China in 1936 Flashcards

1
Q

What was the Guomindang (GMD)?

A

The Chinese Nationalist Party - and the ruling party of China in 1936.

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2
Q

What was the Northern Expedition?

A

After the 1911 revolution, most of Northern and Central China was controlled by warlords, uninterested in complying with GMD rule. In 1926, Jiang Jieshi launched the Northern Expedition, aiming to defeat the warlords and bring China under the GMD. By 1928, this was the case.

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3
Q

Why was China in a period regarded to as a ‘Golden Decade’ in the 1930s (7)?

A

1) Success of the Northern Expedition.
2) Political stability.
3) The publication of a Provisional Constitution in 1931.
4) Elections for a National Assembly in 1936 to discuss a new constitution.
5) Legal reforms.
6) Economic reforms.
7) Elections at village/town level for headmen (a village level government official) to run local administrations.

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4
Q

Why were the reforms of the so-called ‘Golden Decade’ not so impactful (7)?

A

1) The corrupt and authoritarian nature of the GMD - Provisional Constitution did not change this.
2) Headmen continued to be elected by magistrates rather than the people.
3) GMD still did not control all of China.
4) Many warlords only accepted GMD rule if they kept their private armies.
5) Japanese expansion in Manchuria after 1931.
6) The failure to irradicate the CCP, although severely damaged, managed to escape to and establish a base in Yan’an after the Long March in 1934-35.
7) Continued political violence and military campaigns.

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5
Q

What is foot binding?

A

The practice of breaking all toes and bending them under the soles before tightly wrapping bandages around young girls’ feet in order to prevent them from growing. Small feet were considered a symbol of beauty and status. Foot binding caused immense pain and lifelong disability.

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6
Q

What are concubines?

A

Mistresses kept by powerful and rich men within their house as sex slaves.

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7
Q

What were cities in China like in the 1930s (9)?

A

1) Economic growth in cities like Shanghai, Guangzhou and Tianjin.
2) Growth of the Chinese manufacturing sector due to the inflow of foreign capital and the establishment and growth of businesses, with cotton being a leading export.
3) Availability of electrical power in large cities.
4) Infrastructural improvements, e.g. new roads, railways and the development of steamer services on rivers, due to GMD investment.
5) Improved telegraph and postal services.
6) Development of passenger and airmail services by the National Aviation Corporation in the 1930s.
7) Establishment of new Chinese schools coupled with schools provided by Western missionary societies improved education.
8) Modern hospitals with Western medicine.
9) Flourishing cultural life, especially Shanghai.

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8
Q

What were rural areas in China like in the 1930s (9 factors).

A

1) Education beyond the reach of most peasant families.
2) Minimal healthcare, relying on traditional Chinese medicine.
3) High infant mortality.
4) Low life expectancy.
5) Foot binding still rife despite being outlawed in 1902.
6) Arranged marriages and concubines common.
7) Chinese agriculture reliant on human muscle.
8) Farmers heavily impacted by the Great Depression 1931-1935.
9) Vast majority of the population lived in rural areas.

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9
Q

What were Treaty Ports?

A

At the end of the Opium War in 1842, Britain forced China to open 5 ports to British merchants. This was followed by similar treaties with France, USA, Russia, Germany and Japan.

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10
Q

How had Japan previously exploited China (6)?

A

1) After victory in the Sino-Japanese War in 1894-1895, Japan took control of the Korean Peninsula and Taiwan.
2) Japan exploited Chinese mineral resources and set up factories in the Treaty Ports.
3) Japan extended their influence into Manchuria, through the construction of railways, and created a separate Japanese state with its own army in Eastern Manchuria.
4) Allied with Britain, France and Russia after the outbreak of WW1, Japan took control of areas in the Shandong Province.
5) In 1915, Japan presented China with the 21 Demands, including increased rights of exploitation in Manchuria and Inner Mongolia.
6) At the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919, Japan was granted permanent control of Shandong.

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11
Q

What was Manchukuo?

A

The new name of Manchuria following the Japanese occupation.

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12
Q

How did Japan take Manchuria in 1932?

A

The Japanese army provoked an incident with the Chinese forces near the city of Mukden, allowing for a full-scale assault on Southern Manchuria. By early 1932, Manchuria was under Japanese control.

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13
Q

What caused the Japanese attack on Shanghai and when was it?

A

After demonstrations and boycotts against the Japanese in China, Japan attacked Shanghai in January 1932. Japan withdrew, but expanded in the North, especially in Inner Mongolia.

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14
Q

Who was Jiang Jieshi/Chiang Kai-Shek (as of 1937) (3)?

A

1) The leader of the GMD since 1925, Jiang came from a middle-class family, becoming a military leader in the GMD.
2) He underwent military training in Moscow in 1923, returning to China in 1924 to take charge of the Soviet funded Whampoa Military Academy, where NRA officers were trained.
3) In 1925 he became the leader of the GMD, naming himself the ‘Generalissimo’.

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15
Q

Who was T.V. Soong?

A

A rich businessman and politician, who was allies with Jiang Jieshi.

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16
Q

How did Jiang Jieshi consolidate his power 1926-1936 (2 factors)

A

1) At the Whampoa Military Academy, Jiang trained officers in modern military strategy, who were loyal to him.
2) Jiang abandoned his wife in 1927, marrying Soong Mei-Ling, the daughter of a rich businessman. Her sister had been married to Sun Yat-Sen, whilst her brother was T.V. Soong. Jiang gained important connections to elites and to Americans.

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17
Q

Who were the GMD’s main supporters (2)?

A

1) Businessmen from the cities supported the anti-communist stance and foreign trade.
2) Wealthier peasants and landowners.

18
Q

What was the National Revolutionary Army (NRA)?

A

The military arm of the GMD.

19
Q

What was the Central Political Institute (2)?

A

A GMD institute, created by Jiang Jieshi, that trained men to become the future leaders of China. Anti-communist and anti-imperialist views were taught, and loyalty to Jiang Jieshi was emphasised.

20
Q

What was the Military Bureau of Statistics (2)?

A

A secret police organisation, created by Jiang Jieshi, who utilised spies to infiltrate opposition groups, torture to extract information from prisoners and carried out political assassinations.

21
Q

What was the role of the Bandit Suppression Headquarters?

A

An organisation created by Jiang Jieshi, tasked with coordinating anti-communist attacks, with the power to take over any areas with communist activity, by-passing local government officials and military commanders.

22
Q

What was the Opium Suppression Bureau?

A

Created by Jiang Jieshi in 1927, the OSB aimed to crack down on the drugs trade. However, the GMD allowed for the drugs trade to continue, if gangsters shared the profits with the GMD.

23
Q

What were Jiang Jieshi’s positions of power (4 positions)?

A

1) The Commander-in-Chief of the NRA.
2) The Chairman of the National Military Council.
3) Leader of the GMD political party.
4) Chairman of the State Council.

24
Q

Who was Big Ears Du?

A

The appointed president of the Opium Suppression Bureau and also the leader of the Green Gang, who controlled the drug trade, prostitution, gambling and extortion in Shanghai.

25
Q

What were the qualities of Jiang Jieshi (4 factors)?

A

1) Very self-disciplined.
2) Hardworking.
3) Skilled in political manipulation.
4) Untrusting of subordinates - reluctant to delegate.

26
Q

What was the significance of Jiang Jieshi’s positions in 1936?

A

Jiang controlled all appointments to any military, party or government position, allowing for total control over the GMD.

27
Q

How successful were the GMD campaigns against the CCP (2)?

A

The GMD followed the Northern Expedition of 1926 with an attack on the communists in Shanghai in 1927, ending the United Front. For 10 years, the GMD concentrated on decimating the CCP. Eventually the CCP were reduced to a few thousand survivors after the Long March.

28
Q

How did the GMD control the political and cultural life of China (3 ways)?

A

1) The imposition of strict controls on the press, books and cinema.
2) Rigorous examination and compulsory subjects in schools (controlled education).
3) Radical students were suppressed, with police arresting hundreds 1934-35, with many shot dead.

29
Q

How were peasants exploited in rural areas?

A

As China is so large, the GMD did not control local levels of administration. Often corrupt and tyrannical, local administrators favoured landlords over peasants, taxing them heavily, with little tax revenue going to the GMD.

30
Q

How did the GMD collect funds (4)?

A

1) Customs duties on trade.
2) Corporation tax.
3) Large loans provided by wealthy business owners, enforced by the threat of seizure of property if they did not comply.
4) Small tax revenue from local administrators.

31
Q

What are the 4 main tenants of Confucian values?

A

1) Loyalty.
2) Respect for parents and ancestors.
3) Self-discipline.
4) Self-improvement.

32
Q

What were the ideologies of Jiang Jieshi (5)?

A

1) Confucian beliefs.
2) Anti-communist.
3) Chinese nationalist.
4) Did not greatly support capitalism.
5) Knew China had to adopt some Western practices to modernise.

33
Q

What is political tutelage?

A

The GMD term for a one-party dictatorship.

34
Q

What were the ‘Three Principles of the People’, created by Sun Yat-Sen, the former leader of the GMD?

A

1) Nationalism: A united China, militarily and economically strong, free from foreign interference.
2) Democracy: A long term objective that could only be achieved after a period of political tutelage, where a strong state would be created, paving the way for constitutional rule.
3) People’s Livelihood: Vague ideas on the equalisation of the tax burden and land reform.

35
Q

How successfully did Jiang Jieshi implement the Three Principles of the Party (3)?

A

1) Nationalism: The GMD aimed to rid China of the ‘unequal treaties’ and in 1928, China regained control of its customs revenues.
2) Democracy: In the 1930s, Jiang asserted that China was in the stage of political tutelage.
3) People’s Livelihood: No progress was made for land reform due to landlord resistance, whilst little progress was made on the tax issue.

36
Q

What was the New Life Movement?

A

Launched in 1934, it aimed to stop people spitting, smoking or urinating in public, wearing provocative clothing or having casual sexual encounters.

37
Q

Why was the New Life Movement Unsuccessful?

A

It never gained mass support from the people, and Jiang’s priorities shifted after 1936.

38
Q

What were the ‘Blue Shirts’?

A

Based loosely on Mussolini’s Black Shirts and Hitler’s Brown Shirts, the Blue Shirts were headed by Dai Li, chief of the secret police. Members were drawn from the Whampoa Military Academy and loyal to Jiang. They were mainly involved in military action against the CCP.

39
Q

What did Jiang Jieshi admire about the Italian and German Fascist regimes (5)?

A

The emphasis on national culture, order, discipline, obedience and hierarchy.

40
Q

How did Jiang Jieshi differ politically from Hitler and Mussolini?

A

Whilst Hitler and Mussolini created mass political parties, Jiang maintained a tight-knit, exclusive and heavily controlled GMD.