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• Before steamships,
it could take 2 years
to get a message
to/from Britain/India.
• Steamships cut that
to 4 months
(1850’s).
• The Suez Canal cut
that time to 2 weeks
(1870’s).
Civilizations in Crisis
• A Sudanese leader
arose, known as
the Mahdi, who
claimed to be a
descendant of the
Muhammad (he
even had a mole
on his right cheek
and a cleft
between his
teeth).
Civilizations in Crisis
• The Mahdi called for jihad as he
promised to rid the land of the
Egyptian heretics and the British
infidels.
• He led his followers on violent
assaults (usually using guerrilla
tactics) on the Egyptians and British.
• Within a few years, his forces
controlled most of Sudan.
• But at the peak of his power, he
caught typhus and died (1885).
Civilizations in Crisis
• For example,
Sultan Selim III
(r. 1789-1807)
understood the
need to make his
government more
efficient and to
build a new army
and navy.
Civilizations in Crisis
• The powerful
Janissary corps
felt threatened
by this and
staged a revolt,
killing the sultan
and ending his
modest reforms.
Civilizations in Crisis
• Twenty years later, Sultan
Mahmud II (r. 1808- 1839)
secretly built a small, elite,
private army with European
help.
• In 1826, he incited the
Janissaries to mutiny, then
had them slaughtered by
his private army.
• Mahmud II now felt able to
enact reforms.
Civilizations in Crisis
• In 1908, the
Young Turks
staged a coup
that put
military officers
in charge of the
government.
The Young Turks
• Kemal organized
a Turkish national
resistance
movement that,
with help from
Soviet Russia,
expelled the
Greek and
Western invasion
forces.
The Birth of Modern Turkey
• Kemal’s success produced a 1923
treaty that created the Turkish
Republic as a new, independent
state.
The Birth of Modern Turkey
• Turkish
independence
guaranteed the
nation’s strategic
importance in
European and
Russian (and later
American) affairs
because of its
important
geographic location.
The Birth of Modern Turkey
• As Turkey’s
first President,
Kemal’s vision
was to create a
modernized
Islamic state,
able to stand
up to Europe.
The Birth of Modern Turkey
• After the collapse of the Ottoman
Empire, Turkey became the first
secularized (meaning without
religious influence) Middle Eastern
attempt at statehood.
• Like Muhammad Ali in Egypt a
century before, Kemal fostered a
new Turkish nationalism separate
from religious faith. Turkey became
the first Muslim country to separate
the state and religion.
The Birth of Modern Turkey
• The Taiping
Rebellion (actually it
was a civil war)
became the most
devastating peasant
revolt in history.
• It has been
estimated that
between 20-30
million people died.
Civilizations in Crisis
• In 1911,
revolutionaries led by
American educated
Dr. Sun Yat-sen
overthrew the
Manchu and declared
China to be a republic
(the ROC).
• Over 2,500 years of
dynastic rule in China
was over.
Civilizations in Crisis
• Unfortunately, Dr. Sun Yat-sen did
not have the full backing of the army
and a civil war ensued.
• Dr. Sun Yat-sen fled the country but
returned seven years later as the
leader of the “new” China.
Civilizations in Crisis
• Dr. Yat-sen promoted the
ideas of liberalism, and
pushed for a nationally
elected president, a publicly
elected parliament, and a
constitution.
• These ideas were new to
China.
• He also promoted equalizing
land ownership (something
not done until the
Communists much later).
Civilizations in Crisis
• Most famously, Dr. Sun Yat-sen
developed a political philosophy
known as The Three Principles
necessary to make China a free,
prosperous, and powerful country:
• 1). nationalism
• 2). Democracy (or government of the
people)
• 3). social welfare (government making
sure people had access to food, clothing,
housing, transportation)
Civilizations in Crisis