Page 105 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol V

1882 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

as an economic power, although Southeast Asia was vir- expansion in the Pacific beginning with the California gold
tually under the colonial rule of the British, Dutch, and rush (1848). California became a state in 1850, Oregon
French by 1900. in 1859, and Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867.
The Battle of Plassey, India, in 1757 altered Asian In 1898, Hawaii was annexed and the Philippines were
trade patterns in that the British gained control of Ben- acquired following defeat of Spain. European powers
gal’s opium production. Although silver continued as soon divided China into spheres of influence.In response,
China’s principal import, British opium exports to China United States formulated an Open Door Policy in 1900,
dominated in terms of profitability. Chinese opium which required open trade, territorial integrity, and inde-
imports rose more than twentyfold between 1729 and pendence for China. Competition for the Chinese mar-
1800.The Chinese emperor Qianlong (Hung-li, Ch’ien- ketplace remained central under such proclamations.
lung) restricted European merchants to the port of
Guangzhou (Canton) in 1759, where foreigners were Implications
allowed to deal only with Chinese firms (co hongs) While a “Spanish Lake” between the mid-sixteenth and
under strict governmental regulation. Chinese exports of mid-eighteenth centuries, the world’s greatest ocean was
silks, porcelain, and tea required import-payment via sil- exploited with remarkable success by Iberians (as well as
ver or opium (since there was Chinese demand for little Dutch, Chinese, and other merchants) who controlled
else). Silks were produced elsewhere by this time, and key ports providing access to major market areas. From
Germany (1709) and Britain (1742) finally mastered pro- the mid-eighteenth through much of the nineteenth cen-
duction of porcelain.Tea was produced in quantity exclu- tury, numerous nations vied for control of sections of the
sively in China, however, until the Dutch (Java) and Pacific. Gold rushes stimulated commercial connections
British (Ceylon and India) developed successful tea plan- from the mid-nineteenth century. Industrialization nar-
tations at the end of the nineteenth century. rowed the range of contenders for Pacific supremacy.The
Trade in opium was illegal in China. When Chinese Pacific became an “American Lake” after World War II,
authorities tried to stop it, Opium Wars with Britain and American commerce and power remains a dominant
(1839–1842), Britain and France (1856–1858), France force in the Pacific today. It is useful to view the rise of
(1884–1885), and Japan (1894–1895) resulted. The Asian economic powers during the second half of the
Treaty of Nanjing (1842) began a series of unequal twentieth century as a reemergence of a centuries-old pat-
treaties that regulated Chinese foreign relations until tern of response to forces largely emanating from the
1943. China’s tributary system was dismantled, Hong mainland Asia.
Kong was placed under British sovereignty, Chinese
Dennis O. Flynn and Arturo Giráldez
ports were opened to commerce, and the opium trade
became legal. Britain’s trade surpluses with India con- See also Pacific, Settlement of
tributed to Britain’s economic strength and to the growth
of the Atlantic economy.The British monetary system was
Further Reading
based on gold for the major part of the nineteenth cen-
Campbell, I. C. (1989). A history of the Pacific Islands. Christchurch, New
tury and during some decades of the twentieth.The gold
Zealand: Canterbury University Press.
mines of Australia discovered in 1851, the ones in New Dudden, A. (1992). The American Pacific: From the early China trade to
Zealand in 1861, and exports from India to China pro- the present. New York: Oxford University Press.
Flynn, D. O., Frost, L., & Latham,A. J. H. (Eds.). (1999). Pacific centuries:
vided substantial support for the pivotal role of the City Pacific and Pacific Rim history since the sixteenth century. London:
of London in the world financial system. Routledge.
Flynn, D. O., & Giráldez, A. (Eds.). (2001). European entry into the
British activities along coastal China during the first half
Pacific: Spain and the Acapulco-Manila galleons. Aldershot, UK:
of the nineteenth century correspond with American Ashgate.