Civilizations+in+Decline


 * 1) Notes on the Ottoman and Egypt Decline: Causes of decline, European intervention and reform programs**
 * Ottoman Retreat and the Birth of Turkey || Western Intrusions and Crisis: Egypt ||
 * * Weak and inept rulers due to policies developed during the early modern period
 * Power struggles between elite factions
 * Corrupt provincial officials and local land-owning class, the **ayan**
 * Undermine of the handicraft industries by European importations
 * Urban riots led by artisan guilds and young men's assn.
 * Accelerated by the ethnic minority merchants (Jews, Christians, etc.)
 * Economic dependence on Europe
 * Military setbacks
 * Inability to forge alliances with European powers
 * The rise of Russia and its crusades
 * Balkan nationalism and restiveness
 * 1804 Serbian Revolt: quelled at great costs
 * Serbian independence in 1867
 * Nigh-complete loss of the Balkans by 1880s
 * The Greek Revolution of 1830
 * **Selim III** tried to improve bureaucracy and reform military branches
 * Overthrown and killed by Janissaries in 1807
 * **Mahmud II** succeeded where Selim failed two decades later
 * Eradicated the Janissaries with his own professional army in 1826 and coerced the ayan's submissions thus creating general support for his Western-orientated reforms
 * Established embassies with European powers
 * Westernization (professionalization) of military
 * **Tanzimat Reforms** (1836-1876)
 * Westernization of University education
 * State-run postal and telegraph systems by the 1840s and railways by the 1880s
 * Mass communication with newspapers
 * 1876 Constitution
 * Adverse consequences
 * 1838 -- removal of protective import taxes that devastated local artisans
 * Little changes for the conditions of women, however, the subjects arose in intellectual circles
 * **Abdul Hamid**, the last sultan from 1878 to 1908, returned to absolutism (comparable to Napoleon Bonaparte)
 * Continued westernization
 * The exiled **Young Turks** of the **Ottoman Society of Union and Progress** (f. 1889 in Paris) spread seditious material and many coups were staged
 * The 1908 coup established a puppet sultan and an oligarchy
 * The Young Turk's objectives was received with opposition by Arab leaders who hoped that the Turkish subjugation would end, but instead found that it was meant to increase with heightened state control || * Napoleon's Invasion in 1798 and his victory in the **Battle of the Pyramids** against the Mamluk regime opened Muslim's eyes
 * **Battle of Aboukir (1798)** btwn. Britain and France caused the French to pull out of Egypt by 1801
 * **Muhammad Ali** westernized the military with conscription, armament, and Western tactics
 * Conquered Syria and threatened Istanbul with a war fleet on occasions
 * Attempts to westernize other sectors were not as successful, if they were successful
 * Cash crop focus (mainly cotton) increased
 * Dependence on cotton put the economy at the mercy of the European market
 * Public works generated modest revenue
 * Education did not see much change
 * Industrialization was opposed and frustrated by European powers and imported goods
 * Higher education was limited to elite French-speaking schools
 * **Khedives** succeeded Ali and were the product of intermarriage between Ottoman Turks and the Egyptian ruler
 * Inept and decadent rulers
 * Indebted to European financiers
 * **Suez Canal** brings revenue to Egypt and makes it a global strategic point
 * Muslim intellectuals during the mid 1800s met to discuss ways to restore their empire
 * **al-Afghani** and **Muhammad Abduh** promoted westernization and refuted the ulaman interpretation of the Qur'an with rational inquiry (like the impulse behind the Scientific Revolution)
 * British and French bankers urged their governments for military intervention when the khedival regime failed to pay their loans
 * 1882 - **Ahamd Orabi** leads a rebellion that is crushed by the British
 * Leads to British occupation
 * Expansion was resisted and restricted to river towns like **Khartoum**
 * Resented corruption
 * Hated the restrictions/ban of slavery
 * The **Mahdi Muhammad Achmad**, led a jihad against the Egyptians
 * Died at the height of power
 * Succeeded effectively by **Khalifa Abdallah**
 * Madhist state survived for two decades with a strict Islamic community
 * Defeated by **British General Kitchener** at the **Battle of Omdurman** ||

Manchus took over China and retained many of their practices. For an empire in decline, the Qing coup d'etat helped stave off decline.
 * 2) Notes on the Decline of the Qing Empire**
 * The Last Dynasty:**
 * **Manchus** were unified under **Nurhaci** and partitioned into eight **banner armies**
 * **Elite adopted the Chinese bureaucracy and other practices**
 * Retained Ming bureaucrats and paired them with Manchu bureaucrats at high posts
 * Ethnic Chinese could ascend high into imperial posts with few restrictions
 * Machu emperors retained examinations and educated their children in Chinese classics
 * **Kangxi** was one of many early Manchu rulers who were generous and patrons of the arts
 * Adopted the Sons of Heaven (mandate of heaven) appeal
 * Larger empire than any except the Tang
 * Controlled Vietnam and Burma

The Qing dynasty strove to maintain and increase the neo-Confucian society that defined the Ming period. The Qing ended the isolationist policies of the Ming and increased internal economic production. >>
 * Economy and Society in the Early Centuries of Qing Rule:**
 * Proponents of neo-Confucianism
 * Emphasized the social hierarchy
 * Continued subordination of the women
 * Increased female infanticide and the unbalance of gender ratios (more men:female) which went against the industrial trend
 * Concubination still existed
 * Women could run households, but they were still subordinated to men
 * Alleviated tax and labor demands
 * Attempted to have people resettle abandonded land
 * Restoring public works
 * Diversification of new crops such as tea was combined with new methods to finance production
 * Led to the development of the **compradors**, merchants that controlled the import-export trade out of ports like Canton
 * Landlords increased their estates by calling loans and buying land out right
 * Weakened bargaining powers of tenants since there was a labor surplus

One of the main factors of decline was the corruption of the bureaucracy and the policies that ensued. Without effective management, technological and organizational innovations that were direly needed could not be realized.
 * Rot from Within: Bureaucratic Breakdown and Social Disintegration:**
 * Corruption
 * Decline of examination quality since people bribed examiners, purchased posts, and cheated
 * 1711 demostration protested the corruption
 * Led to unvirtuous, uneducated bureaucrats that sought to increase wealth of their own family
 * Revenues were routed to enrich families
 * Deducted from the military funding and the public works
 * Weakened training and the quality of institutions
 * Catastrophic natural disasters like the flooding of Shadong peninsula
 * Flight, banditry and beggars were rampant

The Qing, with their Sons of Han/superiority complex, did not believe that the British/barbarians could defeat their navy and army. As a result, China became subjugated to the European powers.
 * Barbarians at the Southern Gate: The Opium War and After:**
 * Technology, Taylorism and Industrialization was the equalizer for a population of 7 million versus 400 million
 * Chinese silk, porcelain, and goods were traded for silver
 * Destructive Qing silver tax policy
 * Opium cartel and addiction
 * Reversal of trade flow
 * Decline of productivity
 * Imperial prohibition with little enforcement
 * Led to **Lin Zexu** as the person in charge of stopping the cartels
 * Initiated the blockade of Canton
 * Gained the amnesty of British opium merchants who lobbied violation of right of property and open trade
 * British armies and navy routed the junks and Qing army
 * Coerced submission
 * Opened China to trade and influence
 * Economic domination by Britian
 * No protective import taxes
 * British embassy
 * Establishment of Hong Kong
 * 90 ports open to European powers, often leased to European powers

The deteriorating conditions caused many rebellions to occur, and some were extremely disruptive such as the Taiping Rebellion. The Taiping Rebellion caused many provincial leaders to suppress the rebellion themselves and pass sweeping reforms. The self-strengthening movement attempted to reform the Chinese bureaucracy and modernize, and those goals were transfered over to the 1898 **Hundred Days' Reform.** With the rise of Dowager Cixi, reform was effectively crushed.
 * A Civilization at Risk: Rebellion and Failed Reforms**
 * **Taiping Rebellion** (1850-1864) led **Huan Xiuquan** establishes a territories of control throughout China, such as the are centered around Nanjing
 * Infighting destroyed the rebellion
 * Policies alienated the British
 * Determined to pass sweeping reforms such as land distribution, women equality, and the removal of Confucian teachings as the basics of Chinese society
 * The Taipings' hostility to the scholar-gentry called able scholar-gentry to action, such as **Zeng Guofan**
 * People like Guofan contributed to China's **self-strengthening movement** as he and dynamic provincial leaders passed much needed reforms
 * Modernized their armies and promoted Western investments such as railways and factories
 * Manchu rulers (more often imperial household members and the scholar-gentry) resisted the reforms of the self-strengthening movement
 * **Empress Dowager Cixi** was an ultraconservative Westerner who was the de facto leader from 1898-1908
 * Ended the **Hundred Days' Reform** in 1898 in coup d'etat
 * **The Boxer Rebellion** (1989-1901) attempted to oust the westerners, but imperialistic powers suppressed the rebellion and increased their control of China's internal affairs
 * Nationalistic movement, comparable to the American **Ghost Dance**
 * Supported by Cixi and many peasants

In 1905, the philosophies and values that defined all imperial dynasties was violently destroyed. Soon after, the last emperor abdicated his throne and let the people establish a republic.
 * The Fall of the Qing: The End of a Civilization?**
 * Many scholar-gentry children and comprador children became involved with secret societies to overthrow the Qing
 * Revolutionaries like **Sun Yat-sen** believed seizing power will allow much needed reforms and establishment of a nation-state
 * Cut of their //queues (//braided ponytails) to show their defiance to the Manchu rule
 * In 1911, rebellions and uprisings from secret societies, students, and imperial troops broke out throughout the empire
 * Since provincial leaders refused to suppress the rebellion, the last emperor **Puyi** abdicated the throne to a provincial lord who established a republic
 * In 1905, the Confucian system came under criticism and civil examination was dropped