28.1 - China Resists Outside Influence

• During the final part of the nineteenth century, the Qing imperial palace was commanded by a single individual. With just one brief interruption, the Dowager Empress Cixi ruled China from 1862 to 1908.

  • The Dowager Empress supported various reforms despite her commitment to traditional values.

• Other nations were well aware of China's ongoing difficulties. Many foreign nations took advantage of the circumstances in the late nineteenth century and attacked China.

• Following each conflict, treaty discussions gave these countries greater power over China's economy.

  • Many of Europe's main powers, as well as Japan, established strongholds in China.

• This widespread dissatisfaction eventually turned violent.

• Foreigners were given unique privileges, which were despised by poor peasants and workers.

• They also despised Chinese Christians who had converted to another religion.

  • They organized a secret group named the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists to express their unhappiness.

• Even the Qing court knew at this point that China needed to alter dramatically in order to survive.

  • The Dowager Empress sent a delegation of Chinese officials on a globe tour in 1905 to examine the workings of various countries.

• Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, and Italy were among the countries visited by the group.

  • When the officials returned to China in the spring of 1906, they proposed that the government be restructured.

28.2 - Modernization in Japan

• Westerners attempted to persuade the Japanese to open their ports to trade beginning in the early nineteenth century.

  • Officials from the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and the United States anchored off the coast of Japan on occasion.

  • Japan, like China, has repeatedly refused to accept them.

• The Japanese initially focused their attention on their next-door neighbor, Korea. Japan compelled Korea to open three ports to Japanese trade in 1876.

  • Korea, on the other hand, was seen as both a trading partner and a military outpost by China.

  • Japan and China struck a no-fly zone agreement in Korea, recognizing their common interests.

• The victory of Japan against China shifted the global power balance. In East Asia, Russia and Japan developed as great powers—and adversaries.

• Over Manchuria, the two countries quickly went to war. Japan promised to accept Russia's claims in Manchuria in exchange for the Russians staying out of Korea in 1903. The Russians, on the other hand, refused.

28.3 - U.S. Economic Imperialism

• Most Latin Americans worked for huge landowners before and after independence.

• Employers compensated employees with coupons that could only be redeemed at their own supply outlets.

  • Workers ran into debt because salaries were low and prices were high.

• Latin America's economies remained reliant on exports, regardless of who they traded with.

  • Each country concentrated on one or two products, as it did throughout the colonial era.

  • Latin America's exports, on the other hand, increased as technology advanced.

• Latin American countries spent very little of their export revenue on infrastructure such as roads, schools, and hospitals.

  • They also did not sponsor programs that would assist them in becoming self-sufficient.

  • Instead, they frequently took out high-interest loans to create infrastructure for their export industries.

  • Countries including the United Kingdom, France, the United States, and Germany were eager to lend.

• By the early 1800s, most Latin American colonies had attained independence. However, their situation was precarious.

• Many Latin Americans were concerned that European countries might attempt to reclaim the newly formed republics.

  • This was something that the United States, as a fledgling nation, feared as well.

• Cuba was one of Spain's final colonies in the Americas, located in the Caribbean. Cuba gained independence from Spain in 1868 and fought a ten-year war against it.

  • The Cubans gave up the war in 1878, with the island in ruins. However, some Cubans pressed for independence from Spain.

• In the early twentieth century, the United States expanded its influence in Latin America in a variety of ways, including the construction of the Panama Canal.

  • Its presence in Cuba, as well as its substantial investments in a number of Central and South American countries, bolstered its position.

  • President Roosevelt declared a corollary, or extension, to the Monroe Doctrine in 1904 to preserve such economic interests.

28.4 - Turmoil and Change in Mexico

• Mexico encouraged Americans to relocate to the Mexican territory of Texas in the 1820s to help populate the country.

  • Anglos, or English-speaking colonists, flocked in droves to accept the call.

  • They agreed to abide by Mexican rules in exchange for cheap land.

• Mexico encouraged Americans to relocate to the Mexican territory of Texas in the 1820s to help populate the country.

  • Anglos, or English-speaking colonists, flocked in droves to accept the call. They agreed to abide by Mexican rules in exchange for cheap land.

• However, Santa Anna reclaimed power and fought the United States once more. Texas was annexed by the United States in 1845.

  • This enraged Mexicans, who saw it as an act of hostility.

  • The United States attacked Mexico over a border issue. Santa Anna's army fought hard, but after two years of fighting, U.S. troops destroyed them.

• In 19th-century Mexico, ancestry and racial heritage were key factors in political influence and economic prosperity.

  • As a result, Benito Juárez's ascension was clearly attributed to his personal leadership abilities. Juárez grew up on a tiny farm in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico.

  • He relocated to Oaxaca when he was 12 years old.

• The end of the civil war did not, however, put an end to Mexico's problems. Exiled conservatives sought to retake Mexico with the help of some Europeans.

  • Napoleon III, the French emperor, responded by dispatching a huge force to Mexico in 1862.

  • France had acquired control of the country in less than 18 months.

  • Napoleon named Austrian Archduke Maximilian as Emperor of Mexico.

• In November 1911, Madero was elected president.

  • His policies, on the other hand, were viewed as too liberal by some and insufficiently revolutionary by others.

  • Villa and Zapata, among others who had supported Madero, took up arms against him. Madero resigned in 1913 after realizing he couldn't cling on to power any longer.