chapter 31 Flashcards
societies at crossroads
Who failed the civil service examinations four times only to convert to Christianity, and establish a new order under the guidance and instruction of God, proclaiming the Taiping dynasty?
Hong Xiuquan
- assumed title of “Heavenly King” when proclaiming the Taiping dynasty
What did Hong Xiuquan and his followers do under the Taiping dynasty?
Hong’s followers known as the Taipings grew from a ragtag band of disciples to a zealous army of over 1 million men and women who pushed the Qing dynasty to the brink of extinction
What was one of the more radical beliefs of the Taipings?
the equality of men and women before God and on earth
- illustrated in the political rise of a woman destined to be part of the Taiping’s downfall: the Dowager Empress Cixi
Rising to behind-the-throne power in the early 1860s, Empress Cixi, what changes were instituted, leading to the Taiping’s downfall?
put Chinese, not Manchus in charge of armies, worked to quell Taiping rebels
Ottoman armies suffered humiliating defeats on the battlefield in the late 17th century, especially at the hands of what two powers?
Austrian and Russian foes
How was discipline breaking down amongst the elite Ottoman Janissary corps?
- repeatedly masterminded palace coups, had become a powerful political force within the Ottoman state at the expense of their military prowess
- neglected their military training, turned a blind eye to advances in weapons technology
While Russian forces overtook poorly defended territories in the Caucasus in central Asia, and the Austrian empire took to the western frontiers of the Ottoman empire, the Ottomans’ most significant loss was of what land?
Egypt
What made Egypt so valuable to the Ottoman empire?
Napoleon had invaded Egypt in hopes of using it as a springboard for an attack on the British empire in India, largely failed but left behind turmoil as local elites battled to seize power after Napoleon’s departure
- energetic general Muhammad Ali emerged and launched program of industrialization, remaining nominally subordinate to Ottoman sultan
- Egypt= most powerful land in the Muslim world
How did Muhammad Ali contribute to the increasing value and importance of Egypt to the Ottoman empire?
made Egypt an essentially autonomous region within the Ottoman empire, with flourishing cotton textiles and armaments industries
How did the value of Ottoman exports compare to that of European manufactures?
Ottoman exports consisted largely of raw materials, did not offset the value of imported European manufactures
- moved toward financial dependency, and economic development depended heavily on foreign loans, interest payments consumed the empire’s revenues
What were capitulations?
(okay we’ll let you do it, but you have to do this and this, and give up things) agreements that exempted European visitors from Ottoman law and provided European powers with extraterritoriality (the right to exercise jurisdiction over their own citizens according to their own laws)
What is extraterritoriality?
the right to exercise jurisdiction over their own citizens according to their own laws (I can go into Europe and establish my own little bubble, and within that bubble, I would govern for America, with American laws and rules)
What effects did capitulations have on the Ottomans/how did they view them?
Ottomans viewed capitulations as humiliating intrusions on their sovereignty
- served as instruments of economic penetration by European businesspeople who established tax-exempt banks and commercial enterprises in the Ottoman empire
Who was an Ottoman sultan who embarked on a program to remodel his army along the lines of European forces?
Sultan Selim III (r. 1789-1807)
How did the elite Janissary corps respond to Sultan Selim III’s efforts to remodel the Ottoman army along European lines?
felt threatened by the establishment of a new crack fighting force, trained by European instructors and equipped with modern weapons–reacted violently:
1. killed the new troops
2. locked up the sultan
3. killed all male members of the dynasty except for Selim’s cousin Mahmud II
Who was Selim III’s cousin who became sultan and launched his own reform program, seeing his reform as restoration of the traditional Ottoman military?
Mahmud II
What did Mahmud do to the Janissaries that protested against Mahmud’s proposal for a new European-style army in 1826?
Mahmud had them massacred by troops loyal to the sultan
- cleared the way for a series of reforms that unfolded during the last 13 years of Mahmud’s reign
How did Sultan Mahmud II remodel Ottoman institutions along western European lines?
- Ottoman soldiers dressed in European-style uniforms and instructed in European weapons and tactics
- created a system of secondary education for boys to facilitate the transition from mosque schools to newly established scientific, technical, and military academies
- tried to transfer power from traditional elites to the sultan and his cabinet by taxing rural landlords, undermining ulama
- established European-style ministries, constructed new roads, built telegraph lines, and inaugurated postal service
By the time of his death in 1839, what did the Ottoman empire look like after Sultan Mahmud II?
shrunk in size, but more manageable and powerful than it had been since the early 17th century
During what era was restructuring of the Ottoman state most rapid?
the Tanzimat (“reorganization”) era (1839-1876)
Tanzimat reformers drew considerable inspiration from ____________ thought, and attacked Ottoman law with the aim of making it acceptable to _________ so they could have the capitulations lifted and recover Ottoman sovereignty.
Enlightenment; Europeans
Using what legal system as a guide, Tanzimat reformers promulgated a commercial code, a penal code, a maritime code, and a new civil code?
French legal system
Tanzimat reformers issued what three key decrees designed to safeguard the rights of subjects?
measures that:
1. guaranteed public trials
2. rights of privacy
3. equality before the law for all Ottoman subjects, whether Muslim or not
What were some other laws promulgated by Tanzimat reformers that undermined the ulama (who controlled religious education for Muslims)?
- complete comprehensive plan for educational reform introduced in 1846 provided for complete system of primary and secondary schools leading to university-level instruction
- more ambitious plan inaugurated in 1869 provided for free and compulsory primary education
Who were the three groups in strongest opposition to the work of Tanzimat reformers?
religious conservatives/DEVOUT MUSLIMS
- saw laws as contrary to Islamic law
some minority leaders
- believed their policies would diminish their own position
YOUNG OTTOMANS
- agitated for individual freedom, local autonomy, and political decentralization
- desired establishment of a constitutional government along the lines of the British system
OTTOMAN BUREAUCRACY
- driven by exclusion from their power, determined to impose checks on sultan’s power by forcing him to accept a constitution
What did the Young Ottomans believe/fight for?
did not share common political or religious program
- advocated individual freedom, local autonomy, and political decentralization
- many desired the establishment of a constitutional government along the lines of the British system
Who was installed as sultan by a group of radical dissidents from the Ottoman bureaucracy, and was persuaded to accept a constitution that limited his authority and established a representative government?
Abdul Hamid II (r. 1876-1909)
How did Abdul Hamid react to being forced to accept a constitution that would limit his authority and establish a representative government?
suspended the constitution, dissolved parliament, exiled many liberals, and executed others
for 30 years he ruled autocratically in an effort to rescue the empire from dismemberment by European powers
Abdul Hamid II developed the Ottoman army according to _________ principles, and oversaw the formation of a police force, educational reforms, economic development, and the construction of railroads.
Tanzimat
How did reform and reorganization in the Ottoman empire actually undermine the position of the sultan instead of strengthening the state?
Ottoman bureaucrats received rigorous education in European curricula, became acquainted with European political, social, and cultural traditions
- fell out of favor with Sultan Abdul Hamid II, coming to believe that the biggest problem of the Ottoman empire was the political structure that vested unchecked power in the sultan
What was the other name for the Young Turk Party?
the Ottoman Society for Union and Progress
Members of the Young Turk Party vigorously promoted reform by making effective use of what to spread their message?
newly established newspapers
What did the Young Turks call for?
- universal suffrage
- equality before the law
- freedom of religion
- free public education
- secularization of the state
- emancipation of women
Throughout the Young Turk era (1908-1918), Ottoman sultans reigned but…?
no longer ruled
- 1909 dethroned sultan Abdul Hamid II, and established Mehmed V Rashid (r. 1908-1918) as a “puppet sultan”
What did the Young Turks seek with reform within Ottoman society?
- sought to maintain Turkish hegemony in larger empire
- worked to make Turkish the official language of the empire
By the early 20th century, the Ottoman empire survived principally because European diplomats couldn’t decide on what?
of how to dispose of the empire without upsetting the European balance of power
What did the Russian empire look like in the 19th century?
multiethnic, multilingual, multicultural empire that stretched from Poland to the Pacific Ocean
- only about half of the population spoke Russian language or observed the Russian Orthodox faith
During the 19th century, the Romanov tsars ruled their diverse and sprawling realm through an __________ regime in which all initiative came from the ________ administration.
autocratic; central
During the 19th century, the Russian empire expanded in what three directions toward where?
- east into Manchuria
- south into the Caucasus
- southwest toward the Mediterranean
What was the intentions of the Crimean War? What did Russia seek to do?
tried to establish a protectorate (state that is controlled and protected by another) over the weakening Ottoman empire
How did the other European states react to Russia’s proclaimed attempt to establish a protectorate over the weakening Ottoman empire?
threatened to upset the balance of power in Europe, led to military conflict between Russia and a coalition including Britain, France, the kingdom of Sardinia, and the Ottoman empire
Why did Russian armies suffer humiliating defeats on their own territory against European forces?
unable to mobilize, equip, and transport troops to defeat European forces
- military defeat prompted tsarist autocracy to reevaluate the Russian social order and undertake an extensive restructuring program
Russia’s economy could not support the tsars’ expansionist ambitions, and the Crimean War clearly demonstrated the _______ of an _______ economy based on unfree labor.
weakness; agrarian
The key to social reform in Russia was what?
emancipation of the serfs
While some Russians objected to serfdom on moral grounds, why did others believe it had become an obstacle to economic development and a viable state?
serfdom was a source of rural instability and peasant revolt; hundreds of insurrections broke out and disrupted society during the first four decades of the 19th century
Which Russian tsar suggested to the nobility of Moscow that it would be better to abolish serfdom than wait until the serfs begin to liberate themselves?
Tsar Alexander II (r. 1855-1881)
What did tsar Alexander II issue that abolished the institution of serfdom and granted liberty to some 23 million serfs in 1861?
Emancipation Manifesto
What is the Russian term for society?
mir
What did freedom of serfs look like? Were freed serfs happy with their freedom?
government sought to balance interests of lords and serfs, but terms of emancipation unfavorable to most peasants
- compensated landowners for the loss of their land and the serfs who had worked it
- peasants won few political rights, had to pay a redemption tax for most of the lands they received
- majority of peasants held their land in communal ownership within a society
