China contested : Western powers in East Asia / Matthew J. Flynn ; foreword by George J. Mitchell ; introduction by James I. Matray.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Flynn, Matthew J.

Contributor:

Elizabeth Bowers Peck, 1929 Endowment Book Fund.

Series:

Arbitrary borders

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

China--History--19th century.

China.

History.

China--History--20th century.

China--Relations--Europe.

Relations.

Europe.

China--Relations--United States.

United States.

China--History.

Physical Description:

xii, 132 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Chelsea House, [2006]

Summary:

For centuries, China stood isolated from the outside world; as a result, both its culture and economy developed with little influence from foreign countries. This isolation, however, left China ill-prepared to face the Western powers that began demanding trade rights in the late eighteenth century. Although China had been dealing with European nations since the sixteenth century, when Portugal established a colony on the island of Macao, its relationship with foreign countries had largely been cursory and dismissive. Then, with Great Britain's victory over China in the First Opium War (1839-1842), Western powers gained the upper hand over a nation that was becoming increasingly weaker due to internal upheaval. By the turn of the twentieth century, the Western powers had already carved out their own spheres of influence within the once-proud nation. Throughout the following half-century, stability proved elusive until Mao Tse-tung unified China under Communist rule in 1949.

Contents:

Testing the limits

Defining china

Early contacts

Forced opening

Facing national disintegration

Two chinas

On the front lines of the cold war

Putting the pieces back together

Chronology & timeline.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 117-122) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Elizabeth Bowers Peck, 1929 Endowment Book Fund.

ISBN:

079108650X

9780791086506

OCLC:

65063991