7.1 Shifting Power After 1900

At the start of the 1900s, the West controlled the global political order, but that did not last. Older land-based empires like the Ottoman, Russian, and Qing collapsed under a mix of internal weakness and outside pressure, and in Russia that breakdown led to a communist revolution.

AP World 7.1 Shifting Power After 1900

AP World 7.1 is about how internal and external factors changed states after 1900. The core pattern is that the Ottoman, Russian, and Qing empires collapsed under combined pressure from domestic unrest, reform struggles, military weakness, foreign pressure, and war. At the same time, revolutions such as the Mexican Revolution challenged existing political and social orders.

Why This Matters for the AP World History Exam

Topic 7.1 sets up the entire Global Conflict unit. If you understand why these empires fell and how new states rose, the causes of World War I, the interwar tensions, and the rise of new ideologies make a lot more sense.

This topic is built for causation and change-over-time thinking. You will need to explain how internal factors (rebellions, weak reforms, social inequality) and external factors (imperial pressure, military defeats) combined to bring down long-standing empires. That kind of multi-cause reasoning shows up on multiple-choice questions and is exactly the skill you use to build arguments and support claims on free-response questions. Knowing specific successor states also gives you concrete evidence to cite.

Key Takeaways

• The West controlled the global political order around 1900, but both land-based and maritime empires gave way to new states by the end of the century.
• The Ottoman, Russian, and Qing empires collapsed because of a combination of internal and external factors.
• The breakdown in Russia eventually led to communist revolution and the creation of the Soviet Union.
• States outside Europe also challenged the existing order, including the Mexican Revolution, which grew out of political crisis.
• Attempts at reform (like the Tanzimat Reforms and the Self-Strengthening Movement) often modernized parts of an empire but failed to stop overall decline.

Global Balance of Power Around 1900

At the start of the 20th century, Western powers such as Britain, France, and the Netherlands led the global political order, largely because of their imperial holdings and industrialized economies. Control over trade routes, colonial resources, and strong militaries let them shape events far beyond their borders.

Meanwhile, older land-based empires were in decline. The Ottoman, Russian, and Qing empires struggled to modernize while facing both internal weakness and outside imperial pressure. By the end of the century, both land-based and maritime empires had given way to new states.

The early 1900s saw a major reshaping of global power: empires fell, new states formed, and Western control began to face resistance from inside colonies and from rival powers.

Collapse of the Land-Based Empires

The Ottoman, Russian, and Qing empires each fell for their own reasons, but all three share the same core pattern the exam wants you to recognize: internal problems plus external pressure equals collapse.

The Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire had been losing territory and strength for over a century. In the 1800s, Ottoman leaders launched the Tanzimat Reforms to modernize the legal, military, and educational systems.

• Tanzimat Reforms (1839 to 1876):
  • Reorganized the army and centralized administration
  • Introduced secular schools and European-style legal codes
  • Tried to reduce corruption and modernize the state

These reforms modernized parts of the empire but did not stop its decline. Resistance from conservative factions, rising nationalism among ethnic minorities, and ongoing economic weakness undercut the effort.

In 1908, the Young Turks, a group of military officers and intellectuals, took power and pushed further constitutional reforms. The empire was soon pulled into World War I, and its defeat led to formal collapse. In 1923, what remained became the Republic of Turkey, ending centuries of Ottoman rule.

The Qing Dynasty (China)

The Qing Dynasty faced heavy pressure from both foreign imperialism and domestic unrest. Repeated military defeats, including the Opium Wars, and the unequal treaties that followed weakened the state.

• Self-Strengthening Movement (1860s to 1890s):
  • Tried to adopt Western technology while keeping Confucian values
  • Built railroads, arsenals, and shipyards
  • Failed largely due to elite resistance and poor coordination

Large uprisings revealed deep dissatisfaction. The Taiping Rebellion (1850 to 1864) mixed Christian millenarian ideas with anti-Qing sentiment and caused millions of deaths. The Boxer Rebellion (1899 to 1901) targeted foreign influence and missionaries but was suppressed by a multinational alliance.

In 1911, the Xinhai Revolution brought down the Qing and established the Republic of China, ending over two thousand years of imperial rule.

The Russian Empire and Revolution

Russia industrialized late compared to Western Europe. The state built railroads, including the Trans-Siberian Railway, and invested in heavy industry, but deep social and economic inequality remained.

• Russo-Japanese War (1904 to 1905): A humiliating defeat that exposed military and political weakness.
• Revolution of 1905: Led to the creation of the Duma, a representative assembly, but Tsar Nicholas II kept most power.

Continued hardship, World War I losses, and widespread discontent led to the Russian Revolutions of 1917:

1. February Revolution: Overthrew the tsar and created a provisional government.
2. October Revolution: The Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, seized power and founded a communist state, the first of its kind.

In 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was established, a complete transformation of political power and ideology. This is the one collapse the course specifically links to communist revolution, so make sure you can explain that connection.

Comparison of Reforms: Tanzimat vs. Self-Strengthening

Both reform efforts show the same lesson: partial modernization was not enough to overcome internal resistance and outside pressure.

From Empire to Nation-State

These successor states did not start from a clean slate. Many kept old elites in power or struggled to unify diverse populations under new governments, which became a source of later conflict.

Revolution Beyond Europe: The Mexican Revolution

The course specifically names the Mexican Revolution as an example of states challenging the existing political and social order, so it is worth knowing well.

Latin America also went through upheaval in the early 20th century. The Mexican Revolution (1910 to 1920) grew out of a political crisis tied to the long dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz.

• Causes:
  • Land inequality and rural poverty
  • Political repression
  • Influence of liberal and socialist ideas

Key figures included Emiliano Zapata, an agrarian reformer, and Pancho Villa, a northern guerrilla leader. The revolution led to:

• The 1917 Constitution, which included land reform, labor rights, and limits on foreign ownership
• A shift toward populism and nationalism in Mexican politics

How to Use This on the AP World History Exam

MCQ

Expect source-based questions that ask you to identify why an empire declined or what a reform was trying to do. When a document mentions the Tanzimat Reforms, the Self-Strengthening Movement, or the 1905 Revolution, connect it to the larger pattern of failed modernization and mounting pressure.

Free Response

This topic is strong evidence for causation prompts about change in the early 20th century. Practice explaining how internal factors and external factors worked together rather than listing them separately. For example, you can pair an empire's internal weakness (inequality, elite resistance to reform) with an external shock (military defeat, imperial competition) to explain collapse.

For continuity and change prompts, contrast the fall of these empires with what carried over into the successor states, like old elites or unresolved ethnic tensions.

Common Trap

Do not just say an empire "was weak." Strong responses name a specific internal cause and a specific external cause and explain how they combined. Vague claims usually do not earn the point.

Common Misconceptions

• These empires did not collapse from one single cause. Each fell from a combination of internal problems and external pressure, and the exam expects you to show both.
• Reform efforts like the Tanzimat Reforms and the Self-Strengthening Movement were not total failures from the start. They modernized parts of each empire but could not overcome resistance and outside pressure.
• The Russian Revolution did not happen overnight in 1917. It built on years of inequality, the 1905 Revolution, and the strain of World War I, and the communist state came specifically out of the October Revolution.
• Power shifts after 1900 were not only a European story. States like Mexico challenged the existing order too, which is why the Mexican Revolution matters here.
• The fall of an empire did not mean a fresh start. Successor states often kept old elites or struggled to unify divided populations.

Related AP World History Guides

• Unit 7 Overview: Global Conflict
• 7.2 Causes of World War I
• 7.4 Economy in the Interwar Period
• 7.5 Unresolved Tensions After World War I
• 7.3 Conducting World War I
• 7.6 Causes of World War II