Eurasian Crossroads

1. Eurasian Crossroads Mr. Ermer World History AP Miami Beach Senior High

2. Decline of the Ottoman Empire • Internal and external pressures weaken the Ottoman Empire • Ottoman military falls behind those of European powers • Janissaries neglect training, turn to politics, stage coups • Janissaries also neglect changes in military tactics and weaponry • After Napoleon’s forces leave Egypt, Muhammad Ali rises to power • Models Egyptian army on those of Europe, est. autonomy within empire • Industrializes Egypt as cotton producer • Trade through Ottoman Empire declines, only raw material exports • European goods damage business of Ottoman artisans • European visitors and investors exempt from Ottoman laws • Government spending more than it makes, must reform bureaucracy • Sultan Selim III attempts to modernize military, Janissaries revolt • Eventually, Janissaries kill all members of royal family except one • Mahmud II becomes Sultan (1808-1839)

4. Ottoman Attempts at Reform • Mahmud II attempts to modernize the military • Janissaries revolt, Mahmud has them massacred by new troops • New military trained by Europeans, using European weapons, tactics • Creation of new secondary schools teaching Western curricula • Mahmud attempts to centralize control, taxes elites • Ends military land grants, undermines the ulama • Restructures government into European style ministries • Builds industrial infrastructure to improve communication, transport • Mahmud’s empire smaller, but more powerful than last hundred yrs • Tanzimat: attempt to Europeanize Ottoman legal system • Creates sharp divisions and protests within Ottoman society • Coup places Abdul Hamid II as sultan in constitutional monarchy • Suspends constitutions, rules as autocratic despot, expels liberals • Young Turk rebellion overthrows rule of Abdul Hamid II • Replace A.H. with Mehmed V Rashid as new sultan • Young Turks institute many Enlightenment reforms, freedoms • Turkification efforts alienate non-Turkish population, enflame tensions

6. The Russian Empire • Russian and Ottoman empires similar in terms of economic and military reverses through 1800 • Tsars embark on series of military, social, and industrial reforms • Romanov tsars administer absolute authority over multiethnic empire with support of Russian Orthodox Church and boyar nobles • Serfdom seen as source of social stability, compulsory military service • Russian Empire expands in multiple directions, Crimean War • Interference in the Balkans seen as upsetting the balance in Europe • Alliance of Britain, France, Sardinia, and Ottoman Empire fights Russia • Allied force attacks Russian Black Sea fleet at Sevastopol, Crimea • Russia unable to mobilize, ineffective in battle, severely defeated • Tsar Alexander II frees serfs, compensates land owners • Many serfs at economic disadvantage, granted few political rights • Agricultural production rises little, social unrest continues (though less) • Count Sergei Witte given authority to industrialize economy • Railroads and factories built (Trans-Siberian Railway) • Horrible working conditions, low wages, direct government control • Protest and revolutionary activity increases, Tsarist repression follows • Ethnic minorities in Eastern Europe rebel, Tsar issues orders of Russification • Many Russian Jews migrate to other parts of Europe, United States • Conflict with Japan over Manchuria results in destruction of the Russian navy • Revolution of 1905 against oppression of Nicholas II, factory workers create soviets

10. Japan’s Empire of the Rising Sun • Tokugawa Japan experiences economic hard times • Samurai and Daimyo incur great debt to merchant class, gov’t cancels debts, peasant unrest high, rebellions break out • Tokugawa shogun’s conservative reforms ineffective, economy worsens • Commodore Matthew C. Perry ports in Tokyo, opens Tokugawa Japan to U.S. trade, Europeans follow • Foreign influence causes more rebellion, Tokugawa shogun resigns • Emperor Mutsuhito (Meiji) takes control of government • The Meiji Restoration gives political power back to the emperor • New government looks to remake Japan: “rich country, strong army” • Hire European and American experts to modernize Japan • Send Japanese scholars to study at Western universities • Abolition of traditional society, land reform, new social structure est. • Daimyo and Samurai forbidden from wearing of swords, top knot • Modern Japanese national army established with American made weapons • Agricultural taxes converted to fixed money taxes, creates gov. revenue • Establishment of constitutional gov’t the Meiji’s “gift to his people” • Gave considerable power to the emperor to affect government action, policy • Within generation Japan creates a modern industrial economy, largest in Asia

13. Decline of Qing China • Qing Dynasty under attack by rebels and aggressive foreign powers • The Opium War and Spheres of Influence • Canton, cohong trading system brings minimal profits to Europeans • British turn to trading opium for silver, silver for Chinese products • British East India Co. uses Persian expertise to grow opium in India for trade • Chinese become addicted to opium, demand and profits increase • Opium trade weakens Chinese trade and society • Lin Zexu destroys British opium, the British outraged, start war to reopen trade • British hugely successful in war, China forced into Treaty of Nanjing • Hong Kong given to Britain, British citizens enjoy extraterritoriality, five coastal cities opened to European trade, Britain given “most favored” status • China also loses wars with France and Japan, forcing uneven treaties • Treaties create spheres of influence within China, weaken Qing • United States Secretary of State John Hay negotiates “Open Door Policy”

15. Trouble In China • Taiping Rebellion • Radical rebellion that resented poor economy, Manchu rule • Take control of Nanjing, establish a capital, Chinese army victorious • New Chinese army made of Chinese soldiers, commanded by scholar-gentry • Self-Strengthening Movement pushes pragmatic reforms • Blends Chinese and Western learning • Lays foundation for modern, industrial economy & military • Empress Dowager Cixi diverts funds intended for navy to build marble barge • Hundred Days Reforms (1898) • Emperor Guangxu, influenced by scholars Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, launches reforms to modernize China and establish a constitutional monarchy • Hundred Days Reforms squashed by Cixi and allies, emperor imprisoned in the Forbidden City, reformers executed • The Boxer Rebellion • Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists fight foreign influence with Cixi’s support, attack foreigners and Christians, put down by alliance of Western powers (Britain, France, Russia, Japan, Germany, and U.S.) • Qing Dynasty loses almost all support in China, rebellions erupt • 1908: Cixi dies, but not before appointing 2 year old Puyi as emperor • Puyi abdicated throne in 1912 after Civil War breaks out in 1911