List and discuss one (1) reason for the decline in each of the Ottoman, Russian and Chinese empires.

Decline of Empires: Ottoman, Russian, and Chinese Empires

It is important to note that there are several factors that leads to a decline and total collapse of an empire. Various factors accumulatively lead to collapse of certain empires but there are various immediate factors that trigger such decline. Accordingly, the Ottoman, Russian and Chinese empires declined due to various factors as highlighted herein.

Ottoman Empire

It declined due to internal and external factors, however, the death of Suleiman the Magnificent who was the Ottoman’s Sultan was a major blow to the empire. The empire lost political and economic stability due to increased corruption and lack of accountability amongst the leadership (Kitchen, 2014).

Russian Empire

One of the major cause of the decline and collapse of the Russian empire was the February 1917 revolution. Following the World War I effects, about fifteen million Russian men were forced to join the military. The resulting effects was reduced labor force, deteriorating economy, social problems and a culminating political instability which triggered the revolution since Czarist regime was not able to solve the empire`s problems (Kitchen, 2014).

Chinese Empire

Consequently, the Chinese empire declined due to factors postulated by the externalists like the British interference and other European countries and the USA. The British wanted to access the Chinese markets but were denied by the local leadership of the empire. As a result, the British introduced opium trade, and when such economic activity was burnt by the Chinese authorities, it led to British destroying their ports (Kitchen, 2014). Per se, other countries gained access to china through trade which corrupted their political, social, and economic systems hence revolution against the Chinese empire.

References

Kitchen, J. E. ( 2014, October 08 ). Colonial empires after war/Decolonization.