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William I, Prince of Orange (1533-1584), also known as William the Silent and William the Taciturn, was a wealthy nobleman from the Dutch provinces of the Spanish Netherlands. He originally served the Spanish Habsburgs, but increasing dissatisfaction with the centralisation of power away from the local estates and Spanish persecution of Dutch Protestants led William to join the Dutch revolt and becoming its main leader.<br/><br/> As leader of the uprising, William led the Dutch to several successes against the Spanish, setting off the Eighty Years' War (1568-1648). He was declared an outlaw by the Spanish king in 1580, before helping to declare the formal independence of the Dutch Republic, also known as the United Provinces, in 1581. He was eventually assassinated by Balthasar Gerard in 1584.<br/><br/> William was the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, making him the ancestor of the present Dutch monarchy. Within the Netherlands he is also fondly remembered as the 'Father of the Fatherland'.
The First Sino-Japanese War (1 August 1894 - 17 April 1895) was waged beween the Qing Dynasty and the Japanese Empire, primarily over control of the Korean peninsula. In China, the war is commonly known as the War of Jiawu, while in Japan it is called the Japan-Qing War, and in Korea, the Qing-Japan War.<br/><br/> The war lasted 8 months altogether, and saw more than six months of unbroken victories and success by the Japanese land and naval forces against the numerically superior but militarily inferior Chinese army. The Japanese eventually took over the Chinese port city of Weihaiwei and forced the Qing government ot sue for peace in February 1895 CE, though the war would continue until April.<br/><br/> The Sino-Japanese War highlighted the stark failure of the Qing Empire to modernise and advance its armed forces, and resulted in regional dominance in East Asia shifting for the first time from China to Japan. The Korean peninsula, Joseon, was removed from the Chinese sphere of influence and fell under Japanese vassalage instead.
In this 1912 political sketch by Albert Hahn, a Dutch soldier surveys an Acehnese family he has just killed. The text below reads: 'Wij zijn geen wreede italianen. Wij vermoorden onzen tegenstanders niet, maar leggen ze neer. En als wij wat vrouwen en kinderen dooden, gebeurt dat slechts bij ongeluk', or 'We are not cruel Italians. We murder our enemies, but we bury them. And as for women and children, that only ever happens by accident'.<br/><br/> The Aceh War, also known as the Dutch War or the Infidel War (1873–1914), was an armed military conflict between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Netherlands which was triggered by discussions between representatives of Aceh and the United Kingdom in Singapore during early 1873.<br/><br/> The war was part of a series of conflicts in the late 19th century that consolidated Dutch rule over modern-day Indonesia.
Brueghel's satirical comment reflects the collapse of 'Tulipomania' in the 1640s. In the painting, speculators are depicted as brainless monkeys in contemporary upper-class dress. In a commentary on the economic folly of Tulipomania, one monkey urinates on the previously valuable plants, others appear in debtor's court and one is carried away to the grave.<br/><br/> Tulip mania or tulipomania (Dutch names include: tulpenmanie, tulpomanie, tulpenwoede, tulpengekte and bollengekte) was a period in the Dutch Golden Age during which contract prices for bulbs of the recently introduced tulip reached extraordinarily high levels and then suddenly collapsed.<br/><br/> At the peak of tulip mania, in February 1637, some single tulip bulbs sold for more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman.
Brueghel's satirical comment reflects the collapse of 'Tulipomania' in the 1640s. In the painting, speculators are depicted as brainless monkeys in contemporary upper-class dress. In a commentary on the economic folly of Tulipomania, one monkey urinates on the previously valuable plants, others appear in debtor's court and one is carried away to the grave.<br/><br/> Tulip mania or tulipomania (Dutch names include: tulpenmanie, tulpomanie, tulpenwoede, tulpengekte and bollengekte) was a period in the Dutch Golden Age during which contract prices for bulbs of the recently introduced tulip reached extraordinarily high levels and then suddenly collapsed.<br/><br/> At the peak of tulip mania, in February 1637, some single tulip bulbs sold for more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman.
Abdul Hamid II (Ottoman Turkish: عبد الحميد ثانی, `Abdü’l-Ḥamīd-i sânî; Turkish: İkinci Abdülhamit; 22 September 1842 – 10 February 1918) was the 34th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and the last Sultan to exert effective autocratic control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a period of decline in the power and extent of the Empire, including widespread pogroms and government massacres against the minorities of the Empire (named the Hamidian massacres after him) as well as an assassination attempt, ruling from 31 August 1876 until he was deposed shortly after the 1908 Young Turk Revolution, on 27 April 1909. He was succeeded by his brother Mehmed V.<br/><br/> Despite his conservatism and belief in absolute monarchy, Abdul Hamid was responsible for some modest modernization of the Ottoman Empire during his long reign, including reform of the bureaucracy, the ambitious Hijaz Railway project, the establishment of a system for population registration and control over the press, and the founding of the first modern law school in 1898.<br/><br/> Often known as the Red Sultan or Abdul the Damned due to the atrocities committed against the Empire's minorities under his rule and use of a secret police to silence dissent, Abdul Hamid became more reclusive toward the end of his reign, his worsening paranoia about perceived threats to his personal power and his life leading him to shun public appearances.
'The Real Barbarian', by Edward Linley Sambourne, Illustrated London News, 5 January, 1861.<br/><br/> Several documents known as the 'Treaty of Tien-tsin' were signed in Tianjin (Tientsin) in June 1858, ending the first part of the Second Opium War (1856–1860). The Second French Empire, United Kingdom, Russian Empire, and the United States were the parties involved. These treaties opened more Chinese ports (see Treaty of Nanking) to the foreigners, permitted foreign legations in the Chinese capital Beijing, allow Christian missionary activity, and legalized the import of opium.<br/><br/> In addition, China was to pay an indemnity to Britain and France of 2 million taels of silver respectively, and compensation to British merchants of 3 million taels of silver.<br/><br/> The treaty was ratified by the Emperor of China in the Convention of Peking in 1860, after the end of the war.
The Jap in a China Shop: 'Now then, you pig-headed old pig-tail open your shop - and hand me the keys!' At the time of the First Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese were seen by many Westerners as 'plucky' rather than imperialist aggressors.<br/><br/> The First Sino-Japanese War (1 August 1894 – 17 April 1895) was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea. After more than six months of continuous successes by Japanese army and naval forces and the loss of the Chinese port of Weihaiwei, the Qing leadership sued for peace in February 1895.<br/><br/> Direct results of the war showed that the military strength and sovereignty of the Qing Dynasty had been severely weakened during the nineteenth century; and it demonstrated that forced reform had modernized Japan significantly since the Meiji Restoration in 1867, especially as compared with the Self-Strengthening Movement in China. Regional dominance in East Asia shifted from China to Japan; and the Qing Dynasty, along with the classical tradition in China, suffered a major blow. These trends would later manifest in the 1911 Revolution.
'The Open Mouth', by Edward Linley Sambourne, Illustrated London News, 10 May, 1859:<br/><br/> British Lion: 'It's alright, Johnny Chinaman. We've come to a perfectly friendly arrangement'.<br/><br/> Russian Bear (pleasantly): 'We're going to invade you'.<br/><br/> Several documents known as the 'Treaty of Tien-tsin' were signed in Tianjin (Tientsin) in June 1858, ending the first part of the Second Opium War (1856–1860). The Second French Empire, United Kingdom, Russian Empire, and the United States were the parties involved. These treaties opened more Chinese ports (see Treaty of Nanking) to the foreigners, permitted foreign legations in the Chinese capital Beijing, allow Christian missionary activity, and legalized the import of opium.<br/><br/> The treaty was ratified by the Emperor of China in the Convention of Peking in 1860, after the end of the war.
By 1900 China had signed a number of treaties with the Western Powers (Britain, France, United States, Russia, and also Japan).<br/><br/> Unequal treaty is the name given by the Chinese to these series of treaties signed with Western Powers during the 19th and early 20th centuries by Qing dynasty China after military attacks or military threats by foreign powers. The term was also applied to treaties signed with Tokugawa Japan and to treaties imposed on Joseon Korea by the post-Meiji Restoration Empire of Japan.