facto independent state although technically still an Ottoman holding. He came to
be known as the Father of Modern Egypt.
1
The Eastern Question:
From the 1820s on, European powers no long saw the Ottoman Empire as a threat. And so, since the
Europeans did not trust each other and they wanted to maintain a balance of power, the Europeans
wanted to support a viable Ottoman State. Stopping Muhammad Ali from taking Istanbul was perhaps
best illustrates the complexities of the Eastern Question.
b - Economic Difficulties
Before Europeans were able to sail around Africa, the Ottomans were able to tax goods going from east
to west or west to east along the old Silk Road routes. But by the 18th century European traders were
bypassing the Ottoman territories. Moreover European manufacturers were shipping their textiles and
other goods into the Ottoman Empire. So not only was tax revenue lost from east west trading, but now
local Ottoman artisans and craftsmen were being put out of business by cheaper, high quality European
imports. Add to these factors the siphoning off of revenues from war lord pashas and the result was:
decreased revenues from war lord pashas
+ decreased Silk Road revenues
+ lost internal businesses
= the road to bankruptcy
Moreover, as the Ottoman Empire moved toward bankruptcy, European banks made loans, but as
revenue continued to decrease, the Ottoman government had trouble even making the interest payments.
By 1882, the Ottoman government was unable to pay interest payments and had to accept foreign
administration of its debts.
Then there was the problem of the Capitulations. Back in the 16th century, when the Ottoman sultans
wanted to avoid the burden of administering justice for communities of foreign merchants, they signed
treaties called Capitulations, which exempted European visitors, like merchants, from Ottoman law and
provided Europeans with Extraterritoriality or the right to exercise jurisdiction over their own citizens
according to their own laws.
This system worked well for the Ottomans when they were one of the most feared nations on the
earth, but by the 19th century these same Capitulations allowed Europeans to economically
penetrate Ottoman markets because the Turks could not tax them. Moreover, to make it worse,
European governments could levy duties (import daxes) on goods sold at Ottoman ports. The Ottomans
justly came to regard the Capitulations as intrusions on their sovereignty.
All these factors: reduced trade taxes, European goods putting Turkish artisans out of business and the
Capitulations not only led to bankruptcy, but also to corruption and low morale. And the consequent
higher taxes levied on the peasants, only led to a decline in agricultural production.
c - Reforms and Reorganization (1789 to 1839)
As early as the late 17th and into the 18th century, the sultans tried to stimulate the economy by limiting
taxation, increasing agricultural production and trying to end corruption in the government. The first
sultan to take serious steps at reform was Selim III (1789-1807) who tried to remodel his army along
European lines. The Janissaries, however, felt threatened, rose up in revolt, killed the new troops and
jailed the sultan. Selim’s cousin, Mustafa IV, cooperated with the Janissaries and became Sultan.
Fighting broke out between the Janissaries and reformers. Mustafa tried to secure his position and
murdered Selim III; he also tried to murder his younger brother, Mahmud, but the reformers supported
Mahmud and Mustafa was deposed. Mahmud took the throne as Mahmud II and executed Mustafa.
2
Mahmud II was more politically savvy (perceptive) than his predecessors. He also had the goal of
building a new European style army, but he went about this goal not as an innovation, but as a
restoration of the old Ottoman armies. The Janissaries saw through his deception and again mutinied;
but this time Mahmud was ready for them and was able to massacre thousands of them with loyal troops
and modern weapons. The Janissary Corps was then abolished.
Mahmud II provided a valuable personal example of good sense, organizing the imperial household,
suppressing all officials without duties, and all salaried officials without functions. Mahmud built his
European style army and had it trained in European weapons and tactics. He acquired the first steam
ships for the Ottoman Navy. He opened engineering schools. He built new roads; telegraph lines and
inaugurated a postal service. He also created a system of secondary education, which trained boys in
scientific, technical and military studies. Mahmud also tried to tax rural landlords and undermine the
Ulama or Islamic leadership – but with less success. Although Greece, Egypt and others territories were
lost, by his death in 1839, the Ottoman Empire had begun to consolidate and reform.
d - The Era of Tanzimat (1839-1876)
Continued battlefield defeats and unrest among Dhimmi peoples led to the Tanzimat (or reorganization)
Era, which was proclaimed in 1839 by Mahmud II’s son, Abd al-Majid I. Tanzimat reformers studied
Enlightenment thought and used it to develop constitutional governmental models of western European
states. They also continued reforms in the army, but most of their work was legal and educational.
Using French law as a guide, Tanzimat reformers passed a series of laws to nullify the Capitulations and
restore Turkish sovereignty. They also issued decrees guaranteeing public trials, rights of privacy and
equality before the law for all citizens, Muslim or not. They issued the first Ottoman bank Notes and non
Muslims were allowed to join the army. Tanzimat reformers also gave women greater access to
education. Public schools for women were established and small numbers of women entered public life.
Marriage and divorce, however, still remained under Islamic Law, but state courts now began to take
away much of the power of the Ulama. And since the Ulama had also traditionally controlled education,
the Tanzimat reformers also drew plans for a complete restructuring of education along European lines –
which, of course weakened the Ulama even further.
Tanzimat policies were controversial and bitterly attacked four groups.
1. First, they were attacked by religious conservatives, who opposed any equality between Muslims
and non-Muslims.
2. Second, there were opposed by many Dhimmi leaders because they were afraid that thy might
lose influence.
3. Third, was another group called the Young Ottomans who demanded individual freedom, local
autonomy, decentralization – and most importantly, the establishment of a constitutional
government along British lines.
4. Fourth, were the high-level bureaucrats in the Ottoman government who like the Dhimmi leaders
fought to prevent their exclusion from high power and governmental influence.
e - Reform Frustrated and Achieved (1876 to 1914)
Abd al-Majid I died in 1861 and was succeeded by his brother, Abd al-Aziz. He continued Tanzimat
reforms but with a crop failure in 1873, deficit spending with mounting public debt and increased
tension, he was deposed in 1876 by a group of radical dissidents from the Ottoman bureaucracy. The
rebels made Abd al-Hamid II the new Sultan.
3
Then they pressured Abd al-Hamid to accept a constitution that limited his authority and formed a
representative government with a functioning parliament. In less than a year, however, the Sultan pulled
off his own coup and was able to suspend the constitution, dissolve parliament and exile or kill as many
reformers as he could; then for 30 years ruled, he autocratically in an effort to prevent the empire from
being divided up by the European powers. Nevertheless, he continued to follow Tanzimat principles of
reform, including creation of a police force, more educational advances, and the building of the nation’s
first railroads.
In 1899, exiled Ottoman reformers in Paris established the Ottoman Society for Union and Progress,
known as the Young Turks. They were pro-western army officers who called for universal suffrage,
equality before the law, freedom of religion, free public education, secularization of the state and the
emancipation of women. In 1908-09, they engineered a coup that forced Abd al-Hamid off the throne
and restored the parliament and constitution of 1876. They then installed the puppet sultan Mehmed V
Rashid. Mehmed was a figurehead; the day of the Sultan was over. The Young Turks were ultra
nationalistic and sought to make Turkish the national language. This offended many members of the
empire: from Arabs to Armenians and Slavs. But on thing did not change: Ottoman armies continued to
lose and the Empire survived only because of distrust among European powers.
II - Persia
We have seen that, like the Ottomans, the Safavids began to decline in the late 17th century. As the tax
revenues from the Silk Road began to decline, the economy also declined. Then, in 1722 Afghan raiders
killed the shah and the empire collapsed. After a period of civil war, Nadir Shah restored order from
1736 to 1747. Nadir Shah successfully fought the Ottomans and invaded India, but was assassinated in
1747, when Karim Khan founded the Zand dynasty. Karim Khan was a compassionate and able ruler
who governed wisely till is death in 1779. His successors, however, were incompetent and the last one
was murdered in 1794. Shortly before, in 1781 Agha Muhammad Khan founded the Qajar dynasty
which lasted till 1925, during which Persia gradually fell under the domination of Russia from the north
and Great Britain in the south.
III - The Russian Empire under Pressure
The czars of the 19th century alternated between reform and repression. On one hand the serfs were
freed, strides were made towards political liberalization and there was a powerful economic push
towards industrialization. On the other hand, some czars rejected liberalization and embraced political
repression. Russia’s failure to deal with social inequities, especially the serfs and factory workers, would
result in increasing political instability, so that, by the dawn of the twentieth century, the enormous
Russian empire still lagged far behind the other European powers and had made no fundamental social
changes that would prevent the disaster of World War I and the Russian Revolutions of 1917.
a - Orthodoxy, Autocracy and Nationalism.
Nicholas I (r. 1825-1855) succeeded his brother Alexander. Nicholas lacked his brother's spiritual and
intellectual breadth and saw his role simply as an autocrat ruling by whatever means necessary.
Nicholas’ views were hardened by the Decembrist Revolt of 1825 in which army officers tried to put
his more liberal brother Constantine on the throne. Under Nicholas, the government exercised
censorship and other controls over education and public life in order to keep autocracy safe. But,
tragically for Russia, Nicholas kept Russia agricultural and did not industrialize – especially at a time
when Western European was experiencing dramatic industrial and technological growth. Nicholas can
be remembered by his three pillars of Absolutism: Orthodoxy, Autocracy and Nationalism.
4
The Irony was that, as Russia fell behind the European powers in technology and industry, she kept
expanding to the east. We have seen that by the early 1800s, Russia had absorbed the Caucasus’ states of
Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Armenia and Georgia, both Christian, had asked Russia for help
against the Muslims and had not intended to become part of the Russian empire.
From the 1820s to the 1880s, Russia absorbed much of Central Asia: the old Khanates of the Golden
Horde and Chagatai and cities along the old Silk Road. The Russians conquered for nationalistic pride,
natural resources and strategic policy. The weakened Ottoman and Qing empires turned central Asia into
a political vacuum and the Russians took Tashkent (1865), Samarkand (1868) and Bukhara (1868)
driving to the Afghan border. The Russians would hold this area until the breakup of the Soviet Union in
1991, when the countries of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan
won their freedom.
The British were also interested in Central Asia and along with Russia mapped this vast land and sought
alliances with the local rulers. They played a “cat and mouse” game of espionage and diplomatic
intrigue called the Great Game. It is ironic that, although Britain and Russia postured for (got ready for)
an eventual Russo-British war over India, they actually became allies during the First World War.
When Russia, however, tried to establish a protectorate over the Ottoman Empire, she threatened the
European powers who came to the aid of the struggling Sick Man of Europe. Great Britain, France and
Sardinia did not want the balance of power upset and so The Crimean War broke out in 1853 over a
diplomatic squabble in Palestine (over whether or not the French could get keys to the Church of the
Nativity in Bethlehem), but really over the European powers wanting to halt Russia’s advance towards
Istanbul.
The allies decided to strike directly at Sebastopol (in the Crimea on the Black Sea) and after long
resistance took it and concluded a peace treaty in 1856. (This was the war of the famous Charge of the Light
Brigade and the work of Florence Nightingale who founded modern nursing as we understand it). The bottom
line was that, although she lost no territory, the war clearly revealed that Russia, who could bully
the nations and cultures of Central Asia, was no match for the industrialized powers of Europe.
b - Steps towards Reform; then Reaction
Alexander II: When Nicholas died in 1855, he was succeeded by his son Alexander, who, like his
uncle Alexander I, was a reformer and who bluntly told the nobles that the serfs had to be freed. So in
1861 Alexander himself abolished the institution of serfdom. But there was a catch. Although the
peasants were freed and did get their land, the government compensated the landlords and forced
peasants to pay a heavy redemption tax. Most peasants were disappointed because they felt they should
not have to pay for what they thought was really theirs. It is important to note that few peasants, called
Kulaks, however, prospered and improved in this situation, but most peasants remained terribly poor.
All this meant that emancipation resulted in peasant unrest with consequent agricultural
stagnation.
Alexander also tried an experiment in political reform and tried to extend political right to the peasants.
This resulted in 1864 in the creation of elected assemblies or Zemstvos to deal with local issues of
health, education and welfare. But the Zemstvos failed because, although all classes elected
representatives, the Zemstvos remained subordinate to the government and to the aristocracy, which
just happened to have the highest number of seats - way out of proportion to their numbers.
5
However, it was Alexander’s program of legal reform which met with great success. In 1864
Alexander revised the judiciary system and created a system of law courts based on Western European
models, complete with independent judges and appellate courts. The bottom line was a marked decline
in judicial corruption.
But the bottom line was that Alexander’s reforms were too little, too late. Moreover, they pleased very
few people. Peasants and the growing new class of factory workers, who both worked long hours under
harsh conditions, seethed with discontent. The rich got richer; the poor got poorer. Opposition grew
among university students and intellectuals called the Intelligentsia, who clamored for social reform.
Most drew their inspiration from Western socialism, but Russian many in the Russian Intelligentsia
despised the individualism, materialism and laissez-faire attitudes of the West. Many became
revolutionaries who sought to destroy the existing social order and its institutions and who openly
welcomed the doctrines of Karl Marx and Frederich Engels.
As the intelligentsia and revolutionaries spread their teachings from the cities to the countryside, the
Tsarist government stuck back. They imprisoned and banished (usually to Siberia) many of the dissident
leaders. The aristocracy, terrified radicalism and French style revolution, convinced the government to
censor publications and send secret police to infiltrate and break up dissident organizations. In nonRussian areas like Poland, the Ukraine, Georgia and Central Asia, these ideas were mixed with
Nationalist sentiment.
This resulted in a policy called Russification, which sought to eliminate non-Russian languages and
force non-Russian cultures to become Russian. Alexander II, who is so often hailed by historians as a
great reformer in Russia, was particularly harsh towards Poland, Lithuania and the Baltic states.
Nationalist revolts in 1863 and 1864 were brutally put down. Thousand were executed and tens of
thousands were exiled and deported to Siberia. Jews especially were singled out and the government
openly allowed frequent pogroms or anti Jewish riots.
Some dissidents also fought back violently. The Land and Freedom Party, founded in 1876, resorted
to terror tactics and assassination. Another group, the Nihilism Party, questioned the validity of all
forms of authority and used violence and destruction as primary tools to bring about political change.
Both groups targeted Alexander II. After several unsuccessful attempts, an assassin’s bomb exploded
under Alexander’s carriage on March 1, 1881. The blast did little damage, but Alexander (against the
advice of his bodyguards) got out and, as he was inspecting the damage and comforting the wounded, a
nihilist threw second bomb which killed him.
Alexander III, Alexander II’s son, took this violence and the assassination of his father as a sign that
dissidents could never be trusted and that only severe repression could restore order. This brought about
an end to his father’s Era of Reform and prompted the tsarist government to adopt an uncompromising
policy of repression. In 1894 Alexander III died and his son, Nicholas II, became Tsar. Nicholas in
many ways wanted to be a reformer but he was but weak willed and easily dominated by reactionary
elements and nobility. So, like his father, he too pursued a policy of oppression and police control.
c - Industrialization and the Revolution of 1905
Although repression was more damaging than the czars understood, Alexander III and Nicholas II both
took the positive step of pushing Russia into rapid industrialization. It is important to understand that
this industrialization, although capitalistic, still was prodded along by the Tsarist government. The
prime mover behind Russian industrialization was Count Sergei Witte who was minister of Finance
from 1892 to 1903. He remodeled the state bank, protected infant industries and secured foreign loans.
He stimulated railway construction and other major industries especially iron and steel.
6
The centerpiece of his program was the Trans-Siberian Railway. Although his efforts were highly
successful, they proved too, too late especially since Russia did not solve is social problems. Serfs
continued to be moved to the cities and converted into factory workers where they often resentful and
inefficient because of harsh employers, low pay and long working hours. The bottom line was that they
were brutally exploited and denied the right to form unions. Thus in stark contrast to the west where
industrialization coupled with union growth deceased social tensions, the opposite occurred in Russia.
To deflect attention from domestic unrest, Nicholas II foolishly tried to expand Russia’s holdings in
Korea and Manchuria. These actions antagonized growing Japan and in 1904 tiny Japan launched a
surprise attack and destroyed the Russian Pacific Fleet at Port Arthur; and then went on to defeat another
Russian fleet the following year (at the Battle of Tsushima) while the Japanese army threw the Russians
out of Korea and forced Russia who had to sue for peace in 1905, which was – interestingly enough brokered by the American President Theodore Roosevelt. The embarrassment of the Russo-Japanese
War resulted widespread unrest and disturbances in Russia.
The most far reaching of these disturbances was Bloody Sunday. In January 1905, a group of unarmed
but determined workers, led by a young priest, George Gapon, marched on the tsar’s winter palace to
petition Nicholas for political concessions. The marchers deliberately placed women and children in the
front hoping to prevent what happened: the soldiers fired into the crowd and killed 130 men, women and
children. This caused revulsion (great anger) throughout the country and people felt that the czar (Little
Father) had betrayed them. The country was paralyzed and came to a standstill with peasant uprisings,
labor stoppages, student demonstrations and mutinies in both the army and navy.
This Revolution of 1905 is important because there were many groups of protesters that came together
to pressure the government: the military and the peasants wanted economic relief; the same was true for
the factory workers who also wanted better working conditions; the intelligentsia and liberals wanted
civil rights and more say in the government, and minority and national groups wanted political and
cultural freedom. Had these groups been better coordinated, Marx’s revolution of the proletariat might
have come twelve years sooner. At any rate, the most ominous outcome of the Revolution of 1905 was
that workers began to create councils known as soviets to organize strikes and demand redress (justice).
The frightened Nicholas then issued the October Manifesto, promising freedom of person, conscience,
speech and assembly – and reluctantly permitting the establishment of a Duma or Russian Parliament.
But Nicholas was determined to retain his autocracy, so, just before the sitting of the 1st Duma in May
1906, he issued a decree, The Fundamental Laws, which stated that the Tsar's ministers could not be
appointed by and were not responsible to the Duma - and that the Tsar could dismiss the Duma and
announce new elections whenever he wished. In essence, he betrayed his October Manifesto.
The Duma had some good men and they were determined not to be a rubber stamp for the Tsar’s
autocracy. So it didn’t take very long for Nicholas to fire his first prime minister, none other than Sergei
Witte (former Finance Minister who industrialized Russian) and disbanded the Duma. Nicholas then
appointed Peter Stolypin as prime minister over a second Duma. Witte called Stolypin a reactionary
and when the Duma did not follow his lead, he had the Tsar dissolve the second Duma and manipulated
the election of a third Duma which was dominated by the aristocracy.
Stolypin was responsible for severe repression. Secret police arrested thousands and many were exiled
to Siberia. Others were executed and Russians even had a special name for the hangman’s noose:
Stolypin’s Necktie. Slowly Stolypin realized the repression was not working and in 1911 introduced
moderate reforms; but was assassinated later that year. Disorder continued and by 1914 on the eve of the
First World War Russia was an autocracy dominated by the aristocracy, seething with discontent and
revolution.
7
IV – China
a – The Qing Empire under Siege
The Qing (or Manchu) Dynasty was in even more trouble than the Ottoman and Russian Empires. The
year 1800 saw China slipping into a decline during which European nations would come to dominate
China by military force and economic penetration, the result of which would be to take Chinese
sovereignty. In 1759 the emperor Qianlong had restricted European merchants to the port of
Guangzhou where they could only trade with specially licensed Chinese firms known as Cohongs,
which were strictly controlled by the Chinese government.
What frustrated the Europeans was that Chinese goods (silk, tea, laquerware and porcelain) were in great
demand in Europe, but Europeans goods (except for woolen products) were not in demand in China. This
meant that Europeans had to pay in gold and silver bullion which ran contrary to their Mercantilist
principles and left them with an unfavorable balance of trade.
Since the mercantilist profit motive sought to accumulate as much gold and silver as possible, the
British East India Company (EEIC) came up with an alternative by finding something that the Chinese
did want – and that was the drug opium. Using Turkish and Persian techniques, the British grew opium
in India and shipped it to China, where it was eagerly exchanged for silver. This silver was then used to
buy Chinese goods at Guangzhou. It is important to note that this “new” opium trade was not only
immoral and illegal, but also immensely profitable and that greedy Chinese officials often
participated in the opium trade so that they could also make large sums of money.
The result then reversed the drain of silver bullion and China began to experience an unfavorable
balance of trade; but opium also devastated the Chinese population in southern China, because of the
debilitating effects of smoking opium. In 1838, the Chinese government cracked down and hypocritical
British merchants complained to London about their lost profits. The next year the Chinese government
charged an incorruptible official, Lin Zexu, with the task of destroying the opium trade. Zexu acted
decisively and destroyed 20,000 chests of illegal opium.
British merchants were outraged and demanded that their government retaliate. The ensuing conflict was
called known the Opium War and lasted from 1839 to 1842. The British navy quickly cleared the seas
of Chinese ships and captured numerous Chinese coastal towns. But since the Chinese showed no signs
of surrender, British steam-powered gunboats sailed up the Yangtze River and by the time they had
reached the Grand Canal the Chinese sued for peace. Just like the Crimean War had showed Russian
military inferiority, the Opium War showed that China was NO match for European military might.
In the wake of the Opium war Great Britain other European powers forced a series of one-sided treaties
on the Chinese, called the Unequal Treaties. The first and most notorious was the Treaty of Nanjing in
1842, which ended the Opium War by legalizing the opium trade, turning over (ceding) Hong Kong to
Great Britain, opening Chinese ports to foreign trade, and establishing extraterritoriality for British
citizens including most-favored nation trade status for British merchants.
More humiliatingly, the Treaty of Nanjing freed Korea, Vietnam, and Burma (Myanmar) from Chinese
authority and permitted the establishment of Christian missions throughout China. Soon, France,
Germany, Portugal and Japan also forced similar unequal treaties on China so that by 1900 Chinese
sovereignty had vanished and foreign powers controlled ninety percent of Chinese ports, patrolled every
major Chinese river with gunboats and dominated the largest portion of China’s economy.
8
b - The Taiping Rebellion
The background of the Taiping rebellion is not found in the unequal treaties but in China’s population
explosion. Between 1800 and 1900, the population grew from 330 million to 475 million. This
mushrooming growth put incredible strain China’s resources and caused much starvation and poverty.
To make matters worse, unequal land distribution, massive corruption and the debilitating effect of the
growing opium problem put China’s peasants in a state of ferment and anger. Rebellions began to spring
up and the largest and most dangerous was the Taiping.
The rebellion began when a village schoolteacher named Hong Xiuquan suffered a nervous breakdown
because he failed to pass the civil service exam. During his breakdown, he had some sort of mystical
experience based on elements of Christianity. Thus, he claimed to have had a vision in which God told
him that he was the younger brother of Jesus of Nazareth and that he was to establish a new dynasty, the
Taiping, or Great Peace. Hong took advantage of peasant anger and in 1850 he began to spread his
movement with great violence.
He and his followers wanted the abolition of private property, the creation of communal wealth, a
prohibition against foot binding and concubinage, free public education and simplification of the
written language to provide literacy for the masses.
His rebels captured Nanjing in 1853, then rampaged through much of China and by 1855, a million of
his followers almost took Beijing. As the situation got worse and the Yangtze River valley went over to
Hong, and all seemed lost when help came from two quarters.
1. First, the Qing government was able to organize effective, regional armies led by the Scholar
Gentry who were terrified of a changed social order.
2. Second, the Western powers, who at first sympathized with the movement, soon realized that the
Qing might collapse and with it their profits, and gave technical assistance and military aid. The
tide and in 1864 Hong committed suicide. Soon after Nanjing fell to government forces, and
100,000 rebels were massacred. By the end of the year, the rebellion was over. It had cost China
about thirty million lives and a countrywide famine from the sharp decreases in agricultural
output.
The Taiping Rebellion finally caused the Qing government authorities to wake and realize that reform
was needed. And they tried, although it was too late, to fashion an efficient and benevolent Confucianstyle government. Their most imaginative reform effort was the Self-Strengthening Movement, which
flourished in the 1860s and 1870s. These reformers secured imperial grants that permitted them to raise
troops, levy taxes and create new bureaucracies in a valiant attempt to bring about military and
economic reform.
Their slogan was “Chinese learning at the base, Western learning for use.” So what they tried to do
was to cling to Confucian values but at the same time adopt European technology and educational
systems. They built shipyards, railroads, armament industries, steel foundries and scientific academies.
The problem was that it was too little, too late. The changes were superficial and did not introduce
enough reforms to make significant or essential changes.
The greatest obstacle to the Self-Strengthening movement was the de-facto ruler of the imperial
government, who for the latter half of the nineteenth century controlled China. She was the empress
dowager Cixi (pronounced "Tsoo Shee"). She was born in 1835 and her clan name was Yeholana.
Yehonala's beauty and charm made her so attractive and desirable that - at the age of 16 - she was
chosen to be one of the concubines of Emperor Hsien Feng and went to live in the Forbidden City.
9
Hsien Feng died in 1861 at the age of 30. His primary consort (wife) had no sons, so Cixi’s five-year old
son became emperor. In time her son died and she became the de-facto ruler of China for most of the
last fifty years of the Qing dynasty. She opposed all westernization of China and controlled, imprisoned
and murdered anyone who opposed her; including a number of emperors. Her most stunning outrage
was to divert funds intended for the navy to build a magnificent marble boat to grace a lake in her
imperial gardens.
But Cixi and the damage she did to China notwithstanding, the Self-Strengthening Movement
failed because it was based on a contradiction, which was that European Industrialization and
education undermined the Chinese commitment to Confucian values.
c - The Collapse of the Qing Dynasty
To make matters worse, the efforts of the Self Strengthening Movement could not stop increasing
foreign intrusion into Chinese affairs. By the 1880s France had seized Vietnam (calling it French Indo
China) and Great Britain had seized Burma. In 1895, after a short, decisive war, the Sino-Japanese War,
Japan forced China to recognize Korean independence (which was code for the Japanese take over and
enslavement of Korea) China also had to hand over to Japan the Island of Taiwan and the Liaodong
Peninsula in Southern Manchuria. By 1898, China had been carved up into spheres of economic and
political influence, including rights to railroads, mineral deposits and trade revenues. China’s
sovereignty had almost completely disappeared and only distrust between Japan and the European
powers prevented the complete dismemberment of China.
These setbacks sparked the Hundred Day Reforms of 1898. Two scholars, Kang Youwei and Linag
Qichao published a series of treatises reinterpreting Confucian thought in a way that would justify the
radical westernization needed to save China. The goal was to transform China from an agrarian society
into a modern, industrial society. The emperor Guangxu immediately embraced their ideas and issued
imperial reform decrees including the creation of a constitutional monarchy, the guarantee of civil
liberties, the rooting out of corruption, the remodeling of the educational system, discouraging foreign
influences, the modernizing of the military and the stimulation of economic growth. But the “Old
Buddha,” Cixi, however, imprisoned him, nullified all the reform decrees and executed as many
reformers as she could. Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao managed to escape to Japan.
Then in 1899, Cixi, who was threatened by the intrusions of the European powers and Japan, threw her
support behind the Boxer Rebellion which was a violent grass roots campaign - spearheaded by militia
forces and peasants - to expel the “foreign devils.” With Cixi’s encouragement, the Boxers went on a
rampage in Northern China, killing foreigners, Chinese Christians and any other Chinese who had ties
with foreigners. Foolishly believing that foreign weapons could not harm them, 140,000 Boxers
marched on Beijing in summer of 1900 and besieged the foreign embassies.
It was touch and go for a few months until a heavily armed force of British, Russian, French, American,
German and Japanese troops crushed the Boxers and brutally retaliated by killing thousands of the
Boxers. The Chinese government had to pay a punitive indemnity and allow the foreign powers to
maintain the troops in Beijing. Because Cixi had supported the Boxers, many Chinese felt that the Qing
dynasty was morally bankrupt. Even the conservative gentry cooled in their support and revolutionary
uprisings became common.
Before Cixi died in 1908 she had the imprisoned Guangxu murdered and appointed two year old boy,
Puyi, to be emperor. He would be the last emperor, for early in 1912, he was forced to step down as
emperor and the Chinese Republic came into being.
10
V - The Transformation of Japan
a – Japan and the Unequal Treaties
th
The 19 century was one of staggering change for Japan. The first half of the century was a time of
declining agricultural production, rising prices (especially for rice) and even starvation in the rural areas.
Conditions in the cities were not much better as both Samurai and Daimyo fell into debt to the growing
merchant classes. The resulting discontent bought about much peasant unrest and widespread rebellions.
The Tokugawa Bakufu did attempt reforms. Under Mizuno Tadakuni, the shogun’s chief advisor, the
government canceled the debts of the Samurai and Daimyo, forced farmers who had moved to the cities
to return to the countryside in order to grow rice and dismantled many merchant guilds. But all these
reforms were too little, too late. Unrest and discontent continued.
And then Japan faced more serious problems, from the Euro-American powers. In 1853, the American
Commodore Matthew C. Perry forced the Japanese to open diplomatic and commercial relations and to
sign a treaty of friendship, (which was code for an unequal treaty). Britain, the Netherlands, and Russia
soon signed similar unequal treaties. And so, Japanese ports were opened to foreign commerce, the
government was deprived of control over tariffs and foreigners were granted extraterritorial rights.
This interference and intrusion by the Euro-American powers resulted in the collapse of the Tokugawa
Bakufu. By 1858, the emperor and the imperial court in Kyoto became the focus of opposition and their
slogan was Revere the emperor, expel the barbarians. After a brief civil war, the pro-imperial forces
defeated the Tokugawa forces and the shogun resigned. In 1868, the boy emperor Mutsuhito, known by
his regal name Meiji or the Enlightened Ruler, took the reins of power. He would rule Japan in its most
dramatic fifty years ever until his death in1912.
It is important to understand that the emperor was not an autocrat. The Meiji reformers (in
oligarchic fashion) ruled in his name and with his collaboration and cooperation.
b - The Meiji Reforms
It is crucial to understand that the Meiji reformers were determined to become the equals of the
Euro-American powers at whatever price it took. And so they forged a coalition of daimyo, imperial
princes, court nobles and samurai to form a government dedicated to industrializing Japan and making
the country powerful and prosperous. Their slogan: Rich country, Strong army! The Meiji looked to
industrialized Euro-American nations to obtain the knowledge and expertise they needed. They sent
students and government officials abroad to study everything from technology to constitutions, and hired
foreign experts and technical advisors to facilitate economic development and indigenous enterprise.
Among the most prominent of the Meiji era travelers were Fukazawa Yukichi (1835-1901) and Ito
Hirobumi (1841-1909). Yukichi began to study English soon after Perry’s visit, and in 1860 he was a
member of the first Japanese mission to the United States. Later he traveled in Europe and among his
recommendations he urged that Japan adopt a legal system with equality before the law. Hirobumi t was
especially impressed with Bismarck’s Germany and he drew inspiration from the German constitution
when he drafted an outline for a Japanese government and constitution.
The first goal of the Meiji reformers was to centralize political power. They abolished the Feudal order
and established a western style bureaucracy replacing the old feudal domains with districts called
Prefectures under the control of the central government. They also abolished the samurai class and
raised a conscript army. Many discontented samurai rebelled in 1877 and were crushed.
11
The reformers also revamped the tax system. Peasants had traditionally paid taxes in rice, but the Meiji
(knowing that a grain tax fluctuated in value with the price of rice) converted the grain tax into a fixed money
tax in 1873. They also based taxes on how much rice or other grains the land could produce, so that
growers had to maximize their growing techniques in order to pay their taxes.
The Meiji leaders also gave Japan a Constitution which established a constitutional government with a
legislature, known as a Diet. They chose the German model in which the emperor commanded the
armed forces, named the prime minister, and appointed the cabinet. Both the prime minister and the
cabinet were responsible to the emperor rather than to the Diet. Thus the Diet and the government were
advisory to the emperor and his oligarchic reformers. The Meiji Constitution recognized individual
rights, but provided that laws could nullify those rights in the interests of the state. Only major property
owners had the franchise, so in Japan’s first election of 1890, only 5% of the male population cast
ballots. However in spite of its ultra-conservative features, the Meiji constitution provided greater
opportunity for debate and dissenting opinion than ever before in Japanese society.
The Meiji leaders were convinced that a powerful economy was the basis of national strength and
success, so the government created modern transportation, communication and educational systems.
They established telegraph, railroad and steamship lines that tied the country together. They removed
internal barriers to commerce and trade by abolishing guild restrictions and internal tariffs. They created
a national economic network. University training was modeled on western standards. The result was
rapid industrialization and rapid economic growth. During the 1880s, the government sold most of its
enterprises to private investors who had close ties with the government. The result was a concentration
of enormous economic power in the hands of small group of men, collectively known as zaibatsu, or
financial cliques
But all this came at an enormous price and the Japanese people bore that cost. Peasants had a tax rate of
40% to 50% and the government did nothing to alleviate the suffering of the lower classes, especially
the peasants. When they rebelled, the government police put down the uprising with ferocity. In their
hurry to establish a strong factory system in a short a time, Meiji laws treated unions as criminal and
ruthlessly crushed all attempts at the formation of labor movements.
But the bottom line was that in a single generation Meiji leaders transformed Japan from a Feudal
state into a powerful industrial society – in stark contrast to China, Russia and the Ottoman
Empire. The strongest single factor was the foresight of the Meiji leaders to realize the danger
they were in by NOT modernizing; and they were also helped by the Japanese people’s strong
sense of identity and duty as well as the fact the Japan was a homogenous society. At any rate,
Japan was now poised to play a major role in world affairs.
c - Japanese Empire Building
In 1876 Japan forced Korean ports to open to trade in the same way the European powers had done in
China and Japan herself. In 1879, Japan took the Ryukyu island chain from China. This archipelago
extended southwest from Japan and included the Okinawa islands. Throughout the 1880s and 1890s,
Japan intensified its military buildup, constructing a steamship navy and drafting a well-equipped and
well-trained army.
Even greater military and political successes followed. A large peasant uprising in Korea caused the
Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95. China and Japan supported opposing sides and the result was a
resounding victory for Japan, which allowed Japan to occupy Korea, and later on, Taiwan. In 1908,
Japan would outright annex Korea. By 1899, Japan had ended Euro-American extraterritoriality and in
1902 they signed a treaty with Great Britain as an equal.
12
An even more impressive triumph for Japan was the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. Competition
over influence in Manchuria caused great tension between the two countries. Russia’s rapid expansion
into the area and construction of the Trans-Siberian Railroad interfered with Japan’s ambitions in the
region. The Japanese opened the war with a surprise attack on Russia’s Pacific naval base at Port Arthur
and fatally crippled the Russian Pacific Fleet. Tiny compared to Russia, Japan was better prepared and
had shorter lines of supply. The Japanese defeated the Russian army and demolished a Russian Fleet
sent-round-the-world at the Battle of Tsushima. Japan had embarrassed Russia and in the Peace Treaty
(negotiated by President Theodore Roosevelt) Japan annexed the Liaodong Peninsula in China, the
southern half of Sakhalin Island and the Kurile Islands - and humiliated Russia also agreed to recognize
Japan’s sphere of influence in Southern Manchuria.
The Russo-Japanese War marked the first time in modern world that a non-Western nation had defeated
a European nation in a major military conflict. It was also an early warning signal that Japan was not
only a major industrial power, but also one that had militaristic and nationalistic ambitions that would
lead to world conflict.
13