Suchergebnisse

"Examination of the social and demographic effects of the Ming-Qing transition on southwest China and the devastation wrought by the warlord Zhang Xianzhong"--Provided by publisher.

The Japanese invasion of Korea (1592-98) has recently been called Asia's first "regional world war." It marked the first time in Asian history that massive armies equipped with modern weaponry faced one another on the field of battle. The Japanese armies commanded by the warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi were arguably the most skilled in the world at the time, yet in the end the Japanese were defeated by a Sino-Korean alliance in tandem with Korean guerrillas. Looking at the primary documents of the war, it seems apparent that military technology was the single most important, but not the only, factor that shaped the direction and determined the outcome of the war. This article presents an overview of some of the major military technologies utilized by the belligerents and challenges conventional interpretations of the conflict, passed down through the centuries, that claim Japan's defeat was due to superior allied numbers and Hideyoshi's death.

Abstract
While much has been written about the impact (or not) of Western intervention in the latter stages of the Taiping Rebellion (1851–1866), comparatively little attention has heretofore been directed towards the impact of the riverine campaigns and the combined land-river operations whereby the Qing steadily reduced the scope of Taiping control and tightened the cordon around their heavenly capital at Nanjing. Strategists such as Hu Linyi and Zuo Zongtang recognized the importance of riverine warfare and sought to build a Qing flotilla capable of meeting its military needs. Furthermore, the experience gained in riverine operations against the Taipings would later be applied in Zuo Zongtang's campaigns in northwest China and Central Asia to great effect. Using Zuo's personal accounts, contemporary newspaper reports, and other primary sources, this article highlights significance of rivers and riverine operations for the extension and maintenance of empire in late Qing China.