China
Europe's increasing global power resulted in the downfall of China's once powerful empire. Prior to these events, China was actively trading luxury goods for an halluciongenic drug called opium that was provided by British merchants. However, China eventually declared the purchasing and selling of opium illegal with the request that the British cease to continue importing this item into their country. The British though refused to oblige to China's request resulting in The Opium War that Britain easily won due to China's outdated forms of combat. China's loss resulted in the Treaty of Nanjing which required the Chinese to pay Britain a large amount of money and additionally give them Hong Kong.
Chaos later erupted within the country due to widespread corruption in the Chinese government bringing the peasants to their breaking point in the Taiping Rebellion. The rebels demanded the end of the Qing Dynasty for 14 years but the rebellion ultimately cost 20-30 millions lives in addition to an additional loss of the lands in the North. Now, chinese scholars were desperately looking for ways to repair China which included the idea to westernize it although it was opposed by Empress Ci Xi.
Another war developed between China and Japan in the Sino-Japanese war won by the Japanese. They too inserted a sphere of influence in Chinese territory along with Russia, Germany, and France. The young emperor Guang Xu attempted to change imperialism by launching the 100 days of reform but he was imprisoned by the Chinese conservatives who were against his ideas.
Another rebeliion occurred called the Boxer Rebellion which concsisted of a group of individuals called ''boxers'' trained in the martial arts who attacked foreigners though they still failed to free China from Imperialism as planned. Though, westernization was soon accepted and supported across the country and the idea of a Chinese Republic started to spread. The reformer Dr. Sun-Yat-Sen who supported such an idea, created the Three Principles of People:
1. nationalism
2. democracy
3. livelihood
He later became the president of the new Chinese Republic and founded the Gomindang party, also known as the nationalists.
Chaos later erupted within the country due to widespread corruption in the Chinese government bringing the peasants to their breaking point in the Taiping Rebellion. The rebels demanded the end of the Qing Dynasty for 14 years but the rebellion ultimately cost 20-30 millions lives in addition to an additional loss of the lands in the North. Now, chinese scholars were desperately looking for ways to repair China which included the idea to westernize it although it was opposed by Empress Ci Xi.
Another war developed between China and Japan in the Sino-Japanese war won by the Japanese. They too inserted a sphere of influence in Chinese territory along with Russia, Germany, and France. The young emperor Guang Xu attempted to change imperialism by launching the 100 days of reform but he was imprisoned by the Chinese conservatives who were against his ideas.
Another rebeliion occurred called the Boxer Rebellion which concsisted of a group of individuals called ''boxers'' trained in the martial arts who attacked foreigners though they still failed to free China from Imperialism as planned. Though, westernization was soon accepted and supported across the country and the idea of a Chinese Republic started to spread. The reformer Dr. Sun-Yat-Sen who supported such an idea, created the Three Principles of People:
1. nationalism
2. democracy
3. livelihood
He later became the president of the new Chinese Republic and founded the Gomindang party, also known as the nationalists.
Chinese People Against the British
This is a document from the people of Canton, who are Chinese whose opinion of the British is not so fond:
http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/mod/1842canton.asp
They claim that England is a vile nation of barbaric ways of killing many people to conquer their lands for their own benefits. They also state that the Chinese should have vengeance on the British.
http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/mod/1842canton.asp
They claim that England is a vile nation of barbaric ways of killing many people to conquer their lands for their own benefits. They also state that the Chinese should have vengeance on the British.