Download Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources

Robert W. Strayer
Ways of the World:
A Brief Global History with Sources
Second Edition
CHAPTER 19
Empires in Collision:
Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia
1800–1914
Copyright © 2013 by Bedford/St. Martin’s
China a Crisis within
China was a victim of earlier success
Good economy, American food = population
growth
100 million 1685 to 430 million 1853
No Industrial Revolution
Agriculture was unable to keep up to rising
population
Expansion of Chinese Empire gained little
wealth = growing pressure on the land,
smaller farms for huge peasant population,
unemployment, misery and starvation
(stories of eating young children)
Chinese government bureaucratic state did
not grow with population
State unable to keep up and perform needed
functions – tax collection, flood control, and
social welfare and public security
Central state lost power to local gentry
Caused corruption, and harsh treatment of
peasants
People beaten / punished for not paying taxes
Presence of European military in the 19th
century caused disruption of internal trade,
caused unemployment, and raised peasants
taxes
Conditions traditionally associated with a
declining dynasty
Rise in criminal gangs and peasant rebellions
Many peasants opposed the Qing (Manchu)
Dynasty– considered outsider – foreign
Manchu invaders
Taiping Rebellion 1850-1864
Leaders rejected Confucianism, Daoism, and
Buddhism
Ideology was a unique form of Christianity
Leader Hong Xiuquan 1814-1864
Proclaimed to be younger brother of Jesus
Christ
Sent to create a heavenly kingdom of great
peace
Abolition of private property and redistribution
of land
End of prostitution and opium smoking
Organizing society into sexually segregated
military camps of men and women
Denounced Qing dynasty
Planned to industrialize China and build
railroads
Different outlook toward women
Hakka people had fewer restrictions on women
No foot binding and served in military
Ordered women’s feet unbound
Promised equal distribution of land to men and
women
Women take civil service exam and get
supervisory positions
Mutual attraction was a new basis for marriage
None of this consistently implemented
Hong had a harem and declared palace women
had a duty to attend husbands needs and not
be involved in outside world
Taiping forces grew and swept out of Southern
China.
Made capital at Nanjing
For a short period it seemed the Qing dynasty
was over
Internal struggles and unable to link with other
rebel groups
Qing dynasty with outside help was able to
crush the rebellion
Qing dynasty was saved but at a weakened
state
Chinese economy weak
20-30 million dead -10 years for China to
recover
Western Pressure
Opium Wars – England used opium grown and
processed in India and sold to China
1830 British, American and other Western
merchants saw great profit in the opium trade
to China
1773 – 1,000 chests – 150 lbs each
1832 – 23,000 chests
Chinese authorities – outlawed / but bribery
was used to smuggle in drugs
China was spending an enormous amount of
silver on drug
Millions of addicts
1836 the emperor decided to crack down on
the opium trade
Lin Zenxu
Drug shipments seized
British upset about seizure sent the British
navy to China
The 1st Opium War (1839-1842)
Lin Zexu destroying opium. In the summer of 1939, Lin
Zexu confiscated and destroyed 2.6 million pounds of
opium. It took 500 laborers 22 days to destroy all of the
opium.
English fleet attacks China
Treaty of Nanjing 1842 – English victory –
Restricted Chinese authority
Opened several ports to free trade
English get Hong Kong
This unequal treaty was the first to eat away
Chinese authority and weakened the state
1856-1858- second Opium War – emperor’s
palace was vandalized
More ports opened to foreign traders
Foreigners allowed to travel freely
Buy land, preach Christianity
French defeat – 1885 and Japanese 1895 –
China lost control of Vietnam, Korea, and
Taiwan
By end of century Western nations, Japan and
Russia all had spheres of influence within
China
They built military bases, extracted raw
materials and built railroads
China was being carved up
Qing dynasty was still in power but very weak
Failure of Modernization
China did make attempts at modernization
New examination system to find “good men” to
work in government – take care of needed
reconstruction to fix needed dikes, irrigation
etc.
New factories to make new weapons
Wealthy fears industrialization, urbanization
and commercial development would erode
their power and privilege
Because of this new industry remained
dependent on foreign machinery, materials, and
expertise
The foreign companies gained more and more
control of Chinese dependent industry
Boxer Rebellion 1898-1901
Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists
– killed numerous European and Chinese
Christians
They wanted to drive out the non-Chinese
The Western Powers crushed the rebellion and
huge payment imposed on China as
punishment
China remained a dependent country under
foreign control
Educated Chinese were upset with the
conditions in China and upset with weak Qing
government
1890’s educated men formed groups to study
the problems of China
China’s self-strengthening movement
-cancelled in 1898 as
part of a reactionary
movement but most
of the Chinese
students who went to
Massachusetts and
Connecticut schools
and then on to Yale
University, did
return and took part
in liberalizing China in
the early 20th
century
Qiu Jin 1875-1907
She studied in Japan and returned to China
Started a women’s journal
Argued for liberation for women
Dressed like a man - anti Qing movement
Out of this and other movements grew a sense
of Chinese nationalism and anti-Western
Imperialism
Interesting
Side Note:
In 1903 Germany started
a brewery in their occupied
territory of Qingdao--know
still today as "Tsingtao
Beer".
In 1903 Germany started a brewery in their occupied territory of Qingdao--know still today as
Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire Islamic civilization had been a
neighbor to Europe for 1,000 years
Had often posed a military and religious threat
to Europe 16th and 17th centuries
1750 – Ottoman Empire central political figure
– Islamic world
Europe called the empire “The Sick Man of
Europe”
Once the strong sword of Islam was now
unable to stop the spread of Christian control
1798 Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt – was a
blow to the Ottoman Empire
When the French left Egypt became an
independent country that modernized
Other places also achieved independence as
the Ottoman Empire collapsed
Greece, Serbia, and Romania
Reforms and its opponents
Late 18th century
Sultan Selim III wanted to update his military
using Western military advisors
Ulama (religious scholars) and elite military
Janissaries saw this as being in conflict with
Islam and their own personal interests
Opposition so strong that that Selim was
overthrown 1807
Later Sultans crushed the Janissaries and
brought the ulama under state control
Starting in 1839 Tanzimat (reorganization) took
shape
Leadership tried to provide economic, social and
legal help programs to strengthen the
government
Process of modernization and
Westernization
Factories producing cloth, paper, and
armaments , modern mining operations;
reclamation and settlement of agriculture land;
telegraphs, steamships, railroads, and modern
postal service; Western-style law codes and
courts; new schools
Freedom of religion allowed more Christians
positions in government
Some upward movement for women
Midwife training -1842, girls in secondary
school – 1858 and teacher training college for
women 1870
New look for the Ottoman Empire
Secular state (not religious)
Young Ottomans sought changes within the
empire 19th century
They favored a more democratic / constitution
type government
1876 Abd al-Hamid II 1876-1909 accepted a
constitution and elected parliament
But pressure of war with Russia forced him to
suspend the new reforms for 30 years
Opposition surfaced in military and civilian
elites
Young Turks wanted a secular state and they
wanted to recreate a European civilization
1908 – Military coup
Young Turks took power
Pushed for secularization of schools, courts,
and law
Elections and competing parties established
Modern schools for women established
WWI would help promote the rapid collapse of
the empire
The Japanese Difference: The Rise of a
New East Asian Power
USA ships steamed into Tokyo Bay 1853 Matthew Perry
Demanded Japan open up to trade
Starts Japan on radical transformation
Path toward Westernization/ industrialization
The Tokugawa Background
250 years before Matthew Perry’s arrival
Ruled by a shogun from Tokugawa family –
emperor was powerless
Tokugawa shogunate was responsible in
preventing civil war
Japan had 260 rival feudal lords (daimyo) with
their own soldiers
Japan had peace for 2 centuries 1600-1850
Peace led to economic growth
1750 – Had become an urbanized country
Manufacturing & markets developed
Influence of Confucianism encouraged
Education in Japan developed a very literate
population
American Intrusion and the Meiji
restoration
Commodore Perry – 1853 demanded the right
of American ships to refuel buy provisions and
open ports for trade
Perry was authorized to use force
Japan agreed to a series of “unequal treaties”
This triggered many to turn away from
supporting the Shogunate
1868 – Political take over
Meiji Restoration
The takeover promised to restore power to the
15 year old emperor
However they set Japan on a path of
modernization
Modernization Japanese Style
New leadership made drastic changes
The daimyo’s and samurai’s power was
replaced with a governor
Central state not local now collected taxes
National army was established
The new Japan became very interested in
anything Western
Created a parliament, and political parties with
democratic ideals
Parliament could advise but ultimate power
was in the hands of the emperor
Shinto religion grew (ancient religion featuring
ancestors, and nature spirits)
Women allowed education based on gender
specific curriculum
Peace Preservation Law 1897 -1922 forbade
women from joining political parties or
attending political meetings
Civil Code of 1898 absolute authority to male
head of family
Industrialization – included railroads, modern
infrastructure, postal system, national currency,
and banking system
Large industrial firms (zaibatsu) became
country’s main exporter of textiles and
produced munitions and other industrial goods
All of this accomplished with its own natural
resources
Japan and the World
By early 20th century the Western world revised
treaties with japan
Anglo-Japanese Treaty 1902 – Japan an equal
among great powers of the world
Japan had successful wars against China
1894-1895 and Russia 1904-1905 and this
established Japan as a formidable power in East
Asia
Used military to take control of Taiwan and
Korea and a foothold in Manchuria