Why was China Unable to Resist Western Imperialism during the 19th Century - Coursework Example

Why was China unable to resist Western Imperialism during the 19th Century? Insert Insert Grade Insert 02 November Why was China unable to resist Western Imperialism during the 19th Century? Introduction Imperialism is a term often used to describe a sense of being reigned upon by a foreign or a superior body through either political or other means of economic influence. Western imperialism has been a controversial issue and especially in the early days when emerging powers like Britain, Germany, Russia and France were on the struggle to claim dominance in their territories and beyond. This scramble and quest to influence other nations of the world that had inferior economic or political power led to colonization. Some may brand this behaviour materialistic because of the way they exploited the nations in which they managed to influence through treaties that were biased and taking of the citizens in those nations as slaves under very poor working conditions. Another reason was probably the increasing use of science and technology that helped in encouraging and equipping exploration initiatives. China was a very productive country with a flourishing industry able to develop things like printing papers and gun powder at times when even today’s industrial giants had not come into the light (Frederic 2007). A picture brought about China is that of an endless hilly terrain, evergreen farmlands and full with lakes that has a good landscape view (Bickers 2011). Interest on China may have developed as a result of trade. Marco Polo’s early expeditions in the Chinese territory during his trading for the country’s silk and indigenous tea made him bring back stories of how that land was well endowed and the potential it had. This was probably one of the factors that helped draw attention towards the Chinese territory. Initially, the “Boxer uprising” as it was referred to by European nations tried to resist imperialism and even resorted to violent means like murder of missionaries. However, the military strength of western powers like Britain ensured that the group was weakened and disbanded by the government of the day out of pressure from the imperialists. The following discussion will point out some of the reasons why China was not able to effectively resist imperialistic tendencies of the western nations. Inferior Military Power During the 19th century, the country was being faced by powerful nations that had advanced their technology in the area warfare because of the conquests they were being involved in. China was not even near them in terms of their firepower. The western powers therefore found it easy to control the government of the day by fighting their way to dominating the country through treaties that did not hold binding resolutions (Hayes 2001). The country was devastated with the force in which the westerners came with and they still have images of the destruction they had to face because of fighting the war of resisting foreign invasion in their region. The Notion of Natural Inferiority The Chinese were humble people at the time of western aggression and this created a notion that they were disadvantaged in the sense that they were physically inferior to the western race. This may have been a major factor that influenced their reaction however funny it may sound today when they look back to those years (Tsu 2005). This created fear among the people among other reasons mentioned in this essay. It is however, important to note that the origin of this notion was from the intimidation tactics employed by western imperialists who claimed to be a superior race because of the advancements they had made at that time. Irresistible Science For the Chinese, science was quite irresistible and the only means they could get to be involved was through collaboration with imperialists so that they could learn their methods. It was at the century when there was a revolution and discoveries being made. Maybe they did not want to be left behind by that wave of “scientism” and therefore decided that they had no alternative but to get themselves involved (Shih et al, 2012). The imperialists were also using the advancements to lure countries that they knew had potential in terms of wealth in resources to their side. It was that tactic that ensured that the enthusiasm of the Chinese was channelled into making them sign treaties that did not have benefit to them. The Emergence of Japan as an Asian force The Chinese were a force to reckon with in the early years of the 18th century but with the dawn of a new century, they had been on a downward trend economically due to political rumblings at home. Meanwhile, the more aggressive Japanese people were emerging as a second force and even threatened Chinese interest. A good example was their battle to claim the Korean territory of which Japan had a victorious battle at the expense of China (Rao, 2007). This, therefore, led China to give in to imperialism since Japan may have been seen to benefit from such collaborations. They could not simply bow out to Japan or watch their neighbour ruling the region despite having controlled it in the early years. Internal Strains in the Country During this period, Chinese were politically unstable and this may have given western powers a leeway in taking control. The government of the day had failed to deliver to its people and this created a lot of instability in the country’s political environment. There were several uprisings to oppose the purported oppression by the leaders at that time and this may have worked against the country’s interest when it came to tackling external pressure. Internal instability was therefore being exploited by the west to get into the country and take control of its leadership through a promise of improved lives. This is what led to a military intervention by Europeans in the name of helping the people even though they had vested interests in the country’s resources. Financial Bailout China was down economically as a result of the wars that depleted their national reserves and damaged their infrastructure. They had to embark on nation building to cope up with other emerging Asian countries like Japan. Europeans offered the best source of this financial help and they had no choice but to take it. The new leaders wanted to bring back China to where it was and the only way was to accept financial aid from the westerners who happened to be on a mission to spread their influence (Bickers, 2011). Through borrowing, the Chinese had to comply with the several restrictions and conditions that came with such agreements. This therefore made them accept imperialism to be able to redeem themselves from their state at that period. Industrial Revolution China had to accept the superior inventions of the different mechanical and scientific method at the time when there was rapid industrialization. They had been left behind due to the struggle between capitalists and communists in the country that impacted on their development (Chaurasia, 2004). Every nation was struggling to obtain the new methods and techniques of production, food processing and farming that were being developed. China was left behind by the dictatorship prone leaders at that time who seemingly were going for isolation than cooperation with other states for the benefit of all. Japan had grown economy- wise because of this. The Chinese, therefore, had to reluctantly accept imperialism so as to achieve what others had achieved. False Pride The Chinese were helpless after several struggles to retain their superiority; they had to salvage themselves even though it meant surrendering to imperialists (Liu, 2007). They wanted to collaborate with the westerners so that they could at least benefit from them in any little humane way. This was influenced by their religious beliefs and further heightened by the missionaries who started to spread the gospel within the country. This is referred to as pride that is not warranted because it was only at the face of it. The fact is that the country had gone down due to years of infighting and left themselves to the mercy of the imperialist who had their own interest on the land’s resources. Conclusion It is evident that China reluctantly accepted imperial rule as a means of picking themselves up and also to inferiority that they imposed on themselves. The “Sino-Japanese” war for supremacy in terms of gaining Korean territory show the rivalry of two neighbours who together could have cooperated instead of fighting (Li, 2012). The Chinese people had been grappling with internal tensions between the old communist leadership and the emerging middle class society that favoured a more capitalist set up. This fight made them loose sight and the nations that were behind them in terms of development were surpassing them in economic growth and technological advancement. The imperialists, therefore, saw a nation that was vulnerable to external pressure and it was through the military intervention staged in the country that handed it over to the imperialists. Today, the country has emerged as a world economic power. Many attribute this success to the way they handled their past failures and move on at speed to cope with the growing effects of globalization. It seems that the people of China have learnt from the past and have today become world’s most aggressive entrepreneurs with investments spread all over the continents of the world (Yang, 2005). This is surely a lesson to every nation that has a task of reclaiming its lost glory. China has even surpassed the nations that were then superior and went to exploit them. Its neighbour Japan today trails behind it in economic development and this is partly because of natural disasters but China has also had to cope with several natural calamities. Maybe it is because of history that China’s approach in dealing with poor nations is different from the western nations who still prefer sanctions. Bibliography Bickers, R 2011, ‘China’s Age of Fragility,’ History Today, Vol.61; issue 3. Chaurasia, R 2004, History of Modern China, Atlantic Publishers and Distributers, London. Frederic, 2007, Essay on Reactions to Western Imperialism in Asia, accessed 1st November, 2012 < http:/www.esssayforum.com> Hayes, D 2001, Japan and the Security of Asia, Lexington Books, New York. Li, X 2012, China at War, ABC – CLIO publishers, New York. Liu, H 2007, ‘Greater China.’ Asian times accessed 1st November, 2012 Rao, V 2007, World History from the Early Times to AD 2000, New Delhi, Sterling Publishers. Shih et al. 2012, Civilization, Nation and Modernity in East Asia, Routledge Press, London. Tsu, L 2005, Failure, Nationalism and Literature: The Making of Modern Chinese Identity. Stanford University Press, Stanford. Yang, D 2005, China’s Offshore Investments: A Network Approach. Edward Elgar Publishers, London. Read More