Education
China is one of the oldest and richest civilisations in human history, traditionally occupying a central position in world affairs. Yet China descended into a century of decline after the First Opium War, a period of chaos that saw the demise of the Qing dynasty and the descent of the post-dynastic nationalist republic into civil war. This lecture documents China's century of decline and evaluates the forces that shattered the old dynastic order and plunged the country into political chaos. Copyright 2013 Benjamin Habib / La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.