Chinese Empire in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Economy of China in the 19th century History of China in the 19th century

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Territory and population growth

At the turn of the XVIII - XIX centuries. China was a huge empire, which included Manchuria, Mongolia, Tibet and East Turkestan. Korea, Vietnam and Burma were vassals of the Qing dynasty. More than 300 million people lived in this country. The population grew so quickly that within fifty years it had increased to 400 million, accounting for almost a third of humanity.

Exacerbation of social contradictions

The rapid population growth was not accompanied by a sufficient increase in cultivated areas. In densely populated areas, land was scarce, which was one of the reasons for social tension in Chinese society. Another reason was the arbitrariness and extortion of officials.

In China, the emperor was considered the unlimited ruler of the entire state, the “father and mother” of all Chinese. Officials, in turn, are the “parents” of the entire ward population. The parent-rulers were real despots. They carried out justice and execution at their own discretion. Under various pretexts, indirect taxes were introduced (on tea, salt, tobacco, rice, bread, sugar, meat, firewood), appropriating a significant part of them.

And woe was the peasant who dared to ask for protection from a higher authority. The complaint was still returned to the offender for consideration. Caning was the most common punishment. “The officials of the empire are worse than robbers,” this is how one of the leaders of the Taiping peasant uprising spoke of them.

First Opium War

At this time, the Europeans increased their pressure on China. They sought to “open up” the country in order to conduct unrestricted trade with it and gradually turn it into their colonial appendage.

England was the most active. She was even ready for military action. But the first breach in the wall of Chinese self-isolation was not made by weapons, but by a drug - opium. The history of its spread in China is very dramatic and instructive.

Europeans had previously supplied this poison to China, paying for Chinese goods with it. But in the first third of the 19th century. The import of opium increased significantly. English merchants were in a particularly advantageous position. They supplied the drug from newly conquered India. Opium smoking has become widespread in China. Government officials and soldiers, owners of workshops and shops, smoked servants and women, and even future monks and Taoist preachers. The health of the nation was in serious danger. In addition, the opium trade helped siphon silver out of China, causing the country's financial situation to deteriorate.

The harm from opium was so obvious that in 1839 the Chinese emperor banned its import into the country. All stocks of the drug belonging to English and other foreign merchants were confiscated and destroyed. In response to these actions, British troops landed at Chinese ports. Thus began the Anglo-Chinese, or first “Opium” War of 1839-1842. The American president called the war that England started just.

During the war, the negative consequences of the policy of self-isolation became apparent. The Chinese army was armed with only tiny junks (boats) and edged weapons. The military command was weak and helpless. It knew almost nothing about the international situation and about the country with which it was at war. During the war, one Chinese governor finally made a “discovery.” It turns out that the wheels of steamships are turned not by oxen, but by cars. It is not difficult to guess what this fact indicates.

Is it any wonder that the defeats of the Chinese troops followed one after another. Fearing complete defeat, the Qing government hastened to capitulate. Under the peace treaty, England achieved free trade rights for its subjects in five Chinese ports. Low customs duties were set on British goods - no higher than 5%. China paid England a huge indemnity (21 million liang) and ceded to it the island of Hong Kong (Hong Kong), which only became Chinese again in 1997. The British also received the right not to obey Chinese laws and courts.

Following England, other European states concluded similar agreements with China. As a result, China was open to foreign infiltration and interference.

Taiping Rebellion 1850 - 1864

The defeat of China by the “European barbarians” led to a decline in the prestige of the Qing dynasty and the growth of anti-Manchu sentiment. Not only ordinary Chinese, but also some of the landowners were dissatisfied with the ruling dynasty. Military expenses and indemnities paid to the winner were paid for by additional taxes from the population. Peasants found themselves in a particularly difficult situation. Many of them were begging and eked out a half-starved existence. Some abandoned their farms and joined the ranks of the robber freemen, which became widespread in China. Secret anti-Manchu societies were springing up everywhere, and there was a distinct smell of thunder in the air.

A powerful anti-feudal uprising broke out in the summer of 1850. It swept through the central regions of China and lasted almost 15 years. During the uprising, a “welfare state” was created - Taipingtianguo. Therefore, the rebels were often called Taipings.

The leader of the uprising was Hong Xiuquan, who came from a peasant family and was a teacher in a rural school. Heavily influenced by Christianity, he called himself the younger brother of Jesus Christ and preached ideas of equality. He dreamed of creating a “world of great peace” and justice. To achieve this goal, in his opinion, it is necessary to overthrow the Qing dynasty. All Manchus - even commoners - were subject to extermination.

In 1851, Hong Xiuquan was proclaimed emperor of the Taiping state. He and his associates tried to put into practice the idea of universal equality. The “Land Law” they adopted proclaimed joint cultivation of the land and equal distribution of material wealth.

England and France closely followed the development of the civil war in China. They decided to use it to penetrate into the interior of the country. The Qing government tried to counter this. Then England and France switched to open aggression. The second “Opium” War began (1856-1860). In the autumn of 1860, Anglo-French troops entered Beijing, abandoned by the emperor and his nobles. The Europeans plundered the city and exterminated the civilian population.

The Emperor's Summer Palace attracted their special attention. It was one of the most magnificent architectural structures in the city. It consisted of 200 buildings filled with luxury goods, Chinese arts and crafts. During the division of the spoils, so that everyone would get “equally” and “according to their deserts,” the Europeans created a commission. Special gifts were selected for Queen Victoria of England and the Emperor of France. However, a civilized division did not work out. Blinded by the brilliance of wealth and maddened by greed, the soldiers began to plunder the palace. Then, to hide the traces of the barbaric robbery, the palace was burned. The place where he stood turned into a wasteland.

The Qing government, busy fighting the Taipings, refused to continue the war with foreigners. It capitulated, making new concessions. Only after this did the European powers assist the Manchu feudal lords in the ruthless suppression of the Taiping, who, unlike the Qing, called foreigners “brothers” rather than “barbarians.” The Taiping uprising, in many ways similar to the uprisings of Razin and Pugachev in Russia, ended in defeat.

The Taiping Peasants' War was the longest rebellion in Chinese history. Many millions of people died. A significant part of the country was devastated and destroyed. The civil war extremely weakened China and the ruling Qing dynasty.

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"Sacred Letter" in China
“Hieroglyph” translated from Greek means “sacred letter”. Chinese writing using hieroglyphs is the oldest in the world. It arose in the 18th century. BC e. This is truly the most complex and difficult letter. To understand it, let's use this comparison. If we need to write, for example, the word “person”, then we will write the letter “h”, then “e”, then “l”, etc. And the Chinese draw a symbol denoting the concept of “person”. There are many words in the language and each one needs an icon, i.e. hieroglyph. At the dawn of hieroglyphs, at first they simply drew a person with a head, arms, and legs. However, when writing quickly, there is no time to draw out all the details of the human body. Therefore, after some time, the drawing turned into a conventional image, vaguely reminiscent of its ancestor.

References:
V. S. Koshelev, I. V. Orzhekhovsky, V. I. Sinitsa / World History of Modern Times XIX - early. XX century, 1998.

At the end of the 19th century, China was a backward semi-feudal state. The bulk of the land was in the hands of wealthy landowners. Most peasants rented land from landowners and paid rent in money or part of the harvest. There were very few peasants who owned land.

Peasants came to the city in search of work. But work was not always available, because in China industry developed very slowly.

From the last quarter of the 19th century, capitalist relations began to develop in the country. The first railways were built, economic relations developed, and large cities were built. The number of workers has increased. With the advent of industry, a national bourgeoisie began to form. But most of the representatives of the national bourgeoisie were compradors, who in reality were agents of foreign firms and grew rich by trading in foreign goods and buying up cheap raw materials.

The Qing Dynasty, in need of money, entered into unequal treaties with foreign countries that were contrary to national interests. Already in the 70s, foreigners received unlimited rights in 26 ports of China, where they ruled as if at home.

The construction of railways was the responsibility of foreigners. Most of the coal mines were also in their possession. China has become a raw material base for foreign countries. Foreigners organized their own districts in large cities and, disregarding the Chinese administration, conducted their own affairs.

China's defeat in the war with Japan in 1894-1895 caused further plunder and enslavement of China by foreign monopolists. In 1897-1898, Germany captured the port (bay) of Jiaozhouwan and included Shandong Prefecture in its circle of influence. France took possession of Guamjuwan Bay and began to dominate Yunnan Province. Russia receives Lushun, where it builds the naval base of Port Arthur, and England asserts its dominance in the port of Wei-Haiwei. The richest area along the Yangtze River came under English influence. The Japanese invaders began to dominate Fujian province. Any construction or change in China was controlled by the occupiers. Thus, China became a semi-colony.

Industrial development and foreign domination

At the end of the 19th century, the first industrial enterprises began to appear in China; in 1881, the first railway was launched in Northern China. In 1897 there were about 600 foreign firms here, but the growth and increase in the number of industrial enterprises was very slow.

Imports far exceeded exports. A convention drawn up in 1876 between China and England further enslaved China. The convention gave England the right to free entry into more than 10 ports and preferential trade in a number of prefectures.

In 1884, due to the French occupation of Vietnam, relations between France and China became strained. That same year, China renounced its official dominance over Central Vietnam and recognized a French protectorate there. The Chinese government entered into an emergency agreement with France and “conceded” to France on a number of controversial issues.

Social movement

The plunder of China by foreign states, when it had just embarked on the path of industrial development, had a serious impact on the condition of the population. Various social movements were formed for the further development of the country, which were generally called the reformist movement. In the social movement of this period, a special place belongs to Sun Yat Sen. He was the "leader" leading China to revolution. Sun Yat Sen's organization, the Society for Awakening China, fought to overthrow the Qing Dynasty of the Manchus and create a democratic nation-state in China.

An underground organization called “Yihetuan” (Fist Raised for Peace and Justice) also played a major role in the social life of this period in China. The Yihetuans acted under the motto “Let's disperse the Manchu Qings, destroy the foreigners!”

In 1899, the Yihetuan movement grew into a rebellion. The Yihetuans put forward demands such as the suspension of payment of indemnity to Japan, the unification of Taiwan with China, etc. The Qing dynasty was frightened by the uprising because the Yihetuans held almost half of the capital and province in their hands. In 1900, troops sent by the government against the rebels were defeated.

Well-organized rebel detachments began a campaign in Beijing and established their power there.

Intervention against China

This event became a pretext for foreign intervention in Beijing. Eight states participated in the intervention: Germany, Japan, Italy, England, USA, France, Russia and Austria-Hungary. Each of them expected a larger share in China.

In September 1899, US Secretary of State Hay's policy of "open doors and equal opportunity" was announced, called the "Hay Doctrine".
In July 1900, foreign invaders went on the offensive. In August, Beijing was captured. The interventionists plundered the city and the imperial palace. Eight states forced China to sign an enslaving agreement. The treaty required the execution or expulsion of officials involved in the uprising, and also allowed foreign countries to keep troops in China to protect the roads between Beijing and the sea coast. In addition, China was forced to pay an indemnity to foreign interventionists in the amount of $33 million. The import of weapons into China was prohibited. Privileges for foreigners in China have increased. As a result, China was left even more exposed.
At the same time, the Yihetuan uprising forced the colonialists to act cautiously.

Intervention (Latin interventio - intervention) - violent intervention in order to conquer territory in the internal affairs of another state, establishing one’s power.
Comprador (Spanish comprador - buyer, purchaser) is a representative of the layer of the local bourgeoisie of backward and dependent states, engaged in mediation between foreign capital and the domestic market.
Convention (Latin conventio - agreement) is one of the types of multilateral international treaty or agreement.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, social contradictions intensified in China. The Manchu Qing dynasty fell into decline. The emergency reform measures taken did not improve the situation in society. In China, the contradiction between the development of industry and the backward production relations inherent in land ownership, which became an obstacle, worsened. The movement against Manchu rule intensified among the masses. Chinese national industry is far behind in development. Despite this, more than 50 enterprises were opened every year. As a result, the country's export volume doubled. Among the places for goods exchange (50%). China's debt to foreign countries increased increasingly.

Sun Yat Sen

Democratic revolutionary Sun Yat Sen (1866-1925) was a famous figure in the national liberation movement in China. He was born into a peasant family near Guangzhou (Canton). Sun Yat Sen graduated from the English Medical Institute in the early 90s in Hong Kong (Hong Kong). He connected his further life with political activity.

Sun Yat Sen formed the Tongminghai (United Union) political organization in 1905. Secret societies of this Union appeared in large cities. In November 1905, the Union began publishing the newspaper "Mingbao" (People's Newspaper).

The union, led by Sun Yat Sen, adopted a program that included demands such as the overthrow of the Qing Empire and the declaration of China as a republic, equalization of land rights, and restoration of independence.

According to Sun Yat Sen, in socially and economically underdeveloped China, by equalizing land rights, a socially just system can be created.

Formation of the Provisional Government of the Republic

Sun Yat Sen's organization set out to create a republican system of government. This idea further strengthened the movement against the Manchus, who adopted armed confrontation tactics after drawing up an agreement in 1911 to take out a foreign loan for the construction of the railway. Even in the army, discontent began.
In the city of Wuhan, soldiers killed supporters of the Manchu administration who entered the barracks to check the soldiers, and seized an armory. Other military units joined them. On October 11, the revolutionaries completely captured Wuhan. They formed the government of the Republic and called on all the prefectures of China to unite around it. The end of the Manchu dynasty was announced. This revolution went down in history as the Xinhai Revolution. Thus, the Xinhai Revolution, through an armed uprising, overthrew the Qing dynasty, which had dominated China since the 17th century.
Subjected to constant persecution and persecution, Sun Yat Sen was forced to emigrate.

In 1911, after many years of emigration, Sun Yat Sen returned to China. The Chinese people gladly accepted him. On December 29, the National Assembly was held in Nanjing, where deputies from the revolutionary provinces were represented. The National Assembly declared China a republic and elected Sun Yat Sen as interim president. The Constitution adopted by the National Assembly proclaimed equal rights for all and various democratic freedoms. But the motto of the peasants - “To be equal in the ownership of land,” which expresses the desire of the peasants, was not reflected there. The reason for this was the high position of the opposing forces.

Yuan dictatorship

As a result of the revolution in China, a dual power was formed: the power of the Chinese Republic and the other - the power of the emperor preserved in the north. The head of the imperial power in Beijing was Yuan Shikai.

Foreign monopolists were alarmed by the situation in China. They began to interfere in the internal affairs of the country under various pretexts. Foreign invaders, in order to suppress the revolution in China, achieved the unification of their forces by force of arms.

The purpose of supporting the Beijing government by developed foreign countries was to interfere at will in China's internal affairs. But this led to general discontent in China. The population began to boycott foreign goods. With this development of the situation, the reaction united around Prime Minister Yuan Shikai.
The Beijing courtiers looked at him as a liberator, a patron of the monarchy. But Yuan Shikai, on February 12, 1912, under pressure from the revolutionary movement, forced the Qing Emperor to abdicate the throne. The ruling elite tried to transfer all power to him. Yuan Shikai formed the government in Nanjing. Meanwhile, foreign states also openly demanded the resignation of Sun Yat Sen as head of government and began open preparations for intervention in China. Under the threat of intervention, the head of state, Sun Yat Sen, was forced to transfer the position to Yuan Shikai.

Yuan Shikai, who came to power, reduced democratic freedoms to nothing. He first began to disarm the revolutionary troops. The fate of the members of any group created against the government ended in death. Punitive expeditions began to function in every village.

Despite this, democratic forces created the Kuomintang Party (National Party) in 1912, and Sun Yat Sen was elected chairman of the party board.
Encouraged by the victory of the counter-revolution, Yuan Shikai forced the National Assembly to elect himself president for a term of five years. Yuan Shikai signed an enslaving agreement with the great states on a new loan. After this, foreign states announced that they recognized the Republic of China. The economic situation in the country has worsened. Sun Yat Sen called on the Chinese people to revolt. In 1913, an uprising called the Second Revolution began in southern China, opposing the government's reactionary policies.

But since the forces were not equal and the rebels were not provided with modern weapons, the “Second Revolution” uprising was suppressed by government troops, which received military support from foreign countries.

In 1914, Yuan Shikai convened a constitutional council, which adopted a new constitution for China. Yuan Shikai as president had unlimited power. A military dictatorship was established, and the governing bodies of the republic were liquidated.

Xinhai Revolution - translated “Xinhai” means “year”. The revolution lasted a whole year according to the Chinese lunar calendar, hence its name.
The Qing Dynasty is the dynasty that dominated after the Ming Dynasty, which was destroyed as a result of the peasant movement of 1628-1644. The Qing Dynasty dominated from 1644 to 1911.

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China in the 19th century

1. Qing Empire in the 19th century.

china rebellion taiping empire

By the beginning of the 19th century. In China, a traditional society continued to exist, in which small peasant crafts and handicraft industries gained some development. At the same time, commodity-money relations began to become quite widespread in some areas of the country. There was a process of concentration of land ownership and landlessness of the peasantry. The brutal exploitation of peasants and the urban poor by feudal lords, moneylenders and merchants was complemented by national oppression.

As noted earlier (see part 1 of the textbook), from the 17th century. China was ruled by the Manchu Qing dynasty. The Manchus occupied major positions in the military and civil administration. The power of the elite of the few Manchu tribes over the many millions of Chinese people rested on the alliance of the conquerors with the Chinese feudal lords.

Having established themselves on the throne of the Chinese emperors - the Bogdykhans, the Manchus did not make major changes to the structure of government bodies of the previous dynasty. The Chinese emperor was an unlimited monarch, replacing the throne hereditarily and according to the principle of primogeniture. But this order was not strictly observed. Before his death, the emperor could choose any of his sons as his successor, and if there were none, then any of the princes of the imperial blood. The emperor was the supreme legislator and high priest, who had the exclusive right to make sacrifices and prayers to the “Supreme Heaven”, as well as the unlimited right to punish and pardon his subjects.

The highest government institutions of the Qing Empire were the Imperial Secretariat and the Military Council. Initially, the most important military and civil affairs were in charge of the Imperial Secretariat, created back in 1671 from an equal number of Manchu and Chinese dignitaries. After 1732, when the Military Council was established for more efficient management of military actions in the aggressive campaigns of the Bogdykhans, the decision of all important state affairs passed to this new body.

The highest executive power was exercised by the emperor, as under the Ming dynasty, through six central ministries (orders): ranks, taxes, ceremonies, military, criminal penalties, public works. There were also other central institutions. Thus, control over the activities of metropolitan and local officials was carried out by history dating back to the 2nd century. BC e. The Chamber of Censors, and the Supreme Court dealt with cassation complaints.

China during the Qing dynasty was characterized by strong local power, concentrated mainly in the hands of viceroys and governors. The country was divided into provinces, and the latter, in turn, into regions, districts and districts. Each province was headed by military and civil governors (most often they were Manchus), who were subordinate to the governor, who concentrated military and civil power in his hands. Regions, districts and counties were headed by chiefs who managed the corresponding units with the help of officials and elders of stodvorok and ten-dvorok. At all levels, the judiciary was connected to the administration, but usually special officials were allocated to carry out judicial proceedings.

Formally, access to the civil service was open to everyone who passed special exams for an academic degree, which until the last years of the Qing dynasty had three levels. The third (highest) degree was awarded after examinations in the district, then in the province, in the capital.

The officialdom, as in the previous dynasty, was divided into nine classes, each of which was assigned certain insignia.

2. “Heavenly State” of the Taipings

From the end of the 18th century. capitalist powers launched an offensive against China in order to gain markets and sources of raw materials.

Since 1839, the British launched military operations against China, which marked the beginning of the “Opium Wars.” The feudal army could not withstand the first-class armed ground forces and navy of England, and the Qing authorities showed a complete inability to organize the country's defense.

In August 1842, the first unequal treaty in Chinese history was signed in Nanjing. This agreement opened for trade, in addition to Guangzhou, four more Chinese ports. The island of Hong Kong (Hong Kong) went to England. The Qing government also undertook to pay the British a huge indemnity, liquidate the Chinese trading corporation, which had a monopoly on intermediary trade with foreigners, and establish a new customs tariff favorable to England.

In 1843, the Treaty of Nanjing was supplemented by a protocol according to which foreigners were granted the right of extraterritoriality in the settlements they created, where a control system was established that was not subordinate to the Chinese authorities, and foreign troops and police were maintained. Local Chinese authorities in open ports had to not only allow the system of these foreign settlements, but also allocate land and houses for them at a “fair” rent. Foreigners were completely removed from the jurisdiction of Chinese courts, and consular jurisdiction was established for them. Following England, unequal treaties with China were concluded by the USA and France (1844).

An important consequence of the “Opium” War was the emergence of a revolutionary situation in the country, the development of which led to a peasant uprising that shook the Qing Empire. It was headed by the leaders of the secret anti-Manchu society “Baimandi Hui” (“Society for Worshiping the Supreme Lord”). The head of the society and its ideologist was the rural teacher Hong Xiuquan. The society preached equality and brotherhood, for which some ideas of Christianity were used to justify it. Hong Xiuquan saw the ultimate goal of the struggle in the creation of “Taiping Tian-guo” (“Heavenly State of General Welfare”), which is why his followers began to be called Taipings. They promoted and put into practice the ideas of equal distribution, which attracted mainly disadvantaged people to the Taipings. But their ranks also included representatives of the trading bourgeoisie and landowners, attracted by the anti-Manchu orientation of the movement.

The uprising developed successfully. In 1851, the rebels captured the district center of Yunan and laid the foundations of their statehood here. “Taiping Tianguo” was proclaimed, the leader of the movement, Hong Xiuquan, received the title of heavenly king (tian bak), and five other leaders of the movement began to be called kings (wangs). Thus, as in other peasant movements, the Chinese peasants did not go beyond the establishment of a “fair” monarchy.

The Taipings paid great attention to military affairs and soon created a combat-ready army, distinguished by strict discipline. In March 1853, Taiping troops took Nanjing, the capital of China during the Ming Dynasty, which was proclaimed the capital of the “heavenly state.” Soon after this event, a document called “The Land System of the Heavenly Dynasty” was published, the significance of which went beyond its official name - in fact, it was a program for an anti-feudal peasant revolution. This document provided for the distribution of land on an equal basis, the exemption of peasants from rent payments to landowners, the provision of equal rights to women, including equal access to public service with men, state support for the disabled, measures to combat corruption, etc.

The Taiping government in part of China lasted until 1864. The main reasons for its destruction, not counting some strategic miscalculations of the Taiping leaders and a split among them, were the intervention of Western powers and the internal disintegration of the Taiping movement. The Taiping armies lost their former combat effectiveness, and the Taipings as a whole lost the broad support of the people. They were defeated by the combined forces of the Manchu dynasty and the Chinese landowners, supported by the interventionists. Nevertheless, the Taiping uprising was of great historical significance, it was the forerunner of the Chinese bourgeois-democratic revolution, a harbinger of the national liberation struggle.

3. “One Hundred Days of Reform”

The Taiping Rebellion and the Opium Wars shook Qing China. At the same time, there were no significant changes in the government system, with the exception of some transformations in the structure of government bodies.

A significant event was the establishment in 1861 after the third “Opium” War of a government body in charge of foreign affairs called the General Office of Foreign Affairs, which was not a foreign affairs office in the usual sense of the word. The main officials of the office worked part-time and were, as a rule, incompetent, which made it difficult for representatives of foreign states to negotiate with them. And yet, the emergence of a special body for foreign affairs in the state structure was a definite milestone, marking the end of the country’s centuries-long isolation. In 1885, another central department appeared - the Admiralty (office for naval affairs). Its organization was preceded by the destruction of the Chinese fleet during the Franco-Chinese War of 1884-1885, which ended with the signing of another unequal treaty and the capture of Annam by the French. However, the funds allocated for the construction of the fleet were spent mainly on the construction of the summer imperial palace near Beijing, and people intended for service in the fleet were also sent there. China remained unarmed in the face of foreign aggression.

After the suppression of the Taiping uprising, the system of two governors in the provinces (military and civilian) was abolished and local power was concentrated in one hand. The structure of the provincial administration included the committees to restore order that emerged during the last period of the struggle against the Taiping movement, consisting of the main provincial officials, namely: the treasurer, the judicial officer, the salt inspector and the grain intendant. The governors received the right to execute, without prior sanction from above, persons convicted of belonging to secret societies aimed at overthrowing the existing system, and “open rebels and robbers.”

At the same time, the Manchus, having retained their dominant position, were forced to provide the Chinese feudal lords, who saved the Qing dynasty together with foreigners, with a greater number of government positions. A characteristic feature of the formation of the state apparatus of those times was the expansion of open sale of positions and the strengthening of the arbitrariness of officials.

The sharply increased expansion of foreign capital into China led to its seizure of the most important positions in the economy and to the emergence of a relatively strong and rapidly developing foreign sector in the economy. The country was turning into a semi-colony of Western powers.

In the 60-80s. XIX century The first Chinese capitalist enterprises emerge. Initially these were state-owned or state-private factories, arsenals and workshops, and then private enterprises that also operated under state control. Large officials and landowners became the leading force in the emerging national bourgeoisie. Previously, the comprador (intermediary) bourgeoisie was formed in China as a national bourgeoisie, acting as a force seeking to preserve the anti-people and anti-national Manchu regime. The invasion of the country by foreign capital put an end to the relative isolation of the Chinese countryside and introduced Chinese agriculture to the world market.

The growth of national capitalism, the expansion of economic ties in the country, and the emergence of large economic and cultural centers created the conditions for the formation of the Chinese nation and the development of national identity.

The defeat of China in the war with Japan (1895) and especially the imperialist division of the country intensified the activities of patriotic forces. At the end of the 19th century. A group of intellectuals led by the publicist and philosopher Kang Youwei, who represented the interests of the national bourgeoisie and bourgeoisized landowners, had a great influence on its public life. This group advocated the modernization of the country and the implementation of reforms with the help of imperial power.

Emperor Guangxu, who sympathized with the reformers, appointed members of the group to government positions and, based on the policy report prepared by Kang Youwei, issued 50 rather radical decrees, mostly devoted to issues of economics and education, as well as some issues of the activities of the state apparatus. This three-month period in 1898 went down in Chinese history as the “Hundred Days of Reform.” The reforms were not implemented due to a palace coup carried out by Empress Dowager Cixi. Emperor Guangxu was arrested, his decrees were repealed, and the reformers were executed.

In 1899, China was again shocked by a popular uprising. This was a performance of the rural and urban poor in the ranks of the Yihetuan (“detachments of justice and harmony”), which arose on the basis of a secret society - “fist in the name of justice and harmony.” The uprising was mainly anti-foreign in nature and continued until 1901, being strengthened by representatives of the ruling circles who flirted with a broad popular movement. The siege of the embassy quarter in Beijing by the rebels served as a reason for intervention in the internal affairs of China by a number of European powers, Tsarist Russia and the United States. In 1900, intervention troops occupied Beijing. The Qing court capitulated.

In 1901, a representative of the Qing signed the so-called “final protocol,” according to which the Chinese government undertook to pay a huge indemnity to the invading powers and accepted a number of humiliating conditions that secured the final transformation of China into a semi-colony. The shameful terms of the “final protocol” increased the general hatred of the people towards the Manchu dynasty, and in order to dull it, the Qings were forced to undertake a number of reforms.

The first practical step in a series of reforms was the reorganization of the General Office of Foreign Affairs, on the basis of which, soon after the suppression of the Yihetuan uprising, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was created on a European model. A number of sinecures at court and in the provinces were abolished. In 1903, instead of the former Ministry of Public Works, the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Trade was created, which was tasked with developing statutes regulating the activities of commercial and industrial enterprises and in every possible way promoting the flow of capital into industry and trade. In 1905, the Ministry of Police was created, transformed the following year into the Ministry of Internal Affairs (civil administration). At the same time, the Ministries of Education, Posts and Transport, Finance, Army and Law (instead of the Ministry of Criminal Punishments) were created. In 1906, the Main Customs Administration was established. The judiciary is separated from the administration. The judicial system consisted of the Supreme Judicial Chamber, high-level courts, district courts and courts of first instance. At the same time, a prosecutor's office was established.

In 1906, a decree was promulgated on preparatory measures for the transition to constitutional government. Accordingly, the following year the Qing established a bureau for drafting and reviewing the constitution, as well as a bureau for legislative reform, which concentrated its efforts on preparing codes. On August 1, 1908, a document entitled “The Basic Program of the Constitution” was published. Emphasizing the inviolability of imperial power and the unlimited rights of its rights in all areas of political life, this document mentioned, at the same time, the upcoming creation of a representative institution - parliament, although with very limited advisory functions.

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