AP World History (Povletich) CHAPTER 32 OUTLINE Societies at Crossroads BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE: The dramatic economic expansion of Western Europe and the United States in the nineteenth century was not matched by the older empires of Asia. The Ottoman Empire, the Qing dynasty, the Russian Empire, and Tokugawa Shogunate had all been vibrant and dynamic cultures at one time, but by 1800 had become isolated and backward. By 1900, all four had been challenged and changed profoundly. Some common dimensions of those changes are: Conservative autocratic regimes. None of the regimes discussed here shared in the liberal ideals of the Enlightenment or the revolutionary era. Rulers were absolute; individuals had few rights; and dissent was viewed as dangerous. Military unpreparedness. Since these regimes failed to modernize, they found themselves outgunned by the western powers. Often this realization followed a humiliating defeat the loss of Egypt for the Ottomans, the Opium War for China, the Crimean War for Russia, and the unequal treaty forced on Japan by the United States. For most regimes, this realization led to a radical restructuring of the military. Weak economies. All four regimes lacked the basic elements for industrialization: capital, free workers, and infrastructure. China and Japan had been closed economies and had little contact with the outside world. The Ottoman and Russian empires had been agricultural societies with large unskilled peasant populations. Imperial pressures. All four had to fight off the imperialistic encroachments of the industrializing powers. The Qing dynasty was the least successful and, by the end of the century, had lost control of its economy and much of its territorial sovereignty. Japan was most successful in competing economically and militarily with the west. Reform from the top down. Change, when it came, was entirely at the discretion of the rulers. Japanese reformers, for example, perceived that a written constitution would give credibility to their new state, so that the emperor "gave" a constitution to the people that retained all power to the emperor. The Russian tsar granted, and then rescinded, an elected legislature after the Revolution of 1905. SUMMARY This chapter discusses four well-established societies reactions to news of political and economic revolutions in the west. Each of these societies faced foreign policy threats of military weaknesses in comparison to the new industrialized forces of the west, and losses of territory to European aggressions. In order to thwart these, there were elements of each society who saw the necessity of industrializing their economies, and thereby modernizing their militaries. These empires had domestic problems to address that were exacerbated by the pressures from western countries. Economic and social problems stemmed from increasing population and declining agricultural productivity and conflicting demands from conservative and liberalizing groups. Political problems stemmed from weakened imperial governments and military weaknesses, both of which were unable to deal with the increasing social and economic unrest. As the governments saw the necessity to industrialize in order to improve their military forces, political reformers saw an opportunity to push for constitutional reforms. Conservatives, often clerics, objected vehemently to any western-based reforms, political or economic. They feared that industrial reforms would bring with them additional western ideas, beliefs, and attitudes, and that these would contaminate the traditional imperial society with inappropriate ideas. Conservative Ottomans, Russians, and Chinese elites won the day, and resisted the waves of liberalizing western concepts. The stress of being unable to oppose the U.S. military collapsed the Tokugawa Shogunate, and the Meiji emperors emerged to force Japanese society to industrialize from the top down. By 1914, the Ottoman, Russian, and Chinese empires had all collapsed or were on their deathbeds, while the Japanese had built themselves into a major industrial power. The following pages summarize the key elements you need to know about each of these empires. Each group will be assigned one section of the notes to TEACH to the rest of the class. Please be sure you have your section complete when you come in to class for our group activity.
Ottoman Empire Problems facing this empire Proposed reforms Social classes involved Key Terms Description Significance Janissaries Muhammad Ali Capitulations Extraterritoriality Mahmud II Tanzimat Reforms Young Ottomans
Abdül Hamid II Young Turks Constitution of 1876 Describe the document (author, setting, purpose) Significance of the document (what does it help us understand about this empire) Explain one document of significance to the empire in this period using the Primary Source Investigator website (www.mhhe/com/psi) Summary paragraph describing the effects of western revolutions on the empire
Imperial Russia Problems facing this empire Proposed reforms Social classes involved Key Terms Description Significance Crimean War Tsar Alexander II Emancipation Zemstvos Sergei Witte Trans-Siberian Railway Intelligentsia
Pogroms Nicholas II Russo-Japanese War Bloody Sunday Duma Describe the document (author, setting, purpose) Significance of the document (what does it help us understand about this empire) Explain one document of significance to the empire in this period using the Primary Source Investigator website (www.mhhe/com/psi) Summary paragraph describing the effects of western revolutions on the empire
Chinese Empire Problems facing this empire Proposed reforms Social classes involved Key Terms Description Significance Cohong System Opium War Treaty of Nanjing Unequal Treaties Hong Kong Tributary Empire Taiping Rebellion
Self-Strengthening Movement Empress Cixi Boxer Rebellion Describe the document (author, setting, purpose) Significance of the document (what does it help us understand about this empire) Explain one document of significance to the empire in this period using the Primary Source Investigator website (www.mhhe/com/psi) Summary paragraph describing the effects of western revolutions on the empire
Tokugawa and Meiji Japan Problems facing this empire Proposed reforms Social classes involved Key Terms Description Significance Admiral Perry Tokugawa Bakufu Meiji Reforms Imperial Diet Zaibatsu
Describe the document (author, setting, purpose) Significance of the document (what does it help us understand about this empire) Explain one document of significance to the empire in this period using the Primary Source Investigator website (www.mhhe/com/psi) Summary paragraph describing the effects of western revolutions on the empire