Long-term causes of Chinese civil war Flashcards
What were the two main phases of the Chinese Civil War?
From 1927 to 1937 and from 1945 to 1949.
What did the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) fight to get during the Chinese Civil War?
They fought against the Nationalist Party, also known as the Guomindang (GMD), for control of China.
What was the significance of the Second Sino-Japanese War in the Chinese Civil War?
The Second Sino-Japanese War was ostensibly put on hold while both sides formed a fragile alliance against the Japanese in the years 1937–45, with fighting resuming once the Second World War had ended.
Who won the Chinese Civil War and what did this lead to?
Ultimately, the CCP was victorious, leading to the establishment of a communist regime led by Mao Zedong and the flight of the Nationalists to Taiwan.
What inequalities existed in China that created conditions that were conducive for revolution?
Chinese society had profound socioeconomic inequalities in both rural and urban areas
How much of China’s population consisted of peasants in the 1930s and how did they live?
Approximately 85% of the population of China in the 1930s consisted of peasants who lived in poverty, often just one bad harvest away from starvation
Describe the farming techniques of people in rural China in the 1930s
Farming techniques were very basic, as were living conditions, with most homes having no running water or electricity.
Describe the land ownership of people in rural China in the 1930s
- Most peasants did not own their land but rented it, usually at extortionate rates.
- In Hunan province, for example, rents usually equated to 70% of the value of crops produced, and thus landlords were very unpopular.
How did China’s urban population change in the 1920s and 30s and why?
- China’s urban population was very small at the start of the twentieth century; however, industry was developing along the east coast, leading to increased urbanization.
- China’s industrial sector began to grow in the 1920s and 1930s due to an increase in foreign investment and the development of new manufacturing techniques.
- This led to population growth in eastern cities such as Shanghai, which had over 1.5 million residents by the 1920s.
What percentage of the population lived in towns by the 1930s?
By the 1930s, approximately 4.5% of the population lived in towns of over 100,000 inhabitants.
What were the features of China’s industrial centers in the 1930s?
- Poor living conditions
- Death
- Trade unions and strikes
How were poor living conditions a feature of China’s industrial centers in the 1930s?
- Living conditions for urban workers were poor.
- Sanitation was terrible, wages were low and social security was non-existent.
How was death a feature of China’s industrial centers in the 1930s?
- Death as a result of hunger or disease was not uncommon.
- In 1920s Shanghai, 20,000 dead bodies were collected from the streets every year by municipal sanitation teams.
How were trade unions and strikes a feature of China’s industrial centers in the 1930s?
- The CCP helped to develop trade unions in this period, leading to strike action in the 1920s and an increase in union membership.
- The number of unionized members as a percentage of the whole workforce was relatively small, and thus their impact was limited.
- Trade unions also struggled to unite the many artisanal workers and failed to reach many of the workers who were concentrated in the newer and larger steel and textile factories.
Timeline of political fragmentation from 1912-27 in China- What happened in 1912?
The Imperial Qing dynasty collapsed after a military revolt inspired by the reformist Nationalist Party. China held its first democratic election and the Nationalist Party won.
