Finanční bitva o Peking. Velmoci a půjčky Číně v letech 1895–1898

• Authors: Aleš Skřivan st. , Aleš Skřivan, ml.

Title variants

EN

Financial Battle for Beijing. The Great Powers and Loans to China 1895‒1898

• Languages of publication: CS

Abstracts

EN

The objective of this study is to present and evaluate the nature and importance of rivalry between the financial groupings which came about in connection with the complex financial situation in which China found itself after its defeat in the war with Japan of 1894–1895. On the basis of the terms of the Peace Treaty of Shimonoseki of 17 April, Beijing undertook to pay Japan war reparations which after additional adjustments and including interest came to a total sum of over £ 54 million. China was to pay this sum over six repayments by 1901. In order to meet the terms and repay what was a massive amount of money at the time in such a short period, China had to turn to foreign banking houses to ask for provision of a total of three large loans (1895, 1896, 1898). A battle took place between two international finance groups in this regard over the provision of the loans, one Russo-French and the other Anglo-German, and this was naturally linked with growth of the influence of those particular powers in China. The loans led to a marked increase in China’s financial dependence on Western banks, and in a number of respects created an advantageous position for the European powers for further promoting their political and economic influence in the ‘Middle Kingdom’.

Keywords

EN

History; 19th century; China, international loans; Great Powers; economic and political influence

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Institute of History, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Moderní dějiny: sborník k dějinám 19. a 20. století (Modern History: Studies into 19th and 20th century history)
• Year: 2015
• Volume: 23
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 35-60

Contributors

author

Aleš Skřivan st.

• Filozofická fakulta, Univerzita Karlova Praha, Czech Republic

author

Aleš Skřivan, ml.

• Vysoká škola ekonomická Praha, Czech Republic