Internal Troubles, External Threats

China and the Ottoman Empire 1800-1914

Strayer Chapter 19

The Big Ideas

• The External Challenge: European Industry and Empire– New motives, new means– New perceptions of the “Other”

• Reversal of Fortune: China’s Century of Crisis– The crisis within–Western pressures– The failure of conservative modernization

• The Ottoman Empire and the West in the 19th Century– “The Sick Man of Europe”– Reform and its opponents– Outcomes: Comparing China and

the Ottoman Empire

• Reflections: Success and failure in history

The External Challenge: European Industry and

EmpirePart 1

New Motives, New Means

• 19th century= Europe’s golden age of expansion and domination of global trade

• Europeans used new technology to push further than ever into Asia and Africa

• Even newly independent states in Latin America became economically dependent on the West

• Industrialization became a major motive for imperial expansion

• Europeans sought colonies to gain– Raw materials• Gold and diamonds from Africa

– Cash crops• Beef from Argentina• Cocoa and palm oil from West Africa• Rubber from Brazil• Tea from Ceylon

• Europeans also sought new markets for their manufactured goods– This kept factories humming and the

proletariat working– By 1840, the British were exporting 60 %

of their cotton textiles• 200 million yards to European nations• 300 million yards to Latin American nations• 145 million yards to India

• Europeans were also looking for new places to invest their capital– Between 1910 and 1913, Britain spent

about half of its savings on foreign investment in its colonies

“Yesterday I attended a meeting of the unemployed in London and having listened to wild speeches which were nothing more than a scream for bread, I returned home convinced more than ever of the importance of imperialism… In order to save the 40 million inhabitants of the United Kingdom from a murderous civil war, the colonial politicians must open up new areas to absorb the excess population and create new markets for the products of mines and factories… The British Empire is a matter of bread and butter. If you wish to avoid civil war, then you must become an imperialist.”

• Cecil Rhodes

• Imperialism promised to solve the class conflicts of an industrializing society while avoiding redistribution of wealth

• Nationalism, especially after the unification of Italy and Germany in the 1870s led to widespread competition to gain colonies– Gaining land became more important

than what the land could provide– Colonies became a nation’s marker of

wealth and power

• Imperialism also provided a way for nations to reach their goals– Construction of the Suez canal sped up

trade between Europe and Asia– The Underwater telegraph made it

possible to communicate instantaneously with people on different continents

– Quinine helped Europeans prevent Malaria

– Breech-loading rifles further increased European military might

Questions

• What motives led to increased European imperialism in the Industrial Age?

• How did imperialism benefit European nations?

• What technology helped Europeans colonize more rapidly?

New Perceptions of the “Other”

• Imperialism contributed to shaping European views of Asians and Africans in the 19th century

• Europeans were VERY ethnocentric, seeing a world in which two kinds of people existed; themselves and others.

• Before Industrialization, Europeans saw themselves as religiously superior, but they intermixed with non-European elites, often viewing them as “noble savages”

• After Industrialization began, Europeans adopted “Social Darwinism” and “White Racial Supremacy” which shaped their interactions with others.

• The more industrialization increased, the more Europeans looked down on colonized peoples– Images of “John Chinaman” replaced once

respected Chinese scholars in the European psyche, and fear of the “yellow peril” spread

– Once powerful African slaving kingdoms were reduced to “tribes” in European eyes

• Europeans used the lens of modern science as a way of justifying racism and judging non-Western societies– Phrenologists and craniologists claimed

that differences in skull shapes/sizes marked intelligence • they claimed their “science” proved the

superiority of whites!• This led to classification of non-whites as “Child

races” that needed to be supervised by Westerners

• In 1850, British anatomist Robert Knox said, “Race is everything, civilization depends on it.”

• Racial supremacy also became fuel for European expansion– It was seen as inevitable– A natural outgrowth of a

superior civilization– In 1883, Briton Jules Ferry

said, “Superior races have a right, because they have a duty.”

– British poet Rudyard Kipling explained the importance and burden of colonization to Americans in his poem, “The White Man’s Burden” in 1899

Take up the White Man's burden--

Send forth the best ye breed--Go bind your sons to exile

To serve your captives' need;To wait in heavy harness,

On fluttered folk and wild--Your new-caught, sullen

peoples,Half-devil and half-child.

Take up the White Man's burden--

The savage wars of peace--Fill full the mouth of FamineAnd bid the sickness cease;

And when your goal is nearestThe end for others sought,

Watch sloth and heathen FollyBring all your hopes to naught.

Take up the White Man's burden--And reap his old reward:

The blame of those ye better,The hate of those ye guard--The cry of hosts ye humour

(Ah, slowly!) toward the light:--"Why brought he us from bondage,

Our loved Egyptian night?"

Take up the White Man's burden--Have done with childish days--

The lightly proferred laurel,The easy, ungrudged praise.Comes now, to search your

manhoodThrough all the thankless yearsCold, edged with dear-bought

wisdom,The judgment of your peers!

“The White Man’s Burden”

• Social Darwinism was a perversion of Darwin’s survival of the fittest theory

• It argued that Europeans were destined to displace or destroy “unfit” races.

• A British Bishop said of the Australian aborigines– “Everyone who knows a little about the

aboriginal races is aware that those races which are of a low type of mentality and who are at the same time weak in constitution rapidly die out when their country comes to be occupied by a different race much more rigorous, robust, and pushing than themselves.”

Questions

1. In what ways did the Industrial Revolution shape the character of 19th century European imperialism?

2. What contributed to changing European views of Asians and Africans in the 19th century?

Reversal of Fortune

China’s Century of Crisis

The Crisis Within

• How China was a victim of its own success:– Strong economy and American food

crops led to rapid population growth– China was mired in the past and did not

industrialize– Unemployment and poverty soared– Famines broke out all over the Chinese

countryside as the land was over used

• China’s government did not change to meet the new needs of its people– The size of the government stayed the same

even though the population soared– The government became increasingly unable

to effectively perform functions like tax collection

– Corruption became commonplace

• In 1852, a government official stated:– “Day and night soldiers are sent out to harass

taxpayers. Sometimes corporal punishment was imposed on tax delinquents; some of them so badly beaten to exact the last penny that blood and flesh fly in all directions.”

• Other problems arose as the dynasty declined– Banditry– Peasant rebellions

• Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864): Biggest of all of the peasant rebellions– Leader, Hong Xiuquan, claimed to be Jesus'

brother and had taken and failed the civil service test many times

– Desired to create a “heavenly kingdom of great peace”

– Rejected Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism

• The Taiping Rebellion aimed to remove the foreign Qing Dynasty who Hong accused of poisoning China from power

• The Taiping rebellion spread quickly, by 1853 they had established a new capital in Nanjing

• Why did the Taiping Rebellion fail?– Inability to link up all rebelling groups– Rise of factions within the Taiping– The Qing Dynasty enlisted the help of

Western Powers to help crush the rebellion

– Provincial landowners fearing the radical Taiping also helped put down rebels

• Effects of the Taiping Rebellion– By 1864 the rebellion was over, but the

Qing were incredible weakened– 20 to 30 million Chinese were dead–Western powers gained even more

power in China

External Threats to Qing China

• The Opium War, Western powers gain a foothold into China– The British broke China’s positive

balance of trade by ramping up opium (grown in India) imports smuggled into China

– By the time Chinese officials realized the problem there was too much corruption, and too many addicts for the Qing government to stop it.

Chinese/British trade in Canton (1835-1836)

British Exports to Canton (in Spanish dollars)

• Opium: …..……17,904,248

• Cotton: …………8,357,394• Other Items:..6,164,981

• Total: ………….32,426,623

British Imports from China (in Spanish dollars)

• Tea: …………….13,412,623• Raw Silk: ………3,764,115• Vermillion: ………705,000• Other Items: 5,971,541

• Total:………....23,852,899

• China attempts to stop the Opium trade– 1836: Emperor appoints Lin Zexu to stop

the importations– Lin writes a letter Queen Victoria asking

her to stop the imports– He also seizes and destroys 3 million

pounds of Opium

Commissioner Lin's letter to Queen Victoria, Jan. 15,

1840 • . . . Even though the barbarians may not

necessarily intend to do us harm, yet in coveting profit to an extreme, they have no regard for injuring others. Let us ask, where is your conscience? I have heard that the smoking of opium is very strictly forbidden by your country; that is because the harm caused by opium is clearly understood. Since it is not permitted to do harm to your own country, then even less should you let it be passed on to the harm of other countries . . .

• Britain’s response to Lin Zexu: War!

• The Treaty of Nanjing: China’s defeat and humiliation– This is China’s first unequal treaty– Forced the Qing to accept foreign

ministers into their court– Gave Europeans control of 5 major ports– Granted Europeans the right of

extraterritoriality

• More Chinese losses erode Qing power– 1858: Loose the

Second Opium War to the British more ports placed under foreign control

– 1885: Loose Vietnam to France

– 1895: Loose Korea and parts of Manchuria to Japan

The Failure of Conservative Reform

• The Self-Strengthening Movement: Qing attempts to reform– 1860s-1870s– Overhauled the exam system to recruit new

recruits who could handle change– Supported public works like rebuilding flood

walls– Attempted to build some industry and mining– Discusses creating a parliament and

constitutional

• Why the reforms fail– Too little, too late!– Conservative landlords feared that

urbanization and industrialization would erode their power

– Fear, hatred and distrust of Empress Dowager Cixi

– Industry was largely controlled by foreigners who were loyal to local officials instead of the Emperor

• The Boxer Rebellion (1898-1901)– Led by local militias who called

themselves the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists

– Anti-foreign movement aimed at driving out foreign powers (including the Manchurian Qing dynasty)

– Quasi-religious movement that drew upon marital arts folklore

– The Qing again relied on Western powers to crush the rebellion, once again increasing foreign power in China

• “The War in China:• We’ll all work together to be firm and

faithful. Hipp, hipp Hurray!”

• By the early 20th century, the Qing dynasty was on the verge of collapse

• Contact with Westerners and foreign domination increasing nationalism

• 1911: Western educated doctor Sun Yixian (Sun Yat-Sen) leads a revolution that topples the Qing and establishes a short-lived republic

Questions1. What were some of the causes of

discontent in 19th century China?2. In what way and to what extent did foreign

trade affect China?3. What role did foreign powers play in the

decline of the Qing dynasty?4. What strategies did China adapt to deal

with its various problems?5. In what ways did these strategies reflect

China’s own history?6. In what ways did these strategies reflect

the growing influence of the West on China?

The Ottoman Empire

From “The Strong Sword of Islam” to the “The Sick Man of

Europe”

“The Sick Man of Europe”

• In 1750 the Ottoman Empire was large and stable.– Centered around the Anatolian

Peninsula– Extended across the Arabian Peninsula– Governed most of Egypt and Northern

Africa– Protected pilgrims on their way to Mecca

• The Ottoman Empire was in a serious state of decline by the middle of the 19th century– Pressure from the West• 1853-1856 Crimean War

– Internal problems• 1820 Greek Revolution• Unable to stop the spread of Christianity to

places like India, Indonesia, West Africa, Central Asia

• Western powers carve away the Ottoman Empire– Lose land to Russia, Britain, Austria and

France– Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt resulted in

near independence for the Egyptian Khedives

• Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti described the French invasion of Cairo:

The French entered the city like a torrent rushing through the alleys and streets without anything to stop them, like demons of the Devil’s army…. And the French trod in the Mosque of al-Azhar with their shoes, carrying swords and rifles…. They plundered whatever they found in the mosque….. They treated the books of the Quranic volumes as trash…. Furthermore, they soiled the mosque, blowing their spit in it, pissing and defecating in it. They guzzled wine and smashed bottles in the central court.

• Nationalism breaks apart the Ottoman Empire– Nationalist revolts supported by Britain

and Russia lead to independence for Greece, Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria

• Decentralization of power hurt both the Ottoman and the Qing– As local leaders gained power, collecting

revenue became more difficult

• Growing European trade and industrialization hurt the Ottoman Economy– New oceanic shipping routes limited

Ottoman ability to trade– Cheap manufactured goods flooded

Ottoman markets driving artisans out of business

– Trade agreements with Western powers were similar in effect to the unequal treaties signed with China

Reform and Its Opponents

• Ottoman leaders realized the need for reform and attempted programs of “defensive modernization”

• Attempts at reform were earlier and more vigorous than the Chinese self-strengthening movement

• Selim III makes the first attempt to change–Wants to update the military– Seen as a threat to the ulama and the

Janissaries– Selim III is overthrown and murdered in

1807

• The Tanzimat (reorganization) reforms were begun in 1839– Attempted to create a more centralized

state– Created some industry including

modernizing paper making, military armaments, and building rail roads

– Reclaimed and resettled agricultural land– Created a modern postal system– Created Western styled laws and courts– Granted equal legal rights to religious

minorities

• Imperial proclamation from 1839:

Every distinction or designation to make any class whatever of the subjects of the empire inferior to another class, on account of their religion, language or race shall be forever effaced. … No subject of my Empire shall be hindered in the exercise of the religion he professes. … All the subjects of my Empire, without distinction of nationality, shall be admissible to public employment.

• Reform raised a bunch of questions within Ottoman society–What was the Ottoman Empire and who

were its people?– Supporters tended to be fairly young

lower-level officials, military officers, poets, writers, and journalists who had been educated in the West

• What did young Western educated elites (Young Ottoman) want?– European style democratic, constitutional

governments with limited monarchies– Islamic modernization: adoption of

Western technical and scientific knowledge without compromising religious character

• Victory: 1876 Abdul Hamid accepts a constitution and creates a parliament

• Reasons for the failure of reform:– Crimean war creates a political crisis,

and Abdul Hamid suspends the constitution

• Reaction to the failure of reform:– Young Western educated social and

military elites form the Young Turks– Demand the gov’t completely secularize–Want to create a Turkish state

• 1908: Young Turks gain more power after leading a military coup– Push for radical secularization of schools,

courts, and laws– Establish common law that applies to all

people regardless of language– Encouraged the use of Turkish as the official

religion– Granted more rights to women

• But this really bothered non-Turks and was the basis for nationalist movements that fragmented the Ottoman Empire

• The Eastern Question: Western powers wonder what to do with the “Sick Man of Europe”– How should Western European rulers

deal with the Ottoman Empire?– No longer a threat– Held together volatile parts of Asia and

Europe– Held important place geographically

between Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean

–Worry that collapse will destroy Europe’s delicate Balance of Power

–Western nations especially nervous about increasing Austrian and Russian power

– Britain and France support Turks against Russia and Austria even as they take over parts of the empire

– Building of the Suez Canal and the start of the Crimean war make this issue even more pressing!

• The Ottoman Empire collapsed after World War I, but the Westernizing principals of the Young Turks shaped the new Turkish nation that emerged in 1919

Questions1. What are some of the ways the

Ottoman state responded to various problems?

2. What was the “Eastern Question” and how did Western powers deal with it?

3. How did the young western educated elites perceive the Ottoman Empire?

4. Compared to China, how effective was the Ottoman Empire at solving its problems?

Outcomes: Comparing China and the Ottoman

Empire• Similarities– Prior to the 19th century both areas were

centers of proud vibrant civilizations– By the beginning of the 20th century both

were semi-colonies of “informal empires”– Neither successfully created strong

industrial bases– Both collapsed in the early 1900s– Both gave rise to new nations based on

nationalist ideas in the 20th century

• Political Differences:– In China the collapse of the Qing

dynasty in 1911 led to a long period of revolution, occupation, and civil war that did not end until 1949

– By contrast, the collapse of the Ottoman regime after World War I the creation of a new, though much smaller Turkish state in the former heartland of the Ottoman empire

• Social Differences:– China’s 20th century revolutionaries

rejected their Confucian past– Although the Turkish republic is a

secular state, the role of religion in society has not been diminished

Reflections: Success and Failure in History

• Things to consider when deciding if Japan was more successful in the 19th century than China or the Ottoman:– Criteria for success: What does success

mean?– Success for whom: The Young Turks

make many reforms, but does it benefit everyone in the Empire?

Questions for REVIEW

1. How did European expansion differ in the 19th century from that of the early modern era (1450-1750)?

2. “The response of each society to European imperialism grew out of its larger historical development and its internal problems” Support this statement with evidence!