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Brief: This article covers China’s early modernization drive. After suppressing the Taiping Rebellion, Prince Gong and officials like Li Hongzhang launched the Self‑Strengthening Movement to adopt Western industry and military technology. It built arsenals, shipyards, and new schools. Meanwhile, court politics continued: the Tongzhi Emperor died young, and Cixi installed the puppet Guangxu Emperor…
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Brief: This article traces Empress Dowager Cixi’s rise. During the Second Opium War, Anglo‑French forces burned the Old Summer Palace. After Emperor Xianfeng died, Cixi allied with Prince Gong in the 1861 Xinyou Coup to overthrow the eight regents. She then began her nearly 50‑year rule behind the curtain, dominating the late Qing Dynasty.