The Fall of the Qing (Manchu) Dynasty

1. The Fall of the Qing (Manchu) Dynasty

2. China Attempts to Resist Foreign Influence During the Qing (Manchu) Dynasty: • Chinese had little interest in trading with western nations • Europeans desired: silk, porcelain, tea, spices • Chinese did not need or want to trade with Europeans

3. The Opium Trade • Britain looked to equalize trade by selling opium in China. • The British imported opium from India to China in exchange for silk. • Chinese silver was used to buy opium, and the Chinese government was fearful of a trade imbalance. • China demanded that opium sales stop, but the British did not comply. This led to the Opium Wars. Chinese receiving opium from Patna, British India

4. The Opium Wars • Chinese emperor asks Queen Victoria to stop the opium trade/unanswered • China destroys millions of dollars of opium • China no match for modern weaponry and equipment. • 1842 Sign the Treaty of Nanjing Opium dens, 1850

5. Treaty of Nanjing • China paid Britain’s war costs • Opened 5 ports to trade, Britain receives Hong Kong • Extraterritoriality – British accused of crimes in China are tried in a British court in Britan. • Sometimes called the 1st of the Unequal treaties • Western powers carved out spheres of influence (exclusive trading privileges)

6. The Opium Wars brought an end to the isolation of the ancient Chinese civilization and introduced far-reaching social, economic and cultural ideas to the Chinese.

7. Chinese peasants angry over poverty and corruption/natural disasters/loss of mandate of heaven • Destroyed Chinese economy • 20-30 million dead • Put down with the help of Westerners • Qing regain control, but greatly weakened

8. The Sino-Japanese War 1895 Japan defeats China in a battle for control of Korea

9. China has always looked down upon Japan as weak Fear of extinction after the defeat by Japan

10. Attempts at Reform • Tried to reform military, gender relations, education. • Attempted to change China, change the system and power of the Emperor. • Advisers argued for a constitutional monarchy. • Reforms lasted 100 days before his advisers were arrested and beheaded, and he was imprisoned in the Forbidden City gardens. Emperor Guang Xu

11. Empress Ci Xi • Blocked reforms • Rejected Western forms of government • Supported the Boxer Rebellion

12. 1900 – The Boxer Rebellion • The Fists of Righteous Harmony • “Death to the Foreign Devils” • Fighting to drive foreigners out of China • Increased nationalism The Boxer Rebellion challenged Western commercial and political influence in China. The Chinese, though great in number, could not stop the imperial forces.

13. The Western response to the Boxer Rebellion: • 20,000 troops • 8 nation army stayed in Beijing for over a year (Great Britain, Germany, Russia, France, the U.S., Japan, Italy and Austria). • First international coalition

14. Japan and the Boxer Rebellion • In 1900 Japan, Boxer Rebellion is a sign of China’s growing weakness. • Japanese are split over the thought of whether Japan has a responsibility to protect China against the West.

15. The Open Door Policy • …….without paying the price of military occupation. • With the open door policy, America becomes a great world power…….

16. China’s Era of Humiliation Beginning: Opium War End: 2008 Beijing Olympics