Online Module 3: Empires in Collision

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 in charismatic figures who proclaimed a millenarian religious message. Also, the Taiping Uprising between 1850 and 1864 found its inspiration in a unique form of Christianity. It also presented a sharp challenge for women to establish gender roles.

5. What lay behind the decline of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century?

• The Ottoman Empire shrank considerably at the hands of the Russian, British, Austrian, and French aggression.
• The Ottoman Empire’s ability to raise revenue really weakened. Putting aside the losses to stronger European powers, Greece, Serbia, and Romania achieved independence based on their own surging nationalism.
• The Janissaries, the elite military corps of the Ottoman Empire, also was weakened militarily and had become defenders of the status quo whose military ineffectiveness was increasingly obvious.
• Economically, the Ottoman and Arab lands in AfroEurasian commerce diminished as Europeans achieved direct oceanic access to the treasures of Asia.
• There were competitions for cheap European manufactured goods, which hit Ottoman artisans hard, which led to urban riots protesting foreign imports
• In the end, the Ottoman Empire grew increasingly indebted and became reliant on foreign loans. It’s inability to pay back those loans led to foreign control of much of its revenue-generating system

6. In what different ways did the Ottoman state respond to its various problems?

The leadership of the Ottoman Empire recognized it’s problems during the 19th century and they decided to launch a program of "defensive modernization." This program included the establishment of new military and administrative structures alongside traditional institutions as a means of enhancing and centralizing state power. Ottoman reforms began in the late 18th century when Sultan Selim III sought to reorganize and update the army, drawing on European advisers and techniques. Several decades after 1839, reforming measures known as Tanzimate, took shape as the Ottoman leadership sought to provide the economic, social, and legal underpinnings for a strong and newly re centralized state.