Fall of the Qing Dynasty and Ottoman Empire

Fall of the Qing Dynasty and Ottoman Empire 1750 -1900 s

Review of Early Qing �Came to power after the Ming fell in 1644 �Manchu rule �Time of expansion and growth �Strictly controlled and limited activities of foreign merchants and mercenaries

External Threats: Opium Wars �Late 1700 s: British began using opium grown in India to cover trade imbalance with China �Huge amounts of opium being sold by 1830 s �Huge problems for China �Smuggled illegally �Reversed silver flows �Millions of addicts � 1836: China passes law to crack down on opium trade � 3 million pounds of opium seized and destroyed

Opium Wars �British respond by sending naval force �British win �Treaty of Nanjing ends war on British terms �First of the “unequal treaties” �Second Opium War (1856 -58) resulted in even more concessions �More ports opened �Foreigners allowed to travel freely, buy land, preach Christianity

Origins of Crisis �Massive population growth due to robust economy and American food crops � 1685: 100 million; 1853: 430 million �No industrial revolution to feed growing #s �China’s bureaucracy can’t keep up �Local officials begin to abuse peasantry �Growing numbers of bandit gangs roaming countryside; peasant rebellions

Internal Threats: Taiping Rebellion � 1850 -1864 (overlaps American Civil War!) �Leader= Hong Xiuquan �proclaimed himself the younger brother of Jesus �Sent to cleanse world of demons and establish “Kingdom of Heavenly Peace”

Taiping Rebellion Goals �Called for revolutionary change �Abolition of private property �Radical redistribution of land �Equality of men and women �End prostitution, foot binding, opium smoking �Denounced Qing dynasty as foreigners who had poisoned China

Taiping Rebellion �Taiping forces established capital in Nanjing in 1853 �Divisions within Taiping rebels allowed Qing loyalists to crush rebellion by 1864 �Not imperial troops, but land-owning gentry who feared Taiping radicalism

Taiping Rebellion Outcomes �Qing Dynasty saved, but weakened �Delayed real social and economic change �Disrupted Chinese economy � 20 -30 million dead �By comparison, 625, 000 total dead in U. S. Civil War (deadliest in USA history) � 32 x loss of life in Taiping Rebellion, deadliest in 19 th century

Western Imperialism �Defeated by French in 1885 �Defeated by Japanese in 1895 �Western powers carved out “spheres of influence” in China

China’s Response– “Self. Strengthening Movement � 1860 s and 1870 s �Tried to reinvigorate China and borrow from West �Modest attempts at reforms in education, infrastructure, industry �Strong resistance by conservative leaders, especially landlord class �Ultimately fails

China’s Response– Boxer Rebellion � 1898 -1901 �Anti-foreign movement �Led by “Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists, ” AKA the Boxers �Killed many Europeans and Chinese Christians and laid siege to foreign embassies �Western powers occupied Beijing to crush rebellion, solidifying their control

Results �Chinese nationalists begin to organize �Blame foreign imperialism and foreign Qing rulers for 19 th century disasters �Qing response is too little too late � 1911: entire dynastic system collapses to revolution

Ottoman Empire Review �Islam as unifying force �Controlled parts of SE Europe (Balkans), North Africa, Middle East (SW Asia) �Challenged Europe militarily, especially in 1500 s

“The Sick Man of Europe” �Lost territory to Russia, Austria, Britain, France �Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania achieved independence as a result of nationalist movements �Core of empire remained largely because Europeans couldn’t agree how to

Sources of Decline �Central government declines as local authorities and warlords gain power �Janissaries became conservative force resistant to change �Lost technological and military edge to Europeans �Economic problems �Lost out on new maritime trade routes �European manufactured goods hurt artisands �Trading capitulations �Growing foreign debts

Case Study: Egypt � 1798: invaded by French force led by Napoleon � 1801: French expelled by Ottomans with British help � 1805: Mohammad Ali, an Albanian general, essentially won independence for Egypt from Ottomans �Military ambition in region �Modernized Egypt’s industries and infrastructure

Case Study: Egypt �Ali’s successors took on foreign debts, especially over building of Suez Canal �Forced to sell shares of Canal to British, who later made Egypt a British protectorate �Egypt did not regain independence from British until 1953

Suez Canal

Ottoman Reforms �Earlier and more sustained than in China �Selim III tries to reform military overthrown and murdered �Tanzimat reforms began in 1839 �Tanzimat= “reorganization” �Factories, mining, railroads, telegraphs, steamships �Western-style law code, education �Non-Muslims given equal status under law

Reaction to Reform �Young Ottomans �Supported reforms �Wanted European-style democratic state �Islamic modernism: embrace new knowledge w/o materialism �Young Turks �Wanted complete modernization, militantly secular �Military coup in 1908– enacted policies �However, Turkish

Exit Pass �Write a thesis. �Compare the responses of the Ottoman Empire and the Qing Dynasty to European industrialization and imperialism from 1775 to 1925.

Assignment � Choose either the Ottoman Empire or the Qing Dynasty to memorialize in a creative way. � Your project should include reasons for their decline and ultimate “death. ” � You can celebrate their accomplishments and also refer euphemistically to their faults. � Possible formats: �Autopsy �Obituary �Eulogy �Gravestone �Poem � Grading based on accurate, relevant information and creativity and effort. � Due next class.