Mao's China: 1. Why did China become a Communist state? Flashcards
o Last Chinese Emperor (Pu Yi) overthrown
• China split into mini-kingdoms ruled by Warlords
1911
o Guomindang (GMD) Nationalist Party formed under leadership of Sun Yat-sen
1912
o Chinese Communist Party formed (with 57 members)
• led by Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai
• allied with the Guomindang
1921
o Guomindang and Communist Red Army defeated most of the Warlords one by one
1924-27
o Death of Sun Yat-sen
• NRA (Nationalist Revolutionary Army) was formed
• Chiang Kai-shek became leader of Guomindang
1925
o Last of the warlords defeated
o Guomindang under Chiang Kai-shek purged the Communists
• Many Communists killed or imprisoned
• Mao Zedong imprisoned but he escaped and rebuilt the Communist Party
1927
o Organic Law = Chiang Kai-Shek became dictator of China
1928
o Mao Zedong’s wife was killed by GMD
1930
o Chiang Kai-shek’s Guomindang started full scale war on Communists
1931
o Japan invaded Manchuria
1931
o Communists trapped in Jiangxi region
• Communists broke through GMD lines
1934
o October of this year
• 100,000 Communists started the ‘Long March’ (over 3000 km) from Jiangxi to Yan’an in Shaanxi.
• Communists lost 90% of their original followers but they spread their message to peasants along the March
1934
o January of this year
• Mao Zedong elected leader of Communists whilst on the ‘Long March’
1935
o October of this year-
• End of the Long March (Communists arrived in Shaanxi)
1935
o December of this year-
• Communists defeated by GMD at the Battle of Xiang River
1935
o Japan advanced further into China, taking advantage of the civil war between the Communists and the Guomindang
• Chiang Kai-shek’s GMD focused on defeating Communists rather than fighting the Japanese
1936
o ‘2nd Sino-Japanese War’
o Communist Red Army (led by Lin Biao) used guerrilla tactics, earning more supporters (Japanese used brutal punishments in response)
• Communist controlled regions of China were well run and popular
• Rent reduction laws
• Wealthy landowners and wealthy peasants had to pay extra tax
1936-39
o Japan captured Shanghai and Nanjing (the GMD capital)
• ‘Rape of Nanjing’ - Japanese atrocities
• Japanese ruled with terror and used Chinese as forced labour for their war effort
1937
o GMD retreated to Chungking
• GMD’s scorched earth brought misery to Chinese peasants and failed to stop the Japanese invasion
• GMD rule was harsh – e.g., Tai Li’s soldiers crushed protesters
1938
o World War II broke out in Europe
• British supplied GMD against Japanese
1939
o Pearl Harbour- Japan attacked USA
1941
o USA supplied GMD against Japanese
• General Stilwell trained GMD to fight Japanese
• Chiang Kai-shek stockpiled supplies to use against Communists instead of attacking Japanese troops
1941-44
o Stilwell and Chiang Kai-shek fell out
• USA considered supplying Communists to fight against the Japanese
1944
o August of this year-
• Atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima (Japanese cities)
• Japan surrendered to the Allies – end of WWII
1945
