C 31: Societies at the Crossroads: Ottoman Empire, Russia, Japan and China

Issues that they share• military weaknesses• vulnerable to foreigners who couldoften force their way in• propose reform modeledon the West (education, responsive govt, Written constitutions, limit powerof rulers, guarantees of equality)•Suffered from internal pressures(population/ declining crop production/Falling income )

Issues where they differ• Ottoman Empire, RussiaChina = elite rulers did not embrace or support reform• Japan = Tokugawa Shogunate fell, emperor wasrestored, reform is thoroughand embraced industrialization

Territorial Losses of the Ottoman Empire (1800-1914)

MuhammadAli (r. 1805-1848)

Why “The Crossroads”?

Geography

Religion

Geographically diverse- for centuries controlled trade routes from East to West_____________________________IslamSome resistance to reform by conservative clerics/ internal conflict (Christians, Muslims, Jews) ______________________________Turkish made the official language even With Arabic and Slavic speakersSee Tanzimat Era/ Young Turks___________________________ Territorial Losses from Russia, the BalkansLoss of Egypt (Muhammad Ali) 1820, Greece 1830, Serbia 1867Semi-independent war lords are a problemCorrupt leadership/ private armiesMilitary weak/ technologically weakInternal conflict ethnic/ nationalist groups= REVOLT then Authority under

Sultan Mahmud II(1808-1839)(however undermined authority of the ulamaTanzimat Era: 1839-1876 (conservative critics)Reform accelerated, restructuring of militaryBased on European models, attacked Ottoman sharia laws educational reform, centralized

Achievements

Political

Societies at the Crossroads: The Ottoman Empire 1750-1914

EconomicIncreased economic pressure from EuropeLoss of control (and revenue) from trade due to shifting focus on Atlantic tradeReluctance to embrace modern technologyLed to fiscal insolvency, economic dependence, foreign loans (high interest)1882 CAPITULATIONS = humiliatingDeprived Ottomans of income (GB didn’t have to pay taxes)Extraterritoriality imposed________YOUNG TURKS: 1889-1908(Social and Political)(Parisian Exiles): Universal suffrageEquality before the law, Freedom of religionemancipationFree public education, Nationalistic (Turkish independence within empire=Arab resistanceunited in mistrust of Europe1908: Inspired an Army CoupMehmed V Rashid (r. 1909-1918) puppet sultan

DECLINE: continued to lose wars, subject peoples wanted autonomy, survived b/c Europe didn’t know how to divide empire w/oUpsetting their own balance of power

Social

Societies at the Crossroads: The Ottoman Empire 1750-1914

The Crimean Wars: 1854-1856

Sultan AbdulHamid II1876-1901

The Young Turks1889-1908

TanzimatReforms1839-1876

Sultan Mahmud II1808-1839

Proclamation for the Ottoman Empire (Young Turks 1908)

1. The basis for the Constitution will be respect for the predominance of the national will.  One of the consequences of this principle will be to require without delay the responsibility of the minister before the Chamber, and, consequently, to consider the minister as having resigned, when he does not have a majority of the votes of the Chamber.

2. Provided that the number of senators does not exceed one-third the number of deputies, the Senate will be named as follows: one-third by the Sultan and two-thirds by the nation, and the term of senators will be of limited duration………

7. The Turkish tongue will remain the official state language.  Official correspondence and discussion will take place in Turkish………

9. Every citizen will enjoy complete liberty and equality, regardless of nationality or religion, and be submitted to the same obligations.  All Ottomans, being equal before the law as regards rights and duties relative to the State, are eligible for government posts, according to their individual capacity and their education.  Non-Muslims will be equally liable to the military law.

The Russian Empire 1801-1914Why “The Crossroads”?

Peter I the Great (r. 1682-1725)

Catherine II the Great (r. 1762-1796)

Alexander I (r. 1801-1825)

Nicholas I (r. 1825-1855)

Alexander II (r. 1855-1881)Sergei Witte

Nicholas II (r. 1894-1917)

Geography

Religion

Extremely geographically diverse_______Russian Orthodox Christianity (1/2)Judaism (pogroms)Extreme multi-culturalism_____________________________IndustrializationSergei Witte (Trans- Siberian Railroad)(however peasant discontent: low wages, long hrs, uprooted from agrarian lifestyle)__________________________ Romanov tsars ruled as autocrats w/ support of church and nobilityRussian military (although backward) expanded empire to E, S and SW(threat to Ottoman Empire upset European balance of power = Crimean War (1853-1856)= Russian LOSS)Tsars attempt to censor intelligenisa (radicals/socialists) (latter 20th C)Nationalism gains support (Baltics, Poland, Ukraine, Georgia, central Asia)= tsarist threatREFORM under Alexander II (regional assemblies: zemstovs) but subordinate to tsar/1876 terrorists arm of an anarchist group assassinated Alexander II (no more reform)

Achievements

Political

Societies at the Crossroads: The Russian Empire 1750-1914

Economic

Tsar Nicholas II (1894-1917): further police control, further expansion into Manchuria/Korea = Russo-Japanese War 1905 (Japan destroys Russian navy)

Tsars agree to some political concessions = The Duma (national legislature) by October 1905 (failed for now- lacked authority)______________________________Industrialization with a fundamental agrarian economy (motivation different than in WEST: Why??)Key to modern success = emancipation of the serfs (WHY?)Tsar Alexander II (1855-1881) abolished serfdom (landowners compensated for their loss BUT freed serfs not happy: WHY?)______________________________Military defeats (Crimean War, Russo-Japanese War 1905) Russification: attacks on ethnic minoritiesled to riots:Bloody Sunday (January 1905 march on Winter Palace)Social discontent leads to October 1905 Revolution

Social

Societies at the Crossroads: The Russian Empire 1750-1914

Political

Bloody Sunday 1905:Soldiers shot into the crowd

Civilian Deaths=96-4000

Strike for fair pay, Suffrage, shorterWork day

But……

China and Japan: 19th century PressuresWhy “The Crossroads”?

CHINA: Opium Wars and Unequal Treaties 1838-1842

Since 1759: European tradeLimited to port of Guangzhou

Foreign merchants forced to deal with Chinese firms called cohongs: ONLYtrade in silver buillon

40,000 chests of opium a year shipped to China by 1838Commissioner Lin Zexu rejected by Queen VictoriaLin Zexu confiscated and destroyed 20,000 chests of opium

Forced to grant extraterritoriality statusUNEQUAL TREATIES/ Spheres of Influence

WAR!

Unequal Treaties

According to the 1842 Treaty of Nanjing, the Chinese were to:

• Reimburse Britain for costs incurred fighting the Chinese

• Open several ports to British trade • Provide Britain with complete control of Hong Kong • Grant extraterritoriality to British citizens living in

China REACTION?

Taiping Rebellion 1850-1864

Opposed the Manchus: wanted

radicalSocial change, no footbinding, no

private property, free public ed, no concubinage(men and women

equal)20-30 million lives

lostMassive decline in

economy/ food

1885 France took Vietnam

1895 Japan forced Korean independence

1898 Spheres of Influence

China:

The Boxer Rebellion 1899-1900

Society of Righteous and Harmonious FistsChinese Empress Dowager Cixi

University of Pennsylvania49 lb flawless crystal sphere-second largest in the world

Geography

Religion

Extremely geographically diverse_______

unequal treaties allowed Christian missionaries ______________________________

__________________________

Qing Dynasty (Manchus) 1644-1911British introduced opium to end cohong systemOpium War (1839-1842)- Chinese easily defeatedunequal treatiesTreaty of Nanjing 1842lost tribute states of Vietnam, Burma, Korea, Taiwan

Achievements

Political

Societies at the Crossroads: China 1750-1914

Economic

1896 Spheres of Influence1899-1900 Boxer Rebellion (Empress Dowager Cixi supported militia against foreigners)1900- Chinese leaders no longer in control of economy 1912- collapse of the Qing Dynasty _____________________________BEFORE: tight control of foreign trade/ foreign contact/ cohong systemagrarian/ little demand for foreign goodsAFTER: unequal treatiesultimately severe economic decline (eating grass, human flesh)"Self Strengthening" Movement (1860-1895) failed_____________________________

popular uprisings 1850-1860sTaiping Rebellion defeated by Qing and foreign troops (1864)government slaughtered 100,000 TaipingsHundred Days reforms 1898

Social

Societies at the Crossroads: China 1750-1914

Political

Deshima, known as Dejima in Japanese, was a small artificial island in Nagasaki Bay (approximately 150 feet by 500 feet) on the southwestern Japanese island of Kyushu. From 1641 to 1845, Deshima served as the sole conduit of trade between Europe and Japan, and during the period of self-imposed Japanese seclusion (approximately 1639-1854) was Japan's only major link to the European world.

ClosedCountry Edicts 1635 and 1639

Why “The Crossroads”For JAPAN?

JAPAN: Commodore Perry 1853 and Unequal Treaties

Meiji Restoration 1868 ended Tokugawa Shogunate

European style militaryModernized the infrastructure

New public health measures/ population increase

1872 Mass public education system1890s Massive industrialization (zaibatsu)

Supported consumer culture/ department stores

History of feudalism may have helped them understand the military aspects of the Western

challenge/ created group loyalties

Japan had a history of successful imitation and China did not.

Treaty of Kanagawa: March 31, 1854

1. Peace and friendship between the United States and Japan.

2. Opening of two ports to American ships at Shimoda and Hakodate

3. Help for any American ships wrecked on the Japanese coast and

protection for shipwrecked persons

4. Permission for American ships to buy supplies, coal, water,

and other necessary provisions in Japanese ports.

Geography

Religion

isolationExtremely geographically diverse_______

Shintoism/ Neo-Confucianism/ Buddhismunequal treaties allowed Christian missionaries ______________________________universal education (primary and secondary)

competitive universities__________________________ Tokugawa shogunate failing to end crisisforeign pressure to reverse closed door policy1840s bakufu plan to attack foreign interests1853 Commodore Matthew Perryunequal treaties = humiliation = end of Tokugawa rule1868 Meiji Restoration = end to military ruleconstitutional government 1889 (parliament, Diet, political parties) Emperor still theoretically in charge)

daimyo and samurai lose power

government supported industrial growth/ outlawed unions and labor reform

Achievements

Political

Societies at the Crossroads: Japan 1750-1914

Economic

political stability linked to industrial growth defeated China 1895, Russia 1904

____________________________tax system reorganized (grain taxes to fixed money)industry: govt take over of industry to modernize it- then sold some to private investors (zaibatsu) railroads, telegraphs, steamships, postal systems, banking systems, munitions production)

1899 unequal treaties ended- no limits on Japanese in trade either___________________________peasant class suffer under tax burdenuprisings quickly suppressedConfucian social order dismantled

Almost all Japanese became legally equal as commoners- still female infanticide

Social

Societies at the Crossroads: Japan 1750-1914

Political