Imperialism in China: Phase I

Imperialism in China: Phase I

Background: The Portuguese were the first to arrive in China in the 1500s and establish trading posts in Macau. The Europeans were highly impressed with the wealth, power, and affluence of China. They are especially interested in the porcelain, art, furniture, spices, and culture. The Chinese, though, remain extremely reluctant to open up to the Westerners.

China, at this time, was convinced of its superiority and saw little need to engage in trade with the Europeans. One edict from the emperor read, ““The products of China are abundant; what need have we for the small and insignificant goods of the distant barbarians?”
By the 1800s, though, the Europeans were extremely in need of access to new markets following the revolutions in the Americas.

Your decision: As an advisor to the Qing Emperor, you have two choices to present:

Option A: You can ignore the demands of the Europeans. You are the wealthiest nation in the world and have no need to trade on even footing with the Europeans. You can forge a further path of seclusion as there is no threat that the western powers can pose to such a large country.

Option B: You can open up trade a bit more, but heavily restrict it. While you are not in need of trade, the Europeans are willing to give you vast supplies of gold for your porcelain.

Imperialism in China: Phase II

Background: In response, the Chinese open up a little more to trade, but still wanted to keep foreigners away. The Chinese are disgusted by the European’s apparent arrogance and are shocked by the European missionaries who claim that the Chinese are backward and inferior.

As European trade grows, the western powers devise a way to balance trade with China. The British begin to import opium from their plantations in India. First the emperor outlaws it, but the British continue to smuggle it in leading to the Opium War of 1839.
The Opium War is devastating for the Chinese. They are forced to sign the Treaty of Nanjingin 1843, which ceded territory to the British and opens up China to even more foreign trade.
As China is ravaged from the western powers, the people in China are suffering from famine, natural disasters, and the occupation of foreign powers. In 1850, the discontent of the peasants leads to the Taiping Rebellion. The rebellion is finally put down, but it severely weakens China.

Your decision: As an advisor to the Qing Emperor, you have two choices to present:

Option A: Now more than ever the Chinese must hold onto their traditional values and expel the foreigners from their lands.

Option B: The crushing defeat in the Opium War and the effects of the Taiping Rebellion show that China must do more to modernize and adopt western ways that can make us stronger and better able to defend ourselves.

Imperialism in China: Phase III

Background: In 1860, China embarks on the Self-strengthening Movement in an attempt to modernize. Though they still thought of themselves as superior, there was a need to change and an adoption of Western economics and military style begins.

The Chinese are not especially fond of the Western ways calling “the “hairy barbarians’ technology a few monkey tricks.” Nonetheless, China is pressing for reform despite further calls by the Western powers to open up trade further.
Chinese peasants are increasingly irritated because they are being treated like second-class citizens in their own country by both the foreign powers and the government. Some get education at Jesuit universities and feelings of rebellion against the Qing spread.
More and more western powers want in and in 1899, the United States declares the Open Door Policy, which opens China up equally to all foreign powers who carve out spheres of influence in China. At this time, the emperor is too weak to stop the foreigners.
In 1900, things reach a breaking point. A religious order, the Boxers, rebel against the Qing. The emperor is able to turn the attention of the Boxers against the foreigners. The foreign powers band together and crush the Boxers further weakening and destabilizing China in the process.

Imperialism in India: Phase I

Background:Following the decline of the Gupta Empire, India was intermittently controlled by Islamic empires from the West, including the Mughal Empire, which ruled over most of Northwest India. Indigenous kingdoms of Buddhist and Hindu background vied for control of territory with the Islamic conqueror leading to several rivalries. Into this mix the Europeans would arrive in order to access the very lucrative spice market.

Vasco da Gama of Portugal was the first to discover for Europeans a new sea route to India in 1498. His voyage paved the way for direct Indo-European commerce. The Portuguese soon set up trading-posts in Goa, Daman, Diu and Bombay.
The next to arrive were the Dutch, the British—who set up a trading-post in the west-coast port of Suratin 1619—and the French.
The internal conflicts among Indian Kingdoms gave opportunities to the European traders to gradually establish political influence and appropriate lands.

Your decision: As an advisor to the Mughal Emperor, you have two choices to present:

Option A: You can fight off the growing influence of the British, Dutch, and French, while also having to deal with the various Indian Kingdoms that you attempt to keep under your control. The Europeans must be controlled at this early stage because if they keep growing they will become too powerful.

Option B: You can ally with one of the European powers granting them concessions to keep the other powers in check. Also, in allying with one power you can receive help in fighting off the other Indian Kingdoms for control of the subcontinent. This will ultimately, though, lead to great concessions on the part of the Mughal Empire.

Imperialism in India: Phase I

Vasco da Gama of Portugal was the first to discover for Europeans a new sea route to India in 1498. His voyage paved the way for direct Indo-European commerce. The Portuguese soon set up trading-posts in Goa, Daman, Diu and Bombay.
The next to arrive were the Dutch, the British—who set up a trading-post in the west-coast port of Suratin 1619—and the French.
The internal conflicts among Indian Kingdoms gave opportunities to the European traders to gradually establish political influence and appropriate lands.

Your decision: As an advisor to the Mughal Emperor, you have two choices to present:

Imperialism in India: Phase II

Background:The Mughal Emperor Jahangir grants the British East India Companyexclusive rights to trade in India. At first, the agreement works out for both sides, but it is clear that British East India Company seeks to expand. Recruiting its own private army out of British soldiers and local fighters, known as sepoys, the East India Company indirectly begins to control the entire Indian subcontinent.

The Mughal dynasty is overthrown and the last emperor goes into hiding. The East India Company establishes the Permanent Settlement land system that effectively turns India into a feudal state.
The control of the subcontinent by the East India Company is harsh and brutal. They maintain control through a Divide and Rule strategy that pits Hindus and Muslims against each other.
In 1857, Indian soldiers working for the British East India Company discover that the cartridges they use are coated in pig and cow grease. Since it is imperative for the soldiers to bite off the end of the cartridges with their teeth before loading the bullet into their rifles, both Hindu and Muslim soldiers are violating sacred tenets of their faith. The soldiers revolt against the East India Company in the Sepoy Mutiny.

Your decision: As an advisor to the Mughal Emperor in exile, you have two choices to present:

Option A: You can ignore the mutiny, remain in hiding and when the fighting dies down reassert control over the continent because the British will obviously be weakened.

Option B: Use this opportunity to lead a larger revolt against the British and bring an end to British rule.

Imperialism in India: Phase III

Background:The British react swiftly to the Sepoy Mutiny and within the year have put it down. The nominal leader of the uprising, the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafur, is exiled to Burma and his children are beheaded putting an end to the Mughal dynasty The British East India Company is also abolished and replaced by the direct authority of the British crown.

India becomes a direct colony of the British and used to produce raw materials that are shipped back to Britain. In turn, these raw materials are made into products and sold back to India. This system of trade is known as mercantilism.
British physical presence in India is quite minimal, but their control is maintained through local princes known as maharajahs, or rajas. These princes become exceedingly wealthy, but Indian peasants experience some terrible famines. Despite this, the subcontinent undergoes massive development under British rule.
India remains a colony of Britain until after World War II, when a new independence movement gains traction. In 1947, India declares independence following the efforts of Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohandas Gandhi. Despite independence, the British policy of Divide and Rule manifests itself further in violence between Hindus and Muslims, eventually leading to Partition of India into India and Pakistan.

Imperialism in Japan: Phase I

Background: The feudal period in Japan came to an end during the Edo Period during the Edo Period starting in 1603. The Edo Period was marked by the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate, which ruled over Japan as the head of over 200 daimyos, local rulers who swore their allegiance to the Tokugawa clan. The shogunate ruled over Japan for 15 centuries leading Japan to prosperity and forging a path of seclusion from the rest of the world.

Foreigners from Europe began arriving in the 16th Century. Their effect on Japan was extremely limited. The Japanese restricted the movement of traders and missionaries in the country.
By the seventeenth century, the Tokugawa shogun began to suspect the Europeans of subverting the country. Christianity, spread by the missionaries and appealing to many of the Chinese peasants living in Japan, was seen as a threat to Japanese society and belief systems.
The Tokugawa shogun persecuted the Christians and peasants residing in Japan. In 1637, the peasants rebelled in the Shimabara Revolt, which was effectively crushed, but at a high cost to the samurai army.

Your decision: As a government advisor, you have two choices to present:

Option A: You can continue to persecute Christians, foreigners, and missionaries keeping in mind that the Shimabara Revolt led to high costs on the part of your government and army. Only through maintaining a policy of seclusion, though, will Japanese society remain stable.

Option B: You can place the tighter restrictions on foreigners in your country to weaken their influence, but it will cause more foreigners to arrive on your shores.

Imperialism in Japan: Phase I

Background: The feudal period in Japan came to an end during the Edo Period during the Edo Period starting in 1603. The Edo Period was marked by the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate, which ruled over Japan as the head of over 200 daimyos, local rulers who swore their allegiance to the Tokugawa clan. The shogunate ruled over Japan for 15 centuries leading Japan to prosperity and forging a path of seclusion from the rest of the world.

Foreigners from Europe began arriving in the 16th Century. Their effect on Japan was extremely limited. The Japanese restricted the movement of traders and missionaries in the country.
By the seventeenth century, the Tokugawa shogun began to suspect the Europeans of subverting the country. Christianity, spread by the missionaries and appealing to many of the Chinese peasants living in Japan, was seen as a threat to Japanese society and belief systems.
The Tokugawa shogun persecuted the Christians and peasants residing in Japan. In 1637, the peasants rebelled in the Shimabara Revolt, which was effectively crushed, but at a high cost to the samurai army.

Your decision: As an advisor to the Shogun, you have two choices to present:

Option B: You can place the tighter restrictions on foreigners in your country to weaken their influence, but it will cause more foreigners to arrive on your shores.

Imperialism in Japan: Phase II

Background:The Tokugawa shogunate further restricts movement of the foreign traders and missionaries, but no longer persecutes Christians. At first, only the Dutch and Chinese are allowed access to restricted trading zones in Japan. The missionaries that live in these zones send word home of the riches of Japan. These stories stoke the appetites of foreign powers, but Japan’s policy of seclusion lasts for 200 more years.

In 1853, the United States dispatches Commodore Matthew Perry to Japan with four warships, known in Japan as the Black Ships.
One year later, Perry forces the shogun to sign the Treaty of Peace and Amity, which ultimately opens up Japan to trade ending the policy of seclusion. The treaty gives the European and American powers unequal access to Japanese markets and extraterritoriality rights, which means foreigners in Japan who violate the law are tried in courts back at home, not in Japan.
This gunboat diplomacy is not welcomed by the Japanese and the shogunate is overthrown in 1868 and the emperor is brought back to power now having to face the crisis of what to do with the foreign powers.

Your decision: As an advisor to the Emperor, you have two choices to present:

Option A: With the fall of the Tokugawa, you can advise the Emperor to return to the earlier policy of isolation and try to fight off the foreigners.

Option B: Realizing that the foreigners have more advanced technology, you can urge the Emperor to learn as much as we can about Western ways and try to modernize so that we can compete with the foreign powers.

Imperialism in Japan: Phase III

Background:Beginning in 1868, Japan undertook political, economic, and cultural reforms, emerging as a unified and centralized state known as the Empire of Japan. Instead of accepting a position of subservience toward the European and American powers, Japan asserts itself as an imperialist power on its own terms. This 77-year period lasts until 1945 with the end of World War II.

Opening up contact with the Western powers led to a period in Japan known as the Meiji Restoration. This period is marked by massive modernization campaigns to adopt Western technology and military customs.
Japan begins to assert itself across the Asian region going to war with both China and Russia throughout this period and taking control of territory on the Asian mainland, which they administer as colonies.
The increasing emphasis on the Japanese military and territorial expansion will drive the Empire of Japan toward fascism and militarism in the 1920s and 1930s and draw Japan to side with the Axis powers during World War II.

Imperialism in Japan: Phase III