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Under the Qing/Manchu Dynasty (1644-1911),
the Chinese restricted foreign trade
In the 1800s, the British worked to develop
trade relations with the Chinese
There was great British demand for Chinese
silks and tea, but the Chinese weren’t really
interested in British products
British merchants began paying for Chinese
goods with opium grown in India
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The Chinese tried to get the British to stop
selling opium, but they refused
1839 – The Chinese government seized and
destroyed $6 million worth of opium from Brits
The Brits sent gunboats to Canton
(Guangzhou)
The British easily defeated the Chinese
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The British ruled Hong Kong (this lasted till
1997)
China agreed to open up trade to foreigners
China paid an indemnity for the opium
Brits in China received the rights of
extraterritoriality
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Brits and Chinese fought again after the
Chinese searched a Hong Kong ship called the
Arrow
The French joined this war on the side of the
Brits
Europeans forced the Chinese to sign the
Treaty of Tianjin—giving even more trade
concessions to the Europeans
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Anti-foreigner uprising led by group known as
the “Righteous Fists of Harmony”
Put down by a multi-national force
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The East India Company was formed in 1600
In the 1700s, they consolidated authority in
India
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Indian sepoys rebelled due to:
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Resentment over British rule and the imposition of
western culture
The use of rifle cartridges greased in animal fat
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May 1857 – regiments rebelled at Meerut,
murdering several British officers and their
families
They fled to Delhi and seized the city
Other uprisings emerged
Most were controlled, but the biggest conflicts
were at Agra, Cawnpore, and Lucknow
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Atrocities were committed on both sides,
resulting in lingering tensions
The rebels were defeated
The Army was reorganized with a greater
concentration of Brits
The EIC lost power and the British government
took over direct control of India through a
viceroy
Queen Victoria was later given title Empress of
India
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Settled by Dutch Calvinists known as Boers
1836 – In the Great Trek Boers moved inland
and established colonies: The Republic of
Transvaal and the Orange Free State
1881- Boers revolt at Majuba Hill
1895 – Cecil Rhodes encourages the Jameson
Raid, which fails
Oct. 1899- Boers attacked railway lines, laid
seige to Kimberley, Ladysmith, and Mafeking
 Dec. 1899 –
British losses
stunned the
public
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Mobile
Good at bushcraft
Had modern rifles
Had French and
German sympathizers
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Sent 295-400,000
troops
Spent 200 million
pounds
Army’s weaknesses
revealed
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1900 – Under Field Marshal Roberts and Chief
of Staff Lord Kitchener, the British began using
new tactics
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Boers respond with continued guerrilla warfare
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Brits destroy farms and place women and
children in concentration camps
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Boers asked for an armistice
They were forced to take an oath of loyalty to
the king
Treaty of Vereeniging - The British were
sovereign, but Boers had control of natives and
were given 3 million to rebuild farms
1906 – Transvaal and Orange Free States given
self-government
1910 – Union of South Africa created
Apartheid established