Western Imperialism in Asia & the Pacific

1. Western Imperialism in Asia & the Pacific

2. Egypt • Broke away from Ottoman Empire under the guidance of Muhammad Ali (who is called “the father of modern Egypt”) • Began a program of modernization, reforming taxes, agriculture, and the military • Built Egypt’s into a major supplier of cotton to the British textile mills

3. The Suez Canal • Egypt borrowed money from Britain to build a canal across the Suez • This canal connected the Mediterranean and Red Seas, saving weeks of travel time for ships sailing from Europe to Asia • When Egypt failed to repay their loan, the British took direct control of the canal in 1875 • The British desire to protect the canal led them to establish a protectorate in Egypt which lasted in various forms until 1956

4. Persia (Iran) • With the collapse of the Safavid Empire, Persia (modern Iran) became independent • Persia began to industrialize and build railroads and telegraphs • Once oil was discovered, however, both Britain and Russia moved in and established spheres of influence in an effort to control that resource

5. India • Between early 1600s and mid-1800s, power in India slowly shifted from the Mughal Empire over to the British • British took advantage of Indian diversity by playing rival groups against each other • Where political intrigue didn’t work, the British used superior firepower

6. The Sepoy Rebellion • Britain required Indian soldiers (called sepoys) to serve in the British army • They armed the sepoys with rifles that used cartridges greased with animal fat • Beef fat was forbidden to Hindus • Pork fat was forbidden to Muslims • Since nearly all Indians were either Hindu or Muslim, they refused to use the cartridges • This, plus other religious insults, led the sepoys to revolt in 1857 • The British crushed the rebellion, and took more direct control of India than they had before

7. British Changes to India • Improved transportation & communications • Introduced western style of education and law • Worked to end slavery and caste system • Switched many Indian farmers over to cotton production • Outlawed “sati” – Hindu custom where the widow joins her husband in death by leaping into his funeral fire

8. Indian Attitudes • Some Indians, like Ram Mohan Roy, embraced westernization • learned English • sent sons to schools in England • cast off old Hindu traditions such as the caste system • Others wanted to retain Hindu or Muslim traditions • Still others promoted the idea that Hindus and Muslims work together to push the British out of India

9. China • During the late 1700s, British merchants began trading Indian opium for Chinese tea • Many Chinese developed an addiction to the powerful drug, generating huge profits for the British • China outlawed the drug, but Britain refused to stop importing it into China, so in 1839 China and England fought the “Opium War,” which China lost badly • China was forced to accept a peace treaty in 1842 which required them to pay Britain a huge amount of cash, surrender the island of Hong Kong, and open all of China to English trade

10. Chinese Opium Den

11. Chinese Unrest • The Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864): peasants demanding modernization revolted, resulting in about 25 million deaths • The Chinese royal court opposed any westernization, especially industrialization and the adoption of new technologies, because any social changes that might result would threaten their power • Despite this, some industrialization began to take place through private efforts in the 1860s

12. Spheres of Influence • After Japan beat China badly in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, Europeans powers took advantage of China’s weakness and moved in to establish “spheres of influence” to dominate trade in China • The US opposed this move by the Europeans and forced them to accept an “Open Door Policy” keeping China open to US merchants

13. The Boxer Rebellion • Anti-foreign sentiments amongst the Chinese finally erupted in violence • In 1899, the Boxer Rebellion began when a martial arts gang called the “Righteous Harmonious Fists”, began attacking foreigners throughout China • When the Chinese government could not control the situation, the Europeans, Americans, and Japanese worked together to put down the rebellion with military force

14. Chinese Westernization • After yet another embarrassment, China now raced to westernize: • began to emphasize math and science in schools • expanded mining, shipping, railroads, banking, and industry • sent many students out of the country to study new ideas and technologies

15. Chinese Democracy • After the collapse of the monarchy in 1911, China became a republic with Sun Yixian as its president • Sun promoted his “Three Principles of the People” • Nationalism: a China free of foreign influences • Democracy: a China with an elected government • Livelihood: economic security for all Chinese

16. Southeast Asia • Europeans colonized Southeast Asia • Dutch already controlled Indonesia and its valuable spices, coffee, indigo, & rubber resources • Britain annexed Burma (modern Myanmar) and Singapore • French seized Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia) • By 1890, European powers controlled almost all of Southeast Asia

17. Siam (Thailand) • Siam escaped being colonized thanks to the planning of their king Mongkut IV who had studied the West • His son, Chulalongkorn modernized the country and negotiated the continued independence of Siam as a neutral buffer state between the British and French colonies in Southeast Asia

18. Mongkut IV • Phrabat Somdet Phra Pormen Maha Mongkut, Phra Chom Klao Chaoyouhua • Embraced western traditions as a way to preserve Siam’s independence • The King immortalized in the stage musical / movie The King and I for his hiring of an English governess to raise his children

19. Chulalongkorn • 1853 – 1910 (life) • 1868 – 1910 (reign) • Trained himself in western ways, including traveling to Europe • Negotiated a treaty with Britain & France which ensured Siam’s freedom • Ended slavery, enacted freedom of religion • Had 77 children!

20. Japan • The Tokugawa shoguns had closed Japan to foreigners and banned foreign travel by Japanese citizens in 1600 • By 1800, however, many Japanese were unhappy due to the weak economy: • Daimyo (nobles) were cash-poor – their wealth was in land only • Samurai were unhappy because they had gone from being a warrior class to mere bureaucrats • Merchants, no matter how wealthy, held no power • Peasants were forced to pay heavy taxes

21. Japan Opens Up • In 1853, the U.S. Navy under Commodore Perry sailed a fleet of American warships into Tokyo Bay • U.S. demanded that Japan open itself to trade • Japan agreed to allow American ships access to Japanese ports because they knew they could not win a fight • Japan would hold a long resentment against the U.S. for the incident

22. The Meiji Restoration • In 1867, discontented daimyo and samurai revolted and overthrew the shogun in favor of the emperor (the emperor had been more of a symbolic ruler rather than holding any actual power) • Between 1867 and 1912, Japan experienced meiji(“enlightened rule”) under the emperor: • Increased Japan’s wealth and military strength • Studied and adapted western ways to Japan’s needs • Ultimate goal was to beat the west at its own game by creating a Japanese Empire in Asia and the Pacific

23. Political Changes in Japan • New constitution which made all citizens equal under the law • Emperor maintained autocratic rule but formed the Diet (legislature) with one elected house and one house appointed by the emperor to create laws • Set up a western-style bureaucracy with separate departments (like what we have in the U.S. today)

24. Economic Changes in Japan • Set up private banks • Built railroads & ports • Set up telegraph and postal systems • Government built factories and then sold them at a loss to jumpstart industrialization • Powerful banking & industrial families began to appear (called zaibatsu), such as the Kawasaki, Mitsubishi, and Nissan. • Japan’s industries flourished during the 1890s and Japan became a fully industrialized nation with all of the same benefits and drawbacks that were being experienced by Western Europe and the U.S.

25. Japanese Militarization • Japan decided to fight imperialism by becoming an imperialist nation itself • 1894: Sino-Japanese War won easily by Japan; took Taiwan from China • 1904: Russo-Japanese War also won easily by Japan; took control of Korea and Manchuria, areas desperately wanted by both China and Russia

26. The Philippines • In 1898, the US defeated Spain in the Spanish-American War, seizing control of the Philippines, ending nearly 400 years of Spanish rule • Rather than independence, however, Filipinos now found themselves part of the American empire until WWII

27. Australia & New Zealand • Discovered by Capt. James Cook in 1770 and claimed for the British • Both were used by the British as penal colonies (somewhere to exile convicts) and, later, for sheep ranching • The relatively small native populations were subjugated and white colonists moved onto the best land

28. Hawai’i • Had been an independent nation, ruled by a native monarch • First Americans arrived in 1819 (Christian missionaries) • Thousands of Americans soon flooded the islands to create sugar plantations, coming to dominate the islands’ economy and present a threat to the native monarchy • Americans forced a constitution on the Hawaiian king in 1887 which gave whites the vote & limited the monarch’s power

29. Queen Liliuokalani • 1838 – 1917 • Lydia Kamaka’eha Kaola Mali’i Lili’uokalani • Attempted to throw out the constitution when she took the throne and tried to extend suffrage to native Hawaiians and Asians • This angered Americans in Hawaii, and they overthrew the queen and had Hawai’i annexed to the U.S.