Pen

I loaned one of my students a pen during the final but didn't get it back. If that student could put the pen in my box in the Asian Centre Office I would appreciate it (I have to go to the Philippines to get that particular pen!).

Have a good summer all, it's been fun!

Review Notes

Just back from the review session. Thanks for the clapping and for the kind things people said to me afterwards. That really made my day.

Here are the overheads I used at the review session. Good luck on the final!

JAPAN
1. Lead-up to the Meji Restoration:
a. In 1853, the American Matthew Perry forced Japan (then under the Tokugawa Bakufu) to open its doors to the outside world.
b. Japan, like China, was forced to sign unequal treaties.
c. Selective Adoption of Western Ways
d. Growth in anti-bakufu forces (Restorationists)
2. Meiji Period (1868-1912) and Beyond
a. 1866 War with Bakufu, victory for Restorationists but Bakufu limps along until 1869
b. 1868, Meiji Restoration and Charter Oath
c. Massive reforms
d. Satsuma Rebellion, 1877-reaction to reform
e. Japanese Empire Grows
i. Victory over China in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95
ii. Victory over Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05—Battle of Tsushima
iii. Annexation of Korea
iv. 21 Demands, 1915 (during WW1)

Why was Japan able to Stay Independent?
1) Geography (Island Nation)
2) Reform

Colonialism and Resistance
1) Go together, colonialism breeds resistance
2) Resistors often borrow from Colonizers
3) Forms of resistance, violent and peaceful

Ideology and Nationalism
1) Nationalism, each nation has its own state and is not ruled by foreigners
2) New Ideas, subject of ruler to citizen of a nation state
3) Breakdown of old loyalties to family/village/etc.
4) Nationalism needed to mobilize the people to build a strong and modern state
5) Nationalism dangerous to some—but hard not to create nationalism when you bring reform
6) Strongly related to colonialism-sense of other
7) Borrowing from colonizers
8) Look to native traditions
9) Marxism?

Transformative War
1) Seeks/Brings Change
2) Example of Singapore and decolonization—explodes myth of Western invincibility
3) Failure of colonization in general, Japan’s invasion of China in 1937 (Rape of Nanking)

CHINA

Lead-up to the Opium Wars:
1. Lord Macartney’s mission to China in 1793. Failed.
2. Abolition of East India Company monopoly on opium trade in 1833 – everyone wants a piece of the action.
3. Negative Aspects of trade-social and economic

4. Lin Zexu sent to Canton to eliminate opium trade. Wrote a letter to Queen Victoria making his case based on morality. For many British, issue is not morality, but diplomacy and trade.
5. First Opium War, 1839-42
6. War ends with signing of the Treaty of Nanjing
7. Beginning of British ‘indirect imperialism’ and ‘economic imperialism.’
8. First of many ‘unequal treaties’ that create various European ‘spheres of influence.’ (not colonies)
9. The Second Opium War (1856-60)

Late Qing Dynasty
1. Taiping Rebellion, 1850-64, Borrows from Christianity, anti-Manchu—transformative war/ideology
2. Self Strengthening Movement—Attempt at Reform following Second Opium War, 1860-1894
3. Sino-Japanese War—transformative war
4. 100 Days of Reform, 1898, Supported by Guangxu Emperor and Kang Youwei, Opposed by Ci Xi
5. Boxer Rebellion, 1900, anti-foreign, famine, eventually supports, failure discredits anti-reformers, colonialism and resistance
6. Fall of the Qing, 1911 Sun Yat-sen, revolutionary and first president
7. Yuan Shikai, president and later attempt at emperor




SOUTHEAST ASIA

Sarawak, demonstrates the variety, complexity and unusual nature of imperialism in SEAsia
Search for Resource
Man on the Spot—British could claim it because British subjects ruled it
(note-North Borneo and Sarawak are different)
Phased Conquest (Burma taken in three phases)

Burma
1) Geography—too close to India
2) Good King Mindon, son not so good

Vietnam
1) Geography—accessible to French
2) Unable to reform quickly enough

Thailand
1) Geography—in between French and English so useful buffer state
2) Good reforming kings, Rama IV (Mongut) and Rama V (Chulalongkorn) who were also skillful at playing the British and French off against each other.

INDIA
1. Rise of Indian Nationalism – The Indian Mutiny
a. Indian Mutiny – cartridges?
b. Initial Indian success and atrocities
c. March to Delhi and the Mughal Emperor, looking backwards and forwards
d. Final British success and atrocities
e. British back away from reformist policies, growth in distrust between Indians and British
2. The Indian National Congress-1885
1. Allan Octavian Hume: founder ornithologist
2. G.K. Gokhale – Moderate. Campaigned for education and social welfare issues.
3. B.G. Tilak – Radical. Boycott and revolutionary tradition
4. 1906 – Muslim League founded
5. 1907 – The INC split into radical and moderate groups at Surat
6. Violence—assassination of plague commissioner in 1897, Sir William Curzon Wylie, 1909
3. The Rise of Indian Nationalism – British Reactions
a. World War One and Rowlatt Acts
b. Protest against acts
c. Amritsar Massacre, 13 April 1919
4. The Rise of Indian Nationalism – Gandhi
a. Gandhi - Inspired by Tilak and Gokhale. Political and spiritual leader of the Indian Independence Movement.
b. Gandhi’s politics-radical/moderate/traditional
c. Uses his personal philosophy of satyagraha to support the resistance. In forming this philosophy he draws on many sources: Russian, English, Christian, Theosophy, Jains—emphasis on ahisma
d. Gandhi’s methods, Satyagraha, boycott, civil disobeidence

Essays

Two announcements regarding essays:

1) If you want to know your grade before the final on assignment two you can email me starting April 20th. The grade I provide will not be set in stone, but should be within several tenths of a point of what your final grade will be.

2) Your essay will come back with a marking sheet. There are six categories on the sheet and a number assigned to each category between 1 and 10. This is only to give you an idea of where you are strong and where you might need some improvement. There is no mathematical relationship between the numbers there and your final grade (in other words there is no formula by which you can add up those numbers and get your final grade). There are other elements in your grade which aren't necessarily covered by those six categories, so it might be possible to have similar numbers but different grades.

Essay Questions

Here are seven essay questions. Five of them will appear on the exam and you will have to choose one to answer. I have to stress that there might be some changes to the essay questions before the test. I have submitted these to Professor Harlow but she has yet to ok them, so please be sure to check back frequently before the test (I decided it would be better to post the essay questions early so that students could have as much time as possible to prepare and that this outweighed the danger posed by me having to make any changes to them).

Both Japan and Thailand were able to maintain real independence during the ‘high imperial age’ of the late nineteenth century. Why? Make sure to include in your answer advantages these two countries had that other Asian countries did not have and to discuss specific people and events.

In the late 19th century Qing China sought reform through “self-strengthening.” What is self-strengthening and why did the Qing state utilize it? Did it succeed? Why or why not?

What were the fundamental differences between the Taiping rebellion in China and the Indian Mutiny? In what ways were they similar? How did Europeans (in the case of the Taiping) and the British (in the case of the Indian Mutiny) react to these uprisings and why?

The Qing dynasty of the 18th century appears, in retrospect, to have been extremely strong whereas in the 19th century the dynasty was extremely weak. The Mughal dynasty, in retrospect, appears to have been extremely strong in the 17th century but weak in the 18th century. Why did these dramatic changes take place? In what ways were the causes of these changes similar? In what ways were they different?

Resistance, often violent, to imperialism can be seen in nearly all Asian nations in the 19th and 20th centuries. Using an example of your choice, analyze violent resistance to imperialism with particular regard to its cause and its particular effects.

M.K. Gandhi’s synthesized ideas from many different sources into his ideal of satyagraha? What were these various ideas and from what sources did he borrow? How did he combine them into the coherent whole of satyagraha and use to it to oppose British rule over India?

China under the Qing dynasty faced many difficulties arising from the opium trade. What negative effects did opium and the opium trade have on China and why? In what ways did conflict over the issue of opium represent a clash between different beliefs about morality and trade? How central was opium to the problems faced by China in the 19th century?

Review Session

The review session will be Friday the 20th from 5pm to 6 (or 6:25pm) in Buchanan B226.

I say 6 or 6:25 pm because I plan on preparing about an hours worth of material. After that I will answer questions. If there are no questions I will leave. If there are questions I will stay until 6:25pm to answer them (I have an appointment that I have to make so I have to leave then).

Here is how the review will be organized:
1) General information about the test
2) Review over the material covered on the lectures of April 10th and 12th
3) General Review of material since the midterm
4) Question and Answer Period

One thing that I must stress is that I will not answer overly broad questions about the essay questions (in other words, I will not answer questions that are essentially asking me to give the answer to an essay question or a major part of one). I am happy though to answer specific, narrow questions about information related to the essay questions (for example "What enabled Thailand to remain independent, would be too strong, but "How did Rama IV and Rama the V help keep Thailand indpenedent" would be just fine). I will prepare the review keeping in mind my essay questions.

As a reminder I will post my overheads for the review session on the blog by Saturday so that people who can't make or would have to make too long of commutes to come can take advantage of the review session.

Review for last Tuesday and Thursday's Lectures

I promised I would say a little bit about what I thought was important in lecture this last Tuesday and Thursday.

On Tuesday we focused on Japan with a special emphasis on the course theme of “transformative war.” In 1853, the American Matthew Perry forced Japan (then under the Tokugawa Bakufu) to open its doors to the outside world. Japan, like China, was forced to sign unequal treaties. Many Japanese realized that they needed to selectively adapt Western ways in order to protect their independence and that the Tokugawa Bakufu was too weak to accomplish this. Therefore, in 1866 an alliance of anti-Bakufu samurai sought to overthrow the government. In 1868, in the name of the Emperor Meiji, they carried out their restoration and by 1869 had completely defeated the Bakufu forces. Although they rebelled in the name of the Meiji Emperor, he would remain only a figurehead, and the so-called Meiji oligarchs would rule in his stead. The oligarchs were interested in reforming Japan quickly and because of this were forced to put down a rebellion by ex-samurai angry over the loss of their privileges in 1877. In 1889 the Meiji constitution was promulgated, partly in order to quiet domestic unrest but also to show the world powers just how civilized Japan had become. Japan would later go on to win victories over China in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95 and the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, making Japan the dominant power in Asia. Because Japan managed to defeat a Western power (Russia) many Asians looked to Japan as a possible leader to overthrow Western colonialism in Asia. While some steps were taken in that direction, for the most part, Japan acted just like the Western colonial powers, annexing Korea in 1910 and putting pressure on China. Taking advantage of the Western imperial powers being occupied by World War One (1914-1918), Japan made the “Twenty-one Demands” on China in 1915 (these demands would have basically made China a Japanese protectorate) seized German controlled parts of China (the treaty of Versailles allowed and the League of Nations confirmed that though these areas had been a part of China they were to be under Japanese control, making the Chinese very angry and leading to an increase in Chinese nationalism).

On Thursday we discussed the issue of transformative war by looking at World War Two in Asia (the Pacific War). Professor Harlow noted that this was a war between colonial powers (except perhaps for China) and that the Japanese victory in Singapore showed that Western colonialism in Asia was no longer tenable. The power relationship between West and East had changed and after World War Two, direct imperialism (at least by Western powers) was essentially no longer possible in Asia. At the same time, Japan’s attack on Nanking (the infamous “Rape of Nanking”) represented Japan’s attempts to actually take over and directly rule large parts of China. Japan failed in this attempt, thanks in a large part to anti-Japanese nationalist feelings that arose among many Chinese because of atrocities like the Rape of Nanking.

Professor Harlow also discussed the final, and even gave some questions which might appear on the final (though they might be slightly altered).

Class Notes for Week 13

Here is what was covered in Tuesday's discussion section:

China
Attempts at Reform
Second Opium War/Arrow War, 1856-1860

Self-strengthening Movement (Chinese emphasis—Western technology, Chinese spirit)
1) First Phase, 1861-1872—concentration on military, diplomacy, and international law
2) Second Phase, 1872-1884—more on industry, need to create wealth to build up infrastructure
3) Third Phase, 1884-1894—slower reform, emphasis on light industry (e.g. textiles)

Nationalism, each nation rules its own state, powerful and necessary ideology for modern state—part of reform

But Qing is Manchu while China is mostly Han

Qing are in a difficult position, need nationalism centered on loyalty to the throne rather than on ethnicity, but many don’t want this (e.g. Sun Yat-sen)

Need reform to be strong but reform breeds more people like Sun Yat-sen!

Qing rulers, Ci Xi (1835-1908) realized this and tried to limit reform.

Also a great deal of corruption (Li Lianying).
So won’t find too many Qing loyalists when the dynasty falls.
Korea, 1894 Tonghak (동학, 東學) Rebellion
Japanese and Chinese both send troops, ostensibly to put down the rebellion

Fighting breaks out between Japan and China over Korea, Sino-Japanese War, 1894-95.

Chinese are favorites but Japanese win

100 Days of Reform, Kang Youwei and Guangxu Emperor, focus on improvement in military and education—reaction against loss to Japan

Move somewhat away from self-strengthening/China emphasis to more radical ideas, not yet revolution

Lasted a short time—conservative backlash brought it down and Guangxu Emperor was put under house arrest and some of his supporters were killed

After failure in Sino-Japanese war and of reforms, China is incredibly weak and pressures against it increase

In 1900, as a reaction to these pressures and foreign inroads into China, “Boxers” rise up in rebellion, killing foreigners and Chinese Christians.

Qing support uprising and Boxers besiege foreign legations in Beijing.

Uprising is eventually (brutally) put down by a multi-nation task force

Qing made even weaker, reactionaries discredited, radical reforms increase, though few are implemented

Sun Yat-sen, Revolutionary, Three People’s Principles, Nationalism, Democracy, Livelihood

Two Major Concerns:
1) How have a revolution without a period of disunity (Republic—with tutelage)
2) How to avoid economic disparities that exist in Western countries (socialism)

Revolution of 1911—Sun first president

Guomindang (Nationalist Party-GMD), fails to hold China together

Yuan Shi-kai—military leader under Qing, takes control of Presidency from Sun, eventually tries to found a new dynasty—dies in 1916

After Yuan dies China falls more into disunity—Warlord Period (Dog meat General, Zhang Zong-chang)

Weakness leads to events like May Fourth Movement—protest against Versailles treaty—rise in nationalism

Chiang Kai-shek, takes control of GMD, Northern Expedition, 1926-1928, attempt to unify China




The key points that I am trying to stress here is the importance of nationalism and reform in China. The Qing dynasty needed to reform to strengthen the dynasty against foreign incursions and against internal pressures (like rebellion). However, to much reform would bring too much nationalism which could then endagner the dynasty. That is why Qing leaders, such as Ci Xi were anti-reform. They saw that it could destroy their dynasty. After the 1911 revolution the Qing dynasty fell apart but there was nothing strong enough to replace it and so the Chinese were still taken advantage of. This can be seen in the May Fourth movement of 1919, which was a reaction to the Versailles Treaty. Japan and China were on the victorious side in World War One. Japan had seized Germany territory in China. China expected this territory to be returned but instead Japan was allowed to keep it. Many Chinese were angry at this and this led to a growth in nationalism. This nationalism helped power the Nationalists (GMD) to reunite a large part of China. However, they were not able to unite all of China. China was not completely united until the victory of the Communists over the Nationalists in 1949. Today, some would argue that China is still not reunited because Taiwan is not a part of the People's Republic of China.

Review Session

The review session will be held on Friday April 20th. It will begin at 5pm and will probably go to 6 or 6:30. I don't know what room it will be in but will post it as soon as I know.

I wasn't too satisfied with how the review session went for the midterm. This time I will make more preparations. I plan on talking for about 40-50 minutes and then opening up the floor to questions. So make sure to bring any questions you might have. If there are no questions then the review will just end then.

I will present on what I think are the most important themes and ideas on the course and will also give a short talk on the last week of classes since we won't have covered that in discussion.

A student told me that she had to commute to school and it took quite awhile to do so (several hours). I imagine a lot of students are in the same situation. Therefore I will post the overheads I will be using in the review session on the blog by Saturday the 21st. That way if you are in such a situation or busy with other tests you can still avail of the review.

Good luck!

Notes for last Tuesday's Discussion

It was brought to my attention that the information for last Tuesday was presented rather quickly. Therefore I am posting the overheads that were presented in class along with comments (in bold) explaining their meaning (the comments are the ones I gave to my substitute). If any of this is unclear, feel free to email me.

A Cruel War (emphasis that the 1857 was a cruel harsh war)
Kanpur/Cawnpore-massacre of women by troops (British women and children were massacred even though a true had been arranged)
Guerilla Warfare (Indian soldiers kept fighting as guerillas and the British fought them in a very brutal way, were willing to kill people on flimsy accusations so some Indians would accuse innocent people that were there enemies so that they would be executed)
Meerut: (this is a quote from a woman whose family was saved by their Indian servant—key is that it emphasizes the good Indian (the loyal servant) versus the bad Indian (the rebels). The good one is loyal to his British masters and shows the goodness of the British colonial enterprise, but the bad ones are disloyal showing they are bad and in need of reform)
“Our faithful servant, Golab Khan, seeing our perilous situation amidst the increasing flames, and that every moment was precious, with his characteristic presence of mind and quickness, had suddenly thought of a plan by which to draw away the mob, who, after having satisfied themselves with all the plunder they could get, were every moment becoming more eager in their search for us…”

Aftermath of the Rebellion
Distrust between British and Indians (the British don’t trust the Indians anymore, leading to problems later)
Queen’s Proclamation of 1858 (British used both repressive means to control Indians but also made concessions)
1) stopped land grabs
2) more tolerance for religion/culture
3) some civil service opportunities for Indians

Conservative/Tolerant—Give up major Reform
But what happens when India needs reform?
Spread of western/modern education—new elites (they themselves want reform, both social and greater role in government)

Indian National Congress
Founded 1885 by Allan Octavian Hume (member of Indian Civil Service)
Goals of Congress
1) Fusion of India into national whole
2) Gradual regeneration of India, “moral, mental, social, political”
3) Consolidation of Union between Britain and India
What contradictions do we see in these three principles?Why are they a danger to the continued existence of the British Empire in India? (they are dangerous because if India becomes united and reformed it may decide it no longer wants union with British)

Congress—membership (members of congress are mostly lawyers, who tend to be more progress and even radical, and landowners, who tend to be more conservative)
High numbers of lawyers and landowners

Dilemma for those who want independence
Does “regeneration” (modernization?) come first?
Or does independence come first?
Moderates generally answer yes and no while radicals answer no and yes

Moderates
Dadabhai Naoroji, elected to British Parliament (British were willing to allow Indians to be in British parliament, shows that despite repression, some British were open to Indians)
Idea of economic drain (thought Britain was using India to get rich, still questionable whether or not whether Britain made money off colonies, though merchants most likely did)
G.K. Gokhale, education and social welfare, inspired Ghandi (wanted to help people reform and only then could there be independence)

Radical
B.G. Tilak (Lokmanya-beloved of the world)

Methodology
“We are not armed, and there is no necessity for arms either. We have a stronger weapon, a political weapon, in boycott. We have perceived one fact, that the whole of this administration, which is carried on by a handful of Englishmen, is carried on with our assistance” (ask students what this means? British need Indians to rule so if Indians don’t cooperate British will have to leave)

1) British need us in order to rule, if we don’t work with them, they can’t hold on to India
2) Appeal to Hindu religion/tradition/identity to mobilize the masses
3) Social progress is not important (it’s just western anyway). Independence is important.

Tilak—use communalism to unite Hindus rather than all Indians, use that to defeat British (emphasizes Hindu tradition and identity leaving Muslims out)

1906 Muslim League—fearful of Hindu domination (divide and conquer policy of British, later becomes against the congress)
Communal tensions/fighting

How do the British keep control?
1) limited reform (carrot)
(ex Government of India Act, 1919)
2) repression (stick)
Rowlatt Acts, Amritsar Massacre (Rowlatt Acts limited freedom of the press and gave government extra powers in sedition, this happened during WW 1 but the British government wants to keep the laws on the books which is what the Rowlatt acts do
3) divide and conquer (keep some Indians against other Indians so British can control)

The Trap of Repression
1) March 1919 Rowlatt Acts
(makes many Indians angry)
2) April 13th 1919, Amritsar Massacre (British General Dyer fires on unarmed people who are together for a religious holiday (there weren’t supposed to be any meetings). Because of distrust of Indians (always worried another Mutiny might occur) and because there were protests against the Rowlatt acts that had been violent many British people were nervous. The point of this is that in India’s case, repression led to resistance which led to more repression which led to greater resistance, so it was a trap for the British. The more they oppressed the Indians the more angry Indians became and the more Indians became angry.
(makes Indians even more angry)

Desire to throw out British spreads through Indian society, masses are ready to be activated, need a leader:
Gandhi!

G.K. Gokhale+B.G. Tilak=Mahatma Gandhi (Ghandi borrowed from them)
Radical—wants the British out now/soon (more like radicals)
Moderate—social progress (still concerned with change)
Conservative—Uses Hindu tradition/Spinning Wheel (spinning wheel is important because of dominance of British textile goods)
Openness—Russian, English, Christian, Theosophy (open to other ideas)
Jains—emphasis on ahisma (non-violence) (Jains were a religious group that emphasized extreme non-violence, even eating plants was not that great, so anti-violence)

Method—satyagraha (soul force), boycotts (British cloth), civil disobedience (salt march)
Soul force gives strength, love and humility can overcome evil, British had monopoly on salt to raise money, making salt for one’s own use was illegal, so Gandhi and many other Indians marched to the sea to make salt as an act of civil disobedience against the law.