China and Japan

Deirdre, Reagan, Ryan, Nik, Alex, and Sean

China

Weakness of the Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1911)

• Sino-centric philosophy, inability of ruling class to modernize to keep up with rival powers

• No access to outside world, population felt no nationalism

• Isolationist policy/lack of trade increased poverty and hurt foreign relations

• Population explosion brought need for recourses, reforms, and modernization, Qing refused to address the needs of the people

http://www.history-of-china.com/qing-dynasty/

Weakness of the Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1911)

• British led opium trade lead to inflation and unease of peasants due to addiction

• Boxer Rebellion reparations paid to foreign powers, who carved up and divided China

• Lost Korea and Taiwan, proving ruling dynasty incapable of protecting territories

• Sun Yat-sen led Republican Revolution in 1911, creating central government, and emphasizing nationalism, democracy, and livelihood

Sun Yat-sen http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/10/13/china-reflecting-on-100-years-since-the-xinhai-revolution/

Background to the Opium War

• China utilized isolationist policy prior to 1830

• British companies bought huge amounts of opium to smuggle into China

• 90% of male population under 40 along the coast was addicted

• 3,540,450 pounds of opium imported to China in 1832

First Opium War

• Chinese officials arrested Western merchants and confiscated huge amount of opium

• 1840 - Britain invades China

• By 1841 Britain easily won against technological inferior China

• 1842 - China forced to sign Treaty of Nanking

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Destroying_Chinese_war_junks,_by_E._Duncan_(1843).jpg

Second Opium War

• 1857 - Great Britain, USA, France, Russia invaded China for trivial matter

• 1858 - crushed China into signing Treaty of Tientsin, which China did not ratify

• 1860 - Anglo-French invades China again, forces China to sign Treaty of Peking

Open Door Policy

• 1899 & 1900• All nations allowed equal access

to open trading ports• Only Chinese government

allowed to collect taxes on trade• No great power exempt from

paying harbor dues or railroad charges

• Scramble for spheres of influence after 1st Sino-Japanese Ware (1894-1895)

Open Door Policy

• American interested in Chinese market for cheap cotton goods

• U.S. late to imperialistic growth in China

• All nations except Japan acknowledged the importance of keeping China’s territorial and administrative integrity

• Re-circulated notes again in 1900• Overall led to Manchurian crisis of

1931 and war between China and Japan in 1937

Boxer Rebellion

• Anti-foreigner uprising in Qing, China• Lasted between Nov. 1899 and Sept.1901• Ended with the signing of the Boxer

Protocol, which mandated the execution of several high-ranking Boxer officials

• Occurred under Empress Tsu Hsi of the Ch'ing Dynasty's rule

• Reasons include exploitation of natural resources and the splitting of China through the powers of many foreign countries

 

The Boxers

• AKA "Fists of Righteous Harmony," a secret society with thousands of followers

• Wanted to rid China of all foreign countries, especially Western nations

• Killed thousands of foreigners and surrounded foreigner compound for 2 months until international forces got involved

             

Japan

The Meiji Restoration (1868)

• 1800s - Japan was ruled by the Tokugawa Shogun

• European treaties limited Japan economically

• 1868 - Emperor of Japan was restored to power

• Resulting social and economic reforms became known as the Meiji Restoration

http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/meiji.htm

The Meiji Emperor

The Meiji Restoration (1868)

• Samurai privileges were revoked

• Utilized the zaibatsu system• Established a national army

and national education• 1899 - the government

created a new constitution

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai

Samurai

Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895)

• Japan is a major, expanding, and industrializing nation

• China and Japan fight for influence in Korea

• Tonghak rebellion in Korea leads to Chinese troop intervention-war is declared

• Japan successfully invades vital provinces and fortifications

• Treaty of Shimonseeki ends conflict

• China goes through reform movement as a result

http://www.cityofart.net/bship/sino-jap.html

Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)• Russia vs. Japan rivalry in Korea and Manchuria

• Japan is greater than Russia in terms of ground troops in far East

• Feb. 8, 1904-Japanese fleet sieges Port Arthur • Russia has poor leadership• Japan’s victorious in the Battle of Mukden(land)

and Battle of Tsushima(sea)• Russia loses-Theodore Roosevelt=mediator at

Treaty of Portsmouth • Results: Japan gains land,

Russia gives up land, and creates constitutional charter

Citations

• www.afe.easia.columbia.edu• http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/meiji.html• http://www.victorianweb.org/history/empire/opiumwars/

opiumwars1.html• www.u-s-history.com• www.britannica.com• www.smplanet.com/imperialism/fists.html• www.militaryhistory.about.com/od/battleswars1900s/p/boxer

eb.htm• www.asianhistory.about.com/od/glossaryae/g/

GlosBoxerRebell.htm • www.larevuetoudi.org/en/story/quing-dynasty