S01E28 Taiping Rebellion: Unequal Treaties and Modernizing China

Chinese Revolutions: A History Podcast

S01E28 Taiping Rebellion: Unequal Treaties and Modernizing China

This week, we're talking about how the unequal treaties forced on China during the Second Opium War further clarified anti-imperialism as a driver in later Chinese revolutions.

Foreign powers readily turned to force to push things along in China whenever dialogue got stuck. Force had worked before, and they thought force was the only language that the Chinese consistently understood.

Foreign Powers' Neutrality in Taiping Rebellion Conflict

Part of this episode will follow Lord Elgin's travels up and down the Yangtze River. British engagement with the Taiping was an interesting mixed bag: they despised the uncouth manners of Taiping representatives but appreciated the possible trade opportunities the Taiping might possibly have offered.

Yet, British and other foreign powers' policy of neutrality in the Taiping Rebellion meant that they had to work with both sides of the conflict to ensure that trade agreements with one side or the other produced anything.

And so that leaves open the possibility of future foreign intervention on one side or the other of the conflict.

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