World History II Blog

1. What accounts for the massive peasant rebellions of 19th century China? In China during the 19th century, there was a very substantial population growth because of the very strong economy. American food crops really helped the population. There were about 100 million people in 1685 and 430 million in 1853. Although this seemed great, there were a few problems. Because of the large population, there was a large peasant population and in many cases, there was also unemployment, impoverishment, misery, and starvation. Even after this, China was not able to effectively perform functions such as tax collection, flood control, social welfare, and public security. As time passed, the central state lost power to provincial officials and local gentry. The harsh treatment of peasants was very common. There was also European military pressure that disrupted internal trade routes, created substantial unemployment and raised peasant taxes. Peasants also embraced rebellion, finding leadership i...

1. In what ways did the Industrial Revolution shape the character of 19 th century European imperialism? The Industrial Revolution shaped European imperialism in several ways. One of those ways was by the enormous productivity of industrial technology and Europe’s growing affluence, which created the need for extensive raw materials and agricultural products. Since Central America, South Africa, southern Russia, etc. were already selling products Europe decided to sell its own products as well, but they produced more manufactured goods than its own people could afford to buy. Europeans adopted many ideas and techniques in advanced societies. There were technological innovations like the steam-driven ship, the underwater telegraph, quinine, the breech-loading rifles, and machine guns. All these produced technological innovations helped shape European imperialism because it was a quicker way of achieving different goals. For example, quinine prevents malaria and the underwater ...

1) In what ways did the Industrial Revolution mark a sharp break with the past? In what ways did it continue earlier patterns? There were news jobs and respect for women, a larger middle class, industry, new socialist ideas, hierarchies, belief that things could be improved. There was access to huge new sources of energy which gave rise to an increased output of goods and services. There were new signs of technological creativity that appeared in the 18th century.  There was continued population growth, patriarchy, social inequality 2) In what respects did the roots of the Industrial Revolution lie within Europe? In what ways did that transformation have global roots? The Industrial Revolution lies in Europe because of the relatively rapid spread of industrial techniques to many parts of the world. European states and small groups of merchants favored innovation.  By the 18th century, there were major Western European societies that were highly commercial...