Russia and East Asia

1
Russia and East Asia

• Impact of Mongolians growth of empires
• Russian Romanovs
• Ming and Qing Dynasties

2
What are some of the general comparisons between
China, Japan, and Russia between 1500-1800 and
what are their challenges?

• Each has its own geographical and historical
  background that brings it to this timeframe yet
  each has to respond to the rising influence of
  the west and the oncoming industrial revolution
  in order to maintain its empire
• China and Russia were both large land empires
  with diverse populations that relied on large
  armies to fight enemies and centralized
  autocratic governments, while Japan was smaller,
  decentralized, and had a homogenous population.

3
The growth of the early Qing Empire was fueled by
the desire to create an economic and demographic
recovery in China. What did the Qing government
do to stimulate that recovery?

• Qing emperors repaired roads and waterworks,
  lowered taxes, rents, and interest rates, and
  resettled people into areas depopulated by
  earlier peasant revolts.
• The Qing eliminated potential external military
  threats, making further recovery possible.
• This new territorial control encouraged the
  reopening of overland trade routes, which created
  an influx of resources and knowledge, reinforcing
  Qing recovery.
• The long-term effectiveness of this recovery was
  due to the Qings ability to incorporate and
  adapt the ideas and technologies of far-flung
  areas.
• Examples of Qing adaptation include the Mongol
  system of political organization, the Tibetan
  practice of religious legitimation for rulers,
  Korean and Chinese agricultural policies, and
  European mapping and technology.

4
How did the Russian Empire emerge to be one of
the major powers of Europe by 1750?

• consolidation of Russian power by the princes of
  Muscovy and their assault on the Mongol Khanate
  of the Golden Horde.
• Once the Mongols were defeated by Alexis and Ivan
  III (first czar of Russia) the Russians led by
  Ivan IV expanded south and east and eventually
  expanded into Asia, specifically Siberia for fur
  trading.
• Although the Russians thought of this empire as a
  third Rome, most of the Russian population was
  poor, backward, and landlocked.
• Further expansion to the Amur River put the
  Russian Empire at odds with the Ming and Qing
  Empires.
• This frontier border was settled between these
  parties with the Treaty of Nerchinsk in 1689.

5
Who was Peter the Great? What were his
contributions to Russian political, cultural, and
social development?

• Peter the Great (1672-1725) (r.1682 - 1725) also
  Peter I
• greatest of the Romanov tsars, is famous for his
  many policies for Russian development issuing
  thousands of ukase (Russian imperial decree)
• He worked for Russian modernization and expansion
• acquisition of warm water ports on the Black Sea
  and Baltic Sea as well as in the northern Pacific
• Building St. Petersburg as the Russian window to
  the west and warm water port using peasants and
  Swedes captured in the Great Northern War
• His plans for westernization included
• modeling his government on the Prussian
  government
• strengthening the position of the tsar as an
  absolutist monarch
• and building a modern army
• He replaces the streltsy (family army) with a
  standing army
• He builds a naval service and a fleet of ships
• He even mandated western clothing styles and the
  shaving of beards by placing a tax on beards of
  the boyars (Russian nobles)
• The use of tobacco was made compulsory
• Seclusion or semi-seclusion of women was
  abolished as well as the practice of veiling
• His absolutist rule was solidified as he brought
  the Orthodox Church under government control
  through the Holy Synod, requiring that all church
  appointments be made by the Czar
• He resets the calendar to the western Anno Domini
  but uses the Julian calendar instead of the
  Gregorian
• Economically he set systems in place which led to
  state control of the purchase of raw materials
  and establishment of factories.
• These factories were mostly organized around the
  purchase of metals and production of armaments
• He also increased the obligations of serfs for
  whom his rule was not a benefit as well as
  increased taxes and state obligations of the
  peasant and small class of merchants or gosti

6
How did the Russian Empire combine different
cultural elements such as the Cossacks, in their
empire?

• First Peter the Great and later Catherine the
  Great significantly expanded the empires border,
  mostly seeking warm water ports.
• The Russian Empire incorporated many different
  people with different languages, religions, and
  ethnic identities making for a complex mixture
  that sometimes caused tensions.
• This process of russification was forced as
  most groups were required to convert to Russian
  Orthodox church, schools taught only in Russian
  language and later these groups were forced to
  speak only Russian.
• A comparison is often made between Cossacks
  included in this group and American Plains
  Indians
• The Cossacks were a diverse group.
• They were a combination of Turks, Poles,
  Hungarians, and Mongols.
• Although the Muscovite and Romanov rulers tried
  to crush them, Russia desired to exploit the
  Cossacks military skills.
• They were enrolled in special military regiments
  and allowed to live in autonomous villages in
  return.
• The Cossacks performed valuable services for
  Russia by defending against the Swedish and
  Ottoman invasions, as well as leading campaigns
  for exploration, conquest, and settlement.
• They were Russian-speaking but had the skills of
  Asian horsemen.
• The Cossacks were an example of how Russia
  combined Turkish and Russian elements.

7
How Japan face the challenges of internal and
external pressures during this period of
reunification?

• Japans internal problems of civil war that ended
  with political unification under the Tokugawa
  Shogunate and the resulting economic growth of
  Japan.
• Externally, Japan launched assaults on Korea as
  well as China. Japan, like much of the rest of
  Asia, was faced with European missionaries and
  traders in this era.
• This presented Japan with new opportunities as
  well as problems.
• Japan welcomed European trade and European
  technology such as firearms
• however, Japan became hostile to the foreign
  ideas of Christianity which led to the closing
  of Japan to nearly all foreigners
• the exception being a small group of Dutch
  traders.

8
How does the European relationship with China go
from first European astonishment and admiration
to criticism and frustration with China?

• The qualities of Chinese manufacturing and
  economic dominance as well as the
  misunderstanding and doggedness of European trade
  demands.
• The Ming transformed the global economy with
  their techniques for the production of porcelain.
  
• In addition to silk, lacquered furniture,
  jewelry, and tea, Chinas markets were of
  enormous economic interest to Europeans.
• They remarked with astonishment on the
  accomplishments and grandeur of Chinese society.
• The Portuguese, Dutch, and eventually the British
  sought access to these products and these
  markets.
• The Chinese were reluctant to give them free
  access to their economy and society but permitted
  access to Canton.
• Other Europeans, namely the Jesuits, wanted to
  produce converts to Catholicism.
• They were successful to a degree, particularly
  among the elite of the Ming. Their influence
  extended beyond religion, however.
• Jesuits brought European ideas and technology to
  Asiafor instance, mapmaking and metallurgy (for
  cannon).
• On the other hand, Matteo Ricci is an example of
  a European who was affected by Chinese thought,
  particularly Confucian philosophy.
• After the British East India Company lost the
  American colonies and the demand for tea
  increased, it sought ways to have China buy
  British goods to balance the trade deficit and
  drain of English silver.
• George Macartneys mission to China is an example
  of British attempts to open a more advantageous
  trade with China.
• Chinese disinterest in European goods led to a
  change in European attitudes towards the Chinese
  as stubborn, traditional, and frustrating.

9
How did the Tokugawa Shogunate fall into decline
and crisis?

• The decline of the Tokugawa Shogunate was largely
  economic and social in its origins.
• As population increased and economic growth
  continued, resources were being outstripped.
• Japanese emperors had no political power and that
  they remained in virtual exile at the medieval
  capital, Kyoto.
• The shoguns wielded most of the power and lived
  at Edo, the new capital.
• The Tokugawa system of regional lords, who
  resided part of the time at Edo, required
  well-maintained roads, which in turn helped
  develop new trade and manufacturing centers.
• The regional lords had self-contained personal
  domains, which included bureaucracies and
  military and education systems.
• Because both the lords and their followers were
  paid in rice, an economy using rice as a medium
  of exchange blossomed.
• Merchants and financiers converted rice into
  currency, lent money to samurai, and wielded
  increasing power as a result.
• Tokugawa shoguns tried to limit the power of the
  merchant class, but the decentralized system of
  rule by regional lords thwarted such efforts.
• However, the decentralized system did stimulate
  economic growth through agricultural
  mechanization, light industry, finance, and
  transport.
• The Tokugawa Shogunate indirectly encouraged
  these advances but could not exploit them for its
  own purposes.
• The government was traditional while the society
  had become innovative.