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A Study on the British Response to the General Sherman Incident

  • Journal of Humanities
  • 2023, (88), pp.101-135
  • DOI : 10.31310/HUM.088.04
  • Publisher : Institute for Humanities
  • Research Area : Humanities > Other Humanities
  • Received : January 9, 2023
  • Accepted : January 25, 2023
  • Published : February 28, 2023

Jeong Soyoung 1

1원광대학교 사학과

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to examine the British response to the General Sherman incident in 1866 and the British perception of Corea (Korea) at the time. When the General Sherman incident occurred, the French expedition to Corea was being prepared because of the murder of a French missionary, so France was taking the initiative in dealing with the Corea issue. However, in the wake of the General Sherman incident, Britain and the United States got an opportunity to intervene in the Corea issue. Accordingly, at the beginning of the incident, Britain attempted to pressure Corea to open its port with the General Sherman incident as justification. However, unlike the case of the United States that actively tried to contact Corea even after 1867, Britain began to act passively in the resolution of the General Sherman incident from December 1866. Britain's attitude was attributed to France’s pressure on the Chinese government. France had a conflict with the Chinese government even before launching the Corea expedition. After France faced a diplomatic crisis due to the failure of the Corea expedition, it began to press the Chinese government in earnest on the grounds of the Corea issue. Britain then opposed France, which insisted o n the dissolution o f China, a nd withdrew f rom the C orea issue that was a burden to the Chinese government. Britain judged that the trade gains it would gain from opening the port of Corea using the General Sherman incident as an excuse would not be greater than the trade gains it would get from preserving the Chinese government. This stance in Britain continued until the end of the 1860s. As such, Britain's passive response to the General Sherman incident was attributed to the conflict between France and Corea and between France and the Qing dynasty, and in the late 1860s, the direction of British policy toward Corea was based on the preservation of Britain's trade interests, that is, for economic purposes.

Citation status

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