Level 19
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The Late 19th Century and WWI

The Decline of Old Empires

The slow collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the Qing dynasty in China.

Wikimedia Commons · Litografia Ottona Flecka (Otton Fleck) · Public domain

60-Second Review

Express review

A condensed, point-by-point summary of the module, for reviewing right before a test or exam.

  1. The Ottoman Empire and the 'Eastern Question'. A weakened Ottoman Empire became the center of Europe's nineteenth-century 'Eastern Question'.
  2. Balkan Nationalism and the Fragmentation of Ottoman Europe. Greek independence, the Egyptian crisis, and repeated Russo-Turkish wars stripped away Ottoman territory.
  3. Abdul Hamid II, the Armenian Massacres, and the Young Turk Revolution. Abdul Hamid II's autocracy ended in 1908 when Young Turk officers restored the constitution.
  4. World War I and the End of the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman entry into World War I in 1914 led to genocide, defeat, and the empire's dissolution by 1923.
  5. Qing China, the Opium Wars, and the Unequal Treaties. Two Opium Wars forced China to sign unequal treaties that eroded its sovereignty after 1842.
  6. The Taiping Rebellion and the Self-Strengthening Movement. The Taiping Rebellion (1850-64) killed tens of millions and forced the Qing to modernize its military.
  7. Reform and Reaction: 1898 and the Boxer Rebellion. The 1898 reforms were crushed by Cixi, and the 1900 Boxer disaster forced deeper reform.
  8. The Xinhai Revolution and the Fall of the Qing Dynasty. The 1911 Xinhai Revolution ended over two thousand years of Chinese imperial rule.

This module continues after "Labor Movements and Socialism" in the syllabus. If you haven't reviewed it yet, it may help set the context.

Key points

Visual module map

1The Ottoman Empire and the 'Eastern Question'
2Abdul Hamid II, the Armenian Massacres, and the Young Turk Revolution
3Qing China, the Opium Wars, and the Unequal Treaties
4The Taiping Rebellion and the Self-Strengthening Movement
5The Xinhai Revolution and the Fall of the Qing Dynasty

Alternative visual view: a simplified sequence of some of the module's key points, in their order within the syllabus.

Your module mastery

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Approximate breakdown by skill
Understanding of historiographical debate0%

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Final test

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Optional mini-games

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Review Flashcards

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Memory

Match each concept with its definition in as few attempts as possible.

Time Attack

Answer true or false statements before time runs out.

Chronological Order

Put the module's key points back in their original order.

Further reading

Bibliography and cited sources used to create this module.

  • Eugene Rogan, The Fall of the Ottoman Empire: The Great War in the Middle East, 1914-1920.
  • Bernard Lewis, The Emergence of Modern Turkey.
  • Şükrü Hanioğlu, A Brief History of the Late Ottoman Empire.
  • Jonathan Spence, The Search for Modern China.
  • Julia Lovell, The Opium War: Drugs, Dreams and the Making of China.
  • John King Fairbank, China: A New History.
  • Taner Akçam, A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility.