Persistence and Change in Eurasia

Economic reordering and revolution in the Atlantic world stimulated the old systems of Russia, China, and the Ottoman Empire to strengthen but not remake themselves. Changes in all three allowed them to survive into the twentieth century, but also taught that the world ran on a different set of principles that could not be ignored.

Revamping the Russian Monarchy

Defeating Napoleon allowed the tsar of Russia to glorify himself and those who fought in the war, but it also spread new ideas that sorely undercut the tsar’s absolutist system. When he died in 1825, army officers from elite families seeking change supported Constantine in the hope of getting a constitution for Russia. When Constantine supported Nicholas as heir, the reform-minded Decembrists were crushed. Grappling with new ideas of popular sovereignty and constitutions spilling over from other countries, the tsar justified his position by proclaiming himself the historical embodiment of the nation while adding healthy doses of suppression. Secret police, however, could not work alone and were aided by a new conservative ideology that sought to romanticize the Russian heritage and thereby to legitimize the tsar’s position. Reform went nowhere.

Reforming Egypt and the Ottoman Empire

Napoleon brought successes and ideas that challenged Ottoman rulers beyond even economic changes already affecting their empire. Reformist calls became commonplace. In Egypt, Muhammad Ali quickly adopted European modernizing institutions and systems. He built a modern army using French advisers and officers, reformed education and medicine, and improved agriculture. His reforms, however, pressured locals caught up in the faster pace of modernization and engendered local resistance. Military successes caught the eye of concerned Ottoman and British leaders who forced Ali to reduce his forces.

Worried about Egyptian and European strength and angered at the weakness of his own forces, Sultan Selim III moved to build a New Order military force, but it and his power were crushed in a coup headed by janissary and ulama interests. Military and religious interests thus blocked reform at the top until Mahmud II used clerical and popular support to crush the janissaries and institute sweeping changes. Unfortunately for Mahmud, the reforms stopped short of transforming agriculture, financing, or the Ottomans’ old administration. By the nineteenth century, the Ottomans had even lost control of international trade to Europeans.

Colonial Reordering in India

Unlike the economy of North America, India’s economy fell increasingly under the control of the British, specifically the English East India Company. What started as a strictly commercial interest, soon began to involve politics when British troops took Delhi. Seizing taxation rights and annexing great portions of India, British control expanded to exceed even that of the Mughals. Hindu and Muslim princes became administrators overseeing the job of running the country along with the Company’s own centralized bureaucracy. To maintain its privileged position, the Company kept its own army.

British influence increased. Orientalist scholars studied India’s past, languages, religions, and peoples, allowing the Company to present itself as a supporter of Hindu culture. The Company land-tax system greatly increased Company revenues while also stripping land from those unable to pay. Urbanization rose. Colonial cities, geared toward trade, began to supplant those that had once dominated India from the interior. Eager to share Company success, other British interests complained about the Companymonopolization of Indian wealth and production. After the Company’s abolition in 1813, India began to be viewed more and more as a market for British textiles, thus destroying India’s own budding industrialization and reversing its balance of trade. Accompanying this was a shift in attitude about India in general. To justify further British control, James and John Stuart Mill attacked India’s cultural traditions, claiming that only autocratic government could work in India. Missionaries condemned Hindu and Muslim social practices. British administrators applauded British cultural superiority. All moved to create a class of Indians with British education and tastes.

Many Indians rankled under British rule, which restricted their activities and opportunities. Nevertheless, British authority strengthened.

Persistence of the Qing Empire

Enjoying continued prosperity and expansion, the Qing remained disinterested in revolutionary changes taking place elsewhere. The Qing enjoyed a powerful military, which extended China’s boundaries, and the fruits of New World crops, which helped stimulate agricultural production. Commercialization spread as the population rose. Peasant handicraft industries spread. Population growth, however, began to pinch resources even as the Qing court moved slowly to deal with changes. The tax system remained vulnerable to abuse and corruption. Rebellions arose. Despite problems, China continued as a strong and dominant power so long as Chinese goods continued to be extremely popular in Europe.

Opium, however, changed everything. In greater and greater numbers, Chinese accustomed to tobacco began to use opium brought by Europeans. Although the Qing court banned the drug, usage spread. Seeking to trade opium for tea, the East India Company induced Indian peasants to raise opium, which could then be shipped to China. Enormous quantities of opium made their way to China, swelling the number of merchants involved. By the 1820s, the value of opium coming into China exceeded the value of goods exported out. Thus, the Chinese had to pay silver in addition to their goods to get opium. Silver shortages began to hurt peasants.

To stop the trade, the Qing emperor sent a special commissioner, Lin Zexu, who froze all legitimate trade in Canton until foreign merchants handed over their opium stores. The opium traders eventually complied, giving Lin a short-lived victory. In 1840, however, British naval ships attacked and subdued Qing forces. The resulting Treaty of Nanjing gave Hong Kong to Britain and broke up China’s restrictions on foreign trade by opening new treaty ports. It also exempted foreigners from Chinese law and gave Britain any privileges that any other European nation might gain in the future. Although China remained under the emperor’s rule, foreign influence began to spread into the coastal areas and the cities.