China Topic 1 Flashcards
Who was in control of China in the 1900s
The Qing Dynasty
What gave the Emperor the authority to ruleT
The Mandate of heaven
What was Confucianism
An ethical system which controlled how the Chinese society functions, it valued hierarchy, respect for age and tradition
Who ruled in 1900
Emperor Guangxu with the help of Empress Dowager Cixi
How were women treated in the 1900
- Property of husbands and fathers
- Subject of arranged marriages
- Foot bindings
- Bought and sold
What Chinese ethnic group hated the Qing dynasty
The Han Chinese as they were overthrown by the Manchus, the Qing’s were Manchus
What percentage of the population did the peasants make up
90%
How were foreign powers involved in China
- Britain won the Opium wars and got special trading rights
- Russia took control of Manchuria
- Germany occupied ports in Shangdong
Why were people unhappy with the Qing’s rule
- The Hans ethnic group hated being ruled by the Manchus
- The peasants made up 90% and lived very difficult lives
- Foreign control of many important economic areas made the Qing’s look weak
Why were the Qing’s not at risk
- Confucianism keeps everyone in their place
- Emperor had mandate of heaven
- Manchus had been in power for over 300 years
What did the Chinese call foreigners
Foreign Devils
Why did the Chinese have growing resentment towards foreigners
- Religious missionaries, who aimed to convert the Chinese to Christianity
- they were economically exploited by them
What was the aim of the Boxer Uprising
It was an unsuccessful attempt to drive the West from China
Why was the hundred days reform introduced
Emperor Guangxu came to believe that both his dynasty and country may not survive without significant reforms
What happened to the hundred days reforms
- Cixi disagreed with the reforms
- Cixi believed the way for the Qings to survive was to get rid of Foreigners
- Cixi ordered Guangxu to abdicate and she took control
When did the Boxer Uprising break out, and where
1899, Shangdong
Who encouraged the boxer uprising
Empress Cixi
What did the Boxers do
- Carried out attacks on foreigners
- Burnt churches and attacked christian missionaries
- They practised spells and rituals as they believed it made them impervious to bullets
What provinces did the Boxer Uprising spread to
Henan, Shanxi, Hebei, Beijing
Why was the Boxer Uprising unsuccessful
- The westerners hid in the legation in Beijing
- An international force was sent in to rescue the foreigners
- The Empress fled dressed as a peasant
What were the effects of the Boxer Uprising
- The boxer protocol was signed in 1901
- China had to pay heavy reparations (67 million)
- tens of thousands of suspected Boxers were killed
What were the impacts of the Boxer Uprising
- Foreign soldiers were placed permanently in and around Beijing
- China military arsenal was destroyed
What did Cixi introduce when she came back to hold onto power
Self - strengthening movement
What did Cixis, self-strengthening movement say
- Learn from the foreigners
- Copy foreigners science and technology
- apply their technology into exploiting China resources
What were some of the reforms that Cixi introduced
- Abolition of foot binding
- Establishment of a new army under Manchus control
- Nationalisation of the railway to provide greater control by the Qing government
Who took over as Emperor when Cixi and Guangxu died
2 year old Emperor Puyi, and Prince Chun ruled as regent
What was the concern with Prince Chun ruling
He was not a strong or experienced leader
What were the 4 main reasons for the 1911 revolution
- Military
- Economic
- Social
- Political
How were economic reasons the cause for the 1911 revolution
- Corruption in the government
- The corrupt government got as much tax as they could from the people
- Landlords made peasants pay taxes instead of them, the peasants would break out into rebellions and money would have to be spent sorting out the disorder
- Anger increased when the Qings borrowed money from foreigners to pay for expansions and gave them special concessions.
- It looked as if they were partnering with the foreign devils
How were social reasons the cause for the 1911 revolution
- The Manchus believed themselves to be socially superior to the Hans, there was much resentment that a minority could rule over the majority
- Life for most Chinese people were horrific
- workers long hours, bad conditions, poor safety
- Peasants were under strict control of their landlords, disease and famine was common
- A rise in educated Chinese saw the need for reforms
How were political reasons the cause for the 1911 revolution
- Prince Chun was a weak leader
- Emperor Puyi was a 2 year old
- They symbolised the weakness of the Qings
- The Tongmenghui was formed by Sun yat-sen which aimed to overthrow the Qing dynasty and get rid of foreign influence
- Cixi’s reforms backfired, educating people called for further reforms
How was the military the cause for the 1911 revolution
- All the military forces were not effective as had low pay, corruption and lack of cooperation
- A new army was made lead by Yuan Shikai, this was better trained and equipped, the soldiers in this army were educated and were keen for China to reform so they sympathised with the revolutionaries
Events of the 1911 Revolution
- an unfinished bomb accidentally went off and started the revolution earlier
- It was unplanned and disorganised but it succeeded
- 15 provinces declared independence (2/3 of China)
- Yuan Shikai was called to surpress the revolution but he betrayed them and instead joined in and made a deal to get rid of the Qing’s and become president
- Under pressure from Yuan Shikai, Emperor Puyi abdicated
- Yuan Shikai became the provisional president
Effects of the 1911 revolution
- End of monarchial government
- Decreased Confucianism but increased Westernisation and modernisation
- Lack of social revolution, landlords still ruled the countryside
- Increased foreign influences
Why was Yuan Shikai unpopular
- He ruled as a dictator and tried to make himself Emperor in 1915, this made him unpopular with nationalists like Sun yat-sen
- he accepted ‘Japans 21 demands’, which gave Japan control of many of Chinas factories, railway lines and ports
What happened to Yuan Shikai
- In 1915 the army revolted against him making him abandon his plans to become Emperor
- He died of a stroke in 1916
Who controlled China after Yuan Shikai
China was split into states with warlords in control of one each
- no single warlord was strong enough to take charge of all China
How did the warlords run their own provinces
Most warlords were corrupt and ran them for their own benefits:
- Villagers were made to hand over food
- Warlords put taxes on everything, from soil to prostitutes
- Kidnapping was a profitable industry
- Made agreements with foreign powers for personal gains
In total how many taxes did the warlords have
673 different taxes
When did the warlord era start and finish
1916 - 1927
When was the May 4th movement
1919
Causes of the May 4th movement
- Trigger was the anger and disappointment of the treaty of Versailles, as it gave control to Japan
- Industrial workers were angry at their low pay and bad conditions
- Chinas allies had awarded Shandong to Japan and not back to China
What was the May 4th movement
- Students gathered in Tiananmen Square chanting nationalist slogans and urging the government to not sign the Treaty of Versailles
- The students drafted a manifesto condemning the treaty
- The government responded by sending in soldiers to disperse the protestors
- The next day more students throughout China copied the ones in Beijing
- It led to nationwide protests, and industrial workers going on strike
- It ended when the arrested students were released and Chinese negotiators were told not to sign the treaty
Consequences of the May 4th movement
- China still did not get Shandong back, it went to Japan
- Nationalism increased, as foreign powers had once again betrayed China
- The movement energised more radical political movements in China
What nationalist party was set up by Sun yat-sen in 1919
The Guomindang (GMD)
What three principles did the GMD advocate
- Peoples welfare
- National freedom
- Democracy
The GMD’s main idea was to raise China out of its backwards state, how was it going to do this
By getting rid of the warlords
What army did Sun yat-sen and the GMD set up
The new Republican army (NRA)
Who did SYS receive help from, when developing the NRA
The bolshevik, with organisation, weapons and leaders
Who was Chiang Kai Shek
- He was the leader of the NRA
- He took over as leader of the GMD when SYS died
What political party was set up in 1921
The Chinese Communist party (CCP)
Why did the Soviet union refuse to support the CCP unless it worked with the GMD
- The CCP was too small to achieve revolution on its own
- The GMD’s three principles were similar to communist ideas
When was the united front
1924-1927
What was the united front
- The CCP agreed to the join the GMD, to destroy the warlords and remove foreign influence
Why did the CCP agree to the united front
It could not ignore the wishes of Russia as it provided $5000 a year to fund the party
What was the movement called of the CCP and GMD to destroy the warlords
The Northern expedition
When was the Northern expedition
1926-1928
Was the Northern Expedition successful
It was very successful at defeating the Warlords
Why was the United Front so successful
- The NRA were extremely professional and well trained in tactics
- Communism was gaining the support of the peasants
- Chiang persuaded the Warlords to give up their land with bribes
- The army were polite to the locals unlike the warlords and won their support
- Their plan was effective, cutting off their supplies lines
When was the Shanghai massacre
April 1927
What was the Shanghai massacre
After the united front the GMD turned on the CCP
- CKS directed all GMD leaders to purge all the communists
- The GMD were supported by foreigners and industrialists
- The GMD executed communists in streets, this was known as the ‘white terror’
Why did the GMD massacre the CCP
- The CCP had played a big part in removing the warlords and so were seen as saviours in the areas they captured
- CCP took land from the warlords and offered to the peasants gaining them a lot of support and influence
- Most of the GMD were landlords or came from business class so were scared of communism and relied on businessmen for financial support
- CCP had gained 2 million supporters
Two causes of the Shanghai massacre
- CKS felt threatened by the CCP
- CKS did not need the CCP anymore and he did not want to share power
Consequences of the Shanghai massacre
- 250,000+ killed
- CCP went into hiding and dispersed in rural areas
- Chiang emerged as dominant leader of China
- Marked the end of the United Front aswell as Soviet support for the GMD
What happened to the CCP after the Shanghai Massacre
- The largest group fled to Jiangxi a province in the mountains
- Mao Zadong set up the Jiangxi Soviet as well as the Red army
- Within a few years they had gained the support of the peasants
How had the CCP gained the Support of the peasants
- A Land law was passed meaning that millions of peasants owned land for the first time ever
- Taxes on land were reduced and peasant councils were set up to give peasants some say in their own affairs
- The strict discipline of the red army meant that peasants were treated with respect
What tactics were the Red army trained in
Guerrilla tactics ‘hit and run’
- ambushing the enemy at their weakest point then retreating to the countryside
- they were determined to avoid direct contact with the GMD as they had a much larger well equipped army
When were the extermination camps
1930-1934
How many extermination camps did Chiang launch
5
Why were the first 4 extermination camps a failure
- Even though they had a much larger army they failure due to the Red armies guerrilla tactics
- The peasants refused to help the GMD, the GMD reacted by massacring villages and stealing their crops
Why did the 5th extermination camp work
- The GMD got a new german military advisor
- They changed tactics and used ‘blockhouse’ tactics
- They slowly surrounded the CCP so prevented food and supplies getting in or out, starving them
How successful was the 5th extermination camp
- The red army abandoned the guerrilla tactics and launched a series of disastrous conventional battles
- they lost 60,000 troops and 1/2 territory
- The reds were forced to try and break out or they would be completely destroyed
