Britain became more advanced after the Industrial Revolution and took this to their advantage. Britain wanted to trade with China and receive all of their valuable goods. This all lead to the event that started China imperialism, the First Opium War.
The First Opium War
To achieve their goal, Britain started to trade an addictive drug, opium, to the Chinese. Soon the Chinese became very addicted to this drug and couldn’t stop buying it, causing the government to be enraged. The trading of opium caused damage to its economy and its people. They made new laws to control use of opium and demanded Britain to end the trade. Britain was unwilling to stop claiming their rights of trade. China then instigated the first Opium War.
China isolated themselves from modern society while Britain continued to improve their technology, Britain defeated China without a problem.
As the result of defeat, China had to sign many unfair treaties. The first treaty, the Nanjing Treaty, forced China to pay a huge indemnity (payment due to a loss of a war), open five ports to foreign trade, grant British citizens in China extraterritoriality (the right to live under their own laws and be tried in their own courts), and lastly give up the island Hong Kong.
Taiping Rebellion
A big impact on the fall of the Qing Dynasty was due to the Taiping Rebellion. This marked the birth of the Chinese nation, reuniting themselves with the rest of society. It is estimated that 20 million to 30 million people were killed in this fourteen year rebellion lead by Hong Xiuquan. Life was getting hard for the peasants when a massive flooding occurred. The taxes rose and they despised their Manchu conquerors that didn’t aid them in their conquest to rid of their British rulers. Tired of what was going on around them, the peasants wanted to make everyone equal. They started the Taiping Rebellion in Guangxi in the year 1850. After they dug (literally, many worked in coal mines so they dug tunnels under the wall) their way to the city of Nanjing and claimed it as their capital. The Manchu, who were previously occupied because of the second Opium War, started to focus on the rebellion in 1860 and ended the rebellion in 1863.
The Term Paper on China 1 Opium War
... the first Opium War from 1839 to 1842 between China and Britain and the second Opium War fought by China against Britain and France. Opium had ... by 1868, and the Muslims by 1873. The internal rebellions were suppressed, but external threats continued. After a ... advantages was the opium trade. Official Chinese resistance to opium resulted in two trade wars in which Great Britain, France, the United ...
Marx Perspective
The Taiping rebels had not heard of Karl Marx, but Marx knew of the rebels. Marx believed that the rebellion was a “consequence of a fossil form of social life”. This means it is China’s fault for not evolving and keeping up with the modern world. Marx didn’t believe China could build a nation without wanting to go back to their traditional ways.
Sino-Japanese War
In August of 1894, a war between Japan and China occurred for the possession of Korea. A revolt was occurring in Korea at the time so both Japan and China sent their troops over. Japan refused to withdraw and convinced Korea to break their agreement with China, triggering a war to start. Japan defeated the Chinese easily after they decided to become modernized with the rest of the world.
As a result of the war, the Shimonoseki Treaty was created. The treaty forced China to give Korea independence and to give Japan the island of Taiwan, the Pescadores, and the Liaodong peninsula. Not only did they have to give up land to Japan, they also had to open up five ports to trade and pay a high indemnity. Luckily a week after the treaty was signed, Liaodong Peninsula was given back to China but raised the indemnity.
Spheres of Influence/ Open Door Policy
The Spheres of Influence was made after the loss in Sino-Japanese war after the European countries saw China was weak and up for grabs. Britain got Chang river valley, French received a piece of land near Indochina, and Germany and Russia gained part of Northern China. United States, not taking part of the Spheres of Influence, was afraid they wouldn’t be able to trade after all the European countries took over. To ensure US would be able to trade, US suggested the Open Door Policy. This allowed all nations have access to the ports the Europeans had access to.
The Essay on Western Influence And Pressure In The History Of China And Japan In The 19th And 20th Century
Western influence and pressure in the history of China and Japan in the 19th and 20th Century should not be dismissed, because they are often the impetus, if not the main driving force, of important internal events. China and Japan’s own situation and internal forces, then, temper how each country responds to these Western pressures and influences. China, already under the yoke of the ...
Hundreds Days of Reform
The citizens who thought China needed to change institutionally and ideologically to self-strengthen were called reformers. The reformers started a movement by… -Importing new technology
-Developing shipyards and railroad, mining, and light industry
-Setting up factories to make weapons
-Translating writing to gain knowledge on science government and economy They did not get very far before the government stepped in and stop their plans.
Guang Xu, an emperor, started the Hundred Day Reform after China was defeated by Japan. Conservative leaders believed it was best to move forward and not look back at the past. Guang Xu modernized both civil service exams and streamlines governments and created new industries. But when the reforms started to affect schools, military, and the bureaucracy the conservatives went against the reform.
Guang Xu was later on imprisoned when the Ci Xi decided to take back her power by claiming Guang Xu was unfit to as an emperor.
Boxer Rebellion
Some Chinese wanted to drive out the Westerners for contaminating their country with their foreigner ways. To solve their problem the Chinese decided to murder all the foreigners and the Boxer Rebellion began (called The Boxer Rebellion because Westerners called the Chinese boxers due to their martial art skills).
The rebels from one village first attacked a Roman Catholic Church after they were forced to give up their temple to turn it into a church. As the rebellion went on they slaughtered their own people that converted to Christianity and they attacked the embassies in Beijing. To relieve the embassies, Japan, America, and Europe sent 20,000 troops in total to stop the boxers. This rebellion ended when the Boxer Protocol executed the people who lead the boxers and gave a payment to refurnish the nation. The failure of the Boxer Rebellion forced the conservatives to use the Westerners’ ways. In education, girls were allowed to go to school and they replaced learning Confucianism with learning science and math. Economy wise they started mining, shipping, railroads, baking and exported more cash crops. Lastly two new social classes were formed; a business class and another urban working class.
The Essay on Boxer Rebellion
When Japan defeated China in 1895, European powers answered with an order they called, carving up the Chinese melon. Following the division of Africa among European powers, they turned their sights to what they saw as an extremely weak Chinese government. European powers and America began to scramble for what was called spheres of interest. These spheres of interest involved holding leases for all ...
Qing Dynasty Comes to an End
Ci Xi, the former empress of China was a strong governor, but after her death in 1908, China descended into chaos. Sun Yixian was a power player in bringing in Republic ideas into China. He was a Chinese-born man who was educated by British and American schools. Sun overthrew the Qing Dynasty and became president in December 1911 with the help of peasants, warlords, politicians, and students. The republic still faced many challenges with civil and foreign war as Imperialism continued.
