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Bezig met laden... The gunpowder age : China, military innovation, and the rise of the West in world history (editie 2016)door Tonio Andrade (Auteur)
Informatie over het werkThe Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World History door Tonio Andrade
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Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. In this wide-ranging effort to write about the world gun-powder revolution in a way that meaningfully includes the Chinese experience, what the author does best is to illustrate how for most of the period the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties had as respectable a military effort as their European and Islamic competition; often representing the world's best practice. So what happened to allow Qing China to be overtaken? What Andrade firmly discounts is Confucianism as being any more of a road block to military effectiveness as, say, Christianity. Frankly, he adopts something of a challenge-and-response hypothesis, as the Qing Peace meant that there was less cause to further refine Chinese military art, to the point that when Britain fell on a Chinese polity in the throws of dynastic collapse, it was too late to do more than palliate the situation; it would be up to a new regime that took modern science seriously to regenerate Chinese military power. geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
The Chinese invented gunpowder and began exploring its military uses as early as the 900s, four centuries before the technology passed to the West. But by the early 1800s, China had fallen so far behind the West in gunpowder warfare that it was easily defeated by Britain in the Opium War of 1839-42. What happened? In The Gunpowder Age, Tonio Andrade offers a compelling new answer, opening a fresh perspective on a key question of world history: why did the countries of western Europe surge to global importance starting in the 1500s while China slipped behind?Historians have long argued that gunpowder weapons helped Europeans establish global hegemony. Yet the inhabitants of what is today China not only invented guns and bombs but also, as Andrade shows, continued to innovate in gunpowder technology through the early 1700s-much longer than previously thought. Why, then, did China become so vulnerable? Andrade argues that one significant reason is that it was out of practice fighting wars, having enjoyed nearly a century of relative peace, since 1760. Indeed, he demonstrates that China-like Europe-was a powerful military innovator, particularly during times of great warfare, such as the violent century starting after the Opium War, when the Chinese once again quickly modernized their forces. Today, China is simply returning to its old position as one of the world's great military powers.By showing that China's military dynamism was deeper, longer lasting, and more quickly recovered than previously understood, The Gunpowder Age challenges long-standing explanations of the so-called Great Divergence between the West and Asia. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)355.00951Social sciences Public Administration, Military Science Military Science Biography And History Asia China & KoreaLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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So why then did Britain defeat China in the Opium War? Because peace in East Asia during the Qing dynasty removed the impetus for military innovation just as experimental science was giving a huge burst of useful information to the warring states of Europe. In the five or six generations of peace that ended in the 1830s, China’s military suffered a slow decline in technology and practice that left it unprepared to face the products of Europe’s science.
A fascinating history of gunpowder and armaments, this book was named a Distinguished Book for 2017 by the Society for Military History. But more than a catalog of battles, this book is a careful examination of the flow of power and technology during Europe’s Middle Ages and early modern period. Highly Recommended. ( )