Lone Star Republic
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Chapter 96 The Taiping Revolution Part 3 Loss of the Mandate
Chapter 96 The Taiping Revolution Part 3 Loss of the Mandate
"While my granduncle could barely manage to fight against Russia, I have made China tremble before the might of France."- Emperor Napoleon III 1871
"Look to the west, that is the fate Japan will find itself if we do not adapt to the changing times."- Emperor Meiji 1867
"The Qing Empire did not end in 1913, it ended in 1854 with the rise of the Taiping scum. China then became nothing but a corpse, picked apart by the carrion."- General Secretary Mao Zedong 1946
The aftermath of the Taiping Revolution would provide in many respects set the stage for much of modern Asian politics. The Chinese Empire after being united for centuries, was now divided and ever on the verge of collapse. Only European intervention saved the Qing dynasty, yet this in and of itself was more of a curse than a blessing as it made the Qing Emperors cursed among the peasants and nobles alike for becoming puppets to the Western barbarians, filling China with war, drugs, and poverty. While the Qing dynasty would technically continue for another four decades until the Xinhai Revolution in 1911 during the Great War, for all intents and purposes they were finished as a nation. It was not a matter of if the Qing would collapse, but when.
For twelve years from 1859-1871, the Taiping Revolution entered "Charles' War" upon which the French and British were both extremely active on both sides. Unlike the first years of the Revolution territorial exchanges were less frequent as the war soon became a bloody stalemate. The reason for this was due to morale breaking from the failures to obtain both enemy capitols, Beijing in 1857 and Tianjing in 1864. Instead of finishing off their enemy, Taiping and Qing China used the time to solidify control over their remaining territories and effectively modernize their army with European weaponry and trained officers in order to achieve their primary objective, the Taiping in maintaining independence and the Qing in maintaining control over whatever parts they had left. In the sense of not losing complete control of China to the enemy, both states would succeed. The Qing in particular managed to do well with the reconquest of Southern China thanks to the formation of the "Ever-Victorious Army", an elite Chinese Army made up of British regulars and Manchu mercenaries who were trained exclusively by the British. The EVA would come to be the forefront of Qing success as they lead the way for the combined regional armies to unite and take back some of their lands from the Taiping. With heavy support from the Royal Navy and a strong British presence in Hong Kong, Charles George Gordon was able to retake Southern China throughout the remainder of the 1860's and even managed to quell the Taiping presence in Guangxong where the Rebellion had started. With the Qing's best commanders being able to quell the Nian and Miao rebellions in Central China, it looked as though Qing China might be able to survive. Unfortunately for them no matter how trained and well-equipped the Qing armies would be, without superior numbers they were no match for the Taiping Armies. Even without the aid of the French the Taiping were a fearsome foe to due battle with as the average Taiping soldier was a peasant who was a fervent believer in both the revolutionary cause and the heavenly faith. Most soldiers were zealous converts of the faith and would fight to the death with few cases for surrender. Because the Taiping soldiers were fighting for a cause they believed in, morale was often far higher in the rebel armies and it would take a massive route or total encirclement by the Qing before some semblance of order would fade.
Qing soldiers unsuccessfully lay a siege upon Tianjing
The Taiping Revolution was in many ways the start of a Cold War between Great Britain and France due to their involvement on differing sides and the placement of British and French units openly aiding their Chinese allies. During the war while a few skirmishes did take place between French and British soldiers, these did not escalate into open conflict between the two nations, the reasons for which being many and complex. For the British their involvement in China was already an overstretch of resources thanks to the recent Sepoy Rebellions in India. Thousands of British regulars had died in the conflict and British India was still struggling to regain some semblance of order as dissent was widespread, famine and poverty growing in all states, and London having only recently taken over authority from the East India company. While access to Chinese markets was a growing concern for the Foreign ministry, the retention of Victoria's title as Empress of India was considered a far more important matter, thus Charles Gordon often had to rely on the support of the native Chinese with only a few native regiments.
The French on the other hand made the Taiping Revolution a personal conflict for them much in the same way that the American Revolution was. The French Navy was dispatched in full force along with two French corps that would number well over 150,000 French regulars in China. The French's first move outside of Taiping support was in 1862 with the Invasion Formosa which saw two French divisions under Charles Mobutan invade the Chinese island in order to set up a French colony. The fighting on the island was extremely bloody with over 100,000 Formosan natives dying while the French took on a far fewer 15,000 casualties. Over the next four years the island would slowly be pacified thanks to the usage of modern French artillery and rifles, the conquest being declared won in 1866. A similar action took place in the Invasion of Hainan in 1863 with three divisions under the command of French Admiral Charles Rigault de Genouilly. The reason for this invasion was due to the fact that Hanain was considered to be an excellent location upon which the French could exert influence upon both Southern China and Indochina, the latter being the sight of French colonial ambitions. In fact the Taiping expedition was used as an excuse for the French to begin spreading their influence in nearby Asian nations. During the war a naval campaign was conducted against the Chinese vassal of Korea in order to force the Joseon dynasty to accept the presence of Catholic missionaries and end their persecution of Christians. Until the Revolution's end in 1871, the French Navy would continue to make periodic raids which while doing little to central Korea, would devastate the shores and destroy Korea's navy and fishing economy. The French would come to find much more success in nearby Vietnam when an expedition under Genouilly would invade southern Vietnam in 1864 and slowly come to take over the Southern third of the country with the city of Saigon falling in 1865. While Vietnamese guerrillas would continue to plague the countryside, the main Vietnamese Army was powerless to do anything due to scattered numbers along with their poor technology base in comparison the French. After taking over Saigon a French division under the command of Major General Jacques Lemaire would consolidate their hold upon the region, managing to win it in 1871 with the signing of the Treaty of Saigon which forced the Vietnamese Emperor to recognize the ceding of Southern Vietnam, creating the French colony of Cochinchina. While the French investment in China would be costly in thousands of lives and millions of Francs, to Napoleon it was well worth it as France had established their colonial foothold on the region and now had a large market with a multitude of resources to exploit.
Capture of Saigon (Left). French soldiers land on Formosan shores (Right).
While the aid of the European powers were what helped both sides to continue the fight, they were also what prevented an absolute finish. With heavy aid from Europe there were little weaknesses to exploit in the core of each army. By 1870 the Taiping had managed to acquire a strong hold over Eastern China and the Qing limiting their expansion. The Taiping could not move outwards, but the Qing were unable to create any holes upon which to launch a decisive attack. By the end of the 1860's the Revolution had taken a massive toll on China and there was little economic strength to continue the fight. The Taiping Revolution up til this point was the bloodiest war in human history with 35 million Chinese on both sides dying, more often than not due to the spread of the plague and poverty than battle (though warfare accounted for an estimated 15-20% of all deaths). Most of Qing China's economic heartlands were devastated and would require years to be able to recover. The Taiping had little time to establish a central economy and thus had increasingly little to support a high quality of life for its citizenry. Both sides knew that an end had to come, they just would refuse to submit to the legitimacy of the other. Unluckily for them the British and French would force them to the negotiating table. While the two nations would gain much in the conflict, the public in both nations were tired of continued investment in the war and demanded that more attention be brought to domestic matters. In addition Europe was becoming ever more turbulent with the rise of the German Empire and the Ottomans looking to collapse under the might of the growing Russian Empire. Over the summer of 1870 diplomatic talks took place between Paris and London that agreed for a need to stop the fight and let the two nations expand their empires elsewhere. In the later part of the year French and British diplomats went to their respective Chinese states and laid out an ultimatum, make peace with the other side or we shall withdraw support. Not wanting to risk the loss of their western allies, both Hong Xiuqan and the Tongzhi Emperor agreed to a cease fire, Taiping and Qing officials begrudgingly signing a treaty in Seoul which would end the fighting on August 3rd, 1871. However contrary to the common belief that this was the complete end of the war, a formal peace treaty was never signed by both Chinese powers and they would technically be in a continuous state of war until the Qing's fall in 1911, large-scale warfare briefly resuming during the Sino-Japanese War in 1894-1895 and skirmishes taking place before and after. In fact Qing China would never come to recognize the independence of any of its breakaway states, only a cautious stalemate forced by Europe and the inability to conquer their separatist territories preventing a Qing reunification. Thus in 1871, China would split apart and never again reunify to the great length that they were under the early Qing, multiple states still continuing to claim the Mandate of Heaven and the right to rule all of China to this very day.
China in 1871. Qing China (Yellow). Russian Empire (Gold). Tibet (Light Blue). French Empire (Blue). Yunnan (Orange). Xinjiang (Maroon). Mongolia (Green). Heavenly Kingdom of China/Taiping (Red).
In Qing China it is often a miracle on how the Manchu dynasty was able to stay in charge for four more decades. Many historians though often like to point out that central rule was barely reached outside of Beijing without the presence of a Qing army, most provinces becoming completely autonomous by managing to pay taxes to Beijing and then being completely ignored by the Emperor. While there was a small movement of reformers present in the Imperial court that called for modernization, these calls were mostly for the institution of a modern industry and military, and calls for social reform largely falling on deaf ears as the Conservative faction of the nobles often liked to point to the liberal ideas of the rebels and the west to point to as reason for ignoring them. Even though most of China was heavily anti-western, the Qing court would be filled with Europeans as the unequal treaties signed throughout the years would give rise to the Qing becoming virtual puppets of European industrialists and nobles. Even the American states were not exempt of this as some nations such as the United States, Texas, and Brazil would all send expeditions to enforce favorable trade treaties that would give them access to Chinese ports. The British in particular would benefit from the Qing as hundreds of British advisers would come to enter the court and British industrial products came to fill the majority of imports in Qing China through Hong Kong. The British would come to benefit highly in the sale of Opium from India as while the sales of the drug in Great Britain were highly frowned upon, British authorities turned a blind eye to Indian opium plantations selling to Chinese markets. The sale of Opium which was the reason for the British presence in China to begin with, would devastate the country as tens of millions of Chinese from the lowest peasant to the highest noble would be hooked on the drug, stopping any major productivity in the economy and contributing to a high rise in criminal activity and poverty. Without central oversight from Beijing the lands would soon begin to decay and life becoming harsh for any Chinese. Anti-western sentiment was at a rise as tensions boiled in China with the increasing frequency of peasant rebellions. It wouldn't be until 1911 that the Chinese would be able to realize the dream of self-rule, yet even then China would continue to fall into a series of decay and stagnation which it would not start to rise from until the late 20th century.
Opium smoking which was a primary cause of widespread poverty and a rise in crime (Left). A political cartoon of the Chinese Emperor being powerless to stop China's partition before the Europeans (Right).
Among the breakaway separatist nations there was a heavy mix of both success and failure upon obtaining independence. Out of all the states Yunnan and Tibet would be the most prosperous as both were fairly united ethnically and had little major domestic political disturbances. Yunnan in particular would come to represent the model Chinese state as Du Wenxiu's call for ethnic and religious tolerance prevented the rise of internal strife and rebellion that would plague some of the separatist states in the next forty years. Under Du Wenxiu's reign Yunnan had the highest human rights record in 19th century Asia due to the government policy of tolerance for all ethnicity and religions, even accepting tribal Paganism as an official religion. Through trade with French Indochina, Yunnan began to modernize with the millions of Francs coming in from the export of natural resources, most of the tax revenue being invested in the building of a modern infrastructure and reconstruction of Yunnan cities to model more in the example of European architecture and tear down decaying blocks. Yunnan would in fact become so modern that a railroad from Indochina would connect to it in 1905 and the first usage of electricity would appear in 1908. Thanks to the Qing focus on the Heavenly Kingdom along with ever-present internal strife, Yunnan would largely be ignored by Beijing and would remain proserpous until the dawn of the Great War and the later Japanese incursions leading up to the Great Asian-Pacific War.
In the Heavenly Kingdom of Taiping while there was much rejoice in the success of driving out the dreaded Qing out of their new nation, the feeling was not universally shared by all of its citizens. While the Heavenly Church did manage to gain millions of converts, there were tens of millions more in their lands who were neither of the faith nor were friends of the Revolution. Hong's reforms would mainly come to benefit the peasant class by dividing up the land and giving back to the poor, taking away much of the wealth from the traditional ruling class and stripping way power from nobles and Confucian bureaucrats who had benefited from their Qing patronage. What made the situation even worse was how Hong did almost nothing to achieve tolerance of the religious minorities such as the Buddhist and Daoists like Yunnan did. During Hong's reign any non-Christian religious sect were persecuted and a tax inflicted upon those who did not convert. After a few years the euphoria of revolting against corrupt Qing rule washed away and thousands began to revolt against the Heavenly Kingdom. Two factors that helped Taiping rule to last though was French aid through modern weaponry and the zealousness of the Taiping Christians who went into battle without a single care for their lives and often praising deaths in combat as dying in service of the Lord. By the time of the Great War Taiping Rule could be described as static, which in many ways could be both good and bad. While the Taiping would never industrialize to the great lengths of Japan or have the same domestic stability as Yunnan, the economy was continually growing each year through trade links with France and other pro-French nations (Texas, United States, Spain, Italy, etc.) and government rule while strict, never reached the corruption present in the height of the Qing dynasty. In an ironic sense life in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom could be described as that of the Qing before the 19th century, a stagnant calm with life moving forward. Outside of the immense changes that came about with the defiance to Beijing and rise of other separatist states, the best thing that could be said about the Taiping Revolution was ironically how it managed to become one of the more liberal states in China. While the Taiping were cruel towards Buddhists and other non-Christians, the peasants would still get to benefit from Taiping reforms where they were now free from their noble overlords and had an abundance of land to do with as they pleased. Some of the reforms passed in Tianjing were even revolutionary for the 19th century as a whole as women were equal as men before the law (including the right to join the army and government), wealth distribution became an official economic policy, polygamy and prostitution were banned, drugs were banned in full and opium faced a viscous war by the Taiping administration that went beyond the Qing's efforts, and non-Han minorities were risen to the same status as the Han and ruling Hakka (though once again favor was placed on Christians). While absolutely far from perfect, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was a welcome step from the Qing in that the sense that it finally brought about change from the millennia-long stagnant system of the Heavenly Mandate.
Hong Xiuqan leading the Heavenly Army
Lastly there was Xinjiang which became in a sense an isolationist state after its independence from the Qing. Due to the Sultanate's location in Western China, the Hui peoples of Xinjiang were cut off from most contact and trade with the outside world, the Qing refusing to grant them access through their lands and the trek through Russian Turkestan often a dangerous and rough task. The only main point of contact was through Russian trade, something which did not become regular until the 1880's with the connection of the Siberian Railroad. With little foreign interference Yaqub Beg was able to effectively make the state his own personal domain and solidify control for his future dynasty. Unfortunately this would not be good for the Xinjiang people as Beg's opinion of the ideal Sultanate was one that instituted a harsh version of Sharia law for their subjects. Many of Beg's subjects became dissatisfied due to only the Hui Muslims benefiting form his rule, not even the Turkic Muslims of the region were exempt from Beg's harshness as Beg would come to heavily favor the Chinese Hui and his those who were of the same Tajik ethnicity as him. Chinese historians in comparing the breakaway states often claim that Beg Xinjiang was the worst of the nations as even in Taiping China the peasant class were able to benefit and prosper under the rule of the Xiuqan dynasty, under Beg only the Army and those who were close followers of the Sultan were able to achieve any form of success. With most trade links to main China destroyed, the economy began to enter a downward spiral and poverty rose throughout the land. Only Russian aid and was able to keep Beg in power as the peasants were unable to get any weapons beyond spears, swords, and extremely outdated muskets. This harsh authoritarian rule would continue on throughout the Xinjiang land until his death and the rise of the Xinjiang Republic. While Xinjiang today has managed to become a modern and stable state, many question whether or not it would've been better had the Qing be able to reconquer the territory and end Beg's rule before his downfall.
The lands of China were not the only people who would be affected by the actions of Hong Rengan and his followers, for China's neighbors would come to benefit in the fall of the Qing and rise to power. In Southeast Asia Siam would come to exploit the explosive rivalry between the French and British in Asia to protect its independence and remain as one of the few fully independent Asian nations without any form of European intervention or the creation of a protectorate. While Siam would cede over half of its territory to both the United Kingdom and French Empire in the next three decades (the British portions of which it would regain following the Indian collapse in 1926) the Siamese monarchy was able to keep the westerners at bay in court and King Rama V was able to use the money and resources invested by the West to curry favor with Siam to institute social, technological, and governmental reforms within Siam, bringing the small nation up to the same level of development as Japan by 1910. East of China just below Manchuria, sat Korea (The Kingdom of Joseon as it was known back then), a nation who had for centuries been a tribute state to the Chinese and once relied upon the protection of the Beijing dynasties in order to ward off Japanese aggression. The fact that half of China would split off to become their own separate states worried the ruling Joseon dynasty at the time, after all if China could not take care of their own affairs then how could they be expected to protect Korea. French and British incursions into the region, especially the French raids into Korea during the evolution, showed Seoul that they would need to join the other nations of the modern world in order to protect their sovereignty before the West would turn Asia into their colonial playground. To that end contact was made with St. Petersburg at the will of King Gojong, the Russians being chosen as they would have the least amount of direct influence yet still be in a position of strength to protect Korea from British and French invasions. In 1879 following the aftermath of the Balkans War, the Treaty of Seoul would be signed which in essence made Korea a Russian protectorate by way of enticing Russian free trade, extension of the Siberian Railroad, basing and the inclusion of Russian Army advisers and diplomats in Seoul. While such moves were extremely unpopular among the native Korean peasantry and led to a deterioration in relations with China, it was a rather smart and fortunate move as Korea would find the treaty to be a lifesaving one during the Asian theater of the Great War.
Last of all the Asian nations who never once got involved in the Taiping Revolution, but one who would be effected by the Chinese rebellions for years to come, was Japan. During this time Japan had taken a rather nuetral stance on the whole affair as the Meiji Emperor was busy dealing with Samurai dissidents who rose in rebellion to protect their special status and protest the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate. While the Samurai were defeated in 1869, Japan could not rest easy as they now found themselves surrounded on all sides by Europeans and their protectorate lackies. For while there had never been any love lost between China and Japan, Japan could respect China in that they were the main power upon which the Westerners were kept at bay. Now that the Qing dynasty had seemingly lost all semblance of control and the lands of China were partitioned, the Japanese saw themselves alone as a literal island amid a sea of Empires. Not wanting his people to suffer the same fate, the Emperor vowed to modernize his nation to become a great power the likes of which the world had never seen. To the Meiji Emperor, it was now Japan's solemn duty to become a shining beacon of Asian culture in this new Western world, upon which Japan would defend their Asian brethren from the savage Europeans and one day lead a crusade to unify all of Asia under the banner of the Rising Sun. For the next four decades Japan would indeed modernize and soon become a great power equal in strength to the likes of Italy, Spain, and Scandinavia. Unfortunately for the Meiji Emperor, after his passing Japan would not become a savior to the Asian people, rather it would be an harsh authoritarian regime that would make the Japanese people hated and feared throughout all of the Far East even to this day.
Emperor Meiji, a man who for better or worse launched the Japanese Empire into its Golden Age.
"While my granduncle could barely manage to fight against Russia, I have made China tremble before the might of France."- Emperor Napoleon III 1871
"Look to the west, that is the fate Japan will find itself if we do not adapt to the changing times."- Emperor Meiji 1867
"The Qing Empire did not end in 1913, it ended in 1854 with the rise of the Taiping scum. China then became nothing but a corpse, picked apart by the carrion."- General Secretary Mao Zedong 1946
The aftermath of the Taiping Revolution would provide in many respects set the stage for much of modern Asian politics. The Chinese Empire after being united for centuries, was now divided and ever on the verge of collapse. Only European intervention saved the Qing dynasty, yet this in and of itself was more of a curse than a blessing as it made the Qing Emperors cursed among the peasants and nobles alike for becoming puppets to the Western barbarians, filling China with war, drugs, and poverty. While the Qing dynasty would technically continue for another four decades until the Xinhai Revolution in 1911 during the Great War, for all intents and purposes they were finished as a nation. It was not a matter of if the Qing would collapse, but when.
For twelve years from 1859-1871, the Taiping Revolution entered "Charles' War" upon which the French and British were both extremely active on both sides. Unlike the first years of the Revolution territorial exchanges were less frequent as the war soon became a bloody stalemate. The reason for this was due to morale breaking from the failures to obtain both enemy capitols, Beijing in 1857 and Tianjing in 1864. Instead of finishing off their enemy, Taiping and Qing China used the time to solidify control over their remaining territories and effectively modernize their army with European weaponry and trained officers in order to achieve their primary objective, the Taiping in maintaining independence and the Qing in maintaining control over whatever parts they had left. In the sense of not losing complete control of China to the enemy, both states would succeed. The Qing in particular managed to do well with the reconquest of Southern China thanks to the formation of the "Ever-Victorious Army", an elite Chinese Army made up of British regulars and Manchu mercenaries who were trained exclusively by the British. The EVA would come to be the forefront of Qing success as they lead the way for the combined regional armies to unite and take back some of their lands from the Taiping. With heavy support from the Royal Navy and a strong British presence in Hong Kong, Charles George Gordon was able to retake Southern China throughout the remainder of the 1860's and even managed to quell the Taiping presence in Guangxong where the Rebellion had started. With the Qing's best commanders being able to quell the Nian and Miao rebellions in Central China, it looked as though Qing China might be able to survive. Unfortunately for them no matter how trained and well-equipped the Qing armies would be, without superior numbers they were no match for the Taiping Armies. Even without the aid of the French the Taiping were a fearsome foe to due battle with as the average Taiping soldier was a peasant who was a fervent believer in both the revolutionary cause and the heavenly faith. Most soldiers were zealous converts of the faith and would fight to the death with few cases for surrender. Because the Taiping soldiers were fighting for a cause they believed in, morale was often far higher in the rebel armies and it would take a massive route or total encirclement by the Qing before some semblance of order would fade.
Qing soldiers unsuccessfully lay a siege upon Tianjing
The Taiping Revolution was in many ways the start of a Cold War between Great Britain and France due to their involvement on differing sides and the placement of British and French units openly aiding their Chinese allies. During the war while a few skirmishes did take place between French and British soldiers, these did not escalate into open conflict between the two nations, the reasons for which being many and complex. For the British their involvement in China was already an overstretch of resources thanks to the recent Sepoy Rebellions in India. Thousands of British regulars had died in the conflict and British India was still struggling to regain some semblance of order as dissent was widespread, famine and poverty growing in all states, and London having only recently taken over authority from the East India company. While access to Chinese markets was a growing concern for the Foreign ministry, the retention of Victoria's title as Empress of India was considered a far more important matter, thus Charles Gordon often had to rely on the support of the native Chinese with only a few native regiments.
The French on the other hand made the Taiping Revolution a personal conflict for them much in the same way that the American Revolution was. The French Navy was dispatched in full force along with two French corps that would number well over 150,000 French regulars in China. The French's first move outside of Taiping support was in 1862 with the Invasion Formosa which saw two French divisions under Charles Mobutan invade the Chinese island in order to set up a French colony. The fighting on the island was extremely bloody with over 100,000 Formosan natives dying while the French took on a far fewer 15,000 casualties. Over the next four years the island would slowly be pacified thanks to the usage of modern French artillery and rifles, the conquest being declared won in 1866. A similar action took place in the Invasion of Hainan in 1863 with three divisions under the command of French Admiral Charles Rigault de Genouilly. The reason for this invasion was due to the fact that Hanain was considered to be an excellent location upon which the French could exert influence upon both Southern China and Indochina, the latter being the sight of French colonial ambitions. In fact the Taiping expedition was used as an excuse for the French to begin spreading their influence in nearby Asian nations. During the war a naval campaign was conducted against the Chinese vassal of Korea in order to force the Joseon dynasty to accept the presence of Catholic missionaries and end their persecution of Christians. Until the Revolution's end in 1871, the French Navy would continue to make periodic raids which while doing little to central Korea, would devastate the shores and destroy Korea's navy and fishing economy. The French would come to find much more success in nearby Vietnam when an expedition under Genouilly would invade southern Vietnam in 1864 and slowly come to take over the Southern third of the country with the city of Saigon falling in 1865. While Vietnamese guerrillas would continue to plague the countryside, the main Vietnamese Army was powerless to do anything due to scattered numbers along with their poor technology base in comparison the French. After taking over Saigon a French division under the command of Major General Jacques Lemaire would consolidate their hold upon the region, managing to win it in 1871 with the signing of the Treaty of Saigon which forced the Vietnamese Emperor to recognize the ceding of Southern Vietnam, creating the French colony of Cochinchina. While the French investment in China would be costly in thousands of lives and millions of Francs, to Napoleon it was well worth it as France had established their colonial foothold on the region and now had a large market with a multitude of resources to exploit.
Capture of Saigon (Left). French soldiers land on Formosan shores (Right).
While the aid of the European powers were what helped both sides to continue the fight, they were also what prevented an absolute finish. With heavy aid from Europe there were little weaknesses to exploit in the core of each army. By 1870 the Taiping had managed to acquire a strong hold over Eastern China and the Qing limiting their expansion. The Taiping could not move outwards, but the Qing were unable to create any holes upon which to launch a decisive attack. By the end of the 1860's the Revolution had taken a massive toll on China and there was little economic strength to continue the fight. The Taiping Revolution up til this point was the bloodiest war in human history with 35 million Chinese on both sides dying, more often than not due to the spread of the plague and poverty than battle (though warfare accounted for an estimated 15-20% of all deaths). Most of Qing China's economic heartlands were devastated and would require years to be able to recover. The Taiping had little time to establish a central economy and thus had increasingly little to support a high quality of life for its citizenry. Both sides knew that an end had to come, they just would refuse to submit to the legitimacy of the other. Unluckily for them the British and French would force them to the negotiating table. While the two nations would gain much in the conflict, the public in both nations were tired of continued investment in the war and demanded that more attention be brought to domestic matters. In addition Europe was becoming ever more turbulent with the rise of the German Empire and the Ottomans looking to collapse under the might of the growing Russian Empire. Over the summer of 1870 diplomatic talks took place between Paris and London that agreed for a need to stop the fight and let the two nations expand their empires elsewhere. In the later part of the year French and British diplomats went to their respective Chinese states and laid out an ultimatum, make peace with the other side or we shall withdraw support. Not wanting to risk the loss of their western allies, both Hong Xiuqan and the Tongzhi Emperor agreed to a cease fire, Taiping and Qing officials begrudgingly signing a treaty in Seoul which would end the fighting on August 3rd, 1871. However contrary to the common belief that this was the complete end of the war, a formal peace treaty was never signed by both Chinese powers and they would technically be in a continuous state of war until the Qing's fall in 1911, large-scale warfare briefly resuming during the Sino-Japanese War in 1894-1895 and skirmishes taking place before and after. In fact Qing China would never come to recognize the independence of any of its breakaway states, only a cautious stalemate forced by Europe and the inability to conquer their separatist territories preventing a Qing reunification. Thus in 1871, China would split apart and never again reunify to the great length that they were under the early Qing, multiple states still continuing to claim the Mandate of Heaven and the right to rule all of China to this very day.
China in 1871. Qing China (Yellow). Russian Empire (Gold). Tibet (Light Blue). French Empire (Blue). Yunnan (Orange). Xinjiang (Maroon). Mongolia (Green). Heavenly Kingdom of China/Taiping (Red).
In Qing China it is often a miracle on how the Manchu dynasty was able to stay in charge for four more decades. Many historians though often like to point out that central rule was barely reached outside of Beijing without the presence of a Qing army, most provinces becoming completely autonomous by managing to pay taxes to Beijing and then being completely ignored by the Emperor. While there was a small movement of reformers present in the Imperial court that called for modernization, these calls were mostly for the institution of a modern industry and military, and calls for social reform largely falling on deaf ears as the Conservative faction of the nobles often liked to point to the liberal ideas of the rebels and the west to point to as reason for ignoring them. Even though most of China was heavily anti-western, the Qing court would be filled with Europeans as the unequal treaties signed throughout the years would give rise to the Qing becoming virtual puppets of European industrialists and nobles. Even the American states were not exempt of this as some nations such as the United States, Texas, and Brazil would all send expeditions to enforce favorable trade treaties that would give them access to Chinese ports. The British in particular would benefit from the Qing as hundreds of British advisers would come to enter the court and British industrial products came to fill the majority of imports in Qing China through Hong Kong. The British would come to benefit highly in the sale of Opium from India as while the sales of the drug in Great Britain were highly frowned upon, British authorities turned a blind eye to Indian opium plantations selling to Chinese markets. The sale of Opium which was the reason for the British presence in China to begin with, would devastate the country as tens of millions of Chinese from the lowest peasant to the highest noble would be hooked on the drug, stopping any major productivity in the economy and contributing to a high rise in criminal activity and poverty. Without central oversight from Beijing the lands would soon begin to decay and life becoming harsh for any Chinese. Anti-western sentiment was at a rise as tensions boiled in China with the increasing frequency of peasant rebellions. It wouldn't be until 1911 that the Chinese would be able to realize the dream of self-rule, yet even then China would continue to fall into a series of decay and stagnation which it would not start to rise from until the late 20th century.
Opium smoking which was a primary cause of widespread poverty and a rise in crime (Left). A political cartoon of the Chinese Emperor being powerless to stop China's partition before the Europeans (Right).
Among the breakaway separatist nations there was a heavy mix of both success and failure upon obtaining independence. Out of all the states Yunnan and Tibet would be the most prosperous as both were fairly united ethnically and had little major domestic political disturbances. Yunnan in particular would come to represent the model Chinese state as Du Wenxiu's call for ethnic and religious tolerance prevented the rise of internal strife and rebellion that would plague some of the separatist states in the next forty years. Under Du Wenxiu's reign Yunnan had the highest human rights record in 19th century Asia due to the government policy of tolerance for all ethnicity and religions, even accepting tribal Paganism as an official religion. Through trade with French Indochina, Yunnan began to modernize with the millions of Francs coming in from the export of natural resources, most of the tax revenue being invested in the building of a modern infrastructure and reconstruction of Yunnan cities to model more in the example of European architecture and tear down decaying blocks. Yunnan would in fact become so modern that a railroad from Indochina would connect to it in 1905 and the first usage of electricity would appear in 1908. Thanks to the Qing focus on the Heavenly Kingdom along with ever-present internal strife, Yunnan would largely be ignored by Beijing and would remain proserpous until the dawn of the Great War and the later Japanese incursions leading up to the Great Asian-Pacific War.
In the Heavenly Kingdom of Taiping while there was much rejoice in the success of driving out the dreaded Qing out of their new nation, the feeling was not universally shared by all of its citizens. While the Heavenly Church did manage to gain millions of converts, there were tens of millions more in their lands who were neither of the faith nor were friends of the Revolution. Hong's reforms would mainly come to benefit the peasant class by dividing up the land and giving back to the poor, taking away much of the wealth from the traditional ruling class and stripping way power from nobles and Confucian bureaucrats who had benefited from their Qing patronage. What made the situation even worse was how Hong did almost nothing to achieve tolerance of the religious minorities such as the Buddhist and Daoists like Yunnan did. During Hong's reign any non-Christian religious sect were persecuted and a tax inflicted upon those who did not convert. After a few years the euphoria of revolting against corrupt Qing rule washed away and thousands began to revolt against the Heavenly Kingdom. Two factors that helped Taiping rule to last though was French aid through modern weaponry and the zealousness of the Taiping Christians who went into battle without a single care for their lives and often praising deaths in combat as dying in service of the Lord. By the time of the Great War Taiping Rule could be described as static, which in many ways could be both good and bad. While the Taiping would never industrialize to the great lengths of Japan or have the same domestic stability as Yunnan, the economy was continually growing each year through trade links with France and other pro-French nations (Texas, United States, Spain, Italy, etc.) and government rule while strict, never reached the corruption present in the height of the Qing dynasty. In an ironic sense life in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom could be described as that of the Qing before the 19th century, a stagnant calm with life moving forward. Outside of the immense changes that came about with the defiance to Beijing and rise of other separatist states, the best thing that could be said about the Taiping Revolution was ironically how it managed to become one of the more liberal states in China. While the Taiping were cruel towards Buddhists and other non-Christians, the peasants would still get to benefit from Taiping reforms where they were now free from their noble overlords and had an abundance of land to do with as they pleased. Some of the reforms passed in Tianjing were even revolutionary for the 19th century as a whole as women were equal as men before the law (including the right to join the army and government), wealth distribution became an official economic policy, polygamy and prostitution were banned, drugs were banned in full and opium faced a viscous war by the Taiping administration that went beyond the Qing's efforts, and non-Han minorities were risen to the same status as the Han and ruling Hakka (though once again favor was placed on Christians). While absolutely far from perfect, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was a welcome step from the Qing in that the sense that it finally brought about change from the millennia-long stagnant system of the Heavenly Mandate.
Hong Xiuqan leading the Heavenly Army
Lastly there was Xinjiang which became in a sense an isolationist state after its independence from the Qing. Due to the Sultanate's location in Western China, the Hui peoples of Xinjiang were cut off from most contact and trade with the outside world, the Qing refusing to grant them access through their lands and the trek through Russian Turkestan often a dangerous and rough task. The only main point of contact was through Russian trade, something which did not become regular until the 1880's with the connection of the Siberian Railroad. With little foreign interference Yaqub Beg was able to effectively make the state his own personal domain and solidify control for his future dynasty. Unfortunately this would not be good for the Xinjiang people as Beg's opinion of the ideal Sultanate was one that instituted a harsh version of Sharia law for their subjects. Many of Beg's subjects became dissatisfied due to only the Hui Muslims benefiting form his rule, not even the Turkic Muslims of the region were exempt from Beg's harshness as Beg would come to heavily favor the Chinese Hui and his those who were of the same Tajik ethnicity as him. Chinese historians in comparing the breakaway states often claim that Beg Xinjiang was the worst of the nations as even in Taiping China the peasant class were able to benefit and prosper under the rule of the Xiuqan dynasty, under Beg only the Army and those who were close followers of the Sultan were able to achieve any form of success. With most trade links to main China destroyed, the economy began to enter a downward spiral and poverty rose throughout the land. Only Russian aid and was able to keep Beg in power as the peasants were unable to get any weapons beyond spears, swords, and extremely outdated muskets. This harsh authoritarian rule would continue on throughout the Xinjiang land until his death and the rise of the Xinjiang Republic. While Xinjiang today has managed to become a modern and stable state, many question whether or not it would've been better had the Qing be able to reconquer the territory and end Beg's rule before his downfall.
The lands of China were not the only people who would be affected by the actions of Hong Rengan and his followers, for China's neighbors would come to benefit in the fall of the Qing and rise to power. In Southeast Asia Siam would come to exploit the explosive rivalry between the French and British in Asia to protect its independence and remain as one of the few fully independent Asian nations without any form of European intervention or the creation of a protectorate. While Siam would cede over half of its territory to both the United Kingdom and French Empire in the next three decades (the British portions of which it would regain following the Indian collapse in 1926) the Siamese monarchy was able to keep the westerners at bay in court and King Rama V was able to use the money and resources invested by the West to curry favor with Siam to institute social, technological, and governmental reforms within Siam, bringing the small nation up to the same level of development as Japan by 1910. East of China just below Manchuria, sat Korea (The Kingdom of Joseon as it was known back then), a nation who had for centuries been a tribute state to the Chinese and once relied upon the protection of the Beijing dynasties in order to ward off Japanese aggression. The fact that half of China would split off to become their own separate states worried the ruling Joseon dynasty at the time, after all if China could not take care of their own affairs then how could they be expected to protect Korea. French and British incursions into the region, especially the French raids into Korea during the evolution, showed Seoul that they would need to join the other nations of the modern world in order to protect their sovereignty before the West would turn Asia into their colonial playground. To that end contact was made with St. Petersburg at the will of King Gojong, the Russians being chosen as they would have the least amount of direct influence yet still be in a position of strength to protect Korea from British and French invasions. In 1879 following the aftermath of the Balkans War, the Treaty of Seoul would be signed which in essence made Korea a Russian protectorate by way of enticing Russian free trade, extension of the Siberian Railroad, basing and the inclusion of Russian Army advisers and diplomats in Seoul. While such moves were extremely unpopular among the native Korean peasantry and led to a deterioration in relations with China, it was a rather smart and fortunate move as Korea would find the treaty to be a lifesaving one during the Asian theater of the Great War.
Last of all the Asian nations who never once got involved in the Taiping Revolution, but one who would be effected by the Chinese rebellions for years to come, was Japan. During this time Japan had taken a rather nuetral stance on the whole affair as the Meiji Emperor was busy dealing with Samurai dissidents who rose in rebellion to protect their special status and protest the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate. While the Samurai were defeated in 1869, Japan could not rest easy as they now found themselves surrounded on all sides by Europeans and their protectorate lackies. For while there had never been any love lost between China and Japan, Japan could respect China in that they were the main power upon which the Westerners were kept at bay. Now that the Qing dynasty had seemingly lost all semblance of control and the lands of China were partitioned, the Japanese saw themselves alone as a literal island amid a sea of Empires. Not wanting his people to suffer the same fate, the Emperor vowed to modernize his nation to become a great power the likes of which the world had never seen. To the Meiji Emperor, it was now Japan's solemn duty to become a shining beacon of Asian culture in this new Western world, upon which Japan would defend their Asian brethren from the savage Europeans and one day lead a crusade to unify all of Asia under the banner of the Rising Sun. For the next four decades Japan would indeed modernize and soon become a great power equal in strength to the likes of Italy, Spain, and Scandinavia. Unfortunately for the Meiji Emperor, after his passing Japan would not become a savior to the Asian people, rather it would be an harsh authoritarian regime that would make the Japanese people hated and feared throughout all of the Far East even to this day.
Emperor Meiji, a man who for better or worse launched the Japanese Empire into its Golden Age.
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Quebec sent material support in the form of food and some raw materials while a few volunteer regiments fought under the Union. However Quebecois aid was overall limited as Quebec along with the United States feared that Great Britain would use the Civil War as an opportunity to regain their lost territory in North America. So most of the Quebecois Army was sent on the border with Ontario just in case something happened.
Bad times fore China, and not about to let up soon.
Lots of thoughts but for now the most prominent.
While China will remain divided it does not mean the current borders or states will last.
I assume the dyarchy in Tibet continues?
So with the Taiping its a monarchy with progress in social mobility and strides toward gender equality. Religious persecution and lack of industrialization are problems. But with more competent government and morale higher in the working class still sees modest growth. So in a sense it evens out.
Xinjiang is a disaster and will have a republican revolution in the future to start a process of reform.
Yunnan is a success story.
Britain grows its sphere but is stretched thin and its drug dealer imperialism is earning ire at home and abroad.
Napoleon III is the big winner. Taiwan and Hainan are wrested from China outright, despite heavy casualties letting French naval power be projected both into South China and Taiping territory. Cochinchina is under direct French rule with indochina still developing. Yunnan is a vassal and economic influence is strong in the Heavenly kingdom. But the Korean raids did little but build Francophobia in Korea and drive them to the Russians. Also the long war did sour opinion on the venture which likely makes the Emperor wary.
And the Qing governmewnt falls in either 1911 or 1913 having become a rotten edifice.
Lots of thoughts but for now the most prominent.
While China will remain divided it does not mean the current borders or states will last.
I assume the dyarchy in Tibet continues?
So with the Taiping its a monarchy with progress in social mobility and strides toward gender equality. Religious persecution and lack of industrialization are problems. But with more competent government and morale higher in the working class still sees modest growth. So in a sense it evens out.
Xinjiang is a disaster and will have a republican revolution in the future to start a process of reform.
Yunnan is a success story.
Britain grows its sphere but is stretched thin and its drug dealer imperialism is earning ire at home and abroad.
Napoleon III is the big winner. Taiwan and Hainan are wrested from China outright, despite heavy casualties letting French naval power be projected both into South China and Taiping territory. Cochinchina is under direct French rule with indochina still developing. Yunnan is a vassal and economic influence is strong in the Heavenly kingdom. But the Korean raids did little but build Francophobia in Korea and drive them to the Russians. Also the long war did sour opinion on the venture which likely makes the Emperor wary.
And the Qing governmewnt falls in either 1911 or 1913 having become a rotten edifice.
You have 800,000 casualties for the locals on Formosa. That seems excessive. Would resistance be that fierce in this era cut off from the mainland which was in chaos too boot?
And Siam loses more land ITTL? And a collapse in India in 1926, interesting.
I wonder if the Korean monarchy will survive ITTL?
And Siam loses more land ITTL? And a collapse in India in 1926, interesting.
I wonder if the Korean monarchy will survive ITTL?
I changed the casualties to 100 K, I put it higher because the war was so bloody and I thought Taiwan was more densely populated at the time.
Siam loses the same amount of land, however they will gain some of it back eventually as I hinted. The Indian collapse will be revealed in full, but let's just say Gandhi is not going to become famous TTL. While the other continentes will have less countries, Asia is going to be heavily balkanized.
You'll see with what I have planned for the monarchy. Let's just say that after the Great War everything is going to change and Asia is never going to be the same, with a drastically different outcome. Also Japan has a slightly more justified reason to turn fascist here, but as consequence the Tojo regime is going to be worse.
And then the Great Asian-Pacific War you hint at. But more than that it sounds like Asia will not be a sideshow of the Great War at all.
I am guessing Texas acknowledges all the successor states diplomatically. And next do we go back to Texas or the German question?
Texas opened relations with the Taiping but don't have any with Yunnan or Xinjiang due to the long-distance travel and the virtual nonexistence of trade between the states. Next update we will delve back into the Seguin administration. I'll address the long-awaited German Question either in 98 or 99.
Hopefully, Persia, Siam and Peking survive as well - in keeping with some of the retro-names in this TL.
Great TL. Watched and looking forward into future updates, to the Great War...
Even i am saying that and even this TL got a Turtledove back then, however i had to correct some of the errors of this TL as i want to go out from too much intervening (and might close to "owning") an another TL that i like and also trying to go away from my commanding-like behavior during correcting some of the TLs. Ugh... i will try.
Chapter 84: Seguin's Counterattack
It's seems to be only threadmark that use ":" outside of Special Chapters. I consider this is not a correction but if you want to follow through, it's okay.
That's enough for now. Here is what i would like to look in future updates:
*Inclusion of all Southern Victory characters like Jake Featherston and Hosea Blackford. I had Featherston as a dominant figure in the South during depression (probably even a governor at most) and Hosea Blackford as an ally of Huey Long (the PROGRESSIVE TRUMP!), maybe a Senator or a cabinet member.
*Inclusion of some fictional characters in American history such as Charles Foster Kane of the Citizen Kane, maybe as a representative replacing William Randolph Hearst IOTL (also an ally of Huey Long? maybe).
*And more!
And... that's it. Thank you.
Even i am saying that and even this TL got a Turtledove back then, however i had to correct some of the errors of this TL as i want to go out from too much intervening (and might close to "owning") an another TL that i like and also trying to go away from my commanding-like behavior during correcting some of the TLs. Ugh... i will try.
Hong Xiuquan, not Xiuqan is the correct version... Also it's not just this in which affected, but there are bit many mentioned Hong Xiuqan too. I think all of them should be Hong Xiuquan too.
Chapter 84: Seguin's Counterattack
It's seems to be only threadmark that use ":" outside of Special Chapters. I consider this is not a correction but if you want to follow through, it's okay.
That's enough for now. Here is what i would like to look in future updates:
*Inclusion of all Southern Victory characters like Jake Featherston and Hosea Blackford. I had Featherston as a dominant figure in the South during depression (probably even a governor at most) and Hosea Blackford as an ally of Huey Long (the PROGRESSIVE TRUMP!), maybe a Senator or a cabinet member.
*Inclusion of some fictional characters in American history such as Charles Foster Kane of the Citizen Kane, maybe as a representative replacing William Randolph Hearst IOTL (also an ally of Huey Long? maybe).
*And more!
And... that's it. Thank you.
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Just wondering but will their be an update on the African continent at some point?
With Britain weaker and seeming overstretched I wonder if Britain the French Empire will take less of Africa.
I wonder if there will be any major divergences with the Boer Republics?
Not to mention having to deal with an earlier rise of Germany as a power
I currently don't plan to have Hosea Blackford appear in a future update as I wasn't really a huge fan of his character overall and I don't think Blackford's socialism would fall in line with Long's Populism. Featherston also wouldn't show as his rise to power wouldn't necessarily last very long due to how the South turns up in my plans. America is going to be radically different from this point onward.
I admit I haven't watched Citizen Kane, I'll try to do so sometime in the near future. Thanks for the feedback!
Africa won't be featured until the 1880's as nothing much happens there that goes into a huge amount of butterflies. There will be a Berlin Conference equivalent a few years earlier though that does have a different outcome with new players entering the game and the overall borders for Africa shifting. This will lay the groundwork for an entirely different continent by the time we reach the modern era, one slightly more unified and advanced, but still dominated by the colonial powers.
Austria didn't leave their alliance with Russia outright. Franz Joseph still thinks he has one with Russia. It's just that he unintentionally broke it by not coming to Russia's aid during the Crimean War, rendering the terms mostly moot. Also Alexander and the rest of the Romanovs see Austria as a liability that would hinder their plans for Europe and would only be a future rival for the Balkans if they regain any strength.
Good to know that is going to be the case.
Just wondering but would their be a chance of the US People's Party of Surviving and thriving here?