Asia Flashcards
The Great Game (4)
A) Russia & Britain: the 2 victors of Napoleon
B) British perceived a Russian expansion
In Central Asia
-> threat for India
In the Caucasus
-> threat for Middle East
C) Imaginary character
Arthur Conolly
Rudyard Kipling
D) Popularity due to ideological contrasts
UK: democracy, freedom, modernity
Russia: autocracy, militarism, serfdom
Further British expansion (beyond India) (3)
A) First Afghan war
1839: conquest if Kandahar & Kabul
1842: retreat following permanent insurrections
B) Conquest of Sindh
General Napier independently from the Kingdom
C) Conquest of Punjab
Sikhism: 16th c.; militarization in 17th c.
1799-1839: mighty Sikh kingdom of Ranjit Singh
1845-46 & 1848-49: first & second Punjab war
Integration & modernization
A temporary break (4)
A) British India: insurrection of 1857-58
1858: Company rule -> Crown rule
B) Russia: Crimean war (1854-56)
Russia defeated by Ottoman & European allies
C) New Russian conquests from the 1860s
1858& 1860: Far East (Khaborovsk & Vladivostok)
1860s & 70s: conquered Central Asia
D) Revived British imperialism in the 1870s
Further British expansion (beyond India) pt. 2 (4)
A) 1876: conquest of Baluchistan
B) 1877: East Turkestan to China
Agreement btw Britain & Russia
C) 1878-80: Second Afghan war
British defeated again
D) Tibet
1895: Dalai Lama starts pro-Russian policy
1904: British expedition & conquest of Lhasa
-> treaty btw Tibet & Britain
1906: China recognized as sovereign of Tibet
-> 1911: independence again after collapse of China
-> 1950s: re-conquest by Mao
End of the Great Game (2)
A) Decline of Russia
-> defeated in Russo-Japanese war
Rise of Germany
B) 1907: Alliance btw Britain & Russia following
- 1892: Franco-Russian alliance
- 1904: Franco-British alliance
-> triple Entente
Division of Persia in spheres of influence
Anglo-Burmese wars
3 wars
1824-26; 1852; 1885
Collapse of the VOC (3)
A) Gradual decline of the VOC
growing debt
Corruption
B) 1780-84: Fourth Anglo-Dutch war
Dutch defeat
End of Dutch monopoly of southeast Asia
C) 1794-1806: Batavian Republic (French puppet state)
1796: Bankruptcy of the VOC
1800: Dutch government takes over their property
The British in South East Asia (2)
A) 1811-15: Dutch East Indies occupied by Britain
1814&24: Treaty of London
Java & Sumatra to the Dutch
India & North Borneo to Britain
B) Malaysian peninsula
First: separate settlements
(1786: Penang; 1819: Singapore; 1824: Malacca)
Then: 1826: Straits settlements
1867: crown colony
Dutch expansion in the Dutch Indies (3)
A) Much resistance
Against taxes, coolies, interference
Islam as a uniting factor against Dutch
B) Gradual expansion
Different wars
E.g. Java war (1825-30) & Aceh war (1873-1908)
C) Further development
E.g. Bandung capital of Art deco
French interest in Indochina (3)
A) Religion: many French missionaries
B) Politics: competition with Britain
French exclusion from India
British expansion
C) Trade: ‘Faire de Saigon un nouveau Singapour’
Gradual industrialization in France
-> need for new markets & resources
Steppingstone to the newly opened Chinese market
-> Mekong
Conquest of Indochina (3)
A) 1860s: Cochinchina
B) 1870s & 80s: Tonkin
C) 1890s & 1900s: Laos & parts of Siam
Siam (2)
A) Single non colonized country in South East Asia
Buffer btw Britain & France
Competent kings
Use of Western knowledge for modernization
B) But:
Concedes territory
Indirect colonization
- Export in foreign hands
- Extraterritoriality & unequal treatises
Ming (2)
A) Restoration of prestige
Power over Korea, Mongolia, Siam, Vietnam
B) Contacts with Europeans
Traders (from 1514):
1557: Portuguese
1662: Dutch
Missionaries:
Matteo Ricci
Ferdinand Verbiest
Qing (Manchu) (2)
A) Powerful in the 18th century
1759-1842: trade with Europeans only in Canton
Export of tea, silk, porcelain; import of silver
Positive trade balance & tributaries
B) Decline in the 19th century
White lotus rebellion 1796-1804
Growing economic & technological backwardness
Opium trade
The first opium war (1839-42) (3)
A) Course
1839: Chinese destroy a ship with opium
British conquer Canton, Shanghai & Nanjing
B) Treaty of Nanjing 1842
Continuation of opium trade
Hong Kong to the British
Five ports open for British with fixed rates & tariffs
C) 1844: unequal treaties with France & US
Expansion of treaty ports
The second opium war (1856-60) (4)
A) Resistance in Guangdong
1856: incident with opium ship
British & French conquer Canton & Tianjin
B) 1858: Treaty of Tianjin
No restrictions for Christian missionaries
Right to residence in Beijing for Western diplomats
C) 1859: European representatives chased away
D) 1860: French-British penal expedition in Beijing
Emperor deposed & palace destroyed
Collaboration in the 1860s (3)
A) Suppression of Taiping rebellion
1851: monotheistic & anti-Manchu
20-30 mio victims
1861-64: Western nations help with suppression
B) Modernization of Chinese society
C) New tensions from 1870
London refuses to make concessions
Anti-christian movement
Colonization of Chinese vasal states
The rise of Japan (4)
A) Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1867)
Persecuted Christian missionaries
Restricted trade with Europe
B) 1853-54: US commander Matthew Perry
Imposed trade concessions
C) Civil war & Meiji restoration (1867)
Modernization & imperialism
D) 1894-95: Japan wins war with China
Japan receives Taiwan & Liaodong
The partition of China (3)
A) European reactions to Japanese expansion
Russia, Germany & France: Liaodong back to China
B) Concessions for help to China
Russia 1896: railway through Manchuria
Germany 1897: Qingdao
Russia 1898: Port Arthur (Lüshun)
C) Jealousy of other European states
Britain: Weihai
Japan: Fujian
French: Yunnan, Guangxi
The partition of China
A) European reactions to Japanese expansion
Russia, Germany & France: Liaodong back to China
B) Concessions for help to China
Russia 1896: railway through Manchuria
Germany 1897: Qingdao
Russia 1898: Port Arthur (Lüshun)
C) Jealousy of other European states
Britain: Weihai
Japan: Fujian
French: Yunnan, Guangxi
Chinese reactions (2)
A) Hundred days of reform (1898)
Cixi stops reforms
B) Boxer insurrection (1898-1900)
Started in Shandong against Christians
Then against all foreigners
Supported by Cixi
8 weeks siege on western embassies
1900: western penal expedition in Beijing
Russia & Japan want to colonize China
US, Britain & France against colonizing China
Summary: the West in China (3)
A) economic:
Industry: mines, railroads
Trade: tariffs
B) Cultural:
Christian missionaries
Western school system
C) Territorial:
Whole areas annexed
Forced open ports
Free transit on waterways
Military presence for protection
China in early 20th C. (5)
A) Cixi launches reforms
Abolishment of officials
1905: constitution & parliament
B) 1908-12: last emperor Puyi
C) 1912-16: Yuan Shikai
D) China falls apart
E) Kwo Min Tang
1912-25: Sun Yat-sen: alliance with communists
Chiang Kai-shek: nationalist
Mao Zedong: communist
China & its colonizers (3)
A) Soviet Union: growing influence
B) Western states: losing influence
C) Japan: Loses colonies
