APWH Vocab #12 - State Sponsored Industrialization

Muhammad Ali

The Ottoman governor of Egypt whose modernization reforms—including military, economic, and infrastructural projects—made Egypt functionally autonomous from the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century.

Suez Canal

A man-made waterway in Egypt (completed in 1869) linking the Mediterranean and Red Seas, drastically reducing global shipping time and increasing European influence in Egypt.

Qing Dynasty

China's last imperial dynasty (1644-1912), weakened in the 19th century by internal rebellions, foreign imperialism and inability to modernize rapidly.

Opium Wars

Two mid-19th-century conflicts between Britain (later joined by France) and China over trade rights and opium importation, resulting in unequal treaties and foreign spheres of influence.

Empress Cixi

Powerful Qing imperial regent who resisted many modernization efforts and whose conservative rule is associated with late-Qing decline, including the failures of the Self-Strengthening Movement.

Janissaries

Elite Ottoman soldiers originally made up of enslaved Christian boys; by the 19th century they had become conservative and resisted reforms, contributing to military stagnation.

Sun Yat-sen

Chinese revolutionary leader who helped overthrow the Qing dynasty and became the founding figure of the Chinese Nationalist Party; known as the 'Father of Modern China.'

Conscription

Mandatory enlistment for state military service, used increasingly by modernizing states in the 19th century to build larger, more organized armies.

Cairo

The capital of Egypt and the center of Muhammad Ali's modernization efforts, including schools, factories and administrative reforms.

Tanzimat Reforms

A series of 19th-century Ottoman reforms designed to modernize the empire along European lines—legal equality, new schools, tax reforms and a modern military.

Self-Strengthening Movement

Qing-era reform movement aiming to adopt Western military and industrial technology while preserving traditional Confucian society—ultimately only partially successful.

Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang)

Political party founded by Sun Yat-sen that sought to unify China and create a modern nation-state after the fall of the Qing dynasty.

Japanese Act of Seclusion

Tokugawa-era policy (sakoku) that isolated Japan from nearly all foreign contact and trade for over two centuries to preserve social order and limit foreign influence.

Commodore Matthew Perry

U.S. naval officer whose arrival in Japan (1853-54) forced the Tokugawa government to open ports to American trade, ending Japan's isolation.

Tokugawa Shogunate

Japan's feudal military government (1603-1868) that enforced social hierarchy, isolation and centralized control until overthrown in the Meiji Restoration.

Charter Oath

A foundational 1868 Meiji Restoration document outlining Japan's goals for modernization—ending feudalism, promoting education, and adopting Western institutions.

Meiji Restoration

The political and social transformation that restored imperial rule in Japan and rapidly modernized the nation through industrialization, military reform and Westernization.

Sino-Japanese War

A conflict (1894-95) in which Japan defeated China, proving its success in modernization and gaining control of Taiwan and influence in Korea.

Russo-Japanese War

War (1904-05) in which Japan defeated Russia, shocking the world and demonstrating Japan's emergence as a major industrial and imperial power.

Young Turks

A reformist nationalist group within the Ottoman Empire that pushed for modernization, constitutional government and Turkish dominance.

Kowtow

A traditional Chinese ritual of bowing deeply to show respect to the emperor; Western diplomats resisted the practice, symbolizing cultural tension and Qing weakness.

Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC)

A bank founded in 1865 by British merchants to support trade between China and Europe, reflecting growing Western economic dominance in Asia.

Deindustrialization

The decline of local or indigenous manufacturing (such as in India) caused by competition from mass-produced European goods during the era of imperialism.

Sepoys

Indian soldiers employed by the British East India Company; their grievances helped trigger the 1857 Sepoy Rebellion against British rule.

Famine

Widespread food shortages, often exacerbated by colonial policies, cash-crop agriculture or environmental crises (e.g., late-Qing China, British-ruled India).

Shogun

The military ruler of Japan who held real political power during the feudal era, while the emperor remained a symbolic figure.

Daimyo

Powerful landholding lords in feudal Japan who controlled large domains and commanded samurai armies under the shogunate.

Zaibatsu

Large, family-owned Japanese industrial and financial conglomerates (e.g., Mitsubishi) that drove rapid Meiji-era industrialization.

Crimean War

Conflict (1853-56) in which Russia fought an alliance of Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire; exposed Ottoman weakness and spurred reforms.

Russification

Russian imperial policy aiming to unify the empire by imposing Russian language, culture and Orthodox Christianity on diverse ethnic groups.

Turkification

Young Turk policies promoting Turkish culture and identity over other ethnic groups within the multiethnic Ottoman Empire.

Capitulations

Unequal agreements that granted Europeans special privileges and exemptions within the Ottoman Empire, undermining Ottoman sovereignty.

Franco-Prussian War

War (1870-71) in which Prussia defeated France, leading to German unification under Prussian leadership and altering European power balance.

British East India Company

A British trading corporation that gradually gained political and military control over India, ruling large regions until the 1857 rebellion prompted direct British governance.

Lord Cornwallis

Governor-General of India who implemented administrative and land reforms that strengthened British control.

Blood and Iron

Otto von Bismarck's policy emphasizing military power and industrial strength as the means to unify Germany and expand state influence.

Otto von Bismarck

Prussian statesman who engineered German unification in 1871 through diplomacy and warfare, later serving as the first chancellor of the German Empire.