China's Century of Humiliation Quiz

Answer: 1842

The First Opium War (1839-1842) was fought between the British Empire and the Qing dynasty of China primarily over Britain's desire for free trade and the Chinese government's efforts to suppress the illegal opium trade. Following the defeat by the British, the Qing government signed the Treaty of Nanjing on August 29, 1842, to cede Hong Kong Island to the British.

Answer: 1860

On October 1860, the Old Summer Palace (Yuan Ming Yuan) was set on fire and looted by the Anglo-French troops during the Second Opium War. The reason for the destruction was to punish the Qing government for the torture and murder of several British and French envoys and their escort, who had been taken prisoner under a flag of truce. In the same year, Kowloon Peninsula was ceded to the British under the Convention of Beijing on October 24, 1860.

Answer: 1885

The conflict with France was over the control of Vietnam, which had been a Chinese tributary state during the Qing dynasty. France was expanding their influence in Indonesia. The Qing government sent troops to support the Vietnamese resistance (the Black Flag Army) against the French advance.

Although the Chinese forces achieved some tactical victories on the ground in Tonkin and Taiwan, the Qing government was politically exhausted and sought peace. In 1885, the Treaty of Tianjin was signed by the Qing government to recognize the French protectorate over Vietnam, thus surrendering China's suzerainty and ending its traditional influence in Indochina.

Answer: 1895

Following the defeat of the Beiyang Fleet by the Japanese naval force during the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), Taiwan including the Penghu Islands were ceded to Japan under the Treat of Shimonoseki on April 1895. The war was fought primarily for the control of Korea, which was under the protection of the Qing dynasty. The Chinese troops were defeated in a series of battles on land and sea. The 50-year of Japanese colonial rule on Taiwan ended after Japan was decisively defeated at the end of WWII in August 1945.

Answer: 1898

Japan gained control of Liaodong Peninsula after the First Sino-Japanese War. However, in a diplomatic move known as the Triple Intervention (involving Russia, Germany, and France), Japan was forced to return the territory to China. Russia then used this diplomatic leverage and military posturing (sending its fleet to Port Arthur in December 1897) to demand concessions for itself.

On March 27, 1898, the "Pavlov Agreement", formally known as the Convention for the Lease of the Liaodong Peninsula, was signed between the Russian Empire and the Qing Dynasty. The agreement granted Russia a 25-year lease on the southernmost part of the Liaodong Peninsula, including the ports of Port Arthur (Lüshunkou) and Dalian.

Answer: 1901

The Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901) was a violent, anti-foreign, and anti-Christian uprising in North China towards the end of the Qing dynasty. On June 1900, the movement reached Beijing, where the Boxers and the Qing Imperial Army (after Empress Dowager Cixi declared war on the foreign powers) besieged the foreign legation quarter for 55 days.

The Eight-National Alliance of about 20,000 troops from Japan, Russia, Britain, France, the United States, Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary gathered to suppress the rebellion. On August 1900, they captured Beijing, putting an end to the siege.

On September 7, 1901, the Qing government was forced to sign the Boxer Protocol which China had to pay an enormous indemnity of 450 million taels of silver (more than the government's annual tax revenue). Qing officials who supported the Boxers and the permanent stationing of foreign troops in Beijing were executed.

Answer: 1905

On January 1905, the Russian naval base at Port Arthur fell to the Japanese during the last phase of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). After the fall of Port Arthur, the largest land battle of the war (and the largest battle in history up to that point) was fought near Mukden (now Shenyang), north of the peninsula, from February to March 1905. The Japanese achieved a decisive victory, forcing the Russians to retreat from southern Manchuria.

On September 1906, the Treaty of Portsmouth was signed, which Russia had to cede its leasehold rights on the Liaodong Peninsula (including Port Arthur and the commercial port of Dalian) to Japan. Following the occupation, Japan established the Kwantung Leased Territory in the area and gained control of the Russian-built South Manchuria Railway to strengthen its dominant position in Southern Manchuria and East Asia.

Answer: 1931

The "Mukden Incident on September 1931 was plotted by the Japanese Kwantung Army. They detonated a small amount of dynamite on a Japanese-owned railway near Mukden (Shenyang), and blamed it on the Chinese troops.

The Japanese used the incident as a pretext to occupy Manchuria (Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang). Due to Chinese political turmoil and a policy of non-resistance by the Chinese government, Japanese forces quickly overran the region, capturing key cities like Mukden (Shenyang), Kirin (Jilin), and Harbin.

On February 27, 1932, official Chinese resistance ended as the last major Chinese regular forces surrendered. On March 9, 1932, Japan established the puppet state of Manchukuo out of the three historical Manchurian provinces, installing Puyi, the last emperor of China's Qing Dynasty, as its nominal head of state (later emperor).

Answer: 1932

In 1932, the Japanese used an incident involving an attack on Japanese Buddhist monks as a pretext to initiate a military strike against Shanghai. On January 28, 1932, the battle started when Japanese naval infantry units supported by their land forces fought against the Chinese 19th Route Army and later the 5th Army.

The Chinese forces fought bravely for over a month until March 3, 1932. International mediation eventually led to a ceasefire agreement signed on May 5, 1932. This agreement demilitarized Shanghai's Chinese-controlled areas, but allowed a continued Japanese military presence, preventing total Japanese occupation at that time.

Answer: 1937

On July 7, 1937, the Japanese garrison troops, who were stationed in the area under the terms of the Boxer Protocol, were conducting military drill without informing the Chinese garrison. During the drill, the Japanese claimed one of their soldiers was missing and demanded entry into the nearby town of Wanping to search for him. The Chinese garrison (part of the 29th Army) refused entry, as allowing Japanese forces into the town would compromise Chinese control of the area.

Tensions escalated, shots were exchanged, and fighting broke out between the two sides. (It was later found that the "missing" Japanese soldier had simply returned to his lines). While negotiations were attempted, the Japanese used the opportunity to begin a full-scale invasion of China. Later that month, they launched major attacks on Beijing and Tianjin.