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Explore China's trade history & reforms in the face of Western imperialism: Opium War, Unequal Treaties, Self-Strengthening Movement, & Spheres of Influence.
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China and the New Imperialism World History 10/22/12
The Trade Issue • Before the 1800s, China placed strict limits on foreign traders. • European merchants were restricted to a small area in southern China. • China sold them silk, porcelain, and tea in exchange for gold and silver. • China enjoyed a trade surplus (exporting more than it imported). • Westerners had a trade deficit (buying more from the Chinese than they sold to them). • So why was China successful?
The Trade Issue • 1700s: Two developments were underway that would transform China’s relations with the western world. • China entered a period of decline. • Industrial Revolution created a need for expanded markets for European goods. Here we go again!! • The Ind. Rev. also gave the west superior military power. Uh-ho
The Opium War • British were making huge profits by trading opium grown in India for Chinese tea, which was popular in Britain. • Many Chinese became addicted to the drug. • Silver flowed out of China in payment for the drug, disrupting the economy of China. • Chinese government outlawed opium and executed Chinese drug dealers. • Called on Britain to stop the trade. • British refused, insisting on the right of free trade.
The Opium War • 1839: Chinese warships clashed with British merchants, triggering the Opium War. • British gunboats, equipped with the latest in firepower, bombarded Chinese coastal and river ports. • Chinese had outdated weapons and fighting methods. • Chinese were easily defeated.
Unequal Treaties (pg. 334) • 1842: Britain made China accept the Treaty of Nanjing. • Britain received a huge indemnity (payment for losses in the war). • British also gained the island of Hong Kong. • China had to open five parts to foreign trade and grant British citizens in China extraterritoriality (right to live under their own laws and be tried under their own courts).
Unequal Treaties (pg. 334) • Treaty was the first of a series of “unequal treaties” that forced China to make concessions to western powers. • During the mid-1800s, under pressure from the West, China agreed to open more ports to foreign trade. • Also had to allow Christian missionaries to preach in China.
Chinese Reform Efforts (pg 334) • 1800s: Educated Chinese were divided over the need to adopt western ways. • Some also disapproved of the ideas of western missionaries. • Also saw western technology as dangerous.
Self-Strengthening Movement (pg. 336) • 1800s: reformers launched the “self-strengthening movement.” • Imported western technology. Set up factories to make modern weapons. • Developed shipyards, railroads, mining, and light industry. • Translated western works on science, government, and the economy. • Movement made limited progress – limited government support.
War With Japan • Western powers and nearby Japan moved rapidly ahead. • Japan began to modernize after 1868. • Joined the western imperialists in the competition for a global empire. • 1894: Japanese pressure on China led to the Sino-Japanese War. • Ended in disaster for Japan. China gained the island of Taiwan.
Spheres of Influence • Defeat in the war with Japan revealed that China had a weakness. • Western powers moved swiftly to carve out spheres of influence along the Chinese coast. • Britain, France, Germany, and Russia gained territory in China. • United States did not take part in the carving up of China. • 1899: Called for a policy to keep Chinese trade open to everyone on an equal basis. • Imperial powers accepted the idea of an Open Door Policy.
Hundred Days of Reform • China, who had been defeated by Japan and humiliated by westerners, looked for a scapegoat. • Reformers blamed conservative official for not modernizing China. • Urged conservative leaders to modernize just as Japan had. • 1898: Emperor GuangXu (gwawng SHYOO) launched the Hundred Days of Reform.
Hundred Days of Reform, continued • New laws set out to modernize the civil service exams, streamline government, and encourage new industries. • Reforms affected schools, the military, and the bureaucracy. • Conservatives soon rallied against the reform effort.
