Economic Imperialism in Asia
England’s defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 created an opening for the British and Dutch to take over the spice trade in Asia from the Spanish and Portuguese, who formerly had a monopoly on it.
India The English East India Company formed in 1600 to engage in the lucrative spice trade. However, the company soon ran into opposition from the Dutch. By the mid-1600s cotton and silk textiles from India had replaced spices as the East India Company’s major import, and by the 1700s the company dominated the world textile trade. Indian weavers learned to create fabrics with patterns that would appeal to European tastes. With the Industrial Revolution, India began supplying raw cotton to the textile mills of Britain, and the demand for finished Indian textiles decreased.
Dutch East Indies The Dutch East India Company had a monopoly on trade with the Dutch East Indies in present-day Indonesia, where the Spice Islands were located. By the second half of the 18th century, it had switched its focus from shipping to agricultural production. The Dutch government revoked the company’s charter in 1799 and took direct control of the Dutch East Indies. In 1830, the Dutch government introduced the Culture System, which forced farmers to choose between growing cash crops for export or performing corvée labor, compulsory unpaid work. Under this system, villagers either had to set aside one-fifth of their rice fields for such export crops as sugar, coffee, or indigo, or work in a government field for 66 days if they had no land. If the crops failed, the villagers were held responsible for the loss. The practice was finally abolished in 1870.
China Chinese goods such as porcelain, silk, and tea were in great demand in Great Britain. However, the Chinese were not interested in British goods, and in this trade imbalance, British silver reserves became very low. To make up for this shortfall, the East India Company began forcing farmers in India to grow opium, an addictive drug that also relieves pain and reduces stress. The company then sold it for silver in China, where millions of people became addicted to the illegal drug. The company then used its profits to buy tea and other goods.
The Chinese emperor criminalized the use of opium in 1729. However, the ban had little effect. The Chinese objection to the importation of this drug led to the first Opium War (1839–1842). The Chinese government seized the British opium warehoused in the port of Canton (Guangzhou). War broke out when British warships destroyed a Chinese blockade keeping ships from Canton, the only port China allowed to trade with foreigners. The British attacked and occupied Canton and engaged in several other successful battles, finally capturing Nanking (Nanjing).
The conflict between Britain and China revealed the fate of nonindustrialized nations. China had not anticipated the power that industrialized nations were gaining or the shift in the balance of power that was taking place. Industrialized nations in Europe would begin to dominate and defeat states that lacked the military technology needed to stand against British steamships and weaponry.
The resulting Treaty of Nanking required China to open up four additional ports to foreigners, cede the island of Hong Kong to Britain, and pay damages. It also forced the Chinese to allow free trade, which the British took to include trade in opium.
Neither Britain nor China was completely satisfied with the Treaty of Nanking. The British wanted the use of opium legalized, while the Chinese were unhappy about the concessions they had been forced to make. Hostilities erupted in October 1856 after Chinese officers boarded a British trading ship, searched it, lowered the flag, and arrested some Chinese sailors. The French joined the British in what came to be known as the second Opium War (1856– 1860). The Treaty of Tientsin (Tianjin) following that war allowed foreign envoys to reside in Beijing, opened several new ports to Western trade and residence, and allowed freedom of movement for Christian missionaries. After additional negotiations, opium was legalized, and China ceded to Britain the southern portion of Kowloon Peninsula, which was adjacent to Hong Kong. (Connect: Compare how Western states and the Qing Dynasty treated the Chinese population. See Topic 4.7.)
Spheres of Influence Japan, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States sought the same trading privileges that Britain attained after winning the Opium Wars. By the end of the century, these nations began forcing China to give them exclusive trading rights in areas known as spheres of influence. It was at this time that the Open Door policy, proposed by the United States, allowed for a system of trade in China to be open to all countries equally in order to keep any one power from total control of China. (See the map on the next page.)