Question 1
Facing external encroachment and internal rebellion, the Peking government by the 1860s appeared to be on its last leg, but the Self-Strengthening Movement breathed new life into it. Self-strengthening movement that included development of many institutional reforms after concessions and military defeats by the foreign powers was of importance to the Peking governmen. Self-Strengtheners did not realize that western military strength arose from political and economic structures and therefore needed to improve western technology and science in Qing empire. Due to such ignorance of the self-strengtheners, the reforms had various strengths and weaknesses. China needed a technological advancement when it came to machines, scientific knowledge and training of their personnel in order to cope with the challenges they were facing. Self-strenthening movement enagaged in empowering the chinese by developing some of the western inventions that included railways,arsenals, telegraphs and naval vessels. Trade also developed and as a result of that; various treaties were signed between the western powers and the chinese leading to opening of various ports such as the shanghai. The ports were placed under the control of the government officials who had the mandate of dealing with diplomatic issues with the foreigners in order to avoid burdening Perking with such matters (Xiaoying 81). The officials also acted as managers who controlled all the activities taking place within their area of jurisdiction such as utilization of the western personnel and knowledge. Regional leaders championed for the reforms and had the mandate of establishing modern institutions and modernizing the military (Gunde 67). Due to the support of the regional leaders self-strengthening movement had the strength of establishing some of the reforms such as the modernizing of the military. One of the important goals of the Self-Strengthening Movement was to develop various military industries. Modernizing of the military industry included the making of arsenals and construction of the ship dockyards in order to improve the operations of the chinese navy (Gunde 68). Some of the regional leaders like Zeng Guofan supported the program and this led to the development of shanghai arsenal. Foreign administrators and advisors participated greatly in the construction of the arsenals as they managed such processes. Foreign advisors also ensured that schools in which mechanical skills would be studied were established where the dockyards and the arsenals were constructed. Because the regional leaders were able to act without supervision of the government, little coordination existed between the government and the provinces. During the time in which self-strengthening movement started, the chinese was striving to achieve something like the Meiji restoration that occurred in japan. The Japanese through the Meiji restoration were in the process of modernizing their country as a response to the defeat that the western nations inflicted on them(Xiaoying 91). Chinese also saw the importance of modernization in order to develop their country.During the second phase of modernization that occurred between 1872 to 1885, the chinese embraced industry, commerce, and agriculture. They focused on such in order to create wealth that would be used in strengthening their country(Xiaoying 92). Although it was a new idea to the chinese, they embraced it and ventured into profit-oriented industries such as mining, railways, and shipping. Self-strengthening movement had various weaknesses that made it not successful. The geography of china, for instance, led to the downfall of the movement. The limited number of self-strengtheners made it difficult for all of them to traverse a big country like china. China was also prone natural calamities thus making it difficult for the leaders of the movement to traverse the country comfortably(Xiaoying 97). The issue of human resource and rampant cases of corruption led to the failure of the movement. The cost of paying the workers was high especially in the construction sites and therefore this worked against the program. Some of the military equipments made in china were expensive, and this forced the self-strengtheners to import some of the weapons.most of the self-strengtheners were an hindrance to the movement based on the way in which they operated. They relied on their provincial bases for support instead of focusing on the nation with the aim of modernizing it. The lack of some of the most important structures needed for the development of the country acted as a weakness of the reform. Lack of an established legal structure never helped in developing china as most of the projects initiated were to favor some of the important individuals at the imperial court. The favors were subject to problems as at times they were withdrawn thus interfering with the modernization attempts(Xiaoying 97). Lack of an established administrative structure also interfered with the modernization process. The traditional banks found in china were not able to offer long financial projects and because of that, any attempt to form financial institutions failed. Most of the self-strengtheners were not business oriented, and that acted as a set back in the modernization process. Question 2 The Revolution of 1911 ended the imperial system and established the Republic of China, Asia’s first republic. The revolution was set to overthrow the Qing dynasty and was prompted by many factors. The revolution was prompted by the inefficiency and the corrupt nature of the Qing dynasty(Liu 103). Corruption in the government was rampant, and most of the high officials received what they termed as gifts from the low officials. The low officials are due to that square most of the government money thus resulting to imposition of taxes on the citizens(Liu 103). The citizens had economic burden because of that, and this stirred a revolution amongst them. Inefficient emperors especially in the 19th century led to the revolution. The manchu ledaership was not able to conquer and control the poeple especially in the 19th century, and this prompted the uprising(Liu 106). The Han chinese population that comprised of about 90 percent were not happy with the government controlled mainly by the Manchus and therefore stirred up a revolution. European countries also had much control over china, and this made the country weak despite having the highest number of people. The chinese citizens became unhappy with the issue since the western powers controlled most parts of their country. The people became resentful against the Qing dynasty because they believed it was not able to solve their problems(Liu 107). The political leaders in china believed that by making the country a republic with a new and strong government system, they were able to make the country strong and therefore resorted to a revolution.
Some of the economic factors led to the development of the revolution. The government poor economic conditions propmted the revolution as some of the citizens felt that the government was exploiting them. Because the chinese citizens were poor, the taxes collected by the government was not enough. Rampant corruption in the government offices also led to limited taxes as some were squardered by the corrupt officials(Liu 104). Some of the powerful land lords in the country evaded taxes and this led to burden of tax payment to the peasants. The peasants at times broke into rebellions making the government use parts of the funds in order to quell them. Since the government had limited means of getting taxes, they increased them and this led to constant rebbelion amongst the people. Some of the military factors contributed to the revolution. Manchu dynasty had two types of military personnel that included Manchu Eight-Banner Forces and Chinese Green Standard Army. Poverty amongst the soldiers prompted the revolution as they wanted better living conditions(Black 89). The soldiers were not allowed to have any other profession although their pay was constant. Because of this, the soldiers created social disorder and even fuelled the revolution. Some of the soldiers such as the Manchus lost the spirit of fighting and defended their territory after they entered china as rulers(Liu 107). It reduces them to paper soldiers due to the lack of training. Sun Yat-sen and other intellectuals hoped for a revolution that would make china a strong country. He formed an organization known as Tongmenhui that was against the Manchu. Sun Yat-sen got the support of liberal officers in Qing Imperial Army who helped him start the 1911 revolution(Lee and Hock 53). In his vision, he hoped for a revolution that would elevate the position of china to a level of equality and freedom with other countries in the world. In order to achieve this, he urged all the chinese citizens to come together with other countries that were treating them on an equal basis so as to face a common enemy(Lee and Hock 53). Even after becoming the first president of the republic of china, he told the people that his work for a revolution was not yet over.
Workscited
Gunde, Richard. Culture and customs of China. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2002. Print.
Lee, Lai T., and Hock G. Lee. Sun Yat-Sen, Nanyang, and the 1911 revolution. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2011. Print.
Liu, Heung S. China in revolution : the road to 1911. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press In collaboration with Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong, 2011. Print.
Black, Jeremy. War in the Modern World since 1815. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, 2013. Print.
Xiaoying. Globalized knowledge flows and Chinese social theory. New York: Routledge, 2014. Print.
