CHAPTER 11 Empires in Collision Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia 1800-1900

Reversal of Fortune: China's Century of Crisis

• China suffered immensely from aggression, wars, and chaos after the 1840 Opium War

• Memories of the Opium War remain a central element of China's "patriotic education" for the young

• China's long-established imperial state collapsed and the country became weak and dependent on European powers

The Ottoman Empire and the West

• The Ottoman Empire faced Western pressures and attempted conservative modernization

• The empire experienced reforms and a military coup by the Young Turks

Outcomes: Comparing China and the Ottoman Empire

• China and the Ottoman Empire both faced Western imperialism and had different responses and outcomes

• China experienced a reversal of fortune, while the Ottoman Empire underwent reforms and a military coup

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

• Japan faced American intrusion and underwent the Meiji Restoration

• Japan defeated China and Russia in wars and emerged as a new East Asian power

Reflections: Success and Failure in History

• China, the Ottoman Empire, and Japan were active participants in the global drama of the nineteenth-century world history

• These societies dealt with their own internal issues while navigating the era of colliding empires

AP Comparison

• China, the Ottoman Empire, and Japan retained some ability to resist European aggression and reform their own societies

• These states avoided outright incorporation into European colonial empires

Landmarks for Chapter 11

• Important events in China, the Ottoman Empire, and Japan during the nineteenth century are listed on page 3

Page 4: The Crisis Within

• China's population grew from 100 million in 1685 to 430 million in 1853 due to successful agriculture.

• Unlike Europe, China did not experience an Industrial Revolution to support the growing population.

• China's internal expansion did not generate wealth and resources like Europe's overseas empires.

• Growing pressure on the land led to smaller farms, unemployment, impoverishment, misery, and starvation.

• China's governing institutions did not keep pace with the growing population, leading to a loss of power to provincial officials and local gentry.

• Corruption and harsh treatment of peasants by officials were common.

• European military pressure and economic penetration disrupted internal trade routes, created unemployment, and raised peasant taxes.

• These factors led to the rise of bandit gangs and peasant rebellions.

Page 4: Comparison to earlier Chinese dynasties

• Peasant rebellions in the 19th century were similar to those in earlier Chinese dynasties.

• Rebellions drew on peasant grievances and opposition to the Qing dynasty's foreign Manchu origins.

• Some rebels expressed the desire for a Han emperor to rule China.

Page 4: Causation of the Taiping Uprising

• China's internal crisis culminated in the Taiping Uprising between 1850 and 1864.

• The uprising rejected Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, finding its primary ideology in a unique form of Christianity.

• The leader, Hong Xiuquan, proclaimed himself the younger brother of Jesus and aimed to establish a "heavenly kingdom of great peace."

• The uprising called for radical changes such as the abolition of private property, land redistribution, and the organization of society into sexually segregated military camps.

• The Qing dynasty was denounced as foreigners who had "poisoned China" and "defiled the emperor's throne."

Page 5: Revolutionary dimensions of the Taiping Uprising

• The Taiping Uprising challenged traditional gender roles.

• Hakka women fought as soldiers and had their feet unbound.

• The land reform program promised women and men equal shares of land.

• Women were allowed to sit for civil service examinations and hold supervisory positions.

• Marriage based on mutual attraction was promoted.

• However, these reforms were not consistently implemented, and the movement's leadership had ambivalence about equality for women.

Page 5: Western support for the Qing dynasty during the Taiping Uprising

• Western powers generally supported the Qing dynasty during the Taiping Uprising.

• They provided military support to the Qing forces.

• The Taiping rebels' posture toward women challenged long-established gender roles and generated hostility among other Chinese, including women.

Page 5: Defeat of the Taiping Uprising

• Taiping forces established their capital in Nanjing but faced divisions and indecisiveness within their leadership.

• They were unable to link up with other rebel groups in China.

• Qing dynasty loyalists, supported by provincial military leaders, rallied and crushed the rebellion.

• The central government's imperial military forces did not defeat the rebels.

• The Qing dynasty was saved but weakened as provincial military leaders consolidated their power.

Page 6: Empires in Collision, 1800-1900

• China's internal crisis and the Taiping Uprising delayed change and modernization

  • Devastation from the civil war disrupted and weakened China's economy

  • Estimates of lives lost range from 20 to 30 million

• The Opium Wars were a major turning point for China's decline in the 19th century

  • Opium had been used as medicine but became a problem when British began using it to cover trade imbalance with China

  • Opium imports exploded from 1,000 chests in 1773 to over 23,000 chests in 1832

  • Illegal opium trade led to corruption, economic problems, and addiction in China

Page 7: Reversal of Fortune: China's Century of Crisis

• British exports to China heavily relied on opium

  • Opium exports accounted for a significant percentage of British exports to China

  • British had a trade deficit without opium and a trade surplus with opium

• China faced a debate on whether to legalize or suppress opium use

  • Commissioner Lin Zexu led the campaign against opium use

  • British sent a naval expedition to China to end restrictive trade conditions

• First Opium War (1840-1842) resulted in the Treaty of Nanjing

  • Treaty imposed restrictions on Chinese sovereignty and opened five ports to European traders

  • Represented the first of "unequal treaties" that eroded China's independence

• Second Opium War (1856-1858) led to further humiliations and more ports opened to foreign traders

Page 8: ZOOMING IN Lin Zexu: Confronting the Opium Trade

• Lin Zexu was selected by the Chinese emperor to enforce measures to suppress the opium trade

  • Lin Zexu used moral appeals, reasoned argument, political pressure, and coercion to carry out his task

• Lin confiscated 50,000 pounds of opium, over 70,000 pipes, and arrested 1,700 dealers

• Lin emphasized the health hazards of opium and demanded that people turn in their supplies of opium and pipes

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• Opium-using officials became the target of investigations

• Five-person teams were established to enforce the ban on opium smoking

• Lin used a similar mix of methods to deal with foreign suppliers of opium

• Lin demanded that foreign traders hand over their opium without compensation

• After six weeks of negotiations, the Europeans capitulated and turned over 3 million pounds of raw opium to Lin Zexu

• Lin disposed of the opium by mixing it with water, salt, and lime and flushing it into the sea

• Lin's actions provoked a devastating Opium War with the British

Page 9-10: The Failure of Conservative Modernization

• Chinese authorities implemented "self-strengthening" policies during the 1860s and 1870s to reinvigorate traditional China while borrowing from the West

• The Qing dynasty remained in power but in a weakened condition

• Restrictions imposed by unequal treaties inhibited China's industrialization

• Chinese businessmen mostly served foreign firms instead of developing as an independent capitalist class

• China faced external assaults from Russia, Japan, and various European powers

• European presence in China was divided into spheres of influence, granting special privileges to Western powers

Page 11: Reversal of Fortune: China's Century of Crisis

• China faced massive reconstruction after the Taiping rebellion

  • Overhauled examination system to recruit qualified candidates for official positions

  • Support for landlords and repair of dikes and irrigation to restore rural social and economic order

  • Establishment of industrial factories, expansion of coal mines, initiation of telegraph system

  • Chinese weapons were inferior to those of foreign countries

  • Modern arsenals, shipyards, and foreign-language schools were established to remedy this deficiency

• Self-strengthening program for China's modernization was inhibited by fears of conservative leaders

  • Urban, industrial, or commercial development was feared to erode power and privileges of the landlord class

  • New industries remained dependent on foreigners for machinery, materials, and expertise

  • Strengthened local authorities rather than the central Chinese state

• Failure of self-strengthening became apparent with a military defeat by Japan in 1894-1895

• Boxer Uprising in 1898-1901 further confirmed China's dependence on foreign powers

• Growing numbers of educated Chinese became disillusioned with the Qing dynasty

• Organizations formed to examine China's situation and explore alternative paths

• Opposition to traditional gender roles also became a focus

Page 12: The Qing dynasty response and the Chinese revolution

• Qing dynasty's response to new pressures proved inadequate

• Hundred Days of Reform in 1898 was squelched by conservative forces

• More extensive reform in the early twentieth century was too little too late

• Last Chinese emperor abdicated in 1912, marking the end of the ancient imperial order

• Ottoman Empire and the West in the Nineteenth Century

• Islamic civilization had been a near neighbor to Europe for 1,000 years

• Ottoman Empire had long governed parts of southeastern Europe and posed a threat to Europe

• Encounter with the West was less abrupt than China's but still consequential

• Ottoman Empire and China both launched efforts at defensive modernization

• Both societies had people holding onto old identities and values while others embraced nationalism and modernity

The Sick Man of Europe

• In 1750, the Ottoman Empire was a central political fixture of the Islamic world

• By the end of the nineteenth century, it was known as "the sick man of Europe"

• Unable to deal with Europe from a position of equality or superiority

• Unable to prevent regions from falling under the control of Christian powers

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• The Ottoman Empire's domains shrank due to aggression from Russian, British, Austrian, and French forces.

• Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1798 was a significant blow to the Ottoman Empire.

• Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti described the French entry into Cairo as destructive and disrespectful.

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• Other parts of the Ottoman Empire, such as Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania, achieved independence based on their own nationalism and support from foreign powers.

• The central Ottoman state weakened, leading to provincial authorities and local warlords gaining power.

• The Janissaries, once elite infantry units, became a conservative force within the empire.

• European access to Asian treasures diminished the economic centrality of the Ottoman and Arab lands.

• Capitulations, agreements between European countries and the Ottoman Empire, granted Westerners exemptions from Ottoman law and taxation.

• The Ottoman Empire became heavily indebted and relied on foreign loans for economic development.

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• The Ottoman Empire began reforms in the late eighteenth century, starting with Sultan Selim III's efforts to reorganize and update the army.

• Opposition to these reforms led to Selim's overthrow and subsequent sultans crushing the Janissaries and bringing the ulama under state control.

• The Tanzimat reforms in the decades after 1839 aimed to provide economic, social, and legal foundations for a strong and centralized state.

• The Ottoman Empire underwent modernization and westernization, including the establishment of factories, mining operations, transportation systems, and educational institutions.

• Changes in the legal status of diverse communities gave non-Muslims equal rights under the law.

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• Tanzimat reforms challenged the Islamic character of the Ottoman Empire

  • Mixed tribunals with representatives from various religious groups were established

  • More Christians were appointed to high office

  • Secular legislation and secular schools were introduced, drawing on European models

  • Modest educational openings for women were stimulated, including a training program for midwives, a girls' secondary school, and a teacher training college for women

• The reform-minded class favored greater opportunities for women

• The reform process raised questions about the identity of the Ottoman Empire and its people

  • People oscillated between being Ottoman subjects, Turkish citizens, or Muslim believers

• The Young Ottomans sought major changes in the Ottoman political system

  • They favored a more European-style parliamentary and constitutional regime

  • They believed that embracing Western knowledge while preserving Islam's religious character would lead to modernity

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• Sultan Abdülhamid II suspended the reforms and reverted to despotic rule

• The Young Turks opposed the revived despotism and advocated for a secular public life

• They pushed for radical secularization, modernization along European lines, and Turkish nationalism

• The Young Turks came to power through a military coup in 1908

• They implemented radical changes, including secularization of schools and law codes, women's rights, and the promotion of Turkish as the official language

• Nationalist sentiments contributed to the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of Arab and other nationalisms

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• China and the Ottoman Empire became "semi-colonies" within Europe's "informal empires"

• Both attempted defensive modernization but were unable to restore their former power

• China experienced a revolutionary upheaval that led to a communist regime

• The collapse of the Ottoman Empire led to the creation of the nation-state of Turkey

• China's revolutionaries rejected traditional Confucian culture, while Islam retained its hold in the Islamic world

• Confucianism has made a comeback in China, but Islam remained more firmly rooted in the Islamic world

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• Japan also faced the aggressive power of the West during the nineteenth century

• Commodore Matthew Perry's arrival in Japan in 1853 marked a threat from the West

Page 19: The Japanese Difference: The Rise of a New East Asian Power

• Japan underwent a radical transformation in the second half of the nineteenth century, becoming a powerful, modern, united, industrialized nation.

  • Japan's transformation was a "revolution from above."

  • China and the Ottoman Empire were unable to achieve a similar transformation.

• Japan joined the club of imperialist countries by creating its own East Asian empire at the expense of China and Korea.

• Japan demonstrated that modernity was not exclusive to Europe.

• The Tokugawa shogunate governed Japan for 250 years prior to Perry's arrival.

  • The shogunate's chief task was to prevent civil war among feudal lords.

  • Japan experienced internal peace during this period.

• Tokugawa Japan was "pacified but not really unified."

• The Tokugawa regime issued detailed rules governing the four hierarchically ranked status groups in Japanese society.

• Japan experienced economic growth, commercialization, and urban development during the Tokugawa period.

• Changes during the Tokugawa period laid the foundation for Japan's industrial growth in the late nineteenth century.

• Some samurai turned to commerce for profit, undermining the shogunate's efforts to freeze Japanese society.

• Merchants had money but little status, while samurai enjoyed high status but often owed debts to merchants.

• Peasants moved to cities, becoming artisans or merchants and imitating the ways of their social betters.

• Corruption, famine, peasant uprisings, and urban riots undermined the Tokugawa regime.

Page 20: American Intrusion and the Meiji Restoration

• Japan had limited contact with the West, allowing only the Dutch to trade.

• In the early nineteenth century, various European countries and the United States sought to establish trade with Japan.

• Commodore Perry was sent by the United States in 1853 to demand humane treatment for castaways and the opening of ports for trade.

• Japan agreed to a series of unequal treaties with Western powers, eroding support for the shogunate.

• The capitulation to Western demands triggered a brief civil war.

• The United States' intrusion led to serious Japanese reflection on the West.

• Perry's ships became known as the "black ships" in Japan.

• Japanese fears about contacts made by the United States are depicted in an image of the black ships.

Page 22: Meiji Restoration and Japan's Transformation

• Meiji Restoration was a political takeover by young samurai in southern Japan in 1868.

  • The new rulers claimed to be restoring power to the young emperor, Meiji.

• The goal of the takeover was to save Japan from foreign domination through a thorough transformation of Japanese society.

• Japan had a government committed to a decisive break with the past and acquired it without massive violence or destruction.

• Japan had less interest from Western powers compared to China and the Ottoman Empire.

Page 22: Modernization Japanese-Style

• Japan launched a wave of dramatic changes in the last three decades of the nineteenth century.

• Japanese modernizing efforts were defensive, based on fears of Japanese independence being in danger.

• The reforms were revolutionary and transformed Japan more thoroughly than the Ottoman Empire and China.

• The first task was to achieve national unity by attacking the power and privileges of the daimyo and samurai.

• The semi-independent domains of the daimyo were replaced with governors appointed by the national government.

• The central state collected taxes and raised a national army based on conscription.

• The old Confucian-based social order was dismantled, and all Japanese became legally equal as commoners and subjects of the emperor.

Page 23: The Rise of a New East Asian Power

• Limitations on travel and trade fell as a nationwide economy developed.

• Opposition to the reforms existed but the process was mostly peaceful.

• There was a fascination with Western knowledge and culture in Japan.

• Official missions, students studying abroad, and ordinary Japanese sought out knowledge about the West.

• Fukuzawa Yukichi, a popularizer of Western knowledge, emphasized Japan's need to learn from the West.

• Japan borrowed selectively from the West and combined foreign and Japanese elements.

• The Constitution of 1889 introduced an elected parliament and democratic ideals but emphasized the emperor's role.

• Japan's educational system combined Confucian-based moral instruction with universal primary schooling.

• Shinto, an ancient religious tradition, became an official state cult.

• Some reformers in Japan argued for family reform and gender equality to gain the respect of the West.

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• Small feminist movement in Japan demanded a more public role for women

  • Leading feminist Kishida Toshiko advocated for equality and equal rights for women

• Japanese government included girls in universal education, but with a gender-specific curriculum and segregated schools

• Women were harshly suppressed from participating in public life

• Japan's state-guided industrialization program focused on labor-intensive industrialization

  • Relied more on workforce than machinery and capital

  • Developed a distinctive form of industrialization

• Japan became a major exporter of textiles and developed its own industrial and business infrastructure

• Peasant families faced poverty and protests due to heavy taxation for modernization program

• Female labor was needed in the textile industry, but working conditions were terrible

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• Japan's modernization efforts were similar to those in Europe

• Textile industry played a central role in Japan's economic growth

• Majority of textile workers were young women from poor families

• Working conditions for textile workers were terrible, with long hours and low pay

• Efforts to create unions and organize strikes were met with harsh repression

• Japan's economic growth and openness to trade led to revision of unequal treaties in its favor

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• Japan launched its own empire-building enterprise to compensate for its limited natural resources

• Successful war against China established Japan as a military competitor in East Asia

• Russo-Japanese War made Japan the first Asian state to defeat a major European power

• Japan gained colonial control of Taiwan, Korea, and a territorial foothold in Manchuria

• Japan's entry onto the global stage was felt in many places and added to the burden on China

• Japan's rise and defeat of Russia generated admiration among subject peoples as a model for modern development and ally against imperialism

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• Japan's rise as a new East Asian power

• Map showing the locations of various cities and regions in Japan, China, and Korea

• Japan's empire-building program after the Meiji Restoration

• Comparison of Japan's geography to China and Russia

• Positive views of Japan's victory over Russia in 1905 by some Poles, Finns, Jews, Chinese reformers and nationalists, and newspapers in the Islamic world

• Thousands of people going to Japan to study its achievements

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• Japanese imperialism in Taiwan and Korea

• Mixed views of Japan as a liberator of Asia and an oppressive imperial power

• Reflections on success and failure in history

• Evaluation of Europe's Industrial Revolution and Japan's success compared to China and the Ottoman Empire

• Consideration of criteria for success and the question of "success for whom?"

Note: The note includes all the main ideas in the transcript, with supporting details provided in