Self strengthening movement

ppt on Self-Strengthening Movement, subject china japan , amity university 3rd year.

1. Self-Strengthening Movement Sidd b.A.History

2. The  Self-Strengthening Movement 1. The Self Strengthening Movement was a campaign for economic and military reform in China, inspired by the nation’s military weakness in the mid 19th century. 2. The Self Strengthening Movement began in the 1860s and sought to acquire and utilise Western methods. “Learn barbarian methods to combat barbarian threats” was one of its mottos. 3. The movement produced some successful capitalist and military reforms, though most of these were provincially rather than nationally based. It failed to strengthen Qing rule or military power, as suggested by subsequent defeats in two wars.

3. 4. Self strengthening failed due to a lack of Qing support, the decentralised nature of government and its narrow focus. Qing leaders wanted military and economic modernisation but without accompanying social or political reforms. 5. In contrast, sweeping reforms under the Meiji Emperor had transformed Japan – once as backward as China – into a modern military-industrial state, the most advanced in Asia.

4. phase of movement First phase (1861–1872) The movement can be divided into three phases:- Superintendents of Trade Maritime Customs Service (1861) Military modernization. Second phase (1872–1885) Third phase (1885–1895)

5. major idea behind self-strengthening   There was an inherent contradiction in the idea of self-strengthening. This contradiction arose because the self-strengtheners felt that the Qing imperial system was superior to the West, and that all that was needed was to improve the imperial military capacity. Therefore, the self-strengtheners ignored the possibility that western military supremacy sprang from their economic and political institutions and structures, and instead thought to add western science and technology onto the confucian culture of the Qing empirea .  

6. Successes of movement Self-strengthening did lead to modern trained Chinese, many of whom would play important roles in later Chinese history. It also did develop over time from a military focus to attemts to develop modern transport and industry within China which probably provided a base of expertise for later development.

7. self-strengthening fail Reason 1:  Geography: The self-strengtheners were too few in number to enable a country as vast as China to catch up with other countries. China was also beset by natural disasters which limited state income. Reason 2:  There was resistance to the very idea of dealing with foreigners from court officials. This made implementing and maintaining reform very difficult. Reason 3:  As the rate of innovation in the West and Japan was much greater, the technology gap actually widened between China and the major powers during the self-strengthening period Reason 4:  The self-strengtheners were not businessmen and often their projects failed.  For example: Li’s steamship firm was looted by insiders and his coal mine was heavily indebted to foreigners. Reason 5:  There was almost a complete lack of administrative structures to help develop China.

8. Reason 6:  There was almost a complete lack of legal structures to help develop China. For example: Projects were dependent on the favour of powerful figures at the imperial court. The problem with this was that the favour could always be withdrawn and therefore damage attempts to modernize. Reason 7:  The self-strengtheners tended to rely on their provincial bases of support. This meant self strengthening was always on a local level rather than a truly national attempt to modernize. Reason 8:  Military equipment made in China was very expensive as most materials had to be imported. For example: Before 1875, when the shipbuilding programme was discontinued at Kiangnan , the ships built were believed to cost twice what a similar ship would cost to make in Britain Reason 9:   Human resource costs were very high, and corruption was an ever present problem particularly in construction costs and worker salaries.