Civilizations in Crisis: The Ottoman Empire, Islamic Heartland and Qing China EQ: Why are these empires in crisis? How does European interference impact each empire?

Introduction The parts of Asia still resistant to European intrusion after 1750 suffered political decline and reactions to internal challenges (including Western Imperialism and lack of industrial capability) Qing China actually had growth and prosperity early on in this period and was able to repel European intrusions…it would not be until the late 19th C that China would collapse from within However, the Ottoman Empire was in full reverse mode as neighboring states picked apart their borders while some parts of their kingdoms sought independence…Ottoman rulers had little response for these issues, though some Western reforms held off total collapse in the 19th C

The Ottoman Retreat By the early 1700s, the Ottomans were in complete retreat…weak rulers and succession struggles opened the doors for power struggles regional governors (who colluded with each other to drain treasury funds), religious leaders, and Janissary commanders The Ottomans were dying economically as they attempted to install fledgling industry…competition from advanced western industry ruined local industry In the areas of territorial loss, Austria-Hungary and Russia had succeeded in capturing territory in the North, while Christians in the Balkans regions rebelled against the empire to form independent states (Greece in 1830 and Serbia in 1867)

Reforms/Revivals First, the Ottoman Empire survived as long as it did because other European empires feared the territorial gains by Austria-Hungary and Russia…Britain propped up the Ottoman Empire in the 19th C by inserting a naval presence in the eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea Internal reforms was key as well…Selim III made modest reforms in the bureaucracy and military (including a new army and navy) but angered many officials and the Janissaries who rebelled and killed him 20 years later, Mahmud II was much more successful…with the help of European advisers, he built a small professional army that finally drove the Janissaries out (The Auspicious Incident)…he then established a Western style bureaucracy with a westernized army and European advisors were imported into the empire to supervise these changes From 1839 to 1876 the Tanzimat reforms introduced westernization into all aspects of the Ottoman Empire (education, transportation, technology, media and finally a constitution)…the reforms did little to help the economy, as local artisan industries suffered from European competition…and women gained very little from westernization

Repression and Revolt The state was strengthened by these reforms…but the dynasty felt threatened by change…the reformers felt it was time for the sultan to be replaced as ruler Sultan Abdul Hamid responded to this threat upon his power by shifting to despotic absolutism (dictator)…he abolished the new constitution and restricted personal freedoms, though he continued educational, military and technological reforms A group known as the Young Turks (a.k.a. Ottoman Society for Union and Progress) were exiled and began plans to rebel against the sultan…in 1908 they succeed in his removal, the constitution and civil liberties were restored…a puppet sultan installed…but as the fringes of the empire became independent or absorbed by European imperialists, the Ottoman Empire slowly died…they tried to enter WWI in the hope of getting territory back but failed.

Crisis in Other Arab Lands Those territories which had broken away from the Ottoman Empire over time faced the problem of European intrusion Egypt, 1798…Napoleon had successfully defeated the Ottoman Mamluk vassals and took the Nile valley…Britain soon removed French presence and installed an Albanian Ottoman named Muhammad Ali (NO he didn’t “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee”) in 1811…he used European influence to reform local government and the local military, essentially freeing Egypt from further Ottoman control…Ali also attempted with limited success to reform Egypt’s economy (though Britain attempted to maintain a stranglehold on that aspect) To maintain security, Ali allied with landlords down the Nile into Sudan to control the peasants, but failed as they resisted his reform attempts and the peasants became even more impoverished…Egypt became open for intrusions by Europeans as a result of the disarray

European Intrusion and Resistance in Egypt Ali’s successors abandoned his reforms allowing the landlords to profit at the expense of the peasantry…Egypt became a single crop producer (cotton) and all revenues were spent on extravagant (Abbasid) style events and military campaigns to the south in Sudan…the government was in debt to Europeans Foreign investment built the Suez Canal, which was completed in 1869 (and later taken control of from Egypt as a “repayment” for debt) Muslim intellectuals and political activists looked for ways to protect Egypt from weak rule…al-Azhar U. became a meeting ground for these people…they called for JIHADS against foreign infidels…other thinkers stressed the need for western education and technology and blending it with traditional Muslim rational thinking and Quranic teachings In 1882, Ahmad Orabi led a revolt against the khedive (ruler) but failed as Britain intervened to protect the status quo…Britain then made Egypt a protectorate and set up puppet khedives controlled by British consuls Khedive Tewfik

JIHAD!!! Unfortunately, the British were drawn into Egypt’s conflict with Sudan…Egypt had only gained direct control over fertile lands around the Nile river in the region…Sudanic (savanna) nomads grew tired of Egyptian corruption and exploitation of local peoples The Muslims of N. Sudan backed Muhammad Achmad, a religious figure known as the Mahdi…he called for JIHAD!!! against Egypt and Britain…the Mahdists (followers) used guerrila tactics and won control over Sudan Soon after these early victories the Mahdi died, and was replaced by Khalifa Abdallahi…under his rule a strong central state was established with strict control by the Islamic right and continued to threaten European positions in the region…however, in 1896, the British under General Frederick Kitchener defeated Abdallahi at the Battle of Omdurman (The Four Feathers) As a result Egypt and the Sudan fell under the direct control of the British Empire, becoming dependent on British products and demands for raw materials…Islam and its political movements were weakened severely

China’s Last Dynasty: The Qing By 1644, the Manchu leader Nurhaci united all the tribes of the north to drive out Ming Chinese who were occupying lands north of the Great Wall in Manchuria…he adopted the ways of the Ming, creating a bureaucracy of elites who practiced traditional court ceremonies…even some Chinese took positions in his bureaucracy The Ming were weak and were removed from the throne in 1644…within the next 20 years, the Manchu seized power in China…they ruled an empire that would become comparable to China’s present day borders The Manchu retained the Ming political system even pardoned rebels as a show of good faith, but assumed a more direct role over choosing officials, choosing to keep some of the previous Ming officials but eliminated their tax exemptions…the examination system was also retained, yet very few Manchu actually pass to be in the bureaucracy…most members were NON-Manchu and were generally paired with Manchu officials

Qing Economy and Society Keeping the theme of Ming preservation alive, the Manchu kept the social hierarchy of their predecessors…long respected patriarchal and family patterns were retained and education emphasized those patterns…women remained subordinate and fixed in the household…daughters became less wanted than sons and female infanticide began during this era…lower class women (peasants) still worked the fields The Manchu did their best to reduce rural tax burdens and improve the agricultural infrastructure, but rapid population growth limited those attempts…local landlords increased their land holdings and widened the socio-economic gap between rich and poor The one sector the Manchu had the least control over was commercialism and foreign trade…by the 18th century, silver profits had grown over sales of tea, porcelains and silks to European traders…a new merchant class (once shunned remember in Chinese society) emerged from this exchange…the compradors set up trade entrepot in southern China (Canton {Guangzhou}, Macao, Hong Kong) specializing in dealing with European trade providing the first true Chinese link with the outside world since the 1430s

Internal Decay in Manchu China By the end of the 1700s, the Manchu were already beginning the long road to decline…the exam system had become riddled with cheating and nepotism (spoils)…the Chinese were back to using bureaucratic positions as ways of gaining influence in politics for specific families…the military weakened from loss of revenues…dikes on the Yellow River were left in disrepair, causing great floods that killed many Throughout the empire, peasants were migrating constantly to different areas to seek relief from the government’s failures…many fell victims to bandits on their journeys In the end, corrupt officials did little to address all issues, as population continued to rise, food became scarce.

The Opium Wars Meanwhile, the Manchu continued to regard Europeans as barbarians, and a confrontation emerged over the importation of opium from India into China…the British lacked silver to trade for goods, but they had opium, which was a popular drug in parts of China…as a result of increased opium trade, silver revenues declined and addictions exploded The Manchu government’s efforts to solve the issue failed until the 1830s when Lin Zexu (a local official) blockaded Canton and destroyed any opium shipments coming in…Britain demanded the Manchu government take action, proclaiming that Zexu’s actions violated free trade…they threatened the government with military force…all out war broke out in 1839 w/the Chinese being easily defeated The results were disastrous…China was forced to give concessions to Britain, including direct control of Hong Kong…other ports were then forced open to other Europeans who began to control them directly…Opium continued to poison Chinese society…Manchu officials were forced to accept foreign trade ministers at court

Rebellions and Failed Reforms As a reaction to European incursions and the failure of the Manchu government to prevent them, several rebellions broke out The Taiping Rebellion – Semi-Christian prophet Hong Xiuquan led his dissidents in protest of Manchu rule…they offered social reforms, land redistribution, and the liberation of women to the people…the Taiping even became rebellious against the greater Confucian civilization in China (big mistake!)…because they attacked the Confucian order and the scholar-gentry, they were defeated. The Sino-Japanese War – Japan took the opportunity to attack the Manchu in 1894-1895 in an attempt to gain their own imperial territory…the war caused China to lose direct control over Korea and Taiwan AND the populace to begin to lose faith in the Manchu government The Boxer Rebellion – The last days of the Manchu dynasty saw the Empress Dowager Cixi in power…her political faction crushed all further attempts at reform in Chinese society, attempting to stabilize direct imperial control once again over China w/some foreign intervention allowed to remain…unfortunately, members of her own family supported the oncoming Boxer Uprising which sought to “remove the foreign devils from China by force”…a faction known as the Order of Harmonious Righteous Fists (Boxers) used martial arts and mysticism against Christian missionaries and the Beijing government…eventually, a force of foreign nations (including Japan and the US) intervened and put down this rebellion

The Fall of the Qing By the end of the 1800s, the sons of the scholar-gentry and the compradors became involved in plts to overthrow the Manchu and create new government modeled on Western ideology The most prolific leader of this movement was Sun Yat-sen…though western educated, Sun and most of his adherents had become hostile to increased European intrusions into Chinese affairs…sporadic rebellions failed…young rebels cut of their queues (ponytails) in defiance of the Manchu order In 1911, student demonstrations, mutinies and uprisings by regional warlords (yes, those guys again) against Manchu provincial rulers caused the abdication of Pu Yi, the boy emperor of China in 1912 (The Last Emperor)

This week… Tuesday: Compare/Contrast exercise (individual) Wednesday: Change Analysis (groups) Thursday: Document Analysis (individual) + DBQ exercise! Friday: Test Chapter 26 and NOTES DUE

Change Analysis In groups, do a quick Change Analysis of Qing China… Beginning of Time Period = Pages 629-631 End of Time Period = 631-637 Some categories MAY NOT be well represented…BE SURE to IDENTIFY any specific CONTINUTIES during your group’s analysis We will discuss together at around 10:50