1. Chapter 27
Discussion and Review

2. Compare the situations of the Ottoman and Qing Empires in the nineteenth century and their responses to the European challenge.
The Ottoman empire
It was geographically close to Europe and fairly early began reforms designed to maintain an equilibrium with Europe.
Those reforms included financial and military modernization, standardizing taxation, control the provincial governors and eliminating the influence of religious elites from much of the state and the economy.
Janissaries were the most persistent opponent
Qing
Distant from Europe, both geographically and ideologically, the Qing Empire began reform efforts so late that even the central territories could not unite against European pressure.
The Russian state, which bordered both empires, was important in the fate of each.
Being on the eastern border of Russia, the Qing failed to see a connection between Russian expansion and European seaborne expansion to the southeast, and were consequently less prepared for the European challenge.

3. The Janissary revolt in Serbia taught Ottoman leaders that reform had to be more systematic. The Ottoman response was the Tanzimat Reforms. Describe those reforms, and evaluate their effectiveness.
The Tanzimat (restructuring) Reforms
guaranteed political rights that were similar in some ways to those in the Magna Carta but restricted to men and the public sphere.
The guarantees covered the right to public trials, equal protection under the law for all religious persuasions, equal eligibility of men for military service, education reform (preferred French text), and new tax collection methods, which eliminated the outdated tax farming system.
Effects of the reform on women
Decreased their status; seclusion of women symbolized Turkish nativism and Muslim tradition
Overall effect
Extraterritoriality was a practice of the Europeans which allowed them to live under their own laws within Ottoman cities; also enjoyed tax breaks on imports and establish banks
The Ottoman Empire thus became a leader in secular reforms within the Islamic world and developed a system that most nearly resembled a constitution. The reforms helped modernize the empire.

4. What were the causes of the Crimean War (1853-1856)?
Russia
Russia had been geographically pressuring the Ottoman Empire for several decades before the Crimean War and exploited the weakness of the Ottoman empire.
In 1805, It had undermined Ottoman control in Serbia by threatening to intervene
Russia also seemed poised to continue seizing Ottoman lands in the Balkans and Central Asia.
The tsars demanded recognition as the spiritual and political leaders of Orthodox Christians living in Ottoman territories.

5. Significance of the Crimean War
Ottoman Empire
Backed by promises of support from Britain and France, the Ottomans refused Russian demands and attempted to drive them from the region of present-day Romania.
Britain and France joined the Ottomans in an invasion of the Russian territory of Crimea.
Significance of the Crimean War
Marked the transition to modern warfare (trench warfare, machine guns, grenades, etc.)

6. The Qing, did not consider the British a serious threat.
Discuss the factors within China and among the Chinese people that explain the powerful British presence in China by 1842.
Causes for discontent
By the early nineteenth century, Qing society had become overburdened by enormous population growth, resulting in a failing agricultural base, a restless and urbanizing population, and a generally failing economy.
Britain
The Qing, did not consider the British a serious threat.
To the Qing, the British were geographically distant and uninterested in trade.
However the British were much more than mildly interested, especially in luxury items such as tea and silks.

7. Opium trade and war
The only item that the British could find to exchange was opium.
Although opium imports had long been banned by the Qing government, the ban was seldom enforced.
By 1839, opium imports and drug-related problems increased enormously, and the Qing decided to begin enforcing the ban.
The British considered enforcement a restraint on trade and an assault on British economic well-being.
Therefore, they sent their naval and marine forces (gun boats) to China, to attack Chinese coastal cities; Chinese forces, Bannermen, who fought with traditional weapons were no match
The Treaty of Nanking solidified British power by granting the British rights of residence in Chinese “treaty ports,” a low tariff on British imports, and Hong Kong became a British colony.

8. The Taiping Rebellion 1850-1864
What was the most obvious demonstration of the Chinese people’s dissatisfaction at midcentury? Explain the causes and results of that Nineteenth-century Qing China unrest.
The Taiping Rebellion
Beginning in the Guangxi region, the rebellion was sparked by an unstable agricultural base and a population that increasingly relied on odious labor, such as carrying human waste.
Influenced by Protestant Christianity, the Hakka (a minority group) led by Hong Xiuquan, a failed candidate in the examination system, saw himself as a younger brother of Jesus, destined to drive the Qing from China.
Hong gathered different ethnic and economic groups to fight against the Qing.
The movement was unique in its use of women in warrior brigades.
Other villages feared the rebellion’s mix of warrior women, totalitarian rule, and bizarre foreign ideology.
Taiping armies controlled the countryside and captured the city of Nanjing, where they barricaded themselves against imperial forces during a ten-year siege.

9. European Reactions to the Taiping rebellion
The Qing government was now heavily indebted to Britain and France, and these European powers feared that the Taipings might succeed in the war to overthrow the Qing empire.
At first they hesitated to attack the Taipings, because they understood the Taipings to be Christians.
However, they soon concluded that the Taipings were not true Christians.
When the Crimean War was ended in 1856, Britain and France were free to turn their attention to China.
They briefly attacked Qing port cities as punishment for Qing reluctance to fulfill the obligations of previous treaties, then threw themselves into the war against the Taipings, on the side of the Qing. By 1864 the Taiping Rebellion was suppressed.

10. Effects of Decentralization
How did Japan’s reaction to the Euro-American presence differ from the responses of other Eurasian nations?
Tokagawa Japan
Like other Eurasian nations, the Tokugawa shogunate was well established but suffered from a declining economy and agricultural base and from governmental corruption.
Japan closed its borders to foreigners and prohibited the Japanese travel abroad because of its inability to resist invasions
Like other nations, Japan also faced the shock of military and economic encounters with Europeans and Americans.
Effects of Decentralization
What made the Japanese reaction unique was the decentralized nature of the Tokugawa government, which prevented Japan from instituting reforms at the top.
Meiji Restoration
Contact with the West ultimately led to the disintegration of the Japanese political system and the Meiji Restoration.
Meiji Japan featured a revolutionary centralized and efficient national government and restored political power to the emperor.
It instituted reforms in education and promoted military and industrial expansion that would enable the Japanese to compete with Europeans and Americans in a very short span of time.

11. What were the immediate and the long-term results of the Tokugawa shogunate’s response to the threat of Euro-American invasions?
Problems in the Tokugawa
Like the Qing and Ottoman Empires, Tokugawa Japan tried to strengthen its finances and military.
However, because of the decentralized nature of Tokugawa government and the growing power of regional leaders estranged from Tokugawa favor and control, the Tokugawa government crumbled.
Transformation of Japan
When the shogunate agreed to sign an unequal treaty with the United States in 1858, many regional governors became opposed to the Tokugawa and began to plan the overthrow of the shogunate.
Under the leadership of the domains of Choshu and Satsuma, the rebel governors overthrew Tokugawa government, “restored” Emperor Mutsuhito, and created a strong central government, which completed the political, economic, and industrial transformation of Japan. Within decades, Japan became a world naval power.