State Development: c. 1750 - c. 1900

AP Concept: 5.2 Imperialism and Nation-State Formation
Key Concepts

Russia

Russia's imperialistic drive forced the country to industrialize and modernize along western lines

The Russian Empire expanded east to Manchuria, south to the Caucasus and Central Asia, and southwest to the Mediterranean, but it was finally defeated in the Crimean War

This signaled that its military power was not equal to that of Europe

Czar Alexander II emancipated the serfs and created district assemblies with elected representatives

The government sponsored rapid industrialization, as with the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railroad

Nevertheless, such fast-paced modernization was not sufficient for the anti-czarist intelligentsia, who grew increasingly violent and revolutionary in their tactics (and assassinated Czar Alexander II in 1881)

Now modernized, Russia attempted further expansion with the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, which ended in defeat and galvanized opposition to the government

Revolutionaries grew more discontent with such imperialism and began planning to overthrow the czar

China

British imperialism in China led to increasing discontent with foreigners and the ineffective Qing government

A series of unequal treaties with British merchants contributed to the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, which attempted to expel all foreigners from China

The Qing government attempted and failed to reform its policies to more modern ones

A revolutionary movement let by Sun Yat Sen formed out of these rebellions and attempts at reform

Finally the Qing abdicated in 1911

democratic Republic of China was declared, but was short-lived

Japan

The arrival of enterprising, armed American merchants in Japan in 1853 encouraged the country to overthrow the old Tokugawa regime and modernize the government

Reform-minded samurai argued that Japan could no longer resist foreigners and instead should modernize with the superior outside technology

The rebels brought the Meiji emperor to the throne in the Meiji Restoration, which undertook the modernization of industry and the government

Ottoman Empire

Economic imperialism among other countries contributed to the weakening of the Ottoman Empire after the 1700s

Trade shifted to the Atlantic Ocean, which left out the Ottomans

Europe began to trade directly with India and China, again leaving the Ottomans out of the trading network

As a result, the Ottomans came to depend heavily on foreign loans

While the empire attempted to reform itself along European lines (including following a French legal system), many groups opposed these reforms, and a group of Young Turks overthrew the sultan in 1908

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