The Complete Illustrated History of China [Paperback]

Events that are told mainly from the perspective of westerners are explored here from the point of the Chinese, detailing little known Chinese successes in the wars and their success at delaying the ‘foreign barbarians’ from occupying all of China. That they were forced, by the means of having a system that made improvements very difficult, to resort to such methods is shameful, yet Roberts escapes the sense of disdain that penetrates most writings on the subject, explaining how the Manchu’s were held down by their customs and traditions.

He also explores many questions that leave people baffled. For example, why was china not partitioned by the great powers? Roberts presents several views on the subject, from the bigger powers getting the lion’s share, to the Boxer Uprising being seen as a warning from the people of China not to proceed. Roberts hints that there was a combination of those factors, rather than one overwhelming reason.

Further, Roberts explores China’s attempts to strengthen itself against encroachment. While he does not make this comparison, China’s problems could be compared to France before the Revolution: there were so many established interests that the rulers had to consider their claims and compromise with those interests – often fatally weakening their reforms and their positions. Such a system needed to be wiped away before any serious reforms could be made and it was, in France by Napoleon and in China by the revolution of 1911. However, china was too big and lacked a government that was the equivalent to the Directory (one of the worst governments France saddled itself with) and therefore China suffered a decade of warlord rule in many places. Further, there were several attempts by foreigners to gain control of China’s armies and naval forces that would have placed them under outside control. Quite rightly, they were dispensed with, but that crippled the Chinese forces.

The final part of the book deals with war. Roberts does not explore the wars in great detail, but he discusses their effects on China, forcing a genuine sense of nationalism to appear and how the Chinese fought, first Japanese invaders and then a civil war. Roberts suggests that China had learnt to fight effectively by that time, but the problems on an individual basis meant that China rarely won in open combat. The communists began a process of reforms that convinced people that they could be trusted (and in fact they could be until later) and even convinced them that a career in the military was worthwhile.

The tragedy of China, despite desperate efforts on the parts of a few far seeing people, was that it was unable to adapt to new technology and social systems. Chinese men in power dithered until it was too late, a trend that shows no sign of leaving or even being mildly abated. The communists did attempt to destroy that system, but failed in the end, victims of their own success.