Module 3 Empires in Collision

What accounts for the massive peasant rebellions of 19th century China?
After China's imperial state collapsed, the country was unable to keep many stable functions such as tax collection, flooding control, and social welfare which made it easier for rebellions to form. Corruption was endemic and harsh treatment of peasants was common. The Taiping Uprising called for the abolition of private property, redistribution of land, end of prostitution and opium smoking, and the organization of society into sexually organized military camps of men and women. The Tapian uprising called for posture towards women and their gender roles.

Read the Zooming in segment titled “Lin Zexu: Confronting the Opium Trade.” How might Lin Zexu have handled his task differently or more successfully? Had he been given an impossible mission?
I don't think Lin Zexu could have handled this task differently. I think maybe he could have made some negotiations with Europeans, but he definitely had to set his foot down in order for them to take him seriously. It was a good idea to explain to the Chinese people the health hazards that resulted from smoking opium, and taking the drugs away as well as the tools to smoke the drugs with was a good way to get rid of the problem. Additionally, he arrested various drug dealers that were Chinese which also helped get rid of the problem. Something he could have changed was the manner in which he tried to get foreigners to stop selling to China. The reason I say this is because Europeans held a lot of power, and it is never good to bite the tail of a superpower because in the end it bit him back. His mission was somewhat impossible especially because he was given a job that called to go against a powerful nation. He attempted to get it done and was successful for a little bit, but the success did not last long.

What lay behind the decline of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century?
To begin with, the invasion that Napoleon undertook was a blow that caused them to lose land. After the French left, independent Egypt pursued a modernizing empire. In addition to this, other parts of this empire that included Greece, Siberia, Bulgaria and Romania obtained their independence due to their increasing yearning for independence and support from Britain and Russia to obtain it. The west potion of the Ottoman Empire had weakened because of its inability to raise revenue because local warlords and provisional authorities had gained more power. The Ottoman Empire lost their financial expertise as Europeans began to dominate the oceanic treasure of Asia. Competition with European goods that were cheaper than what the Ottoman Empire had to offer hit them hard. Additionally, the Ottoman EMpire was in debt which resulted in their reliance on foreign loans to finance efforts at economic development.