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Tibet Imperialism

Decent Essays

Vincenzo Villeggiante

Tibet has had a very long history within and outside of China. For many years, Tibet was its own kingdom, ruling over the plateau for which it is named with full sovereignty. However, Tibet eventually came under the official rule of the Qing dynasty, the Manchu dynasty of China. Within Qing, Tibet retained a very high level of local autonomy, having its own government and many qualities similar to independent countries. In some ways, it didn't even identify as being part of Qing. An example is the time when China was divided into multiple spheres of influence between European powers. The British had enforced a trade law on China, but the Dalai Lama at the time refused to obey, citing Tibet as not part of China. This continued …show more content…

The Republic of China never attained direct control over Tibet, and so there was a de facto independent Tibetan state. This unofficial and unrecognized country continued to exist for about forty years. During this time, Tibet was controlled by a very conservative people. Refusing to modernize and/or industrialize. When the communist revolution in China occurred, and the former government fled to Taiwan, they would have to face a new threat: the People’s Republic of China. The People’s Republic claimed that the Tibetan government was exploiting the citizens as serfs, and that they should be liberated from them by none other than the People’s Liberation Army. Although Tibet actually had a high resemblance to medieval European feudalism, the government never exploited the citizens per se. When the PLA was at their doorstep, they were nowhere near prepared and were conquered by the Chinese. They were eventually officially annexed into China, and the 14th Dalai Lama was exiled to India. Under the PRC, the Tibetans endured many hardships that were brought upon them. The so-called Great Leap Forward led to widespread starvation, and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution led the Red Army to destroy thousands of cultural artifacts and sites,

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