Chinese History by
Efua Cobbina
UNEQUAL TREATIES
Many wars with the foreigners succeeded the Opium war. With each new loss,
the Chinese were forced to sign humiliating and unfair treaties with the
enemy. The loss of the Opium War in 1842 brought with it the Treaty of
Nanking which obliged China to give Hong Kong to the British, pay huge
indemnities, open ports for trade, keep tariffs below 5%, provide British
subjects with extraterritoriality and also gave them the Most favored Nation
privilege. The Treaties of Tianjin (1858), Shimonoseki (1895), the Convention
of Beijing (1860), the Boxer Protocol (1901), all followed, each more devastating
to the Chinese economy than the previous. Foreigners even gained control
of Chinese customs in 1858 and thus gained control over a large portion
of China's revenue.
OPIUM WAR
The first Opium war was in retaliation to the Chinese Commissioner Lin
Zexu's burning of over 20 000 chests of valuable opium in 1839. The British
had been exporting opium to China via and India for many years when the
Commissioner Lin convinced the emperor of China that drastic measures where
needed to rid China of the addictive narcotic. After the opium was destroyed
and the trade made illegal, the British attacked China in 1840 and defeated
them effortlessly. The Chinese had old weapons and were defenseless against
the powerful British. The war ended in 1842 with China's humiliating defeat.
HUNDRED
DAY REFORM
In 1898, the young emperor of China, Guang Xu, began the "Hundred Days
of Reform". He thought that China pursued useless studies while the Westerners
had strengthened themselves using more useful and relevant studies. He
issued over 40 decrees that sought to modernize and industrialize China.
He also sought to fire many officials whose ally was the powerful Empress
Dowager Ci Xi. The emperor was eventually seized and imprisoned and China
remained unchanged under the Empress Dowager's control.
FIVE-YEAR PLANS
These economic reforms ran formally between 1953 and 1957. A total of 150
Soviet aided industries were the center of this plan. The state was to
obtain funds to be funneled into investments to be used in these new key
enterprises. The need for the collectivization of agriculture was another
key issue and changes to the system were made. Land was taken from the
rich and redistributed among the poor. Co-operatives were established and
peasants were encouraged to pool labor, animals and land. Eventually 92%
of the peasants were put into collectives by the spring of 1955.
GREAT LEAP FORWARD
This economic policy stemmed from the need to generate domestic capital.
It also served to resolve issues arising from the first five-year plans.
It was more a basic set of priorities than a set strategy. The policy wanted
the modernization and socialization of Industry. Many small industries
developed and production and output increased rapidly by the labor of the
many women, men and children peasants in the fields and likewise the factory
workers in industries. This "Great Leap" ended in disaster; the people
were exhausted and there was an economic collapse. Severe damage to the
land from over plowing and overuse led to floods and a famine. And the
Soviet Union, which had been supplying aid and advice, withdrew completely
from China.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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CLUB, O. Edmund, "China", Collier Encyclopedia,1995.
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COTTERELL, Arthur and David Morgan, China: An Integrated Study,
London: George G. Harrap and Co. Ltd., 1975.
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KAPLAN, Frederic M. and Julian M. Sobin, Encyclopedia of China Today,
3rd edition, London, Eurasia Press, Inc., 1981.
-
LEE, Kong Fah, China and Japan.
-
LIEBERTHAL, Kenneth. Governing China: Through Revolutions and Reform,
New York, W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1995.
-
The 1996 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, Computer Software. Grolier
Electronic Publishing Inc., 1996. PC-Dos 2.0, CD-ROM.
cybrport@er.uqam.ca
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