The Informal Empire

The Case of China

• China provided many exotic and
sought-after goods since the times of
the Silk Route
– Tea and Silk in particular
• It was not formally annexed during the
19th Century but British influence over
it steadily increased nonetheless.
– Informal Empire or Commercial Empire
 Opium

• The East India Company was finding it

difficult to raise enough silver to pay for
the tea and silk.
• Many in Britain also believed that a
successful empire required balanced
trade with all its parts (or trading partners
for that matter).
• They needed a solution as Chinese
authorities refused to allow British goods
and influence to penetrate their country:
They found one: opium.
– Although illegal in China, Opium was accepted
as payment due to the demand for it in China.
– Opium was grown in India and taken to Factories
in China in East India Ships
The First Opium War 1839 - 42
• The Chinese attempted to regulate and stop
the importation of Opium by the British
• They seized ships, factories and cargoes.
• The East India Company claimed that this
was a breach of free trade and of private
property. They appealed to the British
government to help them recover their
assets.
 HMS Nemesis illustrates the
technological gulf in naval power
 Consequences

• The British showed their technological and

commercial strength over the Chinese
• The Chinese Emperor had been unable to coordinate
his forces or stand up to modern warfare.
– Humiliated and weakened internally
• The British requested that the Chinese open 5 ‘Treaty
Ports’ to freedom of trade and had to pay compensation
to British traders for loss of goods (mostly Opium)
– Sold to the British public as a triumph of “Laissez Faire Free
Trade” but it was the triumph of industrial and naval might.
Hong Kong was taken as a British base to monitor Chinese
adherence to ‘Free Trade.’
The Taiping Rebellions
(or the Second Opium War)
• This started off as a rebellion against the
weakness of the Emperor and his Manchu
Empire.
• The wars raged from 1850 to 1860
• Both sides in the civil war began to infringe
upon the work of missionaries and spilled
into the Treaty ports
• The British (and French) used this as an
excuse to defend and extend their rights in
China.
 China is made to pay

• Tariff barriers were to be reduced

• China was to pay Britain and France indemnities for
damage caused.
• The British, French, Russians, and the United Stated
could all have embassies in Beijing
• Eleven more ports were to be open to Western trade,
• Western powers were to have the right to navigate the
Yangtse River
• The opium trade was legalized
• Christians were to be allowed to proselytize and to be
guaranteed protection
• Westerners were to be allowed to have property in
China.
 The Chinese backlash

• Fearing an even bigger backlash the

Emperor had second thoughts on
signing the treaty in 1859
• Instead, they ambushed the British
and international force sent for the
ceremony
– 400 were killed and the rest had to be
evacuated
The Chinese are humiliated
once more
• The following year, a far larger British and
French force returned.
• They headed straight to the capital in
Peking (Beijing) and burned down and
looted the summer palace of the Emperor
• The Emperor died the following year and
the new government signed the treaty.
• The British and French began to supply the
Manchus with expertise and weapons which
allowed them to finally put down the
rebellion.
 1864 - 1899
• China continued to be a rich destination and
source of goods.
• European interest grew further
– Joined by US which had forced Japan to open its trade and had
now a new colony in the Philippines
– Japan - undergoing a modernisation process of its own - the
Meiji Revolution - (as a result of humiliation caused by
concessions they were forced to make to the Americans)
• ‘Open Door’ Policy suggested by US
– Each power was worried that another power
might take the whole cake and devour it alone!
– Each power wanted the same rights and access
to markets as the other powers.
The Boxer Rebellions (1899-1901)

• Meanwhile, yet another rebellion was brewing to

rid China of the ‘foreign devils’.
• It was led by a group called ‘Fists of Righteous
Harmony’
– Used a combination of meditation and martial arts
• Which led to the nickname ‘boxers’
• It was a reactionary movement that spurned
modern weapons as the devil’s weapons
– They preferred to use traditional weapons (most of the
time).
– They were supposed to be fortified by a spell that
would make them invulnerable to western bullets.
 International
Response

• The sudden attacks and

ruthlessness of the boxers
shocked the Western
powers.
• The huge country had
settlements, missionaries
and traders scattered over
vast distances
• The western powers
agreed to work together to
rescue as many foreigners
as possible
• Execution of Boxers
 Boxers suppressed
• Eventually, the combined weight of the Western
world destroyed the Boxer rebellions
• They restored the Manchus (the Qinq dynasty)
– (but weakened yet further in the eyes of many
Chinese)
• China had to pay an indemnity (more than yearly
government budget) for all the damage inflicted
on Western businesses and interests
• The Westerners divided up responsibility for
peace and order into spheres of influence.
• They received yet further trading concessions.
•Carving the pie