Chapter 19

Internal Troubles, External Threats

Reversal of Fortune: Chinas Century of Crisis

By 1912 Chinas long established imperial state had collapsed and transformed to a
weak and dependent participant in a European-dominated world system but in the
Chineses eyes they were still the Middle Kingdom
The Crisis Within
Robus economy+ American food crops=population growth but no Industrial Rev
like in Europe so the agricultural production was unable to keep up growing
pressure on land, huge peasant population, unemployment, poverty, misery,
starvation
Their famed centralized and bureaucratic state didnt enlarge itself to keep up the
pace with the growing population
^^ lead to peasant rebellion: Taiping Uprising
Ideology=unique form of Christianity instead of Confucianism, Buddhism,
or Daoism
Hong Xiuquan=leader and proclaimed himself as the younger
brother of jesus who was sent to cleanse the world and establish a
heavenly kingdom of great peace.
Did not intend to restore the ideal Chinese society but insisted on
revolutionary change (abolition of private property, equality for men and
women especially in military camps, end to prostitution and opium
smoking)
Established capital in Nanjing but the divisions and indecisiveness within
the Taiping leadership and inability to link with other rebel groups
provided an opportunity for Qing dynasty loyalists to crush the rebellions
(Qing also had western support and did not have imperial military forces
but the landowners feared the radicalism of the Taiping program and so
they mobilized their own armies)
Outcome: Qing dynasty weakened as the provincial gentry consolidated
power at the expense of the central state, the intense conservatism of
both imperial authorities did not solve the peasant problem, the civil war
destroyed the economy, 20-30 mil lives lost, couldn't keep up with
Europes Industrial Rev
Western Pressures
British used opium grown and processed in India to cover their persistent trade
imbalance with China-profitable market
Opium had to be smuggled into China and everyone got addicted bc they needed
to overcome the pain of their work so there was a debate to legalize it but the
emperor decided on suppression
Campaign led by Lin Zexu who said it was a drug czar
 The British were offended by this violation of property rights so sent their big
military on a naval expedition to China intending to end the restrictive conditions
under which they had long traded with them. They also intended to teach china
the proper way to have relations with other countries= OPIUM WAR
Britain had an industrialized army!
Treaty of Nanjing ended the war largely on British terms and put restrictions on
the Chinese sovereignty and opened 5 ports to European traders. Reflected
the changed balance of global power from Britains IR and Britain's first unequal
treaty that eroded Chinas independence
Second Opium War: Britain ruined emperors Summer Palace, more ports
opened so foreigners allowed to buy land and travel in China, to preach
Christianity, and to patrol some of their rivers
China had lost against France and Japan and lost control of Vietnam, Korea, and
Taiwan
China was no longer the center of civilization to which barbarians paid homage
and tribute, but just a weak dependent nation
Restrictions imposed by Europeans inhibited Chinas industrialization
The Failure of Conservative Modernization
Chinese authorities sought to self-strengthen and reinvigorate a traditional
China while borrowing cautiously from the West
Examination system seeking good men
Dikes and irrigation, a few industrial textile and steel factories, coal mines
expanded, telegraph system
But inhibited by the fears of conservative leaders that urbanization would
erode the power and privileged of the landlord class
Boxer Uprising led by militia organizations calling themselves the Society of
Righteous and Harmonious Fists killed Europeans and Chinese Christians and
seized foreign embassies in Beijing but Western powers and Japan crushed the
rebellion and imposed a large payment on China as a punishment so China
remained a dependent country substantially under foreign control
Chinese nationalism: directed against both foreign imperialists and foreign Qing
dynasty, ppl like National Rejuvenation Study Society and Society to Protect the
Nation and Understand the National Shame Society admired Western ideas and
believed that only a truly unified nation in which rulers and ruled were closely
related could save china from the foreign imperialists

The Ottoman Empire and the West in the Nineteenth Century

The Sick Man of Europe
Once viewed as the strong sword of Islam within the Muslim world, they were
unable to prevent regions like Indonesia, India, West Africa, and Central Asia
from falling under the control of Christian powers
Napoleon conquered egypt and it thrived and came close to topping the Ottoman
Empire itself
 Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania achieved independence through their
own nationalism and support from the British or Russians
The earlier centrality of the Ottoman and Arab lands in Afro Eurasian commerce
diminished as Europeans achieved direct oceanic access to the treasures of Asia
Reform and its opponents

The Japanese Difference: The Rise of a New East Asian Power

US commodore Matthew Perrys black ships forcefully demanded that Japan open up
to more normal relations with the world but it actually worked and they industrialized
and came up with a society distinctive to Japan
The Tokugawa Background
Ruled by Tokugawa family with a shogun who aimed to keep away to feudal lords
known as daimyo and Japan was pacified...but not really unified. Tokugawa
family had strict rules governing every aspect of Japanese life.
2 centuries of peace= burst of economic growth, commercialization, and urban
development, Edo=worlds largest city, by 1750 world's most urbanized country,
Confucianism=literate population
No national army so samurais turned into a bureaucratic /administrative class
Provided a solid background for their industrial growth
Merchants had money but low status, samurais had high status but no money
and they both resented this position
Peasants moved to the country and acted weirdly (used umbrellas instead of
straw hats) so ppl in the city said that the peasants should just devote
themselves to farming
Corruption (failure to deal with severe famine, peasant uprisings) and there was
a growing feeling that the shogunate was losing control
American Intrusion and the Meiji Restoration
Japan had deliberately limited contact w the West to a single port only for the
Dutch
US sent Commodore Perry to demand access to their ports and was authorized
to use force if necessary
Meiji Restoration: Japan learned from what happened w China so they let the US
in and agreed to a series of unequal treaties but this was humiliating for the
Japanese and they were once again annoyed w the shogunate and it triggered a
brief civil war which resulted in the political takeover of a group of young samurai
from S Japan
Meiji (15 year old Enlightened Ruler) was regarded as the most recent
link in a chain of descent that traced the origins of the imperial family back
to the sun goddess Amaterasu
 Goal to save Japan from foreign domination through transformation of
Japanese society drawing from the West. Knowledge shall be sought
throughout the world so as to strengthen the foundations of imperial rule
Modernizing Japanese Style
National Unity: got rid of privileges of the daimyo and the samurai, central state
now collected nations taxes and raised a national army from all classes
Confucian-based social order w special privileges was dismantled and almost all
Japanese became legally equal as commoners and subjects of the emperor
Widespread and eager fascination for all things Western and then sought to
combine W ideas w Japanese ideas: Shinto (ancestor spirits) made its way
Gvt established a number of enterprises and later sold the to private investors
Modern infrastructure: railroads, postal system, national currency, banking
system
Became major export of textiles and produced own munitions and industrial
goods
Peasant families slipped into poverty bc taxes made them pay for all these
reforms^ and it led to protests
Urban workers treated poorly (low pay, bad conditions)---> anarchist and socialist
ideas (unions)
Japan and the World
Anglo-Japanese Treaty of 1902 now acknowledged Japan as an equal player
among the Great Powers of the world
Formidable military competitor: successful wars against China and Russia, first
ASian state to defeat a major European power, gained colonial control of Taiwan
and Korea and a territorial foothold in Manchuria
Japans power added yet one more imperialist power to those already burdening
a beleaguered China
Some Poles, Finns, and Jews viewed the Russian defeat as an opening for their
own liberation from the Russian empire and were grateful to Japan for the
opportunity
All the countries gassed Japan up basically: We are amazed by Japan because
it is the first Eastern gvt to utilize the Western civilization to resist the shield of the
European imperialism in Asia
BUT those who were under Japans rule were less positive bc their Japanese
policies exceeded the brutality of European practices