Mao's China: 1. Why did China become a Communist state?

Question 1

o Last Chinese Emperor (Pu Yi) overthrown

• China split into mini-kingdoms ruled by Warlords

Answer 1

1911

Question 2

o Guomindang (GMD) Nationalist Party formed under leadership of Sun Yat-sen

Answer 2

1912

Question 3

o Chinese Communist Party formed (with 57 members)
• led by Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai
• allied with the Guomindang

Answer 3

1921

Question 4

o Guomindang and Communist Red Army defeated most of the Warlords one by one

Answer 4

1924-27

Question 5

o Death of Sun Yat-sen
• NRA (Nationalist Revolutionary Army) was formed
• Chiang Kai-shek became leader of Guomindang

Answer 5

1925

Question 6

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

Answer 6

1927

Question 7

o Organic Law = Chiang Kai-Shek became dictator of China

Answer 7

1928

Question 8

o Mao Zedong’s wife was killed by GMD

Answer 8

1930

Question 9

o Chiang Kai-shek’s Guomindang started full scale war on Communists

Answer 9

1931

Question 10

o Japan invaded Manchuria

Answer 10

1931

Question 11

o Communists trapped in Jiangxi region

• Communists broke through GMD lines

Answer 11

1934

Question 12

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

Answer 12

1934

Question 13

o January of this year

• Mao Zedong elected leader of Communists whilst on the ‘Long March’

Answer 13

1935

Question 14

o October of this year-

• End of the Long March (Communists arrived in Shaanxi)

Answer 14

1935

Question 15

o December of this year-

• Communists defeated by GMD at the Battle of Xiang River

Answer 15

1935

Question 16

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

Answer 16

1936

Question 17

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

Answer 17

1936-39

Question 18

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

Answer 18

1937

Question 19

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

Answer 19

1938

Question 20

o World War II broke out in Europe

• British supplied GMD against Japanese

Answer 20

1939

Question 21

o Pearl Harbour- Japan attacked USA

Answer 21

1941

Question 22

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

Answer 22

1941-44

Question 23

o Stilwell and Chiang Kai-shek fell out

• USA considered supplying Communists to fight against the Japanese

Answer 23

1944

Question 24

o August of this year-
• Atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima (Japanese cities)
• Japan surrendered to the Allies – end of WWII

Answer 24

1945

Question 25

o Communists had driven Japanese out of large areas of the countryside
• Communists controlled one sixth of China and around 100 million people

Answer 25

1945

Question 26

o Post WW2- Britain, USA and USSR wanted Chiang to be reinstated as ruler of China
• US General Marshall tried to get the Communists and GMD to cooperate
• But civil war erupted in China yet again between Communists and GMD
• Mao used the same guerrilla tactics against GMD as he had used against Japanese

Answer 26

1945

Question 27

o Red Army renamed the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)
• Communists began to win the civil war, even though GMD captured Yenan
• Defections from GMD to PLA
• PLA doubled in size

Answer 27

1947

Question 28

o PLA was now well equipped and fought GMD in the open, rather than relying on guerrilla warfare
• PLA conquered most of China
• China Aid Act (USA)

Answer 28

1948

Question 29

o Shanghai fell to the PLA

• Chiang and the Nationalist GMD were forced to flee from China to Taiwan

Answer 29

1949

Question 30

o October of this year

• Mao established as President of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) at the Gate of Heavenly Peace in Beijing

Answer 30

1949

Question 31

o Communists won civil war against GMD and were in control of China
• Chairman Mao Zedong and Prime Minister Zhou Enlai shared power in China (the PRC)
• Aimed to rebuild China after 30 years of war and chaos

Answer 31

1949

Question 32

o December of this year-

• Communist USSR promised to supply $300m and 10,000 engineers to the PRC

Answer 32

1949