THE STANDARD OIL COMPANY IN CHINA (1863-1930).

摘要

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many American businessmen tried to capture a share of the markets in the Western Pacific and China for their manufactured goods. Few of them succeeded. A rare exception to this record was the Standard Oil Company and this study explains why Standard succeeded where so many others failed.; The study describes the growth of the company as well as the forces that led to the decision to begin large volume sales in China. It reviews the atmosphere in which Standard functioned and the reception it was given by the Chinese. Special care is taken to present the advantages provided by the Sino-Western treaty system and also details of when and how the company's structure was built in China. The conclusion reached is that Standard Oil preceded the general American push into China by twenty years, and its large volume of sales was possible because the business style that drew the ire of the American people was acceptable to the Chinese.; By the 1920's, China turned to nationalism to fight the effects of imperialism. Two distinct views of this process are presented. One is a review of the major events in China's diplomatic life from 1898 to 1930. The other is the history of Standard Oil's accommodation to the growth of Chinese nationalism. More than a diplomatic history of China, it is a detailed study of the effect of China's diplomatic crises on the Chinese and the major American business interest in China. The major conclusion to be drawn is that Standard relied on all the advantages of the Sino-Western treaty system for as long as it could, and then, in the mid-1920's, it divorced itself from American policy in order to maintain its extensive and profitable interests in China.; The sources for this study are varied. The domestic history of the company is based on standard secondary sources. There are also primary sources such as records of state and federal investigations of Standard Oil. As the focus of the study moves toward China, secondary sources on the growth of Chinese nationalism and its effect on foreign business there were also used.