History glossary
gunboat diplomacy
the use or threat of naval force to pressure another state into diplomatic concessions.
- Category
- Diplomatic method
- Region
- Global
- Date range
- 19th century
What it means
Gunboat diplomacy uses warships and the threat of violence to force diplomatic concessions. Perry's Black Ships turned American naval power into political pressure, helping force Japan to open limited ports and exposing the shogunate's weakness.
Related terms
Stories using this term
The Opium Wars
From the Canton System to the fall of Beijing, the Opium Wars turned illegal trade, imperial power and Qing weakness into a new unequal treaty order.
The Meiji Restoration
From Tokugawa order to imperial restoration, conscription, industrialisation and military victory, the Meiji era transformed Japan into a modern imperial power.
The Qing Dynasty
From Manchu conquest to republican revolution, the Qing dynasty built China's largest empire, oversaw centuries of prosperity, and then struggled to survive foreign intervention, rebellion, and the collapse of imperial legitimacy.
