cram Flashcards
1900 whos ruling and what do they “have”
the Qing Dynasty was in control of China in 1900. The Manchus had been in power for over 300 years. Confucianism kept everyone in their place. The Emperor had
the ‘Mandate of Heaven’. In 1900 Emperor Guangxu ruled with the help of his Aunt Empress Dowager Cixi.
economic reasons for 1911 revelution
Corruption in the government was serious. To make money the Qing court sold government posts to the highest bidder. These corrupt government officials squeezed as much money from the common people as they could through taxes. Cixi’s reforms were expensive, and Chun had to increase taxes on tea, wine, salt and land. These were on top of the taxes that had to be raised to pay reparations owed after the Boxer Uprising. As society was poor, the taxes that the Qing’s could collect were limited in amount. Powerful and corrupt landlords made the peasants pay the taxes instead of them. When the peasants broke into rebellions, the Qings had to spend more money to deal with the disorder, thus making the financial situation worse. Nationalisation over the railways made the former owners angry because they were not compensated. This anger was increased when the Qings borrowed money from foreigners to pay for expansion and gave them special concessions. It looked as if the Qings were partners with the ‘foreign devils’.
