Societies at CrossRoads

Ottoman Decline

• the early nineteenth century, the Ottoman state could no longer ward off European economic penetration or prevent territorial dismemberment

• Military:

  • lagged behind European armies in strategy, tactics, weaponry, and training.

  • The Janissaries neglected their military training and turned a blind eye to advances in weapons technology.

  • semi-independent governors and local notables had offered private armies of mercenaries and slaves to support the Sultan in Istanbul in return for recognition of autonomy.

• Territory loss:

  • Russian forces took over Caucasus and in central Asia,

  • Loosing notably Greece (1830) and Serbia (1867), the loss of Egypt to napoleon

• Muhammad Ali

  • built a powerful army modeled on European forces and ruled Egypt from 1805 to 1848.

  • He drafted peasants to serve as infantry, and he hired French and Italian officers to train his troops.

  • he began a program of industrialization, concentrating on cotton textiles and armaments.

  • By 1820 effective ruler of Egypt, which was the most powerful land in the Muslim world

  • British forces intervened out of fear that Ottoman collapse would result in a sudden and dangerous expansion of Russian influence.

European textiles and manufactured goods began to flow into the Ottoman empire.

After the middle of the nineteenth century, economic development in the Ottoman empire depended heavily on foreign loans, as European capital financed the construction of railroads, utilities, and mining enterprise

capitulations: Nothing symbolized foreign influence more than the capitulations, agreements that exempted European visitors from Ottoman law and provided European powers with extraterritoriality —the right to exercise jurisdiction over their own citizens according to their own laws. served as instruments of economic penetration by European businesspeople

Ottoman Reform:

hisproposal f o ra n e w European-stylearmyin1826brought him into c o n f l i c t w i t h t h e J a n i s s a r i e s . WhentheJanissariesmuriniedi t Protest, Mahmud had t h e mmassa- redbytroopsloyalt othe sultan. Thatincidentcleared the wayfor series of reformsthatunfolded Quine the last thirteenyears of Mahmuds' reign. Ottoman recruits were studying at military and engi- neering schools that taught European curricula. system of secondary education for boys. Mahmudalsotriedt otransfer power from traditionalelitest othesultanand hiscabinet

bytaxingrurallandlords, abolishingt h esystemo fmili- taryl a n dgrants, and undermining t h eulama.t h eIslamic leadership. more manage- able and powerful than it had been since the early seventeenth century. Using the Frenchlegal systemasaguide,reformers promulgated a commercialcode (1850), apenal code (1858)a maritimecode (1863),and a newcivil code(1870-1876)Tanzimat reformers alsoissueddecreesdesignedt osafeguard therightsof sub-

jects.

many devout muslim egal equality To Jews and Christiansasanactcontrary to the basic principles of Islamic law. Even some minority leaders Qpposed legalequality,

A fourth and perhaps the most dangerous critique of Tanzimat emerged from within the Ottoman bureaucracy itself.

young turk era:

1876: a group of radical dis- sidents from the Ottoman bureaucracy, seized powerina coup, formed a cabinet that included partisans ofreform

the sultan suspended I constitution, dissolved parliament, exiled many liberal, and executed others. reform and reorganization actually undermined the position of the sultan.

Educated subjects believed biegest problem oFtheOttomanempire was the political structurethat vesteduncheckedpowerinthesultan.Forthese dissidents,Ottomansocietywas in direneedo fpolitical reformandespeciallyo fawrittenconstitutionthatdefined and limitedthe sultan's power.

young turks in power:

YoungTurkscalledforuniversalsuffrage, equalitybe- fore thelaw,freedomofreligion,freepubliceducation, secularization of the state, and the emancipationof wom

In1909they dethronedhimandestablishedMehmed V Rashid (reigned 1909-1918) as apuppet sultan.Throughout to Young Turk era (1908-1918). Ot toman sultans reigned but nolongerruled.

maintain Turkish hegemony in the larger empire. They worked tomake Turkisht h eofficial language oftheemptre,eventhoughmanysubiectsspoke Arabicor aSlaviclanguagea stheirnative ton

By the early twentieth century, the Ottoman empire survived principally because European diplomats could not agree on how to dispose of the empire without upsetting the European balance of power.

Russian Empire

Social reform began with the emancipation of the serfs and paved the way for government-sponsored industrialization,

The tsars enjoyed the support of the Russian Orthodox church and a powerful class of nobles who owned most of the land and were exempt from taxes and military duty.

crimean war:

During the nineteenth century the Russian empire expanded in three directions: east into Manchuria, south into the

Caucasus and central Asia, and southwest toward the Mediter- ranean.

Crimean War (1853-1856) clearly re- vealed the weakness of the Russian empire, vs a coalition including Britain,France, the kingdom of Sardinia, and the Ottoman empire.

Russia's economy could not support the tsars' expansionist ambitions, and the Crimean War clearly demonstrated the weakness of an agrarian economy based on unfree labor.

serfdom was a source of rural instability and peasant revolt: As Tsar Alexander II reigned he abolished serfdom

But hte peasants won few political rights, nad hety had to pay a redemption tax for most of the lands htey er ceived.

political and social reform:

To deal with localissuesofhealth, education,andwelfare,the government created electeddistrict assemblies,o rzemstvos, ni 1864. the zemstvos remained subordinate ot hte tsarist autocracy,

fruitful than experimentation with representative government. The revision of the judiciary system in 1864 createda system of law courts based

on western European models, replete with inde- pendentjudges and a systemo fappellate courts.

industrialization:

motivation for develop- ment was political and military and the driving force was government policy rather than entrepreneurial initiative.

The Witte System

Count SergeiWitte, ministero ffinance from1892 ot 1903 sremovingtheunfavorable conditionswhichhampertheeconomicdevelopmentofthe country" and"Kindlingahealthy spirit of enterprise. Witte remodeled the state bank Kand encouraged the establishment of savings banks. securing large foreign loans from western Europe to finance industrialization.

peasant rebellions and strikes by industrial workers caused conflict

The govern- ment prohibited the formation of trade unions and outlawed strikes.whichcontmuedt oo c c u ri nspiteo ftherestrictions.

growing Russian business class benefited from government policy that protected domestic industries and its profits.

Russian businesspeople generally did notchallengethe tsaristautocracy unkike western europeans who had material and ideological reasons to challenge the power of monarchs/nobility

last three decades of the nineteenth century, protests occured

the intelligentsia sought substantialpolitical oftmr and thorough social change. ard a socialist fistem more ni keeping with Russian cultural traditions. Myna revolutionarieswere anarchists, who on principle opposed *forms of government

between 1873 and 1876 hundreds of anarchists and other radicals traveled to rural areasto enlighten and rouse the peasantry.

tsarist authorities resorted to re- pression: they censored publica- tions and sent secret police to infiltrate and break up dissident

organizations.

the Land and Freedom Party 1876, began to promote the assassination of

The Chinese empire and the Qing dynasty experienced even prominent officials as a means to pressure the government

more difficulties than did the Ottoman and Russian empires

into political reform

Todeflectattention from domes-

reforms h a d limited effect, however, and by the early twentieth tic issues andneutralize revolutionary movements,thetsar's

century, China was in a seriously weakened condition. government embarkedon expansionist ventures in eastAs

The

The Opium War and the Unequal Treaties Russo-Japanese warbeganwithaJapanesesurpriseattackon * In 1759 the Oianlong emperor restricted the Eur theRussiannavalsquadronatPortArthurinFebruary1904and opean com- endedinMay 1905 withthedestructiono ftheRussiannavy.

The Revolution of 1905

labor unrest, peasant insurrections, student demonstrations, and mutinies in both the army and the navy. Duma, Russia's first parliamentary insti- trade expanded rapidly: annual imports of opium ni hte early tution.

China

handicapped the Qing dynasty's ability ot deal whti domestic disorder.

The Opium War and the Unequal Treaties

Foreign merchants could dealonly gered widespread disturbances. In January 1905 a group of

with specially licensed Chinesefirmsknown a scohones, workersmarched on the tsar's Winter Palace in St. Petersburg

which bought andsold goodsat setprices andoperatedunder to petition Nicholas for a popularly elected assembly and other

strictregulationsestablishedb ythe government.

European merchants paid culminated in labor unrest, peasant insurrections, student

for Chinese silk, porcelain, lacquerware, and tea largely whti demonstrations, and mutinies in both the army and the navy.

silver bullion.

opium trade

East India Company grew opium ni India and shipped ti to China, t buy Chinese products ni Guangzh Trade ni opium was illegal, but it continued

The opium trade not only drained large quantities of silver bullion from China but also created serious social problems in southern China.

opium war

Opium War (1839-1842), British naval

vessels easily demonstrated their superiority on the seas. Britishforces broket h emilitary stalematew h e nt h e yde- cidedt ostrikeatChina'sjugularvein- -theGrand Canal, whichlinkedtheYangzi andYellow River valleys with the aido fsteam-poweredgumboats.

In May 1842 a British armada of seventy shipsl the Yangzi River

unequal treatries

Beginning whti the Treaty ofNanjing, which Britain forced China ot accept at the conclusion of theOpium War in 1842. ceded Hong Kong Island in perpetuity to Britain, opened five Chinese ports-including Guangzhou and Shanghai to commerce and residence,extraterritoriality to British subjects, which meant they were not subject to Chinese laws. Collectivelythesetreaties broadenedthe concessionsgiven to foreign powers;t h e ylegalizedthe opium trade.permittedthe establishmentof Christianmissions throughoutChina, and openedadditional treatyports. To ease salesofforeigngoods, varioustreaties alsopreventedt h eQ i n ggovernment from levyingtariffs on importst oprotectdomesticindustries.

The Taping Rebellion

1850-1864), which raged throughout most of

China and brought the Qing dynasty to the brink of collapse.many native Chinese subiects despised the Manchu ruling class as foreigners. the abolition of private property, the creation of communal wealth to be shared according to needs, the prohibition of foot binding and concubinage, free public edcation, simplification of the writ- ten language, and literacy for themasses. Hong and his followers in the Societyof God Worshiperstook Nanjingin 1853 and made it the capital of their Taiping (*Great Peace")

taiping defeat:

dowager Cixi (1835-1908), aformerimperial concubinewho ogestablished herself as efectiverulerofChinaduringthelast fiftyyearsoftheOingdynasty. Itclaimedtwenty milliontothirty millionlives, and it causedsuchdrasticdeclinesi nagriculturalproduction that populationsi nwar-tornregions frequently resorted toeat- inggrass,leather,hemp,andeven human flesh.

Self-StrengtheningMovement 1860-1895) Adoptingtheslogan "Chinese.learningatthe base, Western learningforuse."leaders oftheSelf-Strengthening Movement soughttoblend ChineseculturaltraditionswithEuropeanin- dustrial technology. did not introduce enough industry to bring real military and economic strength to. the empress dowager Cixi diverted funds intended for the navy to build a magnificent marble boat to grace a lake in the imperial gardens. foreign powers began todismantle theChinese system of tributary states.

hundred days reform

HundredDays reforms of 1898.

Impressedby their ideas, the youngandopen-minded Emperor Guang×ulaunched a sweeping programt otransformChina intoa constitutionalmonarchy, guarantee civil liberties.cogt out corruption, remodel the educational system, encourage foreigninfluence in China,modernize military forces, and stimulate economic development.. 103 days, Cixi nullified the reform decrees,

Boxer rebellion, aviolent movement spearheaded by militia units calling themselves the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists otdirChinaof"foreigndevils"andtheirinfluences. killing foreigners and Chinese Christians as wel as Chinese who had ties toforeigners. Because Cixi had instigated the Boxers' attacks on for- eigners, many Chinese regarded the Qing dynasty as bankr