The Ottoman Empire:

• The “sick man of Europe”

• In the 1800’s: went from great power to weak territory

• Couldn’t keep up with Western Europe

• Lost many regions to European control

Causes of Territorial Losses

• European aggression:

  • Invasions from Russia, Britain, France, and Austria

  • 1798: Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt

• Nationalism and Independence Movements within the Ottoman Empire

  • Independence gained by Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania

  • Driven by Nationalism

More Problems for the Ottomans

• Weak central government

• Increased power of local authorities

• Unable to effectively create revenue

• Growing military and technology gap with Europe

• Decreasing power of Janissaries (Ottoman infantry units)

• Economic Issues:

  • Europeans gained direct sea access to Asia: no longer needed to travel through the Ottoman Empire

  • Ottoman artists put out of work by European manufacturing

  • Series of unbalanced agreements between European powers and Ottomans → allowed Westerners to infiltrate the Ottoman economy

  • Ottomans came to rely on foreign loans to sustain itself → unable to repay these debts or the interest on them; led to foreign control of much of its revenue-gaining system

Attempts at Reform

• Defensive Modernization

  • Earlier, more sustained, more vigorous than the “self-strengthening” movement in China

• Began with Sultan Selim III

  • Wanted to reorganize and update the army

  • Wanted to draw on European advisors and techniques

  • Opposition from Ulama (Muslim religious scholars) and Janissaries → believed the reforms threatened their power

• Future Sultans crushed the Janissaries and brought the Ulama under state control

• Started the Tanzimat reform:

  • Factories making cloth, paper, and arms

  • Modern mining operations

  • Resettlement of agricultural land

  • Telegraphs, steamships, railroads, modern postal service

  • Western-style law codes and courts

  • New elementary and secondary schools

  • Equal rights for Muslims and Non-Muslims

• Supporters of Reforms:

  • Young Ottomans - Lower level officials and military officers, writers, poets, journalists

    • New view of Ottoman Empire - secular state whose people were loyal to the dynasty that ruled it

    • Wanted a European-style democratic, constitutional government

    • “Islamic Modernism” - idea that Muslim societies can embrace Western technical and scientific knowledge, while rejecting its materialism

      • Islam can be modern and retain its religious character

    • Young Ottomans → not much success → authoritarian rule continued

  • Young Turks - group of military and civilian elites

    • Opposed tyrannical rule

    • Wanted completely new secular law code

    • supported continuing modernization based on European achievements

    • viewed the Ottoman Empire and a Turkish National State → antagonized Non-Turks

    • Were successful in 1908

      • Established “Law of Family Rights”

      • Opened up secular schools and modern schools for women

      • Women could wear Western clothing

      • Restricted polygamy

      • Women could get divorces in some situations

      • Encouraged Turkish as the official language

China Vs. the Ottomans

• Both semi-colonies within informal empires of Europe

• Hurt by rapidly shifting balance of global power

• Kept formal independence

• Attempted to modernize → never truly succeeded

• No restoration of strong state

• Both gave rise to new nationalist views of society

• Both empires officially collapsed in the early 20th century

• Difference: China→ communist government rose after the fall; Ottoman → smaller, independent countries took control of the land

• Difference: China → rejection of Confucian culture; Ottoman → held onto Islam in society

China

• Massive population growth in the 18th century

  • resulted in growing pressure on land, smaller farms for China’s huge peasant population, unemployment, poverty, starvation, and misery

• China’s centralized government did not expand to cope with growing population

• Unable to effectively:

  • Collect taxes

  • Provide social welfare

  • Control flooding

  • Provide public security

• Central government lost power to officials in provinces and local landowners

  • Many were corrupt; treated peasants harshly

• Power shift between Europe and China → Opium Wars

• British illegally sold China Opium (a highly addictive drug) to make up for a trade imbalance

• Very profitable market for the British, America, and Western merchants

Opium Trade

• Problems with Opium Trade:

  • Political: Opium was illegal → disregarded Chinese law which led to the corruption of many Chinese officials who were bribed to keep a blind eye

  • Economic: Massive outflow of silver to pay for Opium caused serious economic decline

  • Social: Millions became addicted and couldn’t function as productive citizens

• Chinese Emperor cracked down on Opium Use → millions of pounds of Opium destroyed without compensation

  • Western merchants expelled from China

• British sent a Naval response to China → 1st Opium War → British easily won (stronger Navy)

  • Treaty of Nanjing ended the war

    • Imposed restrictions on the power of the Chinese emperor

    • Opened 5 ports to European traders

Taiping Rebellion

• Solved many peasant rebellions and uprisings

• Leading Figure: Hong Xiuquan → claimed to be Jesus’ younger brother and was sent to “establish a heavenly kingdom of great peace in the world” by God

• Goals:

  • Abolition of private property

  • Radical redistribution of land

  • Equality of Men and Women

  • End of foot binding, prostitution, and opium smoking

  • Sexually segregated military camps of Men and Women

  • Expulsion of all “foreigners”

  • Transformation of China into an industrial nation with railroads, health care for all, and universal public education

• Established their capital in Nanjing

• Uprising eventually failed due to:

  • Divisions and indecisiveness within the leadership of the rebellion

  • Inability to link up with other rebel groups in China

  • Western military support for pro-Qing forced

• Rebel forced finally crushed in 1864

• Effects on China:

  • Weakening of centralized government

  • Disruption and weakening of China’s economy

  • Destruction and devastation to the land

  • Estimated 20-30 million dead

  • Continued social instability

China’s defeats

• Second Opium War - British victory

  • Ended by Treaty of Tientsin - 10 ports opened to foreign traders; foreigners could travel freely in and out of China; free to preach Christianity; Foreigners allowed to navigate along China’s major rivers

  • Chinese forbidden to call British “Barbarians” in official documents

• Sino-French War - French victory

  • Lost Vietnam to the French

• Sino-Japanese War - Japanese Victory

  • Lost Korea and Taiwan to the Japanese

• European powers, Russia, and Japan all carved out Spheres of Influence in China

  • Established military bases

  • Extracted raw materials

  • Built railroads

• Failed “Self-Strengthening” policies

  • Overhauled civil-service exam

  • Support for landlords

  • Repair of irrigation systems

  • Creation of modern arsenals, shipyards, and foreign language schools

  • Few textile factories

  • Coal mines expanded

  • Little support from conservative leaders → Cixi

  • New industries only helped local authorities, not the state

The Boxer Rebellion

• Indication of failed “self-strengthening” program

• Anti-foreign movement

• Led by militia organizations

• “Boxers” killed many Europeans and Chinese Christians and attacked Beijing embassies

• Europeans and Japanese crushed the rebellion

  • Imposed huge payment on China as punishment

• Clear China was dependent on other Countries

Chinese Nationalism

• Educated Chinese people began searching for ways to save desperate China

• Frustrated with Qing Dynasty → foreign and ineffective

• Admired Western technology and science

• Admired Western political practices

• Only thing that would save China: a truly unified nation in which rulers and ruled were closely related

• Qing dynasty could not respond to new pressures by Chinese Nationalists

• 1911: Ancient imperial order of China collapsed (Lasted 2,000 years)

Japan

• Very different from China and Ottomans: did not succumb to Western domination

• Turned itself into a powerful, modern, industrialized nation

• Joined in on imperialism - created East Asian empire

• Japan unified under Tokugawa Shogunate (Shogun = Military Leader)

  • Chief Task: prevent civil war between daimyo

  • Feudal Lords: each own band of samurai

  • Shoguns brought peace to Japan for 2+ centuries

• System to keep daimyos in check: must stay at house in Edo (capital) every other years and left their families behind as hostages → Japan was peaceful, but not unified

• Centuries of peace led to economic growth, commercialization, and urban development → emerging capitalism, encouragement of education → produced literate population

• Merchants thrived in this economy → had wealth but no status

  • Many daimyo and samurai borrowed money from them

• Peasants devoted themselves to farming, live simply, and avoid luxuries

• Tokugawa Shogunate lost control:

  • Corrupt and harsh officials;

  • Severe famine

  • Expressions of frustration from the poor

American Intrusion of Japan

• Since the early 1600’s Japan deliberately limited its contact with the West

  • Expulsion of European missionaries

  • Harsh suppression of Christianity

  • Japanese forbidden from leaving

  • Only 1 port for Dutch to trade

• Early 1800’s: Europe and US were “knocking on Japan’s door”

  • All were turned away

  • Even shipwrecked sailors were jailed/executed

• 1853: US Commodore Matthew Perry opened Japan

  • Perry demanded:

    • Humane treatment of castaways

    • Right of American ships to refuel and buy supplies

    • Opening of Japanese ports for trade

  • Perry was authorized to use force if necessary → instead he approached them with gifts and a white flag

    • War was avoided

    • Treaty of Kanagawa: opened ports in Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade; permitted establishment of US consulate (like an embassy) in Japan

  • Perry arrived when the Shogun was dying → Shogun’s son asked the daimyo’s for their opinions → showed weakness in shogunate rule

• Japan agreed to a series of unequal treaties with the US and other Western powers

  • They knew what happened to China when they resisted Western demands - didn’t want to fall into ruin

• Results of these decisions:

  • Loss of support for the shogunate

  • Reform forces rallied around the new, young emperor (the Meiji Emperor) and won a brief civil war

    • Sitting shogun resigned, ended the shogunate → all power in the hands of the emperor

    • Began a series of major social, economic, and political changes

The Meiji Restoration

• Goals:

  • Save Japan from foreign domination

  • Transform and modernize Japanese society by drawing upon Western achievements and ideas

• From feudal system to major industrial power in approx. 50 years

  • Haha, this took Europe centuries

• Transformation was possible due to:

  • No massive violence or destruction in Japan as in China (Taiping Rebellion)

  • Less pressure from Western powers than China and the Ottomans

    • Japan = less sought after by Europeans bc its location wasn’t very strategic and had less of a population or riches

    • US ambitions slowed due to the Civil War and its aftermath

Japanese Modernization

• True national unity - required an attack on the power and privileges of daimyo and samurai

• Ended semi-independent domains of daimyo

  • Many daimyos became governors appointed by and responsible to the national government

  • Samurai lost their positions (the end of samurai)

• Taught an developed a unique Japanese ideology that was nationalistic, based on ancient samurai ethics

  • Placed emperor at the head of society (he still didn’t hold much power)

• Sets up future military rule (lasts till the end of WWII (Emperor Hirohito))

• National government collected taxes and raised a national army (conscription)

  • Army modernized with modern weapons and modern fighting techniques from Western countries

• Universal Education system based on Western teaching methods

• The most radical social and economic transformation up to this point

• Development of a nation-wide economy

• Feudal system abolished and replaced with prefectures (districts) which still exists today

  • All Japanese became legally equal

  • Merit based system

• Official missions to Europe and the US to learn about the West

• Japan borrowed many ideas from the West and combined them with Japanese elements

  • Goal: modernize but keep Japanese culture

• Constitution of 1889: included a parliament, political parties, and democratic ideals, but it was presented as a gift from the Sun Goddess

• State-Guided Industrialization Program: government set up a number of enterprises and later sold them to private investors