Imperialism in Asia Europeans had long been interested

Imperialism in Asia

Europeans had long been interested in the riches of the Orient, especially after the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama proved it was possible to travel by sea around Africa to India. [Image source: http: //www. thornr. demon. co. uk/kchrist/vasco. gif]

Over the next hundred years the British expanded their territory in India through wars and commercial activity. [Image source: http: //www. lib. berkeley. edu/SSEAL/echoes/introduction/0_1. jpg]

[Image source: http: //homepage. tinet. ie/~lawe/IMAGES/FORCLUB 05. jpg]

The British employed a large number of native troops known as sepoys to control their new realm. [Image source: http: //www. sikh-history. com/sikhhist/images/portraits/1860 -2. jpg]

[Image source: http: //165. 29. 91. 7/classes/humanities/worldstud/97 -98/imper/india/sepoy. jpg] Between 1857 and 1859 the sepoys mutinied and tried to drive the British out of India.

[Image source: http: //freespace. virgin. net/andrew. randall 1/indiaraj. gif] British might prevailed, and India remained part of their empire until 1949.

Queen Victoria as Empress [Image source: http: //mss. library. nottingham. ac. uk/images/late_news/06_may/portrait 2. jpg]

Imperialism in China

[Image source: http: //www. wwnorton. com/college/history/ralph/ralimage/map 21 chi. jpg] China was a powerful empire in her own right when European explorers arrived during the Age of Discovery.

China was ruled by emperors of the Manchu Qing (Ch’ing) Dynasty from 1644 to 1911. [Image source http: //www. chinapage. com/emperor/qing 1207. jpg]

The Qing (Ch’ing) emperors were assisted by a professional bureaucratic corps of Confuciantrained scholars known as mandarins. [Image source: http: //www. lcsc. edu/modernchina/images/Linzexu. gif]

Europeans initially came to exchange goods with the Chinese. [Image source: http: //www. eraoftheclipperships. com/images/chinatea. jpg]

[Image source: http: //news. bbc. co. uk/olmedia/765000/images/_767424_tea 150. jpg] One of the items the British traded for in large quantity was tea.

Fleets of China clippers plied the high seas, bringing the riches of the Orient to the people of the West.

There was little if anything the people of the Middle Kingdom wanted from the Barbarians of the West. [Image source: http: //www. people. fas. harvard. edu/~chgis/btns/zhenjng_banner. jpg]

Since the Chinese bought little from the West, a trade imbalance resulted between Britain and China. [Image source: http: //www. secure-eleasing. com/testequity/images/balance. gif]

British gold and silver flowed into Chinese coffers. [Image source: http: //www. money. org/una/georgeiir. jpg]

In an effort to reverse this trend, the British began to grow Opium in India for export to China. [Image source: http: //www. sustainablepetaluma. net/films_may-2002/opium-poppypic. jpg]

Many Chinese quickly became addicted to opium, and money began to flow back into British coffers. [Image source: http: //opioids. com/opiumsmokers. jpg]

On a number of different occasions, Chinese authorities seized and destroyed cargoes of opium in an effort to halt the pernicious trade.

The British responded with force, resulting in the Opium War of 1839 -42. [Image source: http: //opioids. com/images/opiumwar. jpg]

The Chinese were easily defeated, and the British were able to dictate the terms of the peace treaty. [Image source: http: //www. interbulletin. com/cspecial/his 1. jpg]

Results of the Opium Wars • first of a series of unequal treaties between China and foreign powers -five ports opened to British residence and trade -Chinese are treated as second-class citizens in their own country

extraterritoriality • immunity from local laws -foreigners had the right to be tried in court by the laws of their own country before a judge from their own country

British actions highlighted just how weak China was, and soon other European powers were imposing their will on the Middle Kingdom. [http: //www. historywiz. com/images/chinaimperialism. gif]

Spheres-of-Influence • region in which an outside power claims exclusive trading rights and privileges (monopoly) • usually along the coast and/or on major rivers • a result of unequal treaties

Taiping Rebellion (1851 -64) • one of the longest, most devastating war in Chinese history • spread rapidly throughout the countryside • was an attempt to overthrow the Qing dynasty

Taiping Rebellion (1851 -64) • rebel philosophy a fusion of Christianity and traditional beliefs • put-down with aid of Western powers • ravaged country and greatly weakened China

An uprising known as the Boxer Rebellion erupted in Northern China in the late-1800 s. [Image source: http: //www. grtc. org/articles/martialcivil/image/Boxer. WFlag. jpg]

Fueled by a desire to return to traditional ways of life, its goal was to expel the evil influences of European culture, primarily Christianity.

The Boxer movement was particularly strong among the rural peasants of North China.

The Dowager Empress Ci Xi secretly supported the rebels, while publicly backing the efforts of the European powers to suppress the rebellion. [Image source: http: //www. isop. ucla. edu/eas/images/cixi 2. gif]

The Boxer Uprising was ultimately suppressed by the Western powers.