Eurasian Crossroads
Mr. Ermer
World History Honors
Miami Beach Senior High
Decline of the Ottoman Empire
• Internal and external pressures weaken the Ottoman Empire
• Ottoman military falls behind those of European powers
▫ Janissaries neglect training, turn to politics, stage coups
▫ Janissaries also neglect changes in military tactics and weaponry
• After Napoleon’s forces leave Egypt, Muhammad Ali rises to power
▫ Models Egyptian army on those of Europe, est. autonomy within empire
▫ Industrializes Egypt as cotton producer, British gain influence
• Trade through Ottoman Empire declines, only raw material exports
▫ European goods damage business of Ottoman artisans
▫ European visitors and investors exempt from Ottoman laws
• Government spending more than it makes, must reform bureaucracy
▫ Sultan Selim III attempts to modernize military, Janissaries revolt
 Eventually, Janissaries kill all members of royal family except one
 Mahmud II becomes Sultan (1808-1839)
Ottoman Attempts at Reform
• Mahmud II attempts to modernize the military
▫ Janissaries revolt, Mahmud has them massacred by new troops
▫ New military trained by Europeans, using European weapons, tactics
• Creation of new secondary schools teaching Western curricula
• Mahmud attempts to centralize control, taxes elites
▫ Ends military land grants, undermines the ulama
▫ Restructures government into European style ministries
▫ Builds industrial infrastructure to improve communication, transport
• Mahmud’s empire smaller, but more powerful than last hundred yrs
• Tanzimat: attempt to Europeanize Ottoman legal system
▫ Creates sharp divisions and protests within Ottoman society
• Coup places Abdul Hamid II as sultan in constitutional monarchy
▫ Suspends constitutions, rules as autocratic despot, expels liberals
• Young Turk rebellion overthrows rule of Abdul Hamid II
▫ Replace A.H. with Mehmed V Rashid as new sultan
▫ Young Turks institute many Enlightenment reforms, freedoms
▫ Turkification efforts alienate non-Turkish population, enflame tensions
The Russian Empire
• Russian and Ottoman empires similar in terms of economic and military reverses
through 1800
▫ Tsars embark on series of military, social, and industrial reforms
• Romanov tsars administer absolute authority over multiethnic empire with support of
Russian Orthodox Church and boyar nobles
▫ Serfdom seen as source of social stability, compulsory military service
• Russian Empire expands in multiple directions, Crimean War
▫ Interference in the Balkans seen as upsetting the balance in Europe
 Alliance of Britain, France, Sardinia, and Ottoman Empire fights Russia
 Allied force attacks Russian Black Sea fleet at Sevastopol, Crimea
 Russia unable to mobilize, ineffective in battle, severely defeated
• Tsar Alexander II frees serfs, compensates land owners
▫ Many serfs at economic disadvantage, granted few political rights
 Agricultural production rises little, social unrest continues (though less)
• Count Sergei Witte given authority to industrialize economy
▫ Railroads and factories built (Trans-Siberian Railway)
▫ Horrible working conditions, low wages, direct government control
• Protest and revolutionary activity increases, Tsarist repression follows
▫ Ethnic minorities in Eastern Europe rebel, Tsar issues orders of Russification
▫ Many Russian Jews migrate to other parts of Europe, United States
• Conflict with Japan over Manchuria results in destruction of the Russian navy
• Revolution of 1905 against oppression of Nicholas II, factory workers create soviets
Japan’s Empire of the Rising Sun
• Tokugawa Japan experiences economic hard times
▫ Samurai and Daimyo incur great debt to merchant class, gov’t cancels
debts, peasant unrest high, rebellions break out
▫ Tokugawa shogun’s conservative reforms ineffective, economy worsens
• Commodore Matthew C. Perry ports in Tokyo, opens Tokugawa Japan to
U.S. trade, Europeans follow
▫ Foreign influence causes more rebellion, Tokugawa shogun resigns
▫ Emperor Mutsuhito (Meiji) takes control of government
• The Meiji Restoration gives political power back to the emperor
▫ New government looks to remake Japan: “rich country, strong army”
▫ Hire European and American experts to modernize Japan
 Send Japanese scholars to study at Western universities
 Abolition of traditional society, land reform, new social structure est.
 Daimyo and Samurai forbidden from wearing of swords, top knot
 Modern Japanese national army established with American made weapons
▫ Agricultural taxes converted to fixed money taxes, creates gov. revenue
▫ Establishment of constitutional gov’t the Meiji’s “gift to his people”
 Gave considerable power to the emperor to affect government action, policy
• Within generation Japan creates a modern industrial economy, largest in
Asia
Decline of Qing China
• Qing Dynasty under attack by rebels and aggressive foreign powers
• The Opium War and Spheres of Influence
▫ Canton, cohong trading system brings minimal profits to Europeans
▫ British turn to trading opium for silver, silver for Chinese products
 British East India Co. uses Persian expertise to grow opium in India for trade
 Chinese become addicted to opium, demand and profits increase
 Opium trade weakens Chinese trade and society
 Lin Zexu destroys British opium, the British outraged, start war to reopen trade
▫ British hugely successful in war, China forced into Treaty of Nanjing
 Hong Kong given to Britain, British citizens enjoy extraterritoriality, five
coastal cities opened to European trade, Britain given “most favored” status
▫ China also loses wars with France and Japan, forcing uneven treaties
 Treaties create spheres of influence within China, weaken Qing
 United States Secretary of State John Hay negotiates “Open Door Policy”
Trouble In China
• Taiping Rebellion
▫ Radical rebellion that resented poor economy, Manchu rule
▫ Take control of Nanjing, establish a capital, Chinese army victorious
 New Chinese army made of Chinese soldiers, commanded by scholar-gentry
• Self-Strengthening Movement pushes pragmatic reforms
▫ Blends Chinese and Western learning
▫ Lays foundation for modern, industrial economy & military
 Empress Dowager Cixi diverts funds intended for navy to build marble barge
• Hundred Days Reforms (1898)
▫ Emperor Guangxu, influenced by scholars Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, launches
reforms to modernize China and establish a constitutional monarchy
▫ Hundred Days Reforms squashed by Cixi and allies, emperor imprisoned in the
Forbidden City, reformers executed
• The Boxer Rebellion
▫ Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists fight foreign influence with Cixi’s
support, attack foreigners and Christians, put down by alliance of Western powers
(Britain, France, Russia, Japan, Germany, and U.S.)
▫ Qing Dynasty loses almost all support in China, rebellions erupt
• 1908: Cixi dies, but not before appointing 2 year old Puyi as emperor
▫ Puyi abdicated throne in 1912 after Civil War breaks out in 1911
Chapter 20 Assessment
• On page 406, write and answer questions 1-10