Colonialism in ChinaThe history of Colonialism in China starts off with the Mongol Empire. It serves as the first basis in regard to foreign imperialism.
In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, China was semi- colonized by major world powers such as Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Japan, and (to a lesser extent) the US. In the 1800s, though China was not industrialized, it was rather self-sufficient and therefore its emperors had little interest in trading with Europe. Only the port of Canton was open for foreign trade. Coerced trade and territorial concessions in a series of so-called unequal treaties. The British East India Company however found a commodity that was highly in demand in China; the Opium Trade. When the plea of the Chinese emperor to end the trade was disregarded, the quarrel over Opium led to the Opium Wars. With the Mongols and Westerners occupying China historically, anti-foreign sentiment increased and play and major role for the Boxer Rebellion which ended the Chine Empire. All in all, this section of the project looks into these events more deeply to illustrate the impact of colonialism in China. |