Abd al-Hamid II
Young Turks
Social Darwinism
Tanzimat Reforms
Chinese religious leader (1814-1864) who sparked the Taiping uprising and won millions due to his unique form of Christianity, according to which he himself was the younger brother of Jesus, sent to establish a "heavenly kingdom of great peace"on earth
Meiji Restoration
Selim III
The collapse of China's imperial order, officially at the hands of organized revolutionaries but for the most part under the weight of the troubles that had overwhelmed the government for the previous half-century.
Armed retainers of the Japanese feudal lords, famed for their martial skills and loyalty; in the Tokugawa shogunate, the samurai gradually became and administrative elite, but they did not lose their special privileges until the Meiji Restoration.
Chinese Revolution, 1911-1912
Movement of Turkish military and civilian elites that developed around 1900 and eventually brought down the Ottoman Empire.
Important reformist measures undertaken in the Ottoman Empire beginning in 1839; the term "Tanzimat" means "reorganization."
An application of Charles Darwin's evolutionary theories to an understanding of human history, exemplified by the concept of the "survival of the fittest."
Ottoman Sultan (r. 1876-1909) who accepted a reform constitution at the start of his reign but suspended it shortly afterward, ruling as a reactionary autocrat for the next three decades.
Opium Wars
Hong Xiuquan
The overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan in 1868, restoring power to the emperor Meiji.
Ottoman sultan (r. 1789-1807) who attempted significant reform of his empire, including the implementation of new military and administrative structures.
Samurai
Two wars fought between Western powers and China (1839-1842 and 1856-1858) after China tried to restrict the importation of foreign goods, especially opium; China had lost both wars and was forced to make major concessions.
