Chapter 1 - Fall of the Qing, Warlordism and Chaos - 1900/1934 Flashcards
When was the boxer uprising
1900
When was China first ruled by an emperor and what did he have
2000 BC
Have the Mandate of Heaven
Who was Empress Dowager Cixi?
She was the empress while her nephew grew up to take over
How big was the Chinese Population in 1900 and into which ethnic groups was it split into?
300 million subjects
- Han = 90%
- Manchu
- Mongol
- Tibetan
What caused the Boxer uprising
- Emperor Guangxu tried to modernise the gov. -> his reforms were largely opposed to by his aunt (Cixi) and her supporters ended the reforms
- The Chinese hated the ‘foreign devils’
- Cixi encouraged the attacks on the foreigners to avoid criticism of imperial rule.
What reforms did Emperor Guangxu try to do in 1898
‘the hundred days reform’
What happened during the boxer uprising?
- Secret group carried attacks on foreigners.
- Boxers were mostly peasants who suffered greatly
- Uprising spread to Beijing where a German ambassador was shot
- Westerners retreated
- Cixi supported them
- An international force opposed them and many boxers were executed and the empress fled
Impact of the Boxer uprising
- Showed that the imperial house was not able to defend against foreign control
- Severe financial penalty = £67 million
- Chinese military fortifications were destroyed
- The Qing dynasty had little authority anymore - lead to the revolution of 1911 and the fall of the dynasty
Reforms 1902-11
- Assemblies with limited voting right (1909)
- New Manchu Army (1908)
- Council to advise government (1910-11)
- Abolition of foot binding (1902)
- Removal of Mandarin domination (1905)
- National railways
- Educational, naval and military reforms
1911 reform causes
- Weak government
- Failure of political reforms
- Consequences of the army reform
- The spread of revolutionary ideas
- Growing resentment of China’s controlled railways.
Why was the Weak government a cause of the 1911 reform
- 2 year old Puyi becomes emperor
- Prince (father of Puyi) tries to save the dynasty but is inexperienced and fails
- Lack of experience doesn’t push through necessary reforms
- Discontent
Why was The failure of political reforms a cause of the 1911 reform
- Too late
- Manchu domination increased Han resentment
- Little % had right to vote - 0.4%
- Didn’t feel like could trust the government
Why were the consequences of the army reform a cause of the 1911 reform
- Very expensive so taxes were increased on top of the reparation money from the Boxers
- Dismissed people like Yuan Shakai who were believed to become too powerful (could have helped)
Why were the spread of revolutionary ideas a cause of the 1911 reform
- More people educated in the West (eg. Sun Yat-Sen)
- Believed Qing Dynasty should be overthrown
- More popularity of these people amongst the young
Why was the growing resentment of China’s controlled railways a cause of the 1911 reform
- Increased nationalism
- No compensation received for given up land
- Expansion was based on foreign ideas = partners with ‘foreign devils’
Events of the 1911 revolution
-9th of October 1911 an accidental bomb exploded
-sign to bring a wider revolt
the next day a mutiny spread to all provinces south of Beijing.
-Yuan Shikai became new leader
- End up forming a new Han Government
Results of the 1911 revolution
-Sun Yat-Sen returns form exile to become the president on 1 Jan 1912 but Yuan Shikai becomes (didn’t want to be president he wanted to be an emporer)
- Forced 5 year old Puyi to abdicate on the 12th Feb 1912
When was the Warlord Era?
1916-1927
Key points about the Warlord Era?
- No central government
- Constant change of warlords
- Constant watching over behaviour
- Violent Rulers - eg. Zang Zongzhang = melon splitter
- No-one was wiling to give up their armies
When was the May the Fourth Movement
1919
What caused the May the Fourth Movement
Long Term = Unequal western treaties
Medium Term = New Youth magazine attacked Confucian ideas
Short-term = After Peace Conference China didn’t end foreign control so 3,000 students demonstrated
What happened on the May the Fourth Movement
3,000 students led a protest in Tiananmen Square to tell the government to resist humiliation
- Rejected old-fashioned ideas and adopted more modern ones
- ‘New Tide’ fought to achieve unity and independence of China in the 1920’s
significance of the May the Fourth Movement
People didn’t want to revert back to the traditional ways and it was a catalyst for the new government.
The young people of China seeing western ideas and wanted to adopt those.
When was the GMD set up
1917
By who was the GMD set up
Sun Yat-Sen
Who took over the GMD when the leader died in 1925
Chaing Kai-Shek
What was the GMD
-‘The three principles of the People’
- Benefiting society and the people as a whole rather than on rights
- Remove foreign control
What was the GMD’s Army called
New Republican Army - NRA
First united front timeframe
1924-1927
What was the aim of the United Front
GMD and CCP worked together
- Destroy warlords
- Expel foreigners
- Improve the lives of the ordinary Chinese people
What was the 30th May Incident
Chinese workers in Shanghai protested but were interrupted when the British commander shot into the crowd killing 12 people.
Both the CCP and GMD had common enemies
When were the Shanghai Massacres
1927
Events of the Shanghai Massacres
- The GMD took control of Shanghai
- Chiang turned against the CCP
- Those who opposed trade unions supported him
- There was a frenzy of killing to be called the ‘White terror’
- Violent secret gangs eg. Green Gang helped the GMD
- 5,000 communists were killed in Shanghai
- 1/4 million killed overall
- Communists forced to flee to the Jiangxi province
What was the ‘White Terror’
To describe the Chinese Nationalists
& to distinguish from the Communists/’Reds’
How many Communists were killed in Shanghai 1927
5,000
How many Communists were killed in other areas overall in 1927
1/4 million
