Deck 20: E: Empires in Collision Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia 1800-1914

Question 1

Compare and contrast the programs of defensive modernization implemented by China,the Ottoman Empire,and Japan in the nineteenth century.

Answer 1

•A discussion of China should explain the self-strengthening movement,the Hundred Days of Reform,and the policies implemented in the last decade of the Qing dynasty.
•A discussion of the ottoman Empire should explain the Tanzimat reforms,the reforms proposed by the Young ottomans and the Young Turks,and the rationale of Islamic modernism.
•A discussion of Japan should explain the reforms implemented after the Meiji restoration,with emphasis on the industrialization of the country.
•The following similarities in the reforms should be noted:
oThe selective borrowing of Western science and technology
oThe attempt to establish the infrastructure for industrialization (railroads,factories,telegraphs,steamships,mining,postal service)
oThe establishment of schools with a new curriculum based on Western educational models
•A discussion of the differences should highlight the conservative nature of Chinese and ottoman reforms in comparison to Japanese reforms.

Question 2

Compare and contrast the responses to Western culture in China,the Ottoman Empire,and Japan in the nineteenth century.

Answer 2

•Japan's initial embrace of all things Western should be contrasted with the more cautious borrowing from the West in China and the ottoman Empire as well as Japan's more selective adoption of Western culture in the late nineteenth century.
•All three countries accepted Western science and technology and consulted Western models of industrialization.
•All three favored the constitutional forms of government of the West,but interpreted political ideals differently and adapted them to suit their needs.For instance,Japan's constitution was modeled on the German constitution,but the emperor was placed above the constitution.
•As an increasingly Westernized elite emerged in all three countries,Western-style dress,houses,and so on,became more common.
•Reference should be made to the various reforms implemented by all three countries that show adoption of Western technology,ideas,and values.

Question 3

What factors contributed to the collapse of the Qing dynasty and the Ottoman Empire,and what factors contributed to the rise of Japan as a new colonial power?

Answer 3

•Although all three countries faced pressure from Western imperialism,Japan enjoyed several advantages that enabled it to industrialize rapidly.
oThe leadership that emerged after the Meiji restoration voluntarily surrendered their privileges,although they found new positions of power in the new government.
oThe political transition from the Tokugawa to the Meiji came without massive violence or destruction.
oChina's defeat in the opium War was a lesson for Japan,which realized that resistance would be futile.
oWestern powers were less interested in Japan,so Western pressure was not as keen as it was in China or the ottoman Empire.
oThe Civil War distracted the United States,and Japan was left alone to implement its reforms without the constant threat of foreign invasion.
oJapan's long tradition of cultural borrowing made it easier to borrow from Western culture.
oSocioeconomic changes in the Tokugawa era that created a commercialized economy and urban society provided a solid foundation for industrialization in the late nineteenth century.
•China's rapid population growth created internal problems not experienced by Japan or the ottoman Empire.
•The Chinese regarded the Manchu rulers of the Qing dynasty as foreigners.In the ottoman Empire and Japan,the rulers and the ruled (in the core regions in the case of the ottoman Empire)were ethnically similar.
•Although all three countries experienced internal rebellions,the ones in China were more frequent and devastating,and broke out in the heartland of the empire.The rebellions in the ottoman Empire occurred in the periphery of the empire.