Ep 1 Part 1 - 1800-1919: From Imperial China to the Century of Humiliation Part 1

The first class in the series is devoted to tracing the decline of the ancient imperial order in China under the combined attacks of Western imperialism and domestic rebellion in the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries. China was the most prosperous and sophisticated state in the world through the end of the 18th century, but the Industrial Revolution gave Britain and, later, other Western powers, both new economic power and new military capacities. Britain sold massive amounts of opium to China, then fought a war to open the country to “free trade” when China tried to control the drug dealers. The collapse of China’s domestic economy led to major rebellions, and efforts at reform of the Qing state faltered. When the last imperial dynasty was overthrown in 1911, a period of turmoil followed as Chinese people sought new paths to save their country from imperialist domination and to create a more just and equitable society. This class was originally held and recorded on May 17, 2020. Class page: https://liberationschool.org/china-class-1/