Chapter 19: Empires In Collision
While Europe was going through its second wave of colonization, a few countries maintained independence. Among them were China, Japan, the Ottoman Empire, Persia (present day Iran), Ethiopia, Siam (present day Thailand), and Latin America. However, these independent countries faced four dimensions of the European expansion. The first was the military and political power of European states. Second, they faced the networks of trade, investments, and migration that was a product of industrialization, which created a new world economy. The third was the aspects of European culture, which bleed into their own tradition cultures. Lastly, they faced the culture of modernity.
China was affected by the success it generated years earlier. They witnessed a huge population growth, but no Industrial Revolution of agricultural production to accompany it. This put pressure on the land, the unemployment rates, and the rates of starvation. China's bureaucratic state didn't grow with the population either. This led to a number of problems, including the Taiping Uprising, which lasted from 1850 to 1864. Part of this uprising focused on the roles of women, however once the protesters gained power, these ideologies where largely forgotten. The divisions and indecisiveness of the Taiping leadership let the Qing dynasty revive itself and regain power in 1864. The shifting global power from China to Europe can be seen through the Opium Wars. The first war occurred because of officials taking bribes to let the illegal product in, China's outflow of silver causing economic imbalances, and the mass amounts of addicts. Once opium was outlawed completely the British, with its new military power, went to China to end the restrictive control. This led to the first war, which ended with the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842. This treaty largely favored the British. Britain also won the second Opium War from 1856 to 1858, which again ended by favoring the British. The Qing dynasty tried to face these crises by using a policy call "self-strengthening" during the 1860s and 1870. These efforts were unsuccessful in reforming China and was inhibited by conservative leaders. This led to the Boxer Uprising (1898-1901). Born out of this time was Chinese nationalism and progressive imperial edicts called the Hundred Days of Reform. In 1912 the last Chinese emperor abdicated.
The Ottoman Empire represented a successful civilization that did not need the West, until it collided with Europeans in the nineteenth century. In 1750 the Ottoman Empire was a central political region in the Islamic World, but by the end of the 1800s it could no longer interact with European nations as equals or superiors. The Empire shank due to Russia, Australia, Britain, and France. Other parts, such as Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania, achieved independence also contributing to its decreasing size. The central Ottoman state began to weaken and so did their economic presence and dominance. The leaders recognized the problems and faced them head on, beginning in the late eighteenth century when Sultan Selim II tried to reorganize and update the army. Oppositions to the Sultan however, led to his overthrow in 1807. In 1839 the Tanzimat tried to implement their reformist methods. Next the Young Ottomans sought Islamic modernism while rejecting Western materialism. Lastly, the Young Turks led the reforms. However, "National sentiments contributed to the complete disintegration of the Ottoman Empire following World War I, but the secularizing and westernizing principles of the Young Turks informed the policies of the Turkish republic that replaced it" (Strayer 849).
Japan reacted differently in the face of the European powers. For 250 years before the West confronted Japan it was ruled by s shogun from the Takugawa family in Kyoto. However, much was changing during this time and the centuries of peace contributed to Japan's economic growth, commercialization, and urban development, undermining the Tokugawa regime. Japan had deliberately limited its contact with the West, but eventually agreed to a series of unequal treaties with various Western powers. This led to a brief civil war and in 1868 a political takeover by a group of samurai, known as Meiji Restoration. At this point in time Japan was now committed to a break with the past and in the last three decades of the nineteenth century had dramatic changes occur. The first was a national unity. This was followed by a widespread and eager fascination with "almost everything Western" (Strayer 856). Japan then went on to selectively borrow and combine foreign influences with Japanese elements. Lastly, Japan had a state guided industrialization program. By the 1900s Japan's economic growth, openness to trade, and embrace of Western ideas led to the revision of the treaties with Western power, making them more fair. Wars against China, from 1894 to 1895, and Russia, from 1904 to 1905, helped establish Japan as a military competitor in East Asia. Japan also gained control of Taiwan and Korea. Japan then went on to form colonies, much like the Western power. Japan's control over their colonies also matched and sometimes exceeded the brutality seen in the Western practices.
China was affected by the success it generated years earlier. They witnessed a huge population growth, but no Industrial Revolution of agricultural production to accompany it. This put pressure on the land, the unemployment rates, and the rates of starvation. China's bureaucratic state didn't grow with the population either. This led to a number of problems, including the Taiping Uprising, which lasted from 1850 to 1864. Part of this uprising focused on the roles of women, however once the protesters gained power, these ideologies where largely forgotten. The divisions and indecisiveness of the Taiping leadership let the Qing dynasty revive itself and regain power in 1864. The shifting global power from China to Europe can be seen through the Opium Wars. The first war occurred because of officials taking bribes to let the illegal product in, China's outflow of silver causing economic imbalances, and the mass amounts of addicts. Once opium was outlawed completely the British, with its new military power, went to China to end the restrictive control. This led to the first war, which ended with the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842. This treaty largely favored the British. Britain also won the second Opium War from 1856 to 1858, which again ended by favoring the British. The Qing dynasty tried to face these crises by using a policy call "self-strengthening" during the 1860s and 1870. These efforts were unsuccessful in reforming China and was inhibited by conservative leaders. This led to the Boxer Uprising (1898-1901). Born out of this time was Chinese nationalism and progressive imperial edicts called the Hundred Days of Reform. In 1912 the last Chinese emperor abdicated.
The Ottoman Empire represented a successful civilization that did not need the West, until it collided with Europeans in the nineteenth century. In 1750 the Ottoman Empire was a central political region in the Islamic World, but by the end of the 1800s it could no longer interact with European nations as equals or superiors. The Empire shank due to Russia, Australia, Britain, and France. Other parts, such as Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania, achieved independence also contributing to its decreasing size. The central Ottoman state began to weaken and so did their economic presence and dominance. The leaders recognized the problems and faced them head on, beginning in the late eighteenth century when Sultan Selim II tried to reorganize and update the army. Oppositions to the Sultan however, led to his overthrow in 1807. In 1839 the Tanzimat tried to implement their reformist methods. Next the Young Ottomans sought Islamic modernism while rejecting Western materialism. Lastly, the Young Turks led the reforms. However, "National sentiments contributed to the complete disintegration of the Ottoman Empire following World War I, but the secularizing and westernizing principles of the Young Turks informed the policies of the Turkish republic that replaced it" (Strayer 849).
Japan reacted differently in the face of the European powers. For 250 years before the West confronted Japan it was ruled by s shogun from the Takugawa family in Kyoto. However, much was changing during this time and the centuries of peace contributed to Japan's economic growth, commercialization, and urban development, undermining the Tokugawa regime. Japan had deliberately limited its contact with the West, but eventually agreed to a series of unequal treaties with various Western powers. This led to a brief civil war and in 1868 a political takeover by a group of samurai, known as Meiji Restoration. At this point in time Japan was now committed to a break with the past and in the last three decades of the nineteenth century had dramatic changes occur. The first was a national unity. This was followed by a widespread and eager fascination with "almost everything Western" (Strayer 856). Japan then went on to selectively borrow and combine foreign influences with Japanese elements. Lastly, Japan had a state guided industrialization program. By the 1900s Japan's economic growth, openness to trade, and embrace of Western ideas led to the revision of the treaties with Western power, making them more fair. Wars against China, from 1894 to 1895, and Russia, from 1904 to 1905, helped establish Japan as a military competitor in East Asia. Japan also gained control of Taiwan and Korea. Japan then went on to form colonies, much like the Western power. Japan's control over their colonies also matched and sometimes exceeded the brutality seen in the Western practices.
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