Chapter 1: The fall of the Qing, Warlordism and Chaos 1900-34 Flashcards
(61 cards)
What are the dates of the Qing dynasty
1644-1911
what was the place of origin of the qing dynasty?
Manchuria- outside of china
Who mainly ruled the country?
the Manchus- this fueled resentment towards them as 90% of the population were the Han
What were some of the strengths of the Manchu culture?
-self sufficient
-culture- saw themselves as superior to the world
-confucianism- made people obedient to rulers and class system (status quo
-Emperor had all the power
What were some of the weakneses of the Manchu culture?
seen as being foreign
Who were the mandarins
scholars trained in the subtleties of confucian learning. they were the social and political elite.
What were the internal weaknesses of the Qing dynasty?
-seen as being foreign
-large peasant class (poverty)
-qing government had not expanded enough to run china
-weak army
-drug addiction
-tax collection became more difficult
-size of peasant population doubled
Foreign threats towards the qing
-Humiliation by foreign powers who aimed to extend their power and wealth in china- opium wars
-britain gained great wealth due to victory in opium wars (1839, 1856
-Japan had defeated China in war in 1894
-France sized territory in the south
what was the domestic rebellion called during the Qing dynasty? dates?
1950-1864 Taiping rebellion
What happened during the first opium war?
-early 1800s- britain smuggle opium to china to get silver back due to a silver drain from its economy
-By 1820s millions were addicted
-By 1830s China ried to stop the opium trade
-1839- crackdown on opium in , seizes and destroys British opium → triggers the First Opium War
1882: China loses and signs the Treaty of Nanjing — pays a large silver indemnity to Britain.
what happened during second opium war
1856–1860: Second Opium War follows further trade disputes and ends with more Chinese silver payments and more ports opened to the West.
What were the consequences of opium wars
-emphasised how weak the chinese were against Britain
-china was open to foreign trade- china loses money and doesnt get anything in return- foreign influences in technology, religion and law
Why were the Qing failing to rule china effectively?
-sino-centric- china-focuses, hermit country
-mandarin system: system of government and hierarchy, selective about rules and changes
-Military weakness: Outdated weapons and strategies couldn’t match Western firepower during the Opium Wars.
what was the boxer rebellion
an attack on westerners that broke out in 1899 in Shandong northern China. The uprising spread to three of Chinas north-eastern provinces by 1900
Factors that led to boxer rebellion
-in 1898 Emperor Guangxu tried to modernise the government and end its policy of making concessions to foreigners- this was opposed by his aunt empress dowager cixi. reforms were ended
-the chinese hatred of ‘foreign devils’ included hatred of their religion as well as fear of their technology, especially railways and telegraph wires- fueled attcks on foreigners
-Cixi encouraged attacks on foreigners to avoid criticism of imperial rule
Events of the boxers rebellion
-By late 1890s a chinese secret group, (boxers) carried out attcks on foreigners and chinese christians
-These boxers were mostly peasants who had suffered from natural disasters like famine and flooding and believed the concessions made their lives harder
-the attacks began in shandong then heibei, shanxi and henan in north east china
-burning of churces and schools and mrder of foreign and chinese christians
-german ambassador shot in beijing- the western population went to british legation which was surrounded by boxers for 55 days in a siege
-westerners raised an international force which broke the seige
-boxers were executed
impacts of the boxer rebellion
-as a result of the violence, 67 million pounds went to european coalition
-china was forbidden from importing firearms
-destruction of military
-long term: 1911 revolution + fall of Qing
-officials executed
-More foreigners, influence
-CIxi brings in a series of reforms
what were Cixis reforms - 1902-11
-1909- introduction of provincial assemblies with a limited right to vote- only some can vote
-1908-the establishment of new army under Manchu control
-1910-11- establishment of a national consultative council to be a cabinet with responsibility to advise govt.
-1902- abolition of footbinding
-1905- reform of the civil service- removal of the traditional examination that had led to a mandarin domination of the civil service
-nationalisation of railways to provide greater control by Qing govt.
-educational reforms with the establishment of new naval and military academies and the introduction of scholarships for ppl to study abroad
what did cixis 1902-1911 reforms actually do overall?
negative impact on the Qing keeping power as almost all of them led to new ideas being brought in
What were the short term causes of the 1911 revolution
-weak govt.- in nov. 1908, emperor guangxu and cixi died. The new emperor was puyi who was just 2 years old. Prince chun who ruled as regent was inexperienced
-failure of the political reforms- reforms introduced in 1909-11 were too little and too late.
-Consequences of the army reform-
was expensive thus led to increase in tax ( on wine, tea, salt, land) on top of taxes that had to be paid for boxer uprising.
Prince chun dismissed general yuan shikai because he was too powerful- vengeful yuan and enemy to the regime
-revolutionary ideas
sun yat sen who had been educated in the west brought ideas of nationalism and republicanism and said that qing had to be overthrown for china to modernise- popular views
- resentment over the control of chinas railways
anger over increased provincial control of manchus increased when the QIng paid for the expansion of railways by borrowing money from western powers, granting further concessions to foreign companies.
who supported the boxers
Cixi who declared war on the foreigners. later cixi and guangxu fled to xian after the rebellion
long term causes of the 1911 revolution
-conflict between cixi and guangxu
-foreign powers infiltrating china
-taiping rebellion- costly, 15 years of fighting, taxes higher
-the manchus perceived as foreigners so resented
what happened in taiping rebellion?
A massive civil war in China led by Hong Xiuquan, who claimed to be Jesus’ brother.
Aimed to overthrow the Qing Dynasty
Millions joined, especially poor peasants.
Caused over 20 million deaths, making it one of the deadliest conflicts in history.
Qing, with help from Western powers, crushed the rebellion after 14 years.
events of the 1911 revolution
Back (Bullet Points):
9 October 1911: Accidental bomb explosion by young revolutionaries in Hankou.
This triggered a wider revolt against the Qing government.
10 October (Double Tenth): Soldiers in Wuhan mutinied.
Mutiny spread to other provinces — all but three south of Beijing joined the revolt.
Provinces declared independence from Qing control.
Han soldiers revolted against Manchu rule and massacred Manchu troops.
Rebels lacked leadership until Yuan Shikai, a former general, was found.
Yuan had been dismissed in 1909 and sought revenge.
He was sent to suppress the revolt but joined the rebels instead.
Yuan then returned to Beijing to form a Han government.
