Chapter 31
Societies at Crossroads
19th Century:
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Qing
Ottoman empire
Russian empire
Tokugawa Japan
Common Serious Issues:
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military weakness,
o left them vulnerable to the industrial powers of western Europe and the United States.
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confrontations with W Europe and US – result:,
o incredible opportunities for the western nations.
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population pressures & government corruption.
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internal turmoil.
o exacerbated military weaknesses by 2nd half of the nineteenth century.
o sometimes, western powers intervened to protect their own interests.
o faced continued decline without reforms (social, political, economic)
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Vigorous reform movements emerged in all four societies,
Very different results
o Ottoman, Romanov, and Qing dynasties faced collapse
o Japan enjoyed reform by 20th century.
Basic Themes
Military confrontations.
 All four societies fought wars or engaged in military confrontations with industrialized
nations.
 Confrontations brought the realization of military weakness in the face of these rising
powers.
o The Capitulations: exempted Europeans from Ottoman law
o Decline of Ottoman military: Janisarries
o Sultan Mahmud II: modern army
o Crimean War: Russia vs. industrial western powers
o Opium War: China vs. industrial western powers
Internal weaknesses.
 declining agricultural productivity, famine
 falling government revenue
 corrupt governments
o success against industrialized nations was practically impossible
o weakness of agrarian economy based on unfree labor exposed
Reform movements.
 Ottoman empire
 ruling classes viewed reform with suspicion
 they were determined to keep their privileges
 industrialization motivated by political/military; driven by government.
 Tanzimat legal reforms –
 attacked Ottoman laws
 basic rights: public trials, privacy, equality before the law
 Young Turk era & proposals

Russia:
o Abolish serfdom
o Terms unfavorable to peasants
 few political rights
 debt-laden
 no real increase in agricultural production
 zemstvos subordinate to tsarist authorities.

Witte
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China:
o Hong Xiuquan
 Taiping Program & defeat
 Radical:
o Abolition of private property
o Communal wealth
o Abolition of footbinding/concubinage
o Free public education
 Gentry sided with Qing to support old order
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Result:
 all three were on the verge of collapse by the turn of the century.
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Japan: Fall of the Tokugawa Dynasty
 paved the way for reform efforts
Meiji Reforms: thorough (unlike Qing, Ottoman, Russian)
Old social order abolished
o deprivation of samurai monopoly of military
o constitutional monarchy
o tax from grain to fixed-money
o remodeled economy
 modern infrastructure: transportation, commerce & education
 abolished guilds
 high costs to peasant/worker classes
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Resulted in Japan’s emergence as an industrial power.
In the context of the themes outlined above, consider these questions in your reading:
1. Why was Russia struggling with such an antiquated system when it had been phased out
of most of the rest of Europe centuries earlier?
2. In what ways was the continuing existence of serfdom emblematic of other areas in
which the Russians trailed the western Europeans?
3. What were the dangers of a system such as serfdom still existing in Russia after it had
already disappeared in Russia’s neighbors.
4. Was Alexander II correct when he stated, “It is better to abolish serfdom from above than
to wait until the serfs begin to liberate themselves from below”?
5. Why did it take the serfs so long to push for better conditions? Who were the zemstvos?
6. Compare the concurrent efforts to eliminate serfdom in Russia and abolish slavery in the
United States and Brazil. Were there any similarities?
7. What did the abolition of these systems eventually mean for the advancement of the three
countries?
8. What were Hong Xiuquan’s inspirations and goals?
9. How was it possible for him to attract such a large following?
10. The Taiping rebellion fed off internal problems and discontent. Do the other countries
have similar contemporary problems?
11. Why was the situation in Japan so different?