China and the New Imperialism• I. Trade

• A. Pre-1800s: Chinese rulers placed strict limits on foreign traders

• 1. China sold silk, porcelain, and tea in exchange for gold and silver.

2. Under this arrangement, China enjoyed a trade surplus, exporting more than it imported.

3. Meanwhile, Westerners had a trade deficit.

B. Late 1800s: 2 developments would

transform China’s relations with the West.• 1. China entered a

period of decline.• 2. The Industrial

Revolution created a need for expanded markets for European goods and it gave the West superior military power.

C. The Opium War

• 1. Late 1700s: British merchants began making huge profits by trading opium grown in India for Chinese tea, which was popular in Britain.

Opium!

• a. Many Chinese became addicted as a result.

• b. Silver flowed out of China in payment for the drug, disrupting the economy

• 2. Chinese gov’t. outlawed opium and executed Chinese drug leaders.

• 3. Chinese gov’t demanded Britain stop the trade but they refused.

This means war!!!!

• 4. 1839: Chinese warships clashed with British merchants, triggering the Opium War.

• a. British gunboats, equipped with the latest in firepower, bombarded Chinese coastal and river ports.

• .

b. With outdated weaponsand fighting methods, theChinese were easily defeated.

B. Treaty of Nanjing

• 1. 1842: Britain forced China to accept the Treaty of Nanjing.

• 2. Britain received a huge indemnity, or payment for losses in war.

• 3. Britain gained Hong Kong and maintained control until the 1990s!!!

Hong Kong returned to China on July 1, 1997!

The humiliation continues for the Chinese….

• 4. China had to open up 5 ports to foreign trade.

• 5. China forced to grant British citizens residing in China extraterritoriality, the right to live under their own laws and be tried in their own courts.

And as if that wasn’t bad enough

• II. Internal Problems

• A. 1800s: Qing Dynasty was in decline

• 1. Neglected irrigation systems and canals were poorly maintained, leading to massive flooding of the Huang He River

• a. Rivers were critical to development

• b. Population concentrated in eastern 1/3

2. Gov’t Corruption

• a. tax evasion

• b. Extravagance by the powerful

• c. Honored civil service rocked by bribery scandal

• d. peasants burdened/ overwhelmed/ desperate/ lacked hope

From bad to worse…

• The Taiping Rebellion

• 1. Poverty and Misery led to rebellion

• 2. 1850 – 1864

• A. Probably the most devastating peasant revolt in history.

• B. Led by a school teacher, Hong Xiuguan, who was influenced by Christian missionaries.

c. Lasting for 14 years, it is estimated to have caused the

deaths of 20 – 30 million Chinese!

Something’s gotta give!

• III. Reform Movements

• A. Mid-1800s, Educated Chinese were divided over the need to adopt western ways.

• B. 1860s: reformers launched “the self-strengthening movement”

What was the self-strengthening movement?

• 1. Set-up factories for modern weapons

• 2. Developed shipyards, railroads, mining

• 3. Translated western works on science, government and the economy

• 4. Resulted in limited progess due to a lack of government support

C. War with Japan

• 1. Japan joined the western imperialists in the competition for a global empire.

• 2. 1894: Sino-Japanese War resulted in disaster for China.

• a. Japan won Taiwan.

• b. Crushing defeat revealed China’s weakness to the world!!!!! OUCH!!!

• c. Western powers moved in to carve their own spheres of interest!

D. Spheres of Influence

• 1. Western power moved swiftly for control along the Chinese coast

• A. British took the Yangzi River Valley

• B. French acquired land near their colony of Indochina (now Vietnam)

• C. Germany and Russia gained land in northern China

Knock, Knock…

Who’s there?

The United States – Not wanting to be leftOut!!!!!!!

2. 1899: Open Door Policy

• A. U.S., a long time trade with the Chinese did not want to take part in the carving up of China.

• B. Fearing that it might be excluded from economic opportunities, it called for a policy to keep Chinese trade open to everyone on an equal basis.

• C. Imperialists accepted this but no one ever consulted the Chinese!!!!!

IV. Qing Dynasty Falls!

• A. Turmoil intensified as the 1800s end

• 1. Humiliation of imperialist domination

• 2. Foreign troops resented.

• 3. Disrespect from extraterritoriality abuses

• B. 1900: Boxer Rebellion– 1. Explosion of anti-foreign feeling– 2. 1899: Fists of Righteous Harmony aka Boxers

formed

• 3. Goal was to drive out the “foreign devils” who were polluting the land with their un-Chinese ways…

• 4. Western Powers and Japan responded with a multi-national force which crushed the rebellion

C. Three Principles of the People

• 1. Although the Boxer Rebellion failed, nationalism spread.

• 2. Reformers wanted to strengthen the Chinese government.

• 3. By the early 1900s, they had introduced a constitutional monarch with some citizens wanting a republic.

4. Emergence of Sun Yat-sen’s3 Principles

• 1. Nationalism – freeing China from foreign domination

• 2. Democracy – or representative government

• 3. Livelihood – economic security for all Chinese.

D. Birth of a Republic!• 1. 1907: Ci Xi died and chaos ensued.

• 2. 1911: Uprisings topple the Qing Dynasty

• 3. Sun Yixian (Sun Yat-sen) hurried home from a trip in the U.S.

• 4. Dec. 1911: Sun Yat-sen named President– For the next 30+ years China will be at war!– China will eventually fall to communism after

WW II.

Imperialism

• Domination by one country of the political, economic, or cultural life of another country or region.

New Imperialism

• Term historians use to describe the path of aggressive expansion taken by European powers… in just a few decades, beginning in the 1870s, Europeans brought much of the world under their influence and control.

Nationalism

• A strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one’s country.

Protectorates

• Country(ies) with its own government but under the control of an outside power

Spheres of Influence

• Areas in which an outside power claims exclusive investment of trading privileges.

Berlin Conference

• European conference in Germany in 1884 where Africa was carved by imperialist powers – a means to avoid European bloodshed.

Suez Canal

• A canal linking the Red Sea and Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, which also links Europe to Asia and East Africa.

Sepoy Rebellion

• Indian soldiers rising up against British rule – injustices

• Happened in 1857

• Many Indians killed.

• British tighten control by official colonizing India in 1858.

Viceroy

• One who ruled India in the name of the monarch.

INC

• Indian National Congress

• A Hindu nationalist group - pushing for independence from Britain.

• Eventually, Mahatma Gandhi would become its president.

Muslim League

• Indian nationalist group of Muslims – advocating independence AND partition of India.

• Its longtime leader, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, eventually became the first leader of Pakistan.

• When Britain passed the Indian Independence Act, it agreed to leave the Indian subcontinent on the condition that it be divided into two countries – one for Hindus and one for Muslims. Pakistan was to be the Muslim homeland.

Balance of Trade

• Difference between how much a country imports and how much it exports.

Trade Surplus

• Situation in which a country exports more than it imports

Trade deficit

• Situation where a country imports more than it exports.

Opium War

• War fought between Great Britain and China (in China) over restrictions to foreign trade.

Indemnity

• Payment for losses in a war

Extraterritoriality

• Right of foreigners to be protected by the laws of their own nation

• Example – British in China

Taiping Rebellion

• Peasant revolt in China in 1850.

• Lasted 14 years.

• Weakened China / made in vulnerable

• In 1868, China lost Taiwan and Korea to Japan which was increasing its power.

Open Door Policy

• American approach to China around 1900, favoring open trade relations between China and other nations.

Boxer Rebellion

• Anti-foreign movement in China from 1898 – 1900.

• Americans and others deliberately targeted and killed.

Sino-Japanese War

• War between China and Japan in which Japan gained Taiwan!

• Look out for Japan!