| The Qing Dynasty was the last feudal dynasty in China. After capturing Beijing, its leaders set up a system of control over the whole country. Most of its government policies followed those of the Ming Dynasty, except that the Manchu nobility was now in a dominant position. Decisions on important military and administrative affairs were made by the Conference of Princes Regent, the highest policy-making organ, whose powers surpassed those of the cabinet and six ministries. During the reigns of Kangxi and Qianlong, the Qing government annihilated the separatist forces of Wu Sangui and others, strengthening its control over the border regions, and stabilizing the country's frontiers. The country enjoyed a period of social stability, solid national strength, and progress in science and culture. In its vast territory, the solidarity of different nationalities was continually strengthened, and Han and ethnic minorities fought shoulder to shoulder against foreign invaders to safeguard their unity. But after the reign of Emperor Qianlong, internal and external contradictions intensified, and struggled against Qing rule increased. In 1840, the 20th year of the Daoguang reign, the Opium War, an armed invasion of China by foreign capitalism, broke out. The Qing government was forced to sign a series of unequal treaties, which gradually reduced China to the status of a semi-colonial, semi-feudal country. Bitter anti-imperialist, anti-feudal struggles followed, but it was not until the Revolution of 1911, in the third year of the Xuantong reign, the Chinese people overthrew the Qing imperial dynasty which had ruled China for 268 years. |
