How significant was national resentment of foreign interference in bringing about the collapse of the Qing dynasty 1911-1912?
I believe that national resentment was extremely significant in bringing about the collapse of the Qing dynasty. Despite this however I believe that it was not the only factor in the fall of the dynasty. I believe that other reason such as the failure to reform, and the unequal treaties were also vital reasons for the failure of the Qing dynasty.
I believe that the fall of the Qing dynasty started with ‘the unequal treaties.’ It's hard to get by when the country you need goods from does not really need to trade goods with you. This is what happened with Great Britain and the Qing Dynasty. There was a high demand for China's tea in Great Britain but a low demand for Britain's goods in China. Great Britain was in debt with China and they had to do something to get out. As a result, they turned to selling silver to make the imbalance better. China couldn’t care less about Great Britain's silver so Great Britain was still behinds in payments. When selling silver did not work they began selling opium. China's people became quickly addicted to the drug and traded silver, originally from Great Britain to get opium. Opium was illegal and China wanted the trade of opium to stop. China tried to make new restrictions against foreign merchants and ships and Great Britain did not like this idea and fought back resulting in the Opium War. Of course Britain came out on top because they had better artillery, forcing China to sign the Treaty of Nanjing. This was only the beginning of Western influence in China because now more ports were open to foreign merchants. All trade was put under European control causing more western ideas, foreigners, and cultures to spread into China. This made a lot of the Chinese public very unhappy, especially the conservatives.