Modern Era!
1750-1900
A Map of Time
In 1793 the Chinese rejected the British requests for open trade. The British was offended by the seizure of their own property in opium, so they sent a large naval expedition to China to end the restrictive conditions under which they had long traded with that country. So they taught the Chinese a lesson about the virtue about free trade. To the Chinese, The Treaty of Nanjing, was represented to them as "unequal treaties."
China
First/ Second Opium War
The Opium War's, otherwise known as Anglo-Chinese Wars was fought between Britian, Ireland, and the Chinese. The first took place from 1838-1842, and the second one was from 1856-1860. the British east India company was making exchanges opium for tea in China. When Chinese obstruct this traffic Britian waged the opium war.18,000-20,000 died
Taiping uprising in China
This set much of the country aflame between 1850-1864; it ravaged 17 provinces and took the lives of 20 million lives. The taiping rebels captured the city of Nanjing in 1853 making it their capital. Eleven years later imperial forces retook the city effectively ending the uprising.
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion in China lasted from 1899-1901. Groups of peasants in northern China began to band together into a secret society called the Boxers. At first they wanted to destroy the Qing dynasty and they wanted to rid China of all foreign influence.They killed numerous Europeans and Chinese Christians and laid to siege to the foreign embassies in Beijing.
Napoleon invades Europe
The French wanted to strike Britian, so they ordered Napoleon Bonaparte to invade Egypt. By seizing Egypt, France hoped to cut off British communication with India,its most valuable holding. So the forces managed to sail past the British fleet to land in Egypt. Napoleon's forces won decisive battles against the Mamelukes.
Famine and rebellions in Japan(1830s)
The tenpo famine was a famine which affected Japan until the Edo period. It began 1833 and lasted until 1837. In this period of time many people starved to death with a cold year, extended snows which shortened growing season. There was also many devastating floods when the snow melted which also shortened food production.
Admiral Perry arrives in Japan(1853)
The United States sent Commodore Perry to demand humane treatment for castaways, the right of American vessels to refuel and buy provisions, and the opening of ports for trade. Perry presented his reluctant hosts, among other gifts, with a white flag for surrender should hostilities follow.
Meiji Restoration in Japan
This decisive turning point in Japan's history was known as Meiji restoration, for the country's new rulers claimed that they were restoring to power the young emperor, then a fifteen year-old boy whose throne name was Meiji. He was regarded as the most recent link in a chain of decent that traced the origins of the imperial family. His goal was to save Japan from foreign domination by a thorough transformation of Japanese society.
Sino-Japanese War(1894-1885)
The Sino-Japanese was a a conflict between Japan and China that marked the emergence of Japan as a major world power and demonstrated the weaknesses of the Chinese empire. The war grew out of conflict between the two countries for supremacy in Korea.
Russo-Japanese War(1904-1905)
This war was a military conflict in which a victorious Japan forced Russia to abandon its expansionist policy in the Far East,becoming the first Asian power in modern times to defeat a Eurpoean a Power. Through those victories Japan also gained colonial control of Taiwan and Korea.
Japan annexes Korea(1910)
Under the annexation treaty, the Korean emperor handed sovereign power over this country to the Japanese emperor "completely and forever." This Korea became a colony of Japan.
Tokugawa Japan
From perry's arrival Japan had been governed by a shogun(a military ruler) from the Tokugawa Japan. The chief task of this Tokugawa shogunate was to prevent the return of civil war among 260 rival feudal lords, known as Daimyo, each of whom had a cadre of armed retainers. With no national army, no uniform currency, and little central authority, Tokugawa was "pacified .... But not really unified."
Tanzimat Reforms in the Ottoman(1838-1876)
A reformist measure known as Tanzimat took shape as the Ottoman leadership sought to provide the economic, social, and legal underpinnings for a strong and newly recentralized state. Factories producing cloth,paper; modern mining operations; telegraphs and railroads were all new departures of a long process of modernization in the Ottoman Empire.
Young Turk takeover Ottoman
Opposition to this revived despotism soon surfaced among both military and civilian elites known as Young Turks. They advocated a militantly secular public life, and were committed to thorough-going modernization along European lines. Finally in 1908 a military coup allowed the Young Turks to exercise real power. They pushed for a radical secularization of schools, courts, and law codes.
Ethiopian defeat of Italy preserves Ethipoia's independence
The first Italo-Ethiopian War was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from 1895-1896. Ethiopia's military victory over Italy secured it the distinction of being the only African nation to resist European colonialism.
Chinese revolution; end of the Qing dynasty(1911)
The growing numbers of educated Chinese, including many in official elite positions, became highly disillusioned with the Qing dynasty, which was both foreign and ineffective in protecting China. People admired Western political practices that limited the authority and permitted wider circles of people to take part in public life. Then women were essential for a strong Chinese government, so Qin Jin dressed up like a man which the immensely powerful force of Chinese nationalism was born.
Commissioner Lin
Lin Zexu was the son of a rather poor but scholarly father, who never had an official position. Lin passed the highest level examination in 1811, in the process he gained a reputation as a strict official. Next thing he knew he was in the middle of the opium trade. He wanted the opium trade to stop because the emphasized the health hazards of the drug and demanded that everyone turn in their supplies of opium and the pipes used to smoke it.
"Sick man of Europe"
By the middle and end of the nineteenth century, the Ottoman Empire was no longer able to deal with Europe from a position of equality, let along superiority. Among the Great Powers of the West, it was now known as "sick man of Europe." The central Ottoman state had weakened in its ability to raise revenue, as provincial authorities ahd warlords gained power. This empire was growing weaker and poorer.
Young Ottomans
They favored a more European-style demographic, constitutional regime that could curtail the absolute power of the emperor. Only such a political system, they felt, could mobilize the energies of the country to overcome backwardness and preserve the state against European aggression.
Informal empires
Both China and the Ottoman Empire, recently centers of proud and vibrant civilizations, had experienced the consequences of a rapidly shifting balance of global power. Now they were within "informal empires" of Europe. Neither was able to create the industrial economies or strong states required to fend off European intrusion and restore their former status in the world.
Sultan Abd al-Hamid II
In 1876, the Young Ottomans experienced a short-lived victory when the Sultan Abd al-Hamid II accepted a constitution and elected parliament, but not for long. Under pressure of war with Russia, the Sultan soon suspended the reforms and reverted to an older style of despotic rule for the next thirty years.