Glimpses of World History

by Jawaharlal Nehru

  These armies reached Peking and relieved the legations. And then followed the sack of Peking—“the biggest looting excursion since the days of Pizarro”. The art treasures of Peking went into the hands of crude and uncultured people who did not even know their value. And it is sad to note that the missionaries took a prominent part in this looting. Groups of people went from house to house fixing notices on them saying that they belonged to them. The valuables in the house were sold, and then a move was made to another big house.

  The rivalry of the Powers, and partly also the attitude of the United States Government, saved China from partition. But she was made to drink the bitterest cup of humiliation. All manner of indignities were heaped on her: a permanent foreign military force was to remain in Peking and also to guard the railway; many forts were to be destroyed; membership of an anti-foreign society was made punishable with death; further commercial privileges were taken and a huge sum of money extorted as an indemnity; and, most terrible blow of all, the Chinese Government was forced to put to death as “rebels” the patriotic leaders of the Boxer movement. Such was the “Peking Protocol”, as it is called, which was signed in 1901.

  While all this was taking place in China proper, and especially round Peking, the Russian Government took advantage of the prevailing confusion to send large numbers of troops across Siberia to Manchuria. China was powerless; all it could do was to protest. But, as it happened, the other Powers disapproved very much of the Russian Government taking possession in this way of a large slice of territory. Even more anxious and alarmed was the Japanese Government at this development. So the Powers pressed Russia to go back, and the Russian Government tried to assume a look of virtuous pain and surprise that its honourable intentions should have been doubted by any one, and assured the Powers that it had absolutely no intention of interfering with China’s sovereign rights, and would withdraw its troops as soon as order was restored on the Russian railway in Manchuria. So everybody was satisfied, and, no doubt compliments must have been paid by the Powers to each other for their remarkable unselfishness and virtue. But, nonetheless, Russian troops remained in Manchuria and spread right up to Korea.

  This advance of Russia in Manchuria and to Korea angered the Japanese greatly. Quietly but intensively they prepared for war. They remembered the combination of three Powers against them in 1895, when they had been forced to give up Port Arthur after the China War, and they tried to prevent this happening again. They found in England a Power which feared Russian advance and wanted to check it. So in 1902 an Anglo-Japanese Alliance was made with the object of preventing a combination of Powers from coercing either Power in the Far East. Japan felt safe now, and took up a more aggressive attitude towards Russia. She demanded that Russian troops be withdrawn from Manchuria. But the foolish Tsarist Government of the day looked upon Japan with contempt and never believed that she would fight.

  Early in 1904 war began between the two countries. Japan was fully prepared for it, and the Japanese people, egged on by their government’s propaganda and their cult of emperor-worship, were aflame with patriotic fervour. Russia, on the other hand, was wholly unprepared, and her autocratic government could only govern by continuous repression of the people. For a year and a half the war raged, and all Asia and Europe and America were witness to Japan’s victories on sea and land. Port Arthur fell to the Japanese after amazing deeds of sacrifice and enormous slaughter. A great fleet of warships was sent by Russia from Europe all the way by sea to the Far East. After having crossed half the world, travel-stained after thousands of miles of voyage, this mighty fleet arrived in the Sea of Japan, and there, in the narrow straits between Japan and Korea, it was sunk by the Japanese, together with its admiral. Nearly the whole fleet went down in this great disaster.

  Russia, Tsarist Russia, was hard hit by defeat after defeat. Russia had great reserves of power; was it not she that had humbled Napoleon hundred years before? But just then the real Russia, the common people of Russia, spoke.

  In the course of these letters I am continually referring to Russia, England, France, China, Japan, and so on, as if each country were a living entity. This is a bad habit of mine, which I have acquired from books and newspapers. What I mean, of course, is the Russian Government, the English Government of the day, and so on. These governments may represent nobody but a small group, or they may represent a class, and it is not correct to think or say that they represent the whole people. During the nineteenth century the English Government might be said to have represented a small group of well-to-do people, the owners of land and the upper middle classes, who controlled Parliament. The great majority of the people had no say in the matter. In India today one hears sometimes of India sending a representative to the League of Nations or a Round-Table Conference or to some other function. This is nonsense. The so-called representatives cannot be the representatives of India unless the people of India choose them. They are thus the nominees of the Government of India, which, in spite of its name, is just a department of the British Government. Russia, at the time of the Russo-Japanese War, was an autocracy. The Tsar was the “autocrat of all the Russias”, and a very foolish autocrat he was. The workers and the peasants were kept down by means of the army, and even the middle classes had no voice of any kind in the government. Many a brave Russian youth raised his head and his hand against this tyranny and sacrificed his life in the fight for freedom. Many a girl went the same way. So, when I talk of “Russia” doing this or doing that, of fighting Japan, all I mean is the Tsarist Government and nothing more.

  The Japanese war, with its disaster, brought more suffering to the common people. The workers often went on strike in the factories to bring pressure on the government. On January 22, 1905, several thousands of peaceful peasants and workers, led by a priest, went in procession to the Winter Palace of the Tsar to beg for some relief from their sufferings. The Tsar, instead of hearing what they had to say, had them shot down. There was a terrible slaughter; 200 were killed, and the winter snow of Petersburg was red with blood. It was a Sunday, and, ever since, that day has been called “Bloody Sunday”. The country was deeply stirred. There were strikes of workers, and these led up to an attempted revolution. This revolution of 1905 was put down with great cruelty by the Tsar’s Government. It is interesting for us for several reasons. It was a kind of preparation for the great revolution twelve years later, in 1917, which changed the face of Russia. And it was during this unsuccessful revolution of 1905 that the revolutionary workers created a new organization which was to become so famous later on—the Soviets.

  From telling you about China and Japan and the Russo-Japanese War I have, as is my way, drifted to the Russian revolution of 1905. But I had to tell you something of this to explain the background in Russia during this Manchurian War. It was largely because of this attempted revolution and the temper of the people that the Tsar came to terms with Japan.

  The Russo-Japanese War ended with the Treaty of Portsmouth in September 1905. Portsmouth is in the United States. The American President had invited both parties and the treaty of peace was signed there. By this treaty Japan got back at last Port Arthur and the Liaotung peninsula, which, you will remember, she had been forced to give up after the China War. Japan also took a great part of the railway which the Russians had built in Manchuria, and half of the island of Sakhalin, which lies north of Japan. Further, Russia abandoned all claims on Korea.

  So Japan had won, and she entered the charmed circle of the great Powers. The victory of Japan, an Asiatic country, had a far-reaching effect on all the countries of Asia. I have told you how, as a boy, I used to get excited over it. That excitement was shared by many a boy and girl and grown-up in Asia. A great European Power had been defeated; therefore Asia could still defeat Europe as it had done so often in the past. Nationalism spread more rapidly over the eastern countries and the cry of “Asia for Asiatics” was heard. But this nationalism was not a mere return to the past, a clinging on to old customs an
d beliefs. Japan’s victory was seen to be due to her adoption of the new industrial methods of the West, and these ideas and methods became more popular all over the East.

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  China Becomes a Republic

  December 30, 1932

  We have seen how Japan’s victory over Russia pleased and flattered Asiatic nations. The immediate result of it, however, was to add one more to the small group of aggressive, imperialistic Powers. The first effect of this was felt by Korea. Japan’s rise meant Korea’s fall. Ever since her reopening to the world, Japan had marked out Korea, and partly Manchuria, as her own. Of course she declared repeatedly that she was going to respect the integrity of China and the independence of Korea. The imperialist Powers have a way of giving fulsome assurances of goodwill even while they rob the party concerned, of declaring the sanctity of life even as they kill. So Japan declared solemnly that she would not interfere in Korea, and at the same time carried through her old policy of taking possession of her. Her wars with China and Russia both centred round Korea and Manchuria. Step by step she had advanced, and now with the defeat of China and Russia, her way was clear.

  No scruple had ever troubled Japan in the pursuit of her imperial policy. She grabbed openly, not caring even to cover her designs with a veil. As early as 1894, just before the China War, the Japanese had forcibly entered the royal palace at Seoul, the capital of Korea, and removed and imprisoned the Queen, who would not do their bidding. After the Russian War, in 1905, the Japanese Government forced the Korean King to sign away his country’s independence and accept Japanese suzerainty. But this was not good enough. In less than five years this unhappy king was removed altogether from the throne, and Korea was annexed to the Japanese Empire. This was in 1910. After a long history of over 3000 years, Korea passed away as a separate State. The king who was thus removed belonged to a dynasty which had driven out the Mongols 500 years before. But Korea, like her elder sister China, became fossilized and stagnant, and had to pay the penalty for this.

  Korea was given its old name again—Chosen, the land of the morning calm. The Japanese brought some modern reforms with them, but they ruthlessly crushed the spirit of the Korean people. For many years the struggle for independence continued and there were many outbreaks, the most important one being in 1919. The people of Korea, and especially young men and women, struggled gallantly against tremendous odds. On one occasion, when a Korean organization fighting for freedom formally declared independence, and thus defied the Japanese, the story goes that they immediately telephoned to the police and informed them of what they had done! Thus deliberately they sacrified themselves for their ideal. The suppression of the Koreans by the Japanese is a very sad and dark chapter in history. You will be interested to know that young Korean girls, many of them fresh from college, played a prominent part in the struggle.

  Let us go back to China now. We left her rather suddenly after the crushing of the Boxer movement and the Peking Protocol in 1901. China was thoroughly humiliated, and again there was an attempt at reform. Even the old Dowager Empress seemed to think that something should be done. During the Russo-Japanese War, China remained a passive spectator, although the fighting was taking place on Chinese territory—Manchuria. Japan’s victory strengthened the reformers in China. Education was modernized, and many students were sent to Europe and America and Japan to study modern sciences. The old system of literary examinations by which officials used to be appointed was abolished. This amazing system, typical of China, had lasted for 2000 years—ever since the days of the Han dynasty. It had long outgrown its utility, and was keeping back China; so it was well that it was abolished. And yet, in its way, it was for long ages a wonderful thing. It represented the Chinese outlook on life, which was neither feudal nor priestly, as in most other countries of Asia and Europe, but was based on reason. The Chinese have always been the least religious of people, and yet they have followed their system of an ethical and regulated life more strictly than any religious people. They tried to develop a rational society, but as they limited this within the four corners of the ancient classics, progress and necessary changes were prevented and there was stagnation and fossilization. We in India have much to learn from this Chinese rationalism, for we are still in the grip of caste and dogmatic religion and priest-craft and feudal ideas. The great Chinese sage Confucius gave a warning to his people which is worthy of remembrance: “Never have anything to do with those who pretend to have dealings with the supernatural. If you allow supernaturalism to get a foothold in your country, the result would be a dreadful calamity.” In our country unfortunately many a man with a tuft of hair on his head, or matted locks, or long beard, or intricate markings on the forehead, or saffron cloak, poses as an agent of the supernatural and fleeces the common people.

  But China, with all her old-time rationalism and culture, had lost grip with the present, and her old institutions gave her little help in her hour of difficulty. The march of events had vitalized many of her children and made them seek diligently for light elsewhere. They had shaken up even the old Dowager Empress, who talked of granting a constitution and self-government, and sent a commission to foreign countries to study their constitutions.

  The Chinese Government under the old Dowager was moving at last. But the people were moving faster. As early as 1894 Dr Sun Yat Sen had founded the “China Revival Society”, which many joined as a protest against the unfair and one-sided treaties—the “unequal treaties” they are called by the Chinese—which the foreign Powers had forced on China. This society grew, and attracted to it the youth of the country. In 1911 it changed its name to the Kuo-Min-Tang—the “People’s National Party”—and became the centre of the Chinese Revolution. Dr Sun, the inspirer of the movement, looked to the United States for his model. He wanted a republic, not a constitutional monarchy, as in England, and certainly no emperor-worship, as in Japan. The Chinese had never made a fetish of their emperors, and besides, the reigning dynasty was hardly Chinese. It was Manchu, and there was a good deal of anti-Manchu feeling. It was this ferment in the people that had moved the Dowager Empress. But the old lady died soon after her proclamations about the coming constitution. Strangely enough, both the old Dowager and her nephew the Emperor, whom she had removed from the throne, died within twenty-four hours of each other in November 1908. A babe now became the nominal Emperor.

  Again there were loud demands for the calling of a parliament, and anti-Manchu and anti-monarchical feeling rose higher. The revolutionaries gathered strength. The only strong man who might have faced them was the viceroy of a province, Yuan Shih-Kai. This man was a wily old fox, but he happened to control the only modern and efficient army in China, called the “model army”. Very foolishly, the Manchu rulers irritated and dismissed Yuan, and thus lost the only man who might have saved them for a while. In October 1911 revolution broke out in the valley of the Yangtze, and soon a great part of Central and South China was in revolt. On New Year’s Day in 1912 these provinces in revolt proclaimed a republic with its capital at Nanking. Dr Sun Yat Sen was chosen as President.

  Meanwhile Yuan Shih-Kai had been watching the drama ready to intervene when it would be to his advantage to do so. The story of Yuan’s dismissal by the Regent (who was acting for his son, the infant Emperor) and his subsequent recall is interesting. Everything was done with all courtesy and politeness in the old China. When Yuan had to be dismissed it was announced that he was suffering from a bad leg. Of course everyone knew that his leg was in excellent condition, and that this was just the conventional method of sending him away. But Yuan had his revenge. Two years later, in 1911, when mutiny and revolt had broken out against the Government, the Regent summoned Yuan in alarm. Yuan had no intention of going unless his terms were granted. So he replied to the Regent that he regretted that he could not possibly leave home just then, as his leg was not yet well enough for him to travel! His leg recovered with remarkable speed when his conditions were accepted a month later.

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p; But it was too late to check the revolution, and Yuan was clever enough not to compromise himself by committing himself to either side. Finally he advised the abdication of the Manchus. With a republic facing them and deserted by their own general, the Manchu rulers had little choice left. On February 12, 1912, an Edict of Abdication was issued, and thus disappeared the Manchu dynasty from the Chinese stage, after over two and a half centuries of memorable rule. According to a Chinese phrase: “They had come in with the roar of a tiger, to disappear like the tail of a snake.”

  On this same day, February 12, there took place a strange ceremony in Nanking, the new Republican capital, and also the place where stood the mausoleum of the first Ming sovereign—a ceremony which brought together the old and the new in vivid contrast. Sun Yat Sen, President of the Republic, went with his Cabinet to this mausoleum and presented offerings in the old way. And in the course of his address on this occasion, he said: “We are initiating the example to Eastern Asia of a republican form of government; success comes early or late to those who strive, but the good are surely rewarded in the end. Why, then, should we repine today that victory has tarried long?”

  For many a long year, at home and in exile, Dr Sun had laboured for China’s freedom, and success seemed to have come at last. But freedom is a slippery friend, and success demands full payment before it comes, and often it mocks us with vain hope, and tests us with many a hardship, before it can be secured. China’s and Dr Sun’s journey were far from over. For many a year the young Republic had to fight for its life, and even today, twenty-one years after, when it should have come of age, the future of China hangs in the balance.