The condition of China in 1936 Flashcards
What was the Guomindang (GMD)?
The Chinese Nationalist Party - and the ruling party of China in 1936.
What was the Northern Expedition?
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.
Why was China in a period regarded to as a ‘Golden Decade’ in the 1930s (7)?
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.
Why were the reforms of the so-called ‘Golden Decade’ not so impactful (7)?
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.
What is foot binding?
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.
What are concubines?
Mistresses kept by powerful and rich men within their house as sex slaves.
What were cities in China like in the 1930s (10)?
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) Establishment of China’s first passenger airline service in 1929.
7) Development of passenger and airmail services by the National Aviation Corporation in the 1930s.
8) Establishment of new Chinese schools coupled with schools provided by Western missionary societies
improved education.
9) Modern hospitals with Western medicine.
10) Flourishing cultural life, especially Shanghai.
What were rural areas in China like in the 1930s (9 factors).
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.
What were Treaty Ports?
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.
How had Japan previously exploited China (6)?
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.
What was Manchukuo?
The new name of Manchuria following the Japanese occupation.
How did Japan take Manchuria in 1932?
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.
What caused the Japanese attack on Shanghai and when was it?
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.
Who was Jiang Jieshi/Chiang Kai-Shek (as of 1937) (3)?
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’.
Who was T.V. Soong?
A rich businessman and politician, who was allies with Jiang Jieshi.
How did Jiang Jieshi consolidate his power 1926-1936 (2 factors)
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.
