How did 19th century imperialism affect China?
This answer mentions “a major effect,” but doesn’t elaborate much. The most important effect was to galvanize Chinese nationalism by demonstrating that China had become too weak to stand up for its own interests against foreign countries, traditionally understood as inferior. This led directly to the 1911 Republican Revolution and then to the two major modern attempts to strengthen China, Chiang Kai-shek’s semi-fascist movement and Mao’s communist movement.
Imperialism had a major affect on China. The Opium War played a major part of this. The opium war was provoked by the problems with European countries and China. British were getting tired of doing outside trading and wanted to trade directly with China. China had little need from the West. As a direct result the smuggling of opium began. Opium was forbidden in China except for medicinal use. The war was fought to determine the relations between China and the West, and as a result China was forced to reevaluate her position as the center of the world. Imperialism is most commonly related to historical content such as the ancient histories of Rome, Greece, and China.
