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The Rise Of The Qing Dynasty

Decent Essays

During the years 1851-1866 there was massive civil war, or as some would consider it, a rebellion in China. This period of turmoil “was not only the most destructive war of the nineteenth century, but likely the bloodiest civil war of all time.” (Platt, 2012) The ruling government was the Qing dynasty, who had been in power since the mid 1600’s. There were widespread problems throughout the country including natural disasters such as “droughts, famines, and floods.” (Robert Worden, 1988) There were a substantial number of lower class citizens who were unhappy with their living conditions and with the Manchu rulers of the Qing dynasty. There was a large gap in economic status between the lower class and the wealthy members of the government. This social tension along with China being defeated militarily by France and Britain lead to a citizen uprising in the region of south China. Known as the Taiping Rebellion, this large scale revolt was fought in “an attempt to create a new Han Chinese dynasty that would unite Christianity and Confucianism.” (Black, 2013) The Taiping Rebellion impacted Chinese history in two main ways: the Chinese lower class learned to fight for social change, which lead to other rebellions, and, at the same time, the war showcased the Chinese government’s intolerance for and ability to thwart societal change. The first main impact the rebellion had on Chinese history was that the Chinese people, who were possibility influence by the American Civil war,

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