China, the Ottoman Empire, and Japan

China, the Ottoman Empire, and Japan

1800-1914

problems in the empire

Tokugawa japan (1603-1868)

japan

• Period of relative peace and stability
• Except for occasional riots/revolts from lower classes
• No strong central authority
• Daimyo had considerable autonomy
• Shogun prevents CW
• Samurai become bureaucrats
• Very urbanized country
• High literacy rates

• Lose territories to Christians and/or areas gain independence

• Central state is weak

• Western advances hurt economy
• Euros now have direct access to Asia
• Euros manufacture cheap stuff
• Euro merchants exempt from Ottoman law

• By 1882, Ottoman economy is controlled by Euros

• Euros control Egypt

Ottoman Empire

• Unlike China and Ottoman Empire, this period sees the rise of Japan as a world power

• Commodore Perry forces the "opening" of Japan in 1853

• 1853-1900: Rapid changing of Japanese society

Why does China collapse?

meiji restoration

efforts to reform

• People not happy about Perry
• Starts a CW

• 1868: Group of young Samurai, representing Emperor Meiji (restoration of imperial rule)

• Save Japan from the West by making internal improvements

• Becomes too big

• No IR
• Results in famine (no 2nd AgRev either)

• Central state loses power (again, too big)

• Rebellions become normal
• Taiping Uprising (1850-1864)
• Want industrialization and equality
• Causes a massive CW (20-30 million killed)
• Rebellion is crushed, but...
• Economic instability
• Local elites gain more power

• Much different than China

• Late 18th century:
• Ruler (Selim III) reforms military and admin
• Sends ppl to Europe to learn
• Established new schools

• Tanzimat (post-1839)
• More far-reaching reforms
• Industrialization and Modernization
• Equality of all citizens under the law
• What does this do for traditional Islamic rule?

• 1750: Ottoman empire was center of Islamic world

• 1900: "Sick man of Europe"
• Each region slowly falling to Christian rule

China

Reforms

• Create national unity
• (Mostly) Legal equality--no special privileges for the daimyo and samurai

• Study western advances and apply them in Japan

• Move away from Confucian-based society to emphasis on Shinto

• State sponsored industrialization

responses to reform

japan and the world

Enter the Euros...

• Western powers begin to recognize Japan as an equal
• Imperial expansion
• Wars against China and Russia
• Gain control of Korea and Taiwan
• Colonial policies were as brutal as the Euros

• Selim III deposed in 1807

• Successes of Islamic resistance outside of Ottoman Empire provide some inspiration

• Young Ottomans
• Want constitutional rule
• More secular state

• 1876: Sultan accepts a constitution
• Doesn't last very long
• Threat of Russia suspends reform movements

• Opium wars as pivotal moment in Sino-European relations

• BR sells opium from India in China
• INCREDIBLY addictive, but INCREDIBLY lucrative for BR
• 1836: Chinese emperor shuts the trade down, expels Euros from China

• BR respond with two separate wars

• 1793: China is a major world power, capable of rebuffing the Euros

• 1912: Empire has collapsed

• How does this happen?

young turks

European expansion

• Young Turks=Nationalist group that emerges out of the Young Ottomans
• Want a secular, TURKISH state
• Military coup in 1908 puts them in power
• Discriminate against non-Turks in the empire
• This stimulated other nationalisms
• Ottoman empire completely gone after WWI

opium wars

• Form of Economic imperialism

• First Opium War (1839-1842)
• Forced China to accept free trade
• Ends with Treaty of Nanjing
• China pays $21 million
• Cedes HK to the BR
• 5 ports forced open to trade

• Second Opium War (1856-1858)
• More ports opened to Euros
• China must accept foreign missionaries

Other Reasons for Expansion

• Understanding of other cultures no longer solely defined by religion
• Noble Savage

• Now Euros have little respect for other cultures
• Sense of superiority
• "White man's burden"

• New "science" to support racist ideology

• Social Darwinism
• "Unfit" races will not survive

collapse of the qing empire

• 19th century is height of Euro expansion

• Large parts of the world become part of Europe's colonies

• Why does this happen?
• IR
• Rise of nationalism=rise of empire

Attempts to modernize

• Death of Dowager Empress Cixi in 1908
• Sun Yat-sen’s 3 Principles of the People
• Nationalism, Democracy, and People’s Welfare
• Qing falls in 1912
• End of the imperial system
• Replaced by the Republic of China
• Sun Yat-sen named 1st president

Questions to consider

boxer rebellion (1900)

• China's emperors attempt to correct problems, but ultimately not successful

• More rigorous application of Confucian principles
• Revive examination system

• Create some industries

• Too little, too late

• Anti-colonial insurrection, supported by the dowager empress Cixi
• Burned Christian churches, executed Chinese Christians
• Boxers captured Beijing
• Eventually suppressed by a coalition of Euros and Japanese

• Eventually, gov't can not sustain itself any longer; collapses in 1912

• What accounts for European expansion in this period?

• What accounts for the decline of China and Ottoman empire?

• C&C reform efforts in China, Ottoman empire, and Japan.