Decline of Ottoman Empire: Wars, Corruption, and Reforms

1. Chapter 31: Societies at Crossroads

2. The Ottoman Empire in DeclineHeight of Ottoman military expansion in late seventeenth century

3. The Ottoman Empire in Decline At its height in the 1600s, the Ottoman Empire had 29 provinces and several tributary states. More Independent Provinces: By the 1700s, semi-independent local warlords use mercenaries and slave armies to support sultan in exchange for imperial favor. Central Government Receives Less Revenue: By the 1700s, many local administrators carry out massive corruption, misusing tax revenues. Central government becomes less effective. Defeats in War: In the 1700s and 1800s, territorial holdings are gradually diminished through defeats in unproductive and costly wars.

4. The Ottoman Empire in Decline • The Austrians, Russians, and British, among others, beat the Ottomans in many different wars largely due to European advances in technology and strategy. • Russo-Turkish Wars (1735-1739; 1768-1774; 1787-1792; 1806–1812; 1828–1829; 1877–1878) • Austro-Turkish Wars (1716–1718; 1787–1791) • Crimean War (1853-1856): Conflict between Russian Empire against the French, British, and Ottomans.

5. The Ottoman Empire in Decline British painting of a Janissary in the early 19th century The elite Janissary corps, the best Ottoman soldiers, become corrupt and less fearsome warriors. They become more interested in palace intrigue than fighting wars.

6. The Ottoman Empire in Decline Portrait of Muhammad Ali in 1840 • Napoleon’s unsuccessful invasion of Egypt (1798-1801) triggers local revolt against Mamluks/Ottomans under Muhammad Ali (r. 1805-1848) • Muhammad Ali fights two wars against the Ottomans (1831-1833 and 1839-1841) • Nominally subordinate to Sultan, butthreatened the capture of Istanbul in 1839 • British support Ottomans only to avoid possible Russian expansion

7. The Ottoman Empire in Decline • Nationalist uprisings drive Ottomans out of Balkans • Greek War of Independence (1821-1832) • Serbia revolts from 1804-1817 and gains some autonomy • Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 • Kingdom of Romania gains full independence • Bulgaria gains full independence • Serbia gains full independence

8. Territorial Losses of the Ottoman Empire, 1800-1923

9. Ottoman Economy • Imports of cheap manufactured goods from industrializing Western Europe place stress on local artisans; urban riots result. • Export-dependent Ottoman economy increasingly relies on foreign loans • Exports: raw cotton, grains, tobacco, wool, hides • Slave-produced commodities from New World are cheaper, undercutting prices for raw goods exported from the Ottoman empire

10. Ottoman Economy • By 1882 the Ottomans unable to pay even interest on loans, forcing them to accept foreign administration of debts (took out their first foreign loans in 1854, just as the Crimean War was starting). • Capitulations: agreements that exempted Europeans from Ottoman law • Extraterritoriality gives tax-free status to foreign banks and businesses • Foreign merchants begin to dominate overseas trade

11. Early Reforms • 1800s: Attempts to reform taxation, increase agricultural output, and reduce corruption • Sultan Selim III (r. 1789-1807) remodeled army on European lines • Janissaries revolt in 1807 and kill the new troops, imprison Selim III • Sultan Mahmud II (r. 1808-1839) • Massacres and disbands Janissaries in 1826, and creates fully modern army • Creates imperial postal service in 1834 • Rebuilt Ottoman navy

12. Tanzimat (“Reorganization”) Era, 1839-1876 Abdülmecid I (r. 1839-1861), promotes a new, western-oriented reform program called “Tanzimat.” Drafted new law codes that strengthened civil rights for minorities to appease rebellious nationalist groups (Albanian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Serbian, Armenian, etc.)

13. Tanzimat (“Reorganization”) Era, 1839-1876 Abdülmecid introduces paper bank notes (1840) Proclaims a national anthem and flag (1844) Replaces turban with fez as official male headgear Establishes first modern universities and academies (1848) Abolishes higher taxes on non-Muslims (1856) Undermines power of traditional religious elite Tries to rein in corruption in government

14. Tanzimat (“Reorganization”) Era, 1839-1876 The reforms were fiercely resisted by the religious conservative establishment and entrenched bureaucracy Also drew opposition from radical Young Ottomans, secret group of intellectuals founded in 1865, who were influenced by Enlightenment ideas and wanted a constitutional monarchy, not an absolute one

15. The Young Ottoman Takeover of 1876 • Young Ottomans stage a coup in 1876 and install Abdül Hamid II as Sultan (r. 1876-1909) • Constitution adopted • Representative government: Parliament with members of Senate elected by the Sultan and members of Chamber of Deputies elected by the people

16. The Young Ottoman Takeover of 1876 • Abdul Hamid II suspends the constitution by 1878 under emergency conditions (Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78) • Convinces supporters he is a reformer, but then shows his true colors in a time of war • Takes back power through brutal repression • Imprisons and executes many radicals • Many reformers go into exile in Europe

17. The Young Turks • Ottoman Society for Union and Progress • Founded by medical students in exile in Paris in 1889, with many non-Turkish members; wanted to reinstitute 1876 constitution and called for a pan-national empire • Called for rapid reforms that are secular in character • “Congress of Ottoman Opposition in Paris in 1902: Started to be called “Young Turks” instead of “Young Ottomans”: Turkish nationalism supersedes old pan-national Ottoman ideal • Young Turks force Abdül Hamid II to restore parliament in 1908, and then dethrone him in favor of Mehmed V Rashid (r. 1909-1918).

18. Young Turk Rule • Replaced “Ottomanism”—legal encouragement of many nations living together—with a Turkish nationalism that favored Turks over other groups • Attempted to establish Turkish hegemony over far-flung empire • Turkish made official language, despite large numbers of Arabic and Slavic language speakers • Turkish nationalism could not contain forces of decline

19. The Russian Empire Under Pressure • Russia a massive, multi-cultural empire • Only approximately half speak Russian and observe Russian Orthodox Christianity • Romanov tsars rule in a highly autocratic fashion • Powerful class of nobles exempt from taxation and military duty • Nobility benefit from an exploitative serfdom; serfdom had declined in Western Europe by the 1500s, but persists in Russia and Eastern Europe

20. The Russian Empire, 1801-1914

21. The Crimean War, 1853-1856 Russians expand into Caucasus in larger attempt to establish control over weakening Ottoman Empire Threatens to upset balance of power; British and French Empires intervene to help Ottomans Russia driven back from Crimea in humiliating defeat Demonstration of Russian weakness in the face of modern western technology and strategy

22. Reform: Emancipation of the Serfs • Serfdom source of rural instability and peasant revolt in the wake of the Crimean War loss • Tsar Alexander II emancipates serfs in 1861, granting legal freedom without alleviating poverty and land hunger • Freed serfs were forced gradually to pay compensation to nobles through a “mortgage” for the lands serfs had farmed for generations • Limited attempts to reform administration, small-scale representative government • Network of elected district assemblies called zemstvos that had little influence

23. Industrialization in Russia • Witte System • Count Sergei Witte (1849-1915), serves as minister of finance, 1892-1903 • Oversaw construction of Trans-Siberian railroad (started in 1891; completed in 1916) • Oversaw State-Sponsored Industrialization • Peasants uprooted from rural lifestyle and pushed into factories to work for low wages, long hours • Led to massive discontent among those pushed into factory life

24. Repression • Intelligentsia class spreads radical ideas for social change • Socialists, anarchists • Terror tactics, assassinations • Attempt to connect with the mistrustful peasantry in 1870s, who often denounce them • Many of the intelligentsia sent into Siberian exile

25. Repression • Tsarist authorities turn to censorship, secret police • Nationalist sentiment seething in Baltic provinces, Poland, Ukraine, Georgia, and central Asia • Period of upheaval contributes to great literature • Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) • Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) • Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) • Ivan Turgenev (1818-1883)

26. Radicalization • Radical anarchist group, the People’s Will movement (“Narodnaya Volya”), assassinates Tsar Alexander II in 1881 • Previous attempts on his life: one in 1866 and two in 1879, and one in 1880; People’s Will tried to blow up his train and set off a charge in the Winter Palace • Bullet-proof carriage protects emperor from first blast, but gets out and a second bomb is thrown at him, killing him • Prompted widespread pogroms against Jews • Assassination leads to repression under the grim Alexander III (r. 1881-1894), who relied heavily on the Okhrana (secret police) to crack down on radicals.

27. Radicalization Nicholas II (r. 1894-1917): Weak and vacillating tsar enters into war with Japan (1904-1905) Humiliating defeat exposes government weaknesses Social discontent boils over in Revolution of 1905; revolt fails, but triggers massive discontent Workers’ strikes force government to make political concessions, like the creation of a national representative body, the Duma

28. Qing Empire: Chinese Restrictions on European Trade Since 1759, European commercial presence limited to port of Guangzhou (the British called it Canton)

29. Chinese Restrictions on European Trade • Foreign merchants forced to deal solely with a small group of licensed Chinese firms called cohongs who only accepted one currency of trade: silver bullion • Not much Chinese demand for European goods • British East India Company heavily involved in opium trade • Opium grown in India, sold in China for silver, silver used to buy other Chinese products

30. The Opium Trade The Opium Plant British East Indiaman at port

31. The Opium Trade Portuguese first bring opium to China in 1600s Practice of mixing it with tobacco begins in mid-1600s 1729: Emperor outlaws sale of opium, but the law is poorly enforced Practice of smoking plain opium evolves by late 1700s British East India company’s expansion in India leads in later 1700s leads to larger volume of opium sold into China Increasing trade and social ills evident by late 1830s

32. The Opium Trade Chinese move to enforce ban in 1830s under Chinese official, Lin Zexu (1785-1850) British agents engage in military retaliation in the First Opium War (1839-1842) British naval forces easily defeat Chinese with superior technology Hong Kong ceded to British in Treaty of Nanjing (1842) and five ports are opened to British traders

33. The Opium Trade Steam-driven warship Nemesis destroys Chinese junks in 1841

34. Unequal Treaties Second Opium War (1856-1860): British and French attack Chinese since China resists opening more ports and legalizing opium importation China forced into a series of disadvantageous treaties known as “Unequal Treaties” Extraterritorial legal status granted to British subjects Later other European countries conclude similar treaties

35. East Asia in the Nineteenth Century

36. The Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) Large-scale rebellions in later nineteenth century reflect poverty, discontent of Chinese peasantry Population rises 50 percent between 1800-1900, but land under cultivation remains static, leading to frequent famine and social unrest Multiple Uprisings against the Qing: Nian Rebellion (1851-1868), Muslim Rebellion (1855-1873), Tungan Rebellion (1862-1878) Biggest One: The Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864)

37. The Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) The Taiping Rebellion was led by Hong Xiuquan (1814-1864), a schoolteacher who called for destruction of Qing dynasty Hong declared himself the brother of Jesus Christ By 1850, he had between 10,000 to 30,000 followers, alarming the authorities

38. Taiping Platform • Abolition of private property • Creation of communal wealth • Prohibition of foot binding, concubines • Free public education, simplification of written Chinese, mass literacy • Prohibition of sexual relations among followers (including married couples) • Yet leaders maintained harems

39. Taiping Defeat • Taipings captured Nanjing in 1858 and make it their capital • Attack Beijing with force of 1 million, but Qing forces turn them back • Imperial army unable to contain Taipings, so regional armies are created with Manchu soldiers and outfitted with European weaponry • Nanjing is surrounded in 1864 and Hong commits suicide; Qing forces recapture the Taiping capital • 100,000 Taipings massacred

40. The Self-Strengthening Movement (1860-1895) • High point is in 1860s-1870s • Slogan “Chinese learning at the base, Western learning for use” • Blend of Chinese cultural traditions with European industrial technology • Building of shipyards, railroads, academies • Ultimately changes to Chinese economy and society were superficial • Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) nominally supports technological development of the movement, but is suspicious of Western ideologies

41. Empress Dowager Cixi Cixi (1835-1908) unofficially rules China from 1861 to 1908; two emperors are essentially her puppets (her son, then nephew) Supposedly diverted governmentfunds for her own aesthetic purposes, according to rumors Was in general xenophobic and conservative; foremost concern was protecting the dynasty

42. Spheres of Influence • Qing dynasty loses influence in Southeast Asia, losing tributary states to Europeans and Japanese • Vietnam: Lost to France in 1886 • Burma: Lost to Great Britain in 1885 • Korea, Taiwan, Liaodong Peninsula: Lost to Japan as a result of the Sino-Japanese War of 1895 • China itself divided into spheres of influence by European powers in 1895

43. Spheres of Influence 1898 French political cartoon Empress Dowager Cix

44. Hundred Days Reforms (1898) Kang Youwei (1858-1927) and Liang Qichao (1873-1929): Two popular scholars and journalists who start a reform movement. Interpreted Confucianism to allow for Western-style changes to system: wanted to make China a constitutional monarchy Favored rapid industrialization through capitalists means Emperor Guangxu (r. 1875-1908) attempts to implement reforms Empress Dowager Cixi nullifies reforms and imprisons the emperor, her nephew

45. The Boxer Rebellion (1898-1901) Cixi supports Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists (“Boxers”), an anti-foreign and anti-Christian militia In 1899, the Boxers launch a campaign to rid China of “foreign devils” Misled to believe European weapons would not harm them, 140,000 Boxers besiege European embassies in 1900 Crushed by coalition of European forces: Russia, Britain, France, U.S., Japan, Germany, Austro-Hungary & Italy Brutal repression of Boxers by Western forces After the Boxer Rebellion is put down, the Qing are forced to accept stationing of foreign troops on Chinese soil

46. Death of the Dowager Empress Emperor Guangxu dies a mysterious, sudden death on November 14, 1908 at age 33; forensic tests conducted in 2008 revealed that he died of arsenic poisoning Cixi dies one day after her nephew; knowing that she was dying, she may have had him poisoned so he would not continue his reforms She places two-year-old Puyi on the throne before dying Revolution in 1911: Main goal was to replace Manchu government with a Han one. First president of new republic is Dr. Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925); Puyi abdicates in 1912; film The Last Emperor tells of his life. He dies on 1967.

47. Transformation of Japan Emperor Meiji (r. 1867-1912)

48. Transformation of Japan • Japanese society is in turmoil in early nineteenth century • Poor agricultural output, famines, high taxes • Daimyo and samurai classes decline, peasants starving • Tokugawa government attempts reforms, 1841-1843 • Led by chief councilor to the shogun, Mizuno Tadakuni (1794-1851) • Cancelled daimyo and samurai debts • Abolished merchant guilds • Compelled peasants to return to cultivating rice • These reforms were ultimately ineffective

49. Foreign Pressure Europeans and Americans attempt to establish relations in 1840s; country is closed Japan only allowed Dutch presence in Nagasaki U.S. in particular was looking for a Far East Pacific ports for whalers and merchants In 1853 Commodore Matthew Perry sails gunships into Edo harbor (Tokyo) and forces Japanese to open port Perry’s black-hulled steam warship makes an impression Sparks conservative Japanese reaction against shogun, rally around emperor in Kyoto

50. Foreign Pressure Images of Perry and his ship