1900-1949 Flashcards
(50 cards)
Who was china ruled by in 1900
qing emporer guangxu
+ domineering aunt cixi
what was religion like in the qing dynasty
qing was Manchu, a minority so were seen as foreigners
majority Han
How was the Qing dynasty
they mostly respected bc of mandate of heaven although they had weak leadership so were taken advantage of by foreigners from the west and Japan
How was China taken advantage of?
secured advantageous trading privileges because of superior weaponry
for tea, sugar, silk and opium
opposition to china
- buddhist peasants were resentful of the ‘foreign devils’
- no industry so all peasants worked in agriculture
- frequent natural disasters like famine + floods
- no democracy
- little education
- women had little rights, bought and sold, forced into arranged marriages, accept foot binding to conform to beauty standard
who were the mandarins?
the most privileged group in society beyond the royal family, they ran the government and enjoyed special privileges
when was the boxer revolt?
nov 1899
who were the boxers?
a secret society made up of chinese peasants who resented foreign influence
eg spread of christianity
What did the Boxers superstitiously believe?
-western built railways would awaken dragons
- telegraph poles spread disease
- they were bulletproof
what was the boxer revolt?
1899, the buddhist boxers attacked foreigners and chinese christian’s (killing 200)
emperor cixi decided to support the boxers, modern weapons of the foreigners crushed the revolt killing 100,000
cixi was forced into exile until 1902
british french and americans forced china to pay reparations of £67million
and to get rid of chinas defensive fortess
Why were the self strengthening reforms introduced?
to maintain power and restore qing popularity
what were the self strengthening reforms?
- national consulatative council introduced to increase democracy and advise the government
- civil service exams were abolished to reduce the dominance of mandarins
- provincial assembly introduced
- social reforms banned foot binding and provide scholarships for students to be educated abroad
- railways nationalised
- a new army was created to secure manchu control of china
When did Guangxu and Cixi die?
1908
what caused the 1911 revolution?
Emperor Puyi was 2 yo and his regent lacked authority and was inexperienced
increased taxes on tea, wine, salt and land to pay for army reforms and reparations
new nationalist ideas becoming popular, spread by students like sun-yat-sen who studied abroad
they believed that the boxer revolt proved the qing were too weak the stand up to foreign powers
effects of self strengthening reforms
only 0.4% of the population could vote in provincial assemblies and changed were delayed 9 years
the National consultative council were still dominated by manchus with the Han only having a minor role
what was the 1911 revolution
the new army revolted, Han soldiers massacred Manchus in Wuhan
Yuan Shikai failed to crush the revolt to joined it forcing puyi to abdicate in feb 1912
end of dynasty
What did Yuan Shikai do after boxer revolt?
became president of the republic of China because he had more military support than Sun Yat Sen
in 1915 he rejected democracy and ruled as a dictator
He was unpopular for agreeing to the 21 demands 1915 which increased japans control over Chinas natural resources and for making himself emporer
What caused the warlord era
Yuan Shikais death in 1916
no general was strong enough to rule all of China
What did the warlords do?
raised taxes, stole tools and crops from peasants, increased cultivation of opium to make money despite the social problems, failed to help people when natural disasters like flooding happened
used private armies to fight eachother and oppression people
gave foreign powers increased influence in return to bribed
What did students protest in the may the fourth movement?
after ww1 the western powers gave germanys chinese territory to japan in the treaty of versailles
shows china was still being exploited
they wanted freedom, democracy and an end to foreign determination
what was the may the fourth movement?
students protested in Tiananmen square as members of the movement and the chinese government agreed to reject to treaty
later these students inspired to help establish CCP and GMD
what were the origins of the GMD
The nationalist guomindang were established in 1919 and led by SUN YAT SEN
wanted the three principles of the people: end foreign domination, democratically choose leaders, reduce poverty by developing state owned industries
when was the may the fourth movement
1919
what was the NRA?
new republican army set up to destroy warlords so GMD could come into power
