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Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

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141-720: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom , or the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace (1851–1864), was a theocratic monarchy which sought to overthrow the Qing dynasty . The Heavenly Kingdom , or Heavenly Dynasty , was led by Hong Xiuquan . Its capital was at Tianjing , present-day Nanjing . The unsuccessful war it waged against the Qing is known as the Taiping Rebellion . A self-proclaimed younger brother of Jesus Christ and convert to Protestant Christianity , Hong Xiuquan led an army that controlled

282-600: A Caliph should be selected or elected by Muslims or by their representatives. Followers of Shia Islam , however, believe a Caliph should be an Imam chosen by God from the Ahl al-Bayt (the "Family of the House", Muhammad 's direct descendants). In both cases, caliphs theoretically combine religious and secular powers. The Emperors of the Timurid and Mughal Dynasty were regarded as intermediaries of their subordinaries and God by virtue of

423-586: A "theocratic republic" by various sources, including the CIA World Factbook . Its constitution has been described as a "hybrid" of "theocratic and democratic elements" by Francis Fukuyama . Like other Islamic states, it maintains religious laws and has religious courts to interpret all aspects of law. According to Iran's constitution, "all civil, penal, financial, economic, administrative, cultural, military, political, and other laws and regulations must be based on Islamic criteria." In addition, Iran has

564-405: A 22% risk of falling into civil war in a given five-year period, while a country with no primary commodity exports has a 1% risk. When disaggregated, only petroleum and non-petroleum groupings showed different results: a country with relatively low levels of dependence on petroleum exports is at slightly less risk, while a high level of dependence on oil as an export results in slightly more risk of

705-697: A State. (b) That the insurgent civil authority exercises de facto authority over the population within a determinate portion of the national territory. (c) That the armed forces act under the direction of an organized authority and are prepared to observe the ordinary laws of war. (d) That the insurgent civil authority agrees to be bound by the provisions of the Convention. According to a 2017 review study of civil war research, there are three prominent explanations for civil war: greed-based explanations which center on individuals' desire to maximize their profits, grievance-based explanations which center on conflict as

846-401: A civil war as "a violent conflict within a country fought by organized groups that aim to take power at the center or in a region, or to change government policies". Ann Hironaka further specifies that one side of a civil war is the state . Stathis Kalyvas defines civil war as "armed combat taking place within the boundaries of a recognized sovereign entity between parties that are subject to

987-506: A civil war rises approximately proportionately with the size of a country's population. There is a correlation between poverty and civil war, but the causality (which causes the other) is unclear. Some studies have found that in regions with lower income per capita, the likelihood of civil war is greater. Economists Simeon Djankov and Marta Reynal-Querol argue that the correlation is spurious, and that lower income and heightened conflict are instead products of other phenomena. In contrast,

1128-419: A civil war than national dependence on another primary commodity. The authors of the study interpreted this as being the result of the ease by which primary commodities may be extorted or captured compared to other forms of wealth; for example, it is easy to capture and control the output of a gold mine or oil field compared to a sector of garment manufacturing or hospitality services. A second source of finance

1269-472: A common authority at the outset of the hostilities." The intensity at which a civil disturbance becomes a civil war is contested by academics. Some political scientists define a civil war as having more than 1,000 casualties, while others further specify that at least 100 must come from each side. The Correlates of War , a dataset widely used by scholars of conflict, classifies civil wars as having over 1000 war-related casualties per year of conflict. This rate

1410-702: A cousin of Hong, joined the Taiping Rebellion in Nanjing, and was given considerable power by Hong. He developed an ambitious plan to expand the kingdom's boundaries. In 1860, the Taiping rebels were successful in taking Hangzhou and Suzhou to the east, but failed to take Shanghai, which marked the beginning of the decline of the Kingdom. An attempt to take Shanghai in August 1860 was initially successful but finally repulsed by

1551-511: A diffuse, feudal system after the ascension of the Fifth Dalai Lama . Power in Tibet was held by a number of traditional élites, including members of the nobility, the heads of the major Buddhist sects (including their various tulkus ), and various large and influential monastic communities. The Bogd Khanate period of Mongolia (1911–19) featured a Buddhist theocratic khanate . Similar to

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1692-645: A diplomatic dispute with the Russian Empire was no longer an obstacle, after the latter's collapse during World War I . Mount Athos is specifically exempt from the free movement of people and goods required by Greece's membership of the European Union , and entrance is allowed only with express permission from the monks. The number of daily visitors to Mount Athos is restricted, with all visitors required to obtain an entrance permit. Only men are permitted to visit, and Eastern Orthodox Christians take precedence in

1833-600: A disastrous defeat in the First Opium War , while the Chinese economy was severely impacted by a trade imbalance caused by the large-scale and illicit importation of opium. Banditry became more common, and numerous secret societies and self-defence units formed, all of which led to an increase in small-scale warfare. Protestant missions in China began working from Portuguese Macao , Pazhou , and Guangzhou . Their household staff and

1974-453: A dramatic rise from the one-and-a-half-year average of the 1900–1944 period. While the rate of emergence of new civil wars has been relatively steady since the mid-19th century, the increasing length of those wars has resulted in increasing numbers of wars ongoing at any one time. For example, there were no more than five civil wars underway simultaneously in the first half of the 20th century while there were over 20 concurrent civil wars close to

2115-498: A few days after his death Qing forces took control of Nanjing. His body was buried and was later exhumed by Zeng to verify his death, and cremated. Hong's ashes were later blasted out of a cannon in order to ensure that his remains have no resting place as eternal punishment for the uprising. Four months before the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Hong Xiuquan abdicated in favour of Hong Tianguifu , his eldest son, who

2256-438: A force of Chinese troops and European officers under the command of Frederick Townsend Ward . This army would later become the " Ever Victorious Army ", led by Charles "Chinese" Gordon , and would be instrumental in the defeat of the Taiping rebels. Imperial forces were reorganised under the command of Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang , and the Qing government's re-conquest began in earnest. By early 1864, Qing control in most areas

2397-646: A former charcoal and firewood salesman of Guangxi , who claimed to act as a voice of the Supreme Emperor. Feng Yunshan formed the God Worshipping Society in Guangxi after a missionary journey there in 1844 to spread Hong's ideas. In 1847, Hong became the leader of the secret society. The Taiping faith, inspired by missionary Christianity, says one historian, "developed into a dynamic new Chinese religion... Taiping Christianity". Hong presented this religion as

2538-458: A government which enforces a state religion. Sumerian cities were probably theocratic and were most likely headed by a priest-king ( ensi ), assisted by a council of elders including both men and women. Ancient Egyptian society regarded its pharaohs as divine and associated them with Horus , and after death, with Osiris . While not considered equal to other members of the Egyptian pantheon ,

2679-631: A leader in the Li Yonghe rebellion in Sichuan. In the later years of the Taiping Rebellion, the territory was divided among many, for a time into the dozens, of provincial rulers called princes, depending on the whims of Hong. Within the land that it controlled, the Taiping Heavenly Army established totalitarian, theocratic, and highly militarised rule. In 1the Gan Prince Hong Rengan, with

2820-617: A long history of monasteries , which dates back to at least 800 AD. The origin of self-rule at Mount Athos can be traced back to a royal edict issued by the Byzantine Emperor John Tzimisces in 972, and reaffirmed by Emperor Alexios I Komnenos in 1095. Greece wrestled control of the area from the Ottoman Empire during the First Balkan War in 1912. However, it was formally recognized as part of Greece only after

2961-563: A monarchy, as many Middle Eastern states presently are. Afghanistan was an Islamic theocracy when the Taliban first ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 and since their reinstatement of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in 2021, Afghanistan is an Islamic theocracy again. Spreading from Kandahar , the Taliban eventually captured Kabul in 1996. By the end of 2000, the Taliban controlled 90% of

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3102-514: A rampage, burning 40,000 Manchus to death within the city. They first killed all the Manchu men, and then the Manchu women and Manchu children were burned to ashes. At its height, the Heavenly Kingdom controlled south China, centred on the fertile Yangtze River Valley. Control of the river meant that the Taiping could easily supply their capital. From there, the Taiping rebels sent armies west into

3243-403: A religious ruler and many religious officials in powerful governmental positions. The head of state, or " Supreme Leader ", is a faqih (scholar of Islamic law) and has more power than the president of Iran . Iran's current Supreme Leader is Ali Khamenei , a role he has held since 1989. The Leader appoints the heads of many powerful governmental positions: the commanders of the armed forces ,

3384-626: A response to socioeconomic or political injustice, and opportunity-based explanations which center on factors that make it easier to engage in violent mobilization. According to the study, the most influential explanation for civil war onset is the opportunity-based explanation by James Fearon and David Laitin in their 2003 American Political Science Review article. Scholars investigating the cause of civil war are attracted by two opposing theories, greed versus grievance . Roughly stated: are conflicts caused by differences of ethnicity, religion or other social affiliation , or do conflicts begin because it

3525-511: A revival and a restoration of the ancient classical faith in Shangdi. The sect's power grew in the late 1840s, initially suppressing groups of bandits and pirates, but persecution by Qing authorities spurred the movement into guerrilla activity, and then into civil war . In some Marxist historiography, the Taiping Rebellion is viewed as a proto-communist uprising. The Jintian Uprising began in 1850 in Guangxi. On 11 January 1851 (the 11th day of

3666-439: A significant part of southern China during the middle of the 19th century, eventually expanding to a size of nearly 30 million people. The rebel kingdom announced social reforms and the replacement of Buddhism , Confucianism , Chinese folk religion , and Islam by his form of Christianity, holding that he was the second son of God and the younger brother of Jesus. The Taiping areas were besieged by Qing forces throughout most of

3807-499: A sovereign Arab Islamic state with Islam as its official religion. However, some critiques describe Saudi Arabia as an Islamic theocracy. Religious minorities do not have the right to practice their religion openly. Conversion from Islam to another religion is punishable by death as apostasy . Muhammad Al-Atawneh describes the current Saudi regime as a 'theo-monarchy, that draws power from long-standing religio-cultural norms.' The Central Tibetan Administration , colloquially known as

3948-601: A specific role reserved for a class of monk officials. On 14 March 2011, at the 14th Dalai Lama 's suggestion, the parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration began considering a proposal to remove the Dalai Lama's role as head of state in favor of an elected leader. The first directly elected Kalön Tripa was Samdhong Rinpoche , who was elected on 20 August 2001. Before 2011, the Kalön Tripa position

4089-445: A standardized avenue to influence government and increase the commitment credibility of established peace treaties. It is the strength of a nation's institutionalization and good governance—not the presence of democracy nor the poverty level—that is the number one indicator of the chance of a repeat civil war, according to Walter. High levels of population dispersion and, to a lesser extent, the presence of mountainous terrain, increased

4230-399: A state religion is not sufficient to mean that a state is a theocracy in the narrow sense of the term. Many countries have a state religion without the government directly deriving its powers from a divine authority or a religious authority which is directly exercising governmental powers. Since few theocracies exist in the modern world, the word "theocracy" is now used as a descriptive term for

4371-832: A strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law , along with the religious edicts of Mullah Mohammed Omar , upon the entire country of Afghanistan. During the five-year history of the Islamic Emirate , the Taliban regime interpreted the Sharia in accordance with the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence and the religious edicts of Mullah Omar . The Taliban forbade pork and alcohol, many types of consumer technology such as music , television , and film , as well as most forms of art such as paintings or photography , male and female participation in sport , including football and chess ; recreational activities such as kite-flying and keeping pigeons or other pets were also forbidden, and

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4512-460: A stronger emphasis should be put on personal data and human perspective of the people in conflict. Beyond Keen, several other authors have introduced works that either disprove greed vs. grievance theory with empirical data, or dismiss its ultimate conclusion. Authors such as Cristina Bodea and Ibrahim Elbadawi, who co-wrote the entry, "Riots, coups and civil war: Revisiting the greed and grievance debate", argue that empirical data can disprove many of

4653-522: A study by Alex Braithwaite and colleagues showed systematic evidence of "a causal arrow running from poverty to conflict". While there is a supposed negative correlation between absolute welfare levels and the probability of civil war outbreak, relative deprivation may actually be a more pertinent possible cause. Historically, higher inequality levels led to higher civil war probability. Since colonial rule or population size are known to increase civil war risk, also, one may conclude that "the discontent of

4794-515: A theocracy, declaring the ruling family the sons of heaven and calling the chief sky god Shangdi after a word for their deceased ancestors. After their overthrow by the Zhou , the royal clan of Shang were not eliminated but instead moved to a ceremonial capital where they were charged to continue the performance of their rituals. The titles combined by Shi Huangdi to form his new title of emperor were originally applied to god-like beings who ordered

4935-636: Is a small fraction of the millions killed in the Second Sudanese Civil War and Cambodian Civil War , for example, but excludes several highly publicized conflicts, such as The Troubles of Northern Ireland and the struggle of the African National Congress in Apartheid -era South Africa . Based on the 1,000-casualties-per-year criterion, there were 213 civil wars from 1816 to 1997, 104 of which occurred from 1944 to 1997. If one uses

5076-639: Is elected by the Assembly of Experts which is made up of mujtahids , who are Islamic scholars competent in interpreting Sharia . The Guardian Council , has the power to reject bills passed by the Parliament . It can also approve or reject candidates who want to run for the Presidency, Parliament, and the Assembly of Experts. The council supervises elections, and can allow or ban investigations into elections. Six of

5217-553: Is in line with the Sharia . We abide by the Amir's view even if he alone takes this view. There will not be a head of state. Instead, there will be an Amir al-Mu'minin. Mullah Omar will be the highest authority, and the government will not be able to implement any decision to which he does not agree. General elections are incompatible with Sharia and therefore we reject them. The Taliban were reluctant to share power, and since their ranks were overwhelmingly Pashtun they ruled as overlords over

5358-701: Is in the economic best interests of individuals and groups to start them? Scholarly analysis supports the conclusion that economic and structural factors are more important than those of identity in predicting occurrences of civil war. A comprehensive study of civil war was carried out by a team from the World Bank in the early 21st century. The study framework, which came to be called the Collier–Hoeffler Model, examined 78 five-year increments when civil war occurred from 1960 to 1999, as well as 1,167 five-year increments of "no civil war" for comparison, and subjected

5499-473: Is limited to cardinals under 80 years of age. A Secretary for Relations with States, directly responsible for international relations, is appointed by the pope. The Vatican legal system is rooted in canon law . The Bishop of Rome, as the Supreme Pontiff , "has the fullness of legislative, executive and judicial powers." Although the laws of Vatican City come from the secular laws of Italy, under article 3 of

5640-400: Is national diasporas , which can fund rebellions and insurgencies from abroad. The study found that statistically switching the size of a country's diaspora from the smallest found in the study to the largest resulted in a sixfold increase in the chance of a civil war. Higher male secondary school enrollment, per capita income and economic growth rate all had significant effects on reducing

5781-404: Is not. The study therefore concluded that the economic model of opportunity cost better explained the findings. Most proxies for "grievance"—the theory that civil wars begin because of issues of identity, rather than economics—were statistically insignificant, including economic equality, political rights, ethnic polarization and religious fractionalization. Only ethnic dominance, the case where

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5922-666: Is provided in the text of the Conventions. Nevertheless, the International Committee of the Red Cross has sought to provide some clarification through its commentaries on the Geneva Conventions , noting that the Conventions are "so general, so vague, that many of the delegations feared that it might be taken to cover any act committed by force of arms". Accordingly, the commentaries provide for different 'conditions' on which

6063-593: Is the name given to several states that are officially ruled by Islamic laws , including the Islamic Republics of Iran , Pakistan , and Mauritania . Pakistan first adopted the title under the constitution of 1956. Mauritania adopted it on 28 November 1958. Iran adopted it after the 1979 Iranian Revolution that overthrew the Pahlavi dynasty . The term "Islamic republic" has come to mean several different things, at times contradictory. To some Muslim religious leaders in

6204-549: Is the rejection of Loya Jirga decision about expulsion of Osama bin Laden . Mullah Omar visited the capital, Kabul, only twice while in power. Instead of an election, their leader's legitimacy came from an oath of allegiance (" Bay'ah "), in imitation of the Prophet and the first four Caliphs . On 4 April 1996, Mullah Omar had "the Cloak of Muhammad " taken from its shrine, Kirka Sharif , for

6345-531: Is unclear. Tianpu Province, Jiangnan Province, and Sufu Province are all within present-day Jiangsu Province . Tianjing Province included the Taiping Prefecture , which borders Nanjing. Other provinces mentioned in Taiping Heavenly Kingdom sources are: Anhui , Jiangxi , Hubei , Zhejiang , Hunan , Fujian , Henan , Shandong (珊東), Guangxi , Guangdong , Yunnan , Sichuan , Guizhou , Shaanxi , Gansu , Zuili (罪隸), etc. However, most of them were under

6486-536: Is why we give no salaries to officials or soldiers, just food, clothes, shoes, and weapons. We want to live a life like the Prophet lived 1400 years ago, and jihad is our right. We want to recreate the time of the Prophet, and we are only carrying out what the Afghan people have wanted for the past 14 years. They modeled their decision-making process on the Pashtun tribal council ( jirga ), together with what they believed to be

6627-644: The Imperial cult of ancient Rome identified Roman emperors and some members of their families with the divinely sanctioned authority ( auctoritas ) of the Roman State . The official offer of cultus to a living emperor acknowledged his office and rule as divinely approved and constitutional: his Principate should therefore demonstrate pious respect for traditional republican deities and mores . Unified religious rule in Buddhist Tibet began in 1642, when

6768-601: The Fifth Dalai Lama allied with the military power of the Mongol Gushri Khan to consolidate political power and to center control around his office as head of the Gelug school. This form of government is known as the dual system of government . Prior to 1642, particular monasteries and monks had held considerable power throughout Tibet but had not achieved anything approaching complete control, and their power continued in

6909-673: The Nicene Creed and said Arius was correct. The Heavenly Kingdom maintained the concept of the imperial Chinese tributary system in mandating all of the "ten thousand nations in the world" to submit and make the annual tribute missions to the Heavenly Court. The Heavenly King proclaimed that he intended to establish a new dynasty of China. In its first year, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom minted coins that were 23 mm × 26 mm (0.91 in × 1.02 in) in diameter, weighing around 4.1 g (0.14 oz). The kingdom's name

7050-665: The Salvadoran Civil War , Wood finds that traditional explanations of greed and grievance are not sufficient to explain the emergence of that insurgent movement. Instead, she argues that "emotional engagements" and "moral commitments" are the main reasons why thousand of civilians, most of them from poor and rural backgrounds, joined or supported the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front , despite individually facing both high risks and virtually no foreseeable gains. Wood also attributes participation in

7191-594: The Second World War in 1945: on 1 January 1946 Emperor Hirohito , at the request of Douglas MacArthur , declared that he was not a living god in order for Japan to reorganize into a democratic nation. In biblical times, Early Israel was a kritarchy , ruled by Judges before the institution of a monarchy under Saul . The Israelites regarded the Judges as representatives of God to dispense His judgement, and were often themselves prophets. From c.  27 BCE

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7332-543: The ethno-linguistic fractionalization index (ELF) used by Fearon, Laitin and other political scientists is flawed. ELF, Cederman states, measures diversity on a country's population-wide level and makes no attempt to determine the number of ethnic groups in relation to what role they play in the power of the state and its military. Cederman believes it makes little sense to test hypotheses relating national ethnic diversity to civil war outbreak without any explicit reference to how many different ethnic groups actually hold power in

7473-430: The 138 intrastate conflicts between the end of World War II and 2000 saw international intervention. A civil war is often a high-intensity conflict, often involving regular armed forces , that is sustained, organized and large-scale. Civil wars may result in large numbers of casualties and the consumption of significant resources. Civil wars since the end of World War II have lasted on average just over four years,

7614-694: The 15th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile unanimously voted to change the title of Kalön Tripa to Sikyong in Article 19 of the Charter of the Tibetans in exile and relevant articles. The Dalai Lama had previously referred to the Kalön Tripa as Sikyong, and this usage was cited as the primary justification for the name change. According to Tibetan Review , "Sikyong" translates to "political leader", as distinct from "spiritual leader". Foreign affairs Kalön Dicki Chhoyang stated that

7755-518: The 1815 Congress of Vienna as the United Kingdom , Habsburg Austria , Prussia , France , and Russia ) would frequently coordinate interventions in other nations' civil wars, nearly always on the side of the incumbent government. Given the military strength of the Great Powers, these interventions nearly always proved decisive and quickly ended the civil wars. There were several exceptions from

7896-427: The 19th century and in the early 20th century tended to be short; civil wars between 1900 and 1944 lasted on average one and a half years. The state itself formed the obvious center of authority in the majority of cases, and the civil wars were thus fought for control of the state. This meant that whoever had control of the capital and the military could normally crush resistance. A rebellion which failed to quickly seize

8037-555: The 60% of Afghans from other ethnic groups. In local government, such as the Kabul city council or Herat, Taliban loyalists, not locals, dominated, even when the Pashto -speaking Taliban could not communicate with roughly half of the population who spoke Dari or other non-Pashtun tongues. Critics complained that this "lack of local representation in urban administration made the Taliban appear as an occupying force." Iran has been described as

8178-624: The Bible. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was based on Hong Xiuquan's syncretism with Christianity , which differed from mainstream Christian prayers, rituals, and holidays. The libraries of the Buddhist monasteries were destroyed, almost completely in the case of the Yangtze delta. Temples of Daoism , Confucianism, and other traditional beliefs were often converted to churches, schools or hospitals or defaced. In letters to missionary Joseph Edkins , Hong rejected

8319-573: The Flank King). Of the original rulers, the West King and South King were killed in combat in 1852. The East King was murdered by the North King during a coup in 1856, and the North King himself was subsequently killed. The Kings' names were: The later leaders of the movement were 'Princes': Other princes include: Leaders of concurrent rebellions were similarly granted the title of King, such Lan Chaozhu,

8460-612: The Law of the Sources of the Law, a provision is made for the application of the "laws promulgated by the Kingdom of Italy". Mount Athos is a mountain peninsula in Greece which is an Eastern Orthodox autonomous area consisting of 20 monasteries under the direct jurisdiction of the Primate of Constantinople . There have been almost 1,800 years of a continuous Christian presence on Mount Athos, and it has

8601-477: The London School of Economics is one of the major critics of greed vs. grievance theory, defined primarily by Paul Collier, and argues the point that a conflict, although he cannot define it, cannot be pinpointed to simply one motive. He believes that conflicts are much more complex and thus should not be analyzed through simplified methods. He disagrees with the quantitative research methods of Collier and believes

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8742-526: The Middle East and Africa who advocate it, an Islamic republic is a state under a particular Islamic form of government . They see it as a compromise between a purely Islamic caliphate and secular nationalism and republicanism . In their conception of the Islamic republic, the penal code of the state is required to be compatible with some or all laws of Sharia , and the state does not necessarily have to be

8883-425: The Roman Emperor, the Chinese sovereign was historically held to be the Son of Heaven . However, from the first historical Emperor on, this was largely ceremonial and tradition quickly established it as a posthumous dignity, like the Roman institution. The situation before Qin Shi Huang Di ( r.  221–210 BCE) is less clear. The Shang dynasty ( c.  1600 BCE to c.  1045 BCE) essentially functioned as

9024-460: The Taiping Rebellion. In August 1871, the last Taiping rebel army, led by Shi Dakai 's commander Li Fuzhong ( 李福忠 ), was completely wiped out by the Qing forces in the border region of Hunan , Guizhou , and Guangxi. In the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, there were three levels of local government: province (省), commandery (郡), and county (縣). According to a regulation promulgated in 1861 (the eleventh year of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, 太平天囯辛酉十一年),

9165-409: The Taiping forces captured Nanjing, making it their capital and renaming it Tianjing ('heavenly capital'). Hong converted the office of the Viceroy of Liangjiang into his Palace of Heavenly King . Since Hong claimed he had been instructed in his dream to exterminate all Manchu "demons", the rebels they set out to kill the entire Manchu population. When Nanjing was occupied, the Taiping rebels went on

9306-527: The Taliban succeeded in nearly eradicating opium production (99%) by 2001. Under the Taliban governance of Afghanistan, both drug users and dealers were severely prosecuted. Cabinet ministers and deputies were mullahs with a " madrasah education." Several of them, such as the Minister of Health and Governor of the State bank, were primarily military commanders who were ready to leave their administrative posts to fight when needed. Military reverses that trapped them behind lines or led to their deaths increased

9447-433: The Taliban's liking, and to wear turbans outside their households. Communists were systematically executed. Prayer was made compulsory and those who did not respect the religious obligation after the azaan were arrested. Gambling was banned. Thieves were punished by amputating their hands or feet . In 2000, the Taliban leader Mullah Omar officially banned opium cultivation and drug trafficking in Afghanistan;

9588-405: The Tibetan government in exile, is a Tibetan exile organization with a state-like internal structure. According to its charter, the position of head of state of the Central Tibetan Administration belongs ex officio to the Dalai Lama , a religious hierarch. In this respect, it continues the traditions of the former government of Tibet , which was ruled by the Dalai Lamas and their ministers, with

9729-468: The Western powers was coming and the Qing must buy the best Western cannons and gun carriages, and have the best Chinese craftsmen learn to build exact copies, teaching other craftsmen as well. Initially, the followers of Hong Xiuquan were called God Worshippers. Hong's faith was inspired by visions he reported in which the Shangdi, the Supreme Emperor, or "Jehovah", greeted him in Heaven. Hong had earlier been in contact with Protestant missionaries and read

9870-412: The application of the Geneva Convention would depend; the commentary, however, points out that these should not be interpreted as rigid conditions. The conditions listed by the ICRC in its commentary are as follows: (1) That the Party in revolt against the de jure Government possesses an organized military force, an authority responsible for its acts, acting within a determinate territory and having

10011-832: The approval of his cousin the Heavenly King, advocated several new policies, including: While the Taiping rebels did not have the support of Western governments, they were relatively modernised in terms of weapons. An ever growing number of Western weapons dealers and black marketeers sold Western weapons such as modern muskets, rifles, and cannons to the rebels. As early as 1853, Taiping Tianguo soldiers had been using guns and ammunition sold by Westerners. Rifles and gunpowder were smuggled into China by English and American traders as "snuff and umbrellas". They were partially equipped with surplus equipment sold by various Western companies and military units' stores, both small arms and artillery. One shipment of weaponry from an American dealer in April 1862 already "well known for their dealings with rebels"

10152-718: The birds were killed according to the Taliban's ruling. Movie theaters were closed and repurposed as mosques . Celebration of the Western and Iranian New Year was forbidden. Taking photographs and displaying pictures or portraits was forbidden, as it was considered by the Taliban as a form of idolatry . Women were banned from working , girls were forbidden to attend schools or universities , were requested to observe purdah and to be accompanied outside their households by male relatives; those who violated these restrictions were punished. Men were forbidden to shave their beards and required to let them grow and keep them long according to

10293-751: The blessings of the Hazrat Ishaans , who were the spiritual guides of the Timurid and Mughal Emperors. The Emperors believed in the Hazrat Ishaans to be the rightful spiritual successors of Muhammad and by this virtue to be the ultimate intermediaries between God and mankind in every time ( Qutb ). They thus used the title Zwillu-Nabi'llah (ظِلُّ النبی ٱلله) or "Sayeh Nabi-e- Khuda" in Persian which means "Shadow of God´s Prophet" in English to denote their representation of God on Earth. Emperor Aurangzeb in particular took over

10434-486: The capital and control of the military for itself normally found itself doomed to rapid destruction. For example, the fighting associated with the 1871 Paris Commune occurred almost entirely in Paris , and ended quickly once the military sided with the government at Versailles and conquered Paris. The power of non-state actors resulted in a lower value placed on sovereignty in the 18th and 19th centuries, which further reduced

10575-456: The chance of civil war. Specifically, a male secondary school enrollment 10% above the average reduced the chance of a conflict by about 3%, while a growth rate 1% higher than the study average resulted in a decline in the chance of a civil war of about 1%. The study interpreted these three factors as proxies for earnings forgone by rebellion, and therefore that lower forgone earnings encourage rebellion. Phrased another way: young males (who make up

10716-445: The chance of conflict. Both of these factors favor rebels, as a population dispersed outward toward the borders is harder to control than one concentrated in a central region, while mountains offer terrain where rebels can seek sanctuary. Rough terrain was highlighted as one of the more important factors in a 2006 systematic review. The various factors contributing to the risk of civil war rise increase with population size. The risk of

10857-517: The chaos in the national administration. At the national level, "all senior Tajik , Uzbek and Hazara bureaucrats" were replaced "with Pashtuns, whether qualified or not." Consequently, the ministries "by and large ceased to function." Journalist Ahmed Rashid described the Taliban government as "a secret society run by Kandaharis ... mysterious, secretive, and dictatorial." They did not hold elections, as their spokesman explained: The Sharia does not allow politics or political parties. That

10998-468: The civil war to the value that insurgents assigned to changing social relations in El Salvador , an experience she defines as the "pleasure of agency". Ann Hironaka , author of Neverending Wars , divides the modern history of civil wars into the pre-19th century, 19th century to early 20th century, and late 20th century. In 19th-century Europe, the length of civil wars fell significantly, largely due to

11139-433: The colonized, caused by the creation of borders across tribal lines and bad treatment by the colonizers" is one important cause of civil conflicts. The more time that has elapsed since the last civil war, the less likely it is that a conflict will recur. The study had two possible explanations for this: one opportunity-based and the other grievance-based. The elapsed time may represent the depreciation of whatever capital

11280-514: The conduct of internal conflicts". James Fearon and David Laitin find that ethnic and religious diversity does not make civil war more likely. They instead find that factors that make it easier for rebels to recruit foot soldiers and sustain insurgencies, such as "poverty—which marks financially & bureaucratically weak states and also favors rebel recruitment—political instability, rough terrain, and large populations" make civil wars more likely. Such research finds that civil wars happen because

11421-517: The control of the Qing dynasty. The Heavenly King was the highest position in the Heavenly Kingdom. The sole people to hold this position were Hong Xiuquan and his son Hong Tianguifu: Ranked below the "King of Heaven" Hong Xiuquan, the territory was divided among provincial rulers called kings or princes; initially there were five – the Kings of the Four Cardinal Directions and

11562-684: The country average”, going against the opportunity-based explanation for civil war outbreak. Michael Bleaney, Professor of International Economics at the University of Nottingham , published a 2009 paper titled Incidence, Onset and Duration of Civil Wars: A Review of the Evidence , which tested numerous variables for their relationship to civil war outbreak with different datasets, including that utilized by Fearon and Laitin. Bleaney concluded that neither ethnoreligious diversity, as measured by fractionalization, nor another variable, ethnic polarization, defined as

11703-495: The country avoided ethnic dominance. The study interpreted this as stating that minority groups are more likely to rebel if they feel that they are being dominated, but that rebellions are more likely to occur the more homogeneous the population and thus more cohesive the rebels. These two factors may thus be seen as mitigating each other in many cases. David Keen, a professor at the Development Studies Institute at

11844-471: The country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies. The term is a calque of Latin bellum civile which was used to refer to the various civil wars of the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC. Most modern civil wars involve intervention by outside powers. According to Patrick M. Regan in his book Civil Wars and Foreign Powers (2000) about two thirds of

11985-576: The country were divided into 21 provinces, each with 11 commanderies, except for Jiangnan Province, which had 12 commanderies. However, this was planned for the establishment after the unification of the country, and the establishment during the revolution was not planned in this way. According to existing documents, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom established five new provinces: Tianjing Province (天京省), Jiangnan Province (江南省), Tianpu Province (天浦省), Sufu Province (蘇福省), and Guifu Province (貴福省). The boundaries of its territory are unknown. The location of Guifu Province

12126-415: The country, aside from the opposition ( Northern Alliance ) strongholds which were primarily found in the northeast corner of Badakhshan Province . Areas under the Taliban's direct control were mainly Afghanistan's major cities and highways. Tribal khans and warlords had de facto direct control over various small towns, villages, and rural areas. The Taliban sought to establish law and order and to impose

12267-432: The data set to regression analysis to see the effect of various factors. The factors that were shown to have a statistically significant effect on the chance that a civil war would occur in any given five-year period were: A high proportion of primary commodities in national exports significantly increases the risk of a conflict. A country at "peak danger", with commodities comprising 32% of gross domestic product , has

12408-474: The director of the national radio and television network , the heads of powerful major religious and economic foundations , the chief justice of Iran , the attorney general (indirectly through the chief justice), special tribunals, and members of the supreme national security council who are dealing with defense and foreign affairs. He also co-appoints the 12 jurists of the Guardian Council . The Leader

12549-402: The early Islamic model. Discussion was followed by a building of a consensus by the "believers". Before capturing Kabul, there was talk of stepping aside once a government of "good Muslims" took power, and law and order were restored. As the Taliban's power grew, decisions were made by Mullah Omar without consulting the jirga and without consulting other parts of the country. One such instance

12690-505: The end of the Cold War . Since 1945, civil wars have resulted in the deaths of over 25 million people, as well as the forced displacement of millions more. Civil wars have further resulted in economic collapse; Somalia , Burma (Myanmar), Uganda and Angola are examples of nations that were considered to have had promising futures before being engulfed in civil wars. James Fearon , a scholar of civil wars at Stanford University , defines

12831-550: The execution of 70,000 people in Guangzhou , eventually one million people were killed throughout central Guangdong. Another major impact was the bloody Punti-Hakka Clan Wars (1855 and 1867), which would cause the deaths of a million people. The Cantonese opera was purged completely. Theocratic Theocracy is a form of autocracy or oligarchy in which one or more deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries who manage

12972-422: The extent to which individuals in a population are distributed across different ethnic groups, were "a sufficient measure of diversity as it affects the probability of conflict." In a state torn by civil war, the contesting powers often do not have the ability to commit or the trust to believe in the other side's commitment to put an end to war. When considering a peace agreement, the involved parties are aware of

13113-503: The first century AD to describe the characteristic government of the Jews . Josephus argued that while mankind had developed many forms of rule, most could be subsumed under the following three types: monarchy , oligarchy , and democracy . However, according to Josephus, the government of the Jews was unique. Josephus offered the term theocracy to describe this polity in which a god was sovereign and

13254-517: The first lunar month), incidentally Hong Xiuquan's birthday, Hong declared himself " Heavenly King " of a new dynasty, the "Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace". After minor clashes, the violence escalated into the uprising in February 1851, in which a 10,000-strong rebel army routed and defeated a smaller Qing force. Feng Yushan was to be the strategist of the rebellion and the administrator of the kingdom during its early days, until his death in 1852. In 1853,

13395-520: The first time in 60 years. Wrapping himself in the relic, he appeared on the roof of a building in the center of Kandahar while hundreds of Pashtun mullahs below shouted " Amir al-Mu'minin !" (Commander of the Faithful), in a pledge of support. Taliban spokesman Mullah Wakil explained: Decisions are based on the advice of the Amir-ul Momineen. For us, consultation is not necessary. We believe that this

13536-408: The general rule of quick civil wars during this period. The American Civil War (1861–1865) was unusual for at least two reasons: it was fought around regional identities as well as political ideologies, and it ended through a war of attrition , rather than with a decisive battle over control of the capital, as was the norm. The Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) proved exceptional because both sides in

13677-561: The geographical distribution of ethnic groups within countries, as this can affect their access to regional resources and commodities, which in turn can lead to conflict. A third theme explored by Cederman is that ethnolinguistic fractionalization does not quantify the extent to which there is pre-existing economic inequality between ethnic groups within countries. In a 2011 article, Cederman and fellow researchers describe finding that “in highly unequal societies, both rich and poor groups fight more often than those groups whose wealth lies closer to

13818-473: The god's word was law. Josephus' definition was widely accepted until the Enlightenment era, when the term took on negative connotations and was barely salvaged by Hegel 's commentary. The first recorded English use was in 1622, with the meaning " sacerdotal government under divine inspiration" (as in ancient Israel and Judah ); the meaning "priestly or religious body wielding political and civil power"

13959-507: The government's daily affairs. The word theocracy originates from the Ancient Greek : θεοκρατία ( theocratia ) meaning "the rule of God". This, in turn, derives from θεός (theos), meaning "god", and κρατέω ( krateo ), meaning "to rule". Thus the meaning of the word in Greek was "rule by god(s)" or human incarnation (s) of god(s). The term was initially coined by Flavius Josephus in

14100-427: The hands of Hong Xiuquan in the mid-1830s. Hong initially leafed through it without interest. After several failures during the examinations and a nervous breakdown, however, Hong told friends and family of a dream in which he was greeted by a golden-haired, bearded man and a younger man whom he addressed as "Elder Brother". He would also declare that he saw Confucius being punished by Hong's celestial father for leading

14241-474: The head of a thearchy (a kingdom of gods), but the more specific "theocrat" carries associations of a strong priesthood that would be generally inaccurate in describing imperial China. Others reserve the use of the word "thearch" to describe the legendary figures of Chinese prehistory while continuing to use "emperor" to describe historical rulers. The Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace (1851 to 1864) in Qing China

14382-433: The heavens and earth and to culture heroes credited with the invention of agriculture , clothing , music , astrology , etc. Even after the fall of Qin in 206 BCE, an emperor's words were considered sacred edicts ( 聖旨 ) and his written proclamations "directives from above" ( 上諭 ). As a result, some Sinologists translate the title huangdi (usually rendered "emperor" ) as thearch . The term properly refers to

14523-701: The high incentives to withdraw once one of them has taken an action that weakens their military, political or economical power. Commitment problems may deter a lasting peace agreement as the powers in question are aware that neither of them is able to commit to their end of the bargain in the future. States are often unable to escape conflict traps (recurring civil war conflicts) due to the lack of strong political and legal institutions that motivate bargaining, settle disputes, and enforce peace settlements. Political scientist Barbara F. Walter suggests that most contemporary civil wars are actually repeats of earlier civil wars that often arise when leaders are not accountable to

14664-519: The incentive to secede. The two major global ideologies, monarchism and democracy , led to several civil wars. However, a bi-polar world, divided between the two ideologies, did not develop, largely due to the dominance of monarchists through most of the period. The monarchists would thus normally intervene in other countries to stop democratic movements taking control and forming democratic governments, which were seen by monarchists as being both dangerous and unpredictable. The Great Powers (defined in

14805-580: The insurgents recognition as belligerents for the purposes only of the present Convention; or (d) That the dispute has been admitted to the agenda of the Security Council or the General Assembly of the United Nations as being a threat to international peace, a breach of the peace, or an act of aggression. (4) (a) That the insurgents have an organization purporting to have the characteristics of

14946-572: The issuing of permits. Residents of Mount Athos must be men aged 18 and over who are members of the Eastern Orthodox Church and also either monks or workers. Athos is governed jointly by a community consisting of members of the 20 monasteries and a Civil Administrator , appointed by the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs . The monastic community is led by the Protos . An Islamic republic

15087-484: The killing of troops loyal to Yang, in an event known as the Tianjing incident . The internal schism significantly weakened Taiping forces. With their leader largely out of the picture, Taiping delegates tried to widen their popular support with the Chinese middle classes and forge alliances with European powers, but failed on both counts. The Europeans decided to stay neutral. Inside China, the rebellion faced resistance from

15228-447: The largest ethnic group comprises a majority of the population, increased the risk of civil war. A country characterized by ethnic dominance has nearly twice the chance of a civil war. However, the combined effects of ethnic and religious fractionalization, i.e. the greater chance that any two randomly chosen people will be from separate ethnic or religious groups, the less chance of a civil war, were also significant and positive, as long as

15369-410: The less-stringent 1,000 casualties total criterion, there were over 90 civil wars between 1945 and 2007, with 20 ongoing civil wars as of 2007. The Geneva Conventions do not specifically define the term "civil war"; nevertheless, they do outline the responsibilities of parties in "armed conflict not of an international character". This includes civil wars; however, no specific definition of civil war

15510-434: The major European powers divested themselves of their colonies at an increasing rate: the number of ex-colonial states jumped from about 30 to almost 120 after the war. The rate of state formation leveled off in the 1980s, at which point few colonies remained. More states also meant more states in which to have long civil wars. Hironaka statistically measures the impact of the increased number of ex-colonial states as increasing

15651-439: The means of respecting and ensuring respect for the Convention. (2) That the legal Government is obliged to have recourse to the regular military forces against insurgents organized as military and in possession of a part of the national territory. (3) (a) That the de jure Government has recognized the insurgents as belligerents; (b) That it has claimed for itself the rights of a belligerent; or (c) That it has accorded

15792-523: The nature of the conflicts as battles for the power center of the state, the strength of centralized governments, and the normally quick and decisive intervention by other states to support the government. Following World War II the duration of civil wars grew past the norm of the pre-19th century, largely due to weakness of the many postcolonial states and the intervention by major powers on both sides of conflict. The most obvious commonality to civil wars are that they occur in fragile states . Civil wars in

15933-630: The number of civil wars. For example, the pirates of the Barbary Coast were recognized as de facto states because of their military power. The Barbary pirates thus had no need to rebel against the Ottoman Empire – their nominal state government – to gain recognition of their sovereignty. Conversely, states such as Virginia and Massachusetts in the United States of America did not have sovereign status, but had significant political and economic independence coupled with weak federal control, reducing

16074-474: The people astray. Hong worked another six years as a tutor before his brother convinced him that Liang's tract was worth examination. When he read the tract he saw his long-past dream in terms of Christian symbolism: he was the younger brother of Jesus and had met God the Father, Shangdi . He now felt it was his duty to restore the faith in the native Han religion and overthrow the Qing. He was joined by Yang Xiuqing ,

16215-553: The pharaoh had the responsibility of mediating between the gods and the people. The Japanese people have historically venerated their emperor as the descendant of the Shinto sun-goddess Amaterasu . Through this line of descent, the emperor was seen as a living god who was the supreme leader of the Japanese people. This status only changed with the Occupation of Japan following the end of

16356-449: The printers they employed corrected and adapted the missionaries' message to reach the Chinese and they began to particularly frequent the prefectural and provincial examinations , where local scholars competed for the chance to rise to power in the imperial civil service. One of the native tracts, Liang Fa 's nine-part, 500-page tome called Good Words to Admonish the Age , found its way into

16497-402: The proponents of greed theory and make the idea "irrelevant". They examine a myriad of factors and conclude that too many factors come into play with conflict, which cannot be confined to simply greed or grievance. Anthony Vinci makes a strong argument that "fungible concept of power and the primary motivation of survival provide superior explanations of armed group motivation and, more broadly,

16638-402: The public, when there is poor public participation in politics, and when there is a lack of transparency of information between the executives and the public. Walter argues that when these issues are properly reversed, they act as political and legal restraints on executive power forcing the established government to better serve the people. Additionally, these political and legal restraints create

16779-455: The rate of new civil wars had not increased appreciably; the drastic rise in the number of ongoing wars after World War II was a result of the tripling of the average duration of civil wars to over four years. This increase was a result of the increased number of states, the fragility of states formed after 1945, the decline in interstate war, and the Cold War rivalry. Following World War II,

16920-485: The rebellion was fought over and thus increase the opportunity cost of restarting the conflict. Alternatively, elapsed time may represent the gradual process of healing of old hatreds. The study found that the presence of a diaspora substantially reduced the positive effect of time, as the funding from diasporas offsets the depreciation of rebellion-specific capital. Evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa has argued that an important cause of intergroup conflict may be

17061-509: The rebellion. The Qing government defeated the rebellion with the eventual aid of French and British forces. During the 19th century, the Qing territories experienced a series of famines, natural disasters, economic problems and defeats at the hands of foreign powers; these events have come to be collectively known as China's century of humiliation . Farmers were heavily overtaxed, rents rose dramatically, and peasants started to desert their lands in droves. The Qing military had recently suffered

17202-726: The relative availability of women of reproductive age. He found that polygyny greatly increased the frequency of civil wars but not interstate wars. Gleditsch et al. did not find a relationship between ethnic groups with polygyny and increased frequency of civil wars but nations having legal polygamy may have more civil wars. They argued that misogyny is a better explanation than polygyny. They found that increased women's rights were associated with fewer civil wars and that legal polygamy had no effect after women's rights were controlled for. Political scholar Elisabeth Wood from Yale University offers yet another rationale for why civilians rebel and/or support civil war. Through her studies of

17343-653: The religious leaders assume a leading role in the state, but do not claim that they are instruments of divine revelation. A related phenomenon is a secular government co-existing with a state religion or delegating some aspects of civil law to religious communities. For example, in Israel, marriage is governed by officially recognized religious bodies who each provide marriage services for their respected adherents, yet no form of civil marriage (free of religion) exists, nor marriage by non-recognized minority religions. According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, there are two meanings for

17484-608: The state is weak; both authoritarian and democratic states can be stable if they have the financial and military capacity to put down rebellions. Some scholars, such as Lars-Erik Cederman of the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology , have criticized the data used by Fearon and Laitin to determine ethnic and religious diversity. In his 2007 paper Beyond Fractionalization: Mapping Ethnicity onto Nationalist Insurgencies , Cederman argues that

17625-455: The state. This suggests that ethnic, linguistic and religious cleavages can matter, depending on the extent to which the various groups have ability and influence to mobilize on either side of a forming conflict. Themes explored in Cederman's later work criticizing the use of ethnic fractionalization measures as input variables to predict civil war outbreak relate to these indices not accounting for

17766-453: The struggle received support from intervening great powers: Germany , Italy , and Portugal supported opposition leader Francisco Franco , while France and the Soviet Union supported the government (see proxy war ). In the 1990s, about twenty civil wars were occurring concurrently during an average year, a rate about ten times the historical average since the 19th century. However,

17907-482: The term "Sikyong" has had a precedent dating back to the 7th Dalai Lama , and that the name change "ensures historical continuity and legitimacy of the traditional leadership from the Fifth Dalai Lama". The online Dharma Dictionary translates sikyong ( srid skyong ) as "secular ruler; regime, regent". The title sikyong had previously been used by regents who ruled Tibet during the Dalai Lama's minority. Having

18048-467: The title of Caliph and Amir Al Muminin through the blessing ( Ijaza ) of the contemporary Hazrat Ishaan , his first cousin and son in law Prince Nizamuddin Naqshband a paternal grandson of Khwaja Khawand Mahmud and maternally of Jahangir . Civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country ). The aim of one side may be to take control of

18189-404: The traditionalist middle class because of their hostility to Chinese customs and Confucian values. The land-owning upper class, unsettled by the Taiping rebels' peasant mannerisms and their policy of strict separation of the sexes, even for married couples, sided with the Qing forces and their Western allies. Many within the Kingdom who resisted were subject to torture. In 1859, Hong Rengan ,

18330-506: The twelve council members are faqih and have the power to approve or reject all bills passed by the Parliament , whether the faqih believes that the bill is in accordance with Islamic laws and customs ( Sharia ) or not. The other six members are lawyers appointed by the chief justice, who is a cleric and appointed by the Leader. In the Basic Law of Saudi Arabia , Saudi Arabia defines itself as

18471-550: The upper reaches of the Yangtze, and north to capture Beijing , the capital of the Qing dynasty. The attempt to take Beijing failed. In 1853, Hong withdrew from active control of policies and administration, ruling exclusively by written proclamations often in religious language. Hong disagreed with Yang in certain matters of policy and became increasingly suspicious of Yang's ambitions, his extensive network of spies, and his declarations when "speaking as God". Yang and his family were put to death by Hong's followers in 1856, followed by

18612-437: The vast majority of combatants in civil wars) are less likely to join a rebellion if they are getting an education or have a comfortable salary, and can reasonably assume that they will prosper in the future. Low per capita income has also been proposed as a cause for grievance, prompting armed rebellion. However, for this to be true, one would expect economic inequality to also be a significant factor in rebellions, which it

18753-742: The word theocracy : (1) government of a state by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided; and (2) a state governed by a theocracy. Following the Capture of Rome on 20 September 1870, the Papal States including Rome with the Vatican were annexed by the Kingdom of Italy . In 1929, through the Lateran Treaty signed with the Italian Government, the new state of Vatican City

18894-646: Was 14 years old then. Hong Tianguifu was unable to do anything to restore the kingdom, so the kingdom was quickly destroyed when Nanjing fell in July 1864 to Qing forces after vicious fighting in the streets. Most of the so-called princes were executed by Qing officials in Jinling Town ( 金陵城 ), Nanjing. Although the fall of Nanjing in 1864 marked the destruction of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, there were still several thousands of Taiping rebels continuing to resist Qing forces. It took seven years to finally put down all remnants of

19035-410: Was a heterodox Christian theocracy led by Hong Xiuquan , who portrayed himself as the younger brother of Jesus Christ . His theocratic state fought one of the most destructive wars in history, the Taiping Rebellion , against the Qing dynasty for fifteen years before being crushed following the 1864 fall of the rebel capital Nanjing . The Sunni branch of Islam stipulates that, as a head of state,

19176-506: Was first recorded in 1825. The term theocracy derives from the Koine Greek θεοκρατία , "rule of God", a term used by Josephus for the kingdoms of Israel and Judah , reflecting the view that "God himself is recognized as the head" of the state. The common, generic use of the term, as defined above in terms of rule by a church or analogous religious leadership, may be more accurately described as an ecclesiocracy. In an ecclesiocracy,

19317-510: Was formally created and recognised as an independent state from Fascist Italy . The head of state of the Vatican is the pope , elected by the College of Cardinals , an assembly of high-ranking clergy. The pope is elected for life, and either dies in office, or in extremely rare situations may resign. The cardinals are appointed by the popes, who thereby choose the electors of their successors. Voting

19458-569: Was inscribed on the obverse and "Holy Treasure" ( Chinese : 聖寶 ) on the reverse; the kingdom also issued paper notes. With the collapse of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Qing dynasty launched waves of massacres against the Hakka, killing 30,000 Hakkas each day throughout China during the height of the Hakka massacres. Similar purges were taken while defeating the Red Turban Rebellion (1854–1856) . In Guangdong , Governor Ye Mingchen oversaw

19599-778: Was listed as 2,783 (percussion cap) muskets, 66 carbines, 4 rifles, and 895 field artillery guns, as well as carrying passports signed by the Loyal King. Almost two months later, a ship was stopped with 48 cases of muskets, and another ship with 5000 muskets. Mercenaries from the West also joined the Taiping forces, though most were motivated by opportunities for plunder during the rebellion rather than joining for ideological reasons. The Taiping forces constructed iron foundries where they were making heavy cannons, described by Westerners as vastly superior to Qing cannons. Just before his execution, Taiping Loyal King Li Xiucheng advised his enemies that war with

19740-459: Was subordinate to the 14th Dalai Lama who presided over the government in exile from its founding. In August of that year, Lobsang Sangay received 55 percent of 49,189 votes, defeating his nearest rival Tethong Tenzin Namgyal by 8,646 votes, becoming the second popularly elected Kalön Tripa. The Dalai Lama announced that his political authority would be transferred to Sangay. On 20 September 2012,

19881-479: Was well established. With Qing forces beginning an attack on Nanjing, Hong declared that God would defend the city, but in June 1864, with Qing forces approaching, he died of food poisoning as the result of eating wild vegetables as the city began to run out of food. He was sick for twenty days before the Qing forces could take the city. Although Hong likely died of his illness, suicide by poison has also been suggested. Only

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