Chapter 31 Traditions And Encounters Essay Questions

Examine the Meiji restoration. What were its guiding principles? Why did it copy Western Europe and the United States? Why was Japan so successful at modernization while Russia, China and the Ottomans struggled? Was there a downside to the Meiji Restoration?

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Study the picture of Empress Dowager Cixi's marble vessel on pg 722. What is the symbolism of the story? Wee other countries making short-sighted decisions?

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What was the significance of the Young Turks? What was their main influence? How successful were the Ottoman Turks at reform? Compare effort at reform among the Qing, Tokugawa's, Ottomans, and Russians.

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Compare and Contrast efforts at protest in the Ottoman Empire, Russia, China and Japan in the nineteenth century. What did these movements have in common? How did they represent the unique problems of each country?

All of the protests were by the lower class, because they could not survive on what they had. Japan had a samurai rebellion, but they were able to put it down with their advanced military. All of the countries were lacking in food. Russia had liberal movements because the government was really oppressive. China and Japan were lacking food, and the Ottoman Empire was just a hot mess.

Examine the decline of China in the nineteenth century. How did China fall from world leader to dominated state so rapidly?

China refused to industrialize because if they did that would mean more people would be out of jobs and that would cause rebellions of the working class. They were too late in trying to industrialize when the Europeans came, because they were already dividing up Asia.

Look at the picture on pg 715. How does it represent Russia's uneasy marriage of western European and traditional Russian influences? How successful wee Russia's efforts at modernization and industrialization?

It depicts Russian merchants in European dress have tea. The Russians still have their beards, even though they have European clothing on. Count Sergei Witte was the minister of finance and tried to improve the economy, like building railroads. But it also promoted bad living for the peasants, so they revolted. Since it was government sponsored, the lower-class suffered even more due to the new working conditions.

Examine the map on pg 720. Trace the decline of China and the expansion of foreign domination. What role would Japan play in this changing Asian world?

Japan became a political and economic power quickly because they had a pretty successful industrialization period, which led them to be able to take parts of China, even though they were a really small country compared to China. Because China did not industrialize, they became weak and were no match for foreign powers.

Examine the influence, both positive and negative, of Western Europe and American knowledge and ideals on the Ottoman, Russian, Qing and Tokugawa states in the nineteenth century. Why would these sates be both attracted to and repelled by these influences?

Japan immediately adopted the European ideals in order to become a huge world power. Russia tried to industrialize immediately, but kind of failed because the government was pushing it. The Ottoman Empire was repulsed because the main religion was Islam, which did not like change. China did not want to industrialize because that would mean the working class would lose jobs and revolt.

Compare and contrast the Ottoman, Russian, Chinese and Japanese efforts at industrialization. In what ways were they successful? Who, if anyone, was left out of this process? Compare the process to that which went on in Western Europe and Americas.

Ottoman was left out because their cultural beliefs(Islam) prevented change. Russia was a forced industrialization for government benefit, which oppressed the peasants. China did not because that would cause an extreme loss of jobs. Japan was most successful, but caused peasant rebellions. It was different than America because it was introduced rather than developed. They also had to play catch up.

Examine the changing economic world of the Ottoman, Russian, Qing, and Tokugawa states. Why did these societies have so much trouble competing with Western Europeans?

The Europeans had a head start in industrialization, which gave them a leg up. The Tokugawa had to overtax the peasants in order to rapidly industrialize, as did the Russians. The Ottoman Empire was on a permanent decline because they refused to industrialize. China also refused, but they managed to later come back and become an economic power again.

Examine the decline of the Ottoman Empire. What factors explain this process? What attempts at reform did the Ottomans undertake? How successful were they?

The Ottoman empire was a Gunpowder empire, so it was one of the first to adapt technology from the Europeans. Then, they refused to industrialize due to their cultural beliefs, Islam, which is ironic because Islam started out as a really progressive religion.

Look at the map on pg 712. What were the chief areas of Russian expansion? What areas would lead to trouble for Russia in the future with Western Europeans and Japanese?

The empire started to expand into the weakened Ottoman Empire because it was easy. Europe thought this was going to lead to a big unbalance of power, so they teamed up to defend the Ottoman Empire, which led to Russia's humiliating defeat in the Crimean war.

Not surprisingly, losses in wars often are more important than victories. How were the Ottoman, Russian, Qing, and Tokugawa states effected by defeats such as the Crimean and Opium wars?

The opium war took a huge toll on China because it placed China under control of the British. It also led to a massive increase of drug addicts. It was humiliating for them. Russia defeated the Turks, and was expanding, which threatened the balance of power for Europe. This led to the Crimean war, when Europe banded together to defeat Russia.

Examine the Taiping rebellion. What internal Chinese problems led to the rise of this movement? What role did Hong Xiuquan play? What were the rebellions consequences?

There was a population increase which led to mass starvation. This led to the fall of the Qing dynasty. Hong Xiuquan was a schoolteacher led the rebellion and provided inspiration to fight. Some of the anger was because the Chinese hated the Manchus who ruled them. It was basically turned into a cult, with Hong as a leader. It caused drastic decline in food production, so some people turned to eating human flesh.

Compare and contrast the changing situations in the Ottoman, Russian, Qing and Tokugawa states during the nineteenth century. What common problems did they face? Were some more successful in adapting than others? If so, what accounts for the success?

They all faced the common problem of the Europeans taking control over various places and trade. Japan was by far the most successful because they immediately started to industrialize when they came into contact with the Europeans. Russia immediately tried to industrialize also, but failed because it was more forced than Japan's. China and the Ottoman Empire did not industrialize, leading to the fall of one and takeover of another.

Examine the turbulent years of the nineteenth century in Russia. How successful were Russian efforts at modernization and industrialization? What were the limits of success?

They eliminated serfdom, but it did not help the economy, and people had no jobs, overtaxation. When they tried to industrialize, it was not for the benefit of the individual, but for the benefit of the government itself. This led to forced labor in factories, and peasant rebellions, which were put down. It also led to the formation of liberal groups such as the Young Turks.

Study the Lin Zexu letter printed on pg 719. How had China changes their treatment of foreigners involved in the opium trade? If the Europeans had received Lin Zexu's letter, do you think they would have taken it very seriously? What if the Europeans received it a century earlier?

They tried to reason with the government because by that time the Europeans had complete control of the opium trade. The opium trade was causing huge problems in China, but the Europeans only cared about power and economic benefit. They would not have cared about the letter at anytime period, because the Europeans were very ignorant.

Read the Proclamation of the Young Turks on pg 711. In what ways were these ideals similar to the American Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen?

They wanted to limit the power of the sultan because he was being oppressive. They also wanted to keep Ottoman ideals, such as Turkish remaining the official state language. Everyone was equal under the law, including non-Muslims. Religious freedom was for everyone. All education would be state monitored.

Study the picture of the Japanese women wearing European style clothing on page 725. What is the symbolism of this painting?

This painting symbolizes the big difference between Japanese culture and European culture. It also shows that Japan was adopting many things from Europe, not just industrialization and modernization and military advancement. Some cultural things came over as well.