BLOG 9 : Chapter 19 - Empires in Collision
Sam Pastol
Chapter 19 has around 30 pages and is divided into 3 specific different parts: China, The Ottoman Empire and Japan. Our group focuses on The Ottoman Empire while the two other groups did on China and Japan.
CHINA
"China was among the countries that confronted an aggressive and industrializing West while maintaining its formal independence, unlike the colonized areas discussed in Chapter 18." (STRAYER pg.833) Population growth and environmental pressures are one of the reasons that wracked China: from about 100 million people in 1685 to some 340 million in 1853. The growing pressure on the land and the massive increase of the population led to unemployment, impoverishment and starvation. Additionally, "by 1942, little more than a century later, China's long-established imperial state has collapsed, and the country had been transformed from a central presence in the global economy to a weak and dependent participant in a European-dominated world system in which Great Britain was the major economic and political player." (pg.835)
"Furthermore, China famed centralized and bureaucratic state did not enlarge itself to keep pace with the growing population." (pg.836) That been said, the state was increasingly unable to effectively perform plenty of functions such as: tax collection, public security, flood control and even social welfare.
Other main points:
- gender roles
- equality for women
Finally, China's economy was disrupted and weakened cause by a massive civil war. Around 20 to 30 million lost lives. It was the most costly conflict in the world during the nineteenth century and it took more than a decade for China to recover from this devastation.
The Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire was a state controlled by the Southeast Europe, Western Asia & North Africa between the fourteenth and the early twentieth century. This Empire has long governed substantial parts of the Balkans and had posed a clear military and religious threat to Europe between the sixteenth and and seventeenth centuries. In addition, the Ottoman Empire was diminished as the changing balance of global power took hold; as a result they launched a "defensive modernization" which aimed to strengthen the country and keeping their independence.
"The Sick Man of Europe" is the general label given to describe a country going through a economic difficulty and crisis. The Ottoman Empire is basically "The Sick Man of Europe" and was the central political fixture of a widespread Islamic world.
The Ottoman Empire's own domains shrank considerably at the hands of Russian, British, Austrian and French aggression. In 1789, Napoleon's invasion of Egypt, which was part of The Ottoman Empire for long time, was a markable event. "When the French left, a virtually independent Egypt pursued a modernizing and empire - building program of its own during the early and mid-nineteenth century and on one occasion came close to toppling the Ottoman Empire itself." (STRAYER pg.845)
The central Ottoman state had weakened, particularly in its ability to raise necessary revenue, as provincial authorities and local warlords. The technological and military gap with the West which was clearly growing. There was many problems, although to those who supported the reforms placed, the Ottoman Empire was an inclusive state, all of those people were loyal to the dynasty that ruled it.
The Question asked by our group:
Q: What were the similarities between China & The Ottoman Empire in the begging of the twentieth century?
A: Both China and the Ottoman Empire gave rise to new nationalist conception of society, which were small but very significant for the future.
"It was an achievement that neither China nor the Ottoman Empire was able to duplicate." (pg.849) They were both proud and vibrant civilizations. Even though both were "semi colonies" within the "informal empires" of Europe, however they retained sufficient independence for their governments to launch some sort of defensive modernization. They both gave rise to a new nationalist conceptions of society.
In China, the collapse of the imperial system in 1912 was followed by a vast revolutionary upheaval that by 1949 led to a communist regime within largely the same territorial space as the old Empire." Additionally, by contrast, the collapse of The Ottoman Empire following World War I led to the creation of the new but much smaller nation - state of Turkey in the Anatolian heartland of the old empire, which lost its vast Aran and European provinces.
JAPAN
Japan confronted the aggressive power of the West during the nineteenth century. The country undertook a radical transformation of its society and is now today known for being a powerful, modern, united and industrialized nation.
For 250 years, Japan was govern by The Tokugawa Shogunate, also known as the Tokugawa Bakufu which was the last feudal Japanese military government that was present between 1603 and 1867. Interesting enough, Japan's Tokugawa period was probably the final era of traditional Japanese government, culture and society before its fall. There was some internal and external factors on the downfall of the Tokugawa Shogunate; the shotgun ruled over a quarter of Japan and the rest was to the daimyo or feudal lords. under the shotgun and the daimyo were samurai. "For one thing, the samurai, the in the absence of wars to fight, evolved into a salaried bureaucratic or administrative class amounting to 5 to 6 percent of the total population, but they were still fiercely devoted to their daimyo lords and to their warrior code of loyalty, honor and self-sacrifice." (STRAYER pg.852-853)
- Samurai status versus merchant wealth
- Increasing social instability
- Japan limiting its contract with the West to a single port. (Only the Dutch were allowed to trade.)
- Black ships
- In the end, the Japanese avoided war
Japan now had a government committed to a decisive break with the past, and it had acquitted that government without massive violence or destruction. The American Civil War and its aftermath likewise deflected U.S ambitions in the Pacific for a time, further reducing the Western pressure on Japan.
Finally, Japan was able to have some space which open up some opportunities for the better. Reforms were more revolutionary, transforming Japan far more throughly than even the most radical of the Ottoman efforts, let alone the limited "self-strengthening" policies of the Chinese.
Chapter 19 has around 30 pages and is divided into 3 specific different parts: China, The Ottoman Empire and Japan. Our group focuses on The Ottoman Empire while the two other groups did on China and Japan.
CHINA
"China was among the countries that confronted an aggressive and industrializing West while maintaining its formal independence, unlike the colonized areas discussed in Chapter 18." (STRAYER pg.833) Population growth and environmental pressures are one of the reasons that wracked China: from about 100 million people in 1685 to some 340 million in 1853. The growing pressure on the land and the massive increase of the population led to unemployment, impoverishment and starvation. Additionally, "by 1942, little more than a century later, China's long-established imperial state has collapsed, and the country had been transformed from a central presence in the global economy to a weak and dependent participant in a European-dominated world system in which Great Britain was the major economic and political player." (pg.835)
"Furthermore, China famed centralized and bureaucratic state did not enlarge itself to keep pace with the growing population." (pg.836) That been said, the state was increasingly unable to effectively perform plenty of functions such as: tax collection, public security, flood control and even social welfare.
Other main points:
- gender roles
- equality for women
Finally, China's economy was disrupted and weakened cause by a massive civil war. Around 20 to 30 million lost lives. It was the most costly conflict in the world during the nineteenth century and it took more than a decade for China to recover from this devastation.
The Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire was a state controlled by the Southeast Europe, Western Asia & North Africa between the fourteenth and the early twentieth century. This Empire has long governed substantial parts of the Balkans and had posed a clear military and religious threat to Europe between the sixteenth and and seventeenth centuries. In addition, the Ottoman Empire was diminished as the changing balance of global power took hold; as a result they launched a "defensive modernization" which aimed to strengthen the country and keeping their independence.
"The Sick Man of Europe" is the general label given to describe a country going through a economic difficulty and crisis. The Ottoman Empire is basically "The Sick Man of Europe" and was the central political fixture of a widespread Islamic world.
The Ottoman Empire's own domains shrank considerably at the hands of Russian, British, Austrian and French aggression. In 1789, Napoleon's invasion of Egypt, which was part of The Ottoman Empire for long time, was a markable event. "When the French left, a virtually independent Egypt pursued a modernizing and empire - building program of its own during the early and mid-nineteenth century and on one occasion came close to toppling the Ottoman Empire itself." (STRAYER pg.845)
The central Ottoman state had weakened, particularly in its ability to raise necessary revenue, as provincial authorities and local warlords. The technological and military gap with the West which was clearly growing. There was many problems, although to those who supported the reforms placed, the Ottoman Empire was an inclusive state, all of those people were loyal to the dynasty that ruled it.
The Question asked by our group:
Q: What were the similarities between China & The Ottoman Empire in the begging of the twentieth century?
A: Both China and the Ottoman Empire gave rise to new nationalist conception of society, which were small but very significant for the future.
"It was an achievement that neither China nor the Ottoman Empire was able to duplicate." (pg.849) They were both proud and vibrant civilizations. Even though both were "semi colonies" within the "informal empires" of Europe, however they retained sufficient independence for their governments to launch some sort of defensive modernization. They both gave rise to a new nationalist conceptions of society.
In China, the collapse of the imperial system in 1912 was followed by a vast revolutionary upheaval that by 1949 led to a communist regime within largely the same territorial space as the old Empire." Additionally, by contrast, the collapse of The Ottoman Empire following World War I led to the creation of the new but much smaller nation - state of Turkey in the Anatolian heartland of the old empire, which lost its vast Aran and European provinces.
JAPAN
Japan confronted the aggressive power of the West during the nineteenth century. The country undertook a radical transformation of its society and is now today known for being a powerful, modern, united and industrialized nation.
For 250 years, Japan was govern by The Tokugawa Shogunate, also known as the Tokugawa Bakufu which was the last feudal Japanese military government that was present between 1603 and 1867. Interesting enough, Japan's Tokugawa period was probably the final era of traditional Japanese government, culture and society before its fall. There was some internal and external factors on the downfall of the Tokugawa Shogunate; the shotgun ruled over a quarter of Japan and the rest was to the daimyo or feudal lords. under the shotgun and the daimyo were samurai. "For one thing, the samurai, the in the absence of wars to fight, evolved into a salaried bureaucratic or administrative class amounting to 5 to 6 percent of the total population, but they were still fiercely devoted to their daimyo lords and to their warrior code of loyalty, honor and self-sacrifice." (STRAYER pg.852-853)
- Samurai status versus merchant wealth
- Increasing social instability
- Japan limiting its contract with the West to a single port. (Only the Dutch were allowed to trade.)
- Black ships
- In the end, the Japanese avoided war
Japan now had a government committed to a decisive break with the past, and it had acquitted that government without massive violence or destruction. The American Civil War and its aftermath likewise deflected U.S ambitions in the Pacific for a time, further reducing the Western pressure on Japan.
Finally, Japan was able to have some space which open up some opportunities for the better. Reforms were more revolutionary, transforming Japan far more throughly than even the most radical of the Ottoman efforts, let alone the limited "self-strengthening" policies of the Chinese.
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