Qing dynasty (1636–1912)

Not to be confused with Qin dynasty

Great Qing 大清 ᡩᠠᡳ᠌ᠴᡳᠩ ᡤᡠᡵᡠᠨ གྲེཨཏ་ཆིང
1636–1912
Flag (1889–1912) Coat of arms
The Qing Dynasty in 1820 C.E.
Capital and largest city	Beijing
Common languages	Mandarin, Mongolian, Manchu, Tibetan
Dominant mode of production	Feudalism
Government	Absolute monarchy (1636-1911) Constitutional monarchy (1911-1912)
History
• Established	1636
• Dissolution	1912
Area
• Total	14,700,000 km²
Population
• 1912 estimate	432,000,000

The Qing dynasty was the last dynasty to control China. It was established in 1636 by Hong Taiji, an ethnic Manchu, as a successor to the Later Jin dynasty. While initially isolated to Manchuria (Northeastern China), the fall of the Ming dynasty in 1644 allowed the Qing to spread all throughout China and beyond. It stayed in power until the Xinhai Revolution of 1912, a bourgeois revolution which would lead to the creation of the Republic of China.

The dynasty suffered from the imperialism of Japan and Europe and lost Hong Kong to Britain after the First Opium War in 1839. In 1895, the Qing dynasty lost control over Taiwan and Korea in the First Sino-Japanese War when they were taken over by Japan. The Boxer Rebellion at the turn of the century attempted to reestablish China's sovereignty but was crushed by a Western military alliance which included the United States, Austria-Hungary, Britain, France, and others.

British colonialism

The British Empire attacked China in 1839 to open it to British drug traffickers, beginning the First Opium War. The British Empire sold opium to China throughout the 19th century even thought it was banned in Britain. By 1890, 10% of the Chinese population was addicted to opium.

References