Unit 10 (1900-Present) China, Decolonization, Democracy Flashcards
Kuomintang
-Nationalist Party of China
-Led by Sun Yixian
-Pushed for modernization and nationalism
-In 1911, the Revolutionary Alliance (forerunner of the Kuomintang) overthrew the last Qing emperor (had been in power since 1644)
Sun Yixian
-Leader of Kuomintang
-Became president of the new Republic of China in 1912
-Wanted to establish a modern gov based on the Three Principles of the People:
—-Nationalism, people’s rights (democracy), and people’s livelihood (economic security)
-Lacked the authority and military support to secure national unity
-Turned over the presidency to general Yuan Shikai who quickly betrayed the democratic ideals of the revolution (lots of revolts, civil war started after his death in 1916)
Who held the real power when the civil war started?
Provincial warlords/powerful military leaders who ruled the territory they conquered
May Fourth Movement
-Fought WWI, but the Germans’ territory given to Japan instead of China in Treaty of Versailles
-May 4 1919, 3,000 students went to central Beijing (Tiananmen square) to demonstrate
-Spread to other cities, supported by workers, shopkeepers, and professionals
-Sun Yixian and Kuomintang members shared the aims of the movement, but they couldn’t strengthen central rule on their own
—This caused many young Chinese intellectuals to turn against Sun’s belief in Western Democracy in favor of Lenin’s Communism
Mao Zedong
-A founding member of the Chinese Communist Party that started in 1921
-Wanted to bring the revolution to rural areas and peasants instead of the cities (what Lenin had done)
Lenin helps China
-Sun Yixian became disillusioned with the Western democracies who weren’t helping support his gov, so he allied the Kuomintang with the newly formed Communist Party
-Lenin sent military advisors and equipment in 1923 to the Nationalists in return for allowing the Chinese Communists to join the Kuomintang
Jiang Jieshi
-Led the Kuomintang when Sun died in 1925
-Followers were mainly bankers and businesspeople who feared the communist goal of creating a socialist economy
-Promised democracy and political rights, but his gov became less democratic and more corrupt
-Most peasants didn’t think he was improving their lives, so many started supporting the Communists
—-Mao got more peasants to join by giving farmers land
-Initially allied with Communists and fought the warlords with them, but soon they fought
Fighting btwn Nationalists and Communists begin
-April. 1927, Nationalist troops and armed gangs moved into Shanghai, killing Communist leaders and trade union members
-These killings spread to other cities too, nearly wiping out the Communist Party
-When Jiang became pres of the new Nationalist Republic of China, the Soviets did not recognize the new gov bc of the slaughter (Britain and US did)
-These killings started the civil war which lasted until 1949
Civil War
-Mao and other Communists went to the hills of South Central China to “swim in the peasant sea” and recruit them to join his Red Army and train them in guerrilla warfare
-Nationalists attacked the communists but failed to drive them out
The Long March
-1933, Jiang gathered a 700,000 man army and surrounded the communists’ mountain stronghold
-100,000 Communists forces fled and began a 6,000 mile long hazardous journey
-Thousands died from hunger, cold, exposure, and battle wounds as they only kept a step ahead of Jiang’s forces from 1934-1935
-After a year, Mao and the 7or8 thousand surviving Communists settled in caves in NW China and gained new followers
Why was the Civil War suspended?
-In 1931, Japan took advantage of the power struggle in China and invaded Manchuria (NE China)
-In 1937, Japan launched a full on invasion of China with bombings of villages and cities, and destroying farms, killing thousands
-Japan controlled large portion of China by 1938
-This led to a truce btwn Jiang and Mao
-They united to fight the Japanese
China and WWII
-Japan occupied and devastated most of China’s cities and 10-22 mil civilian died, second only to Soviet Union
-Communists (Mao) had a stronghold in NW China, peasants fought with guerrilla warfare against the Japanese
—Peasant support bc they promoted literacy and improved food production
—-By 1945,v Communists controlled much of N China
-Nationalists (Jiang) dominated SW China and were protected from the Japanese by a mountain range
—-Jiang gathered a 2.5 mil men army and US sent $1.5 bil in aid to fight Japan (the money just went to a few corrupt officers though)
—-Rarely actually fought Japan, just saving strength for fighting the Red Army
Civil War Resumes
-Renewed from 1946-1949 after Japan surrendered
-Nationalists had initial advantage bc army was 3x the size and US gave $2 bil in aid
—However, they lacked pop support bc of the collapsing economy (turned ppl to communism)
-By 1949, major cities fell to the Red Army and Jian’s army fled South
End of Civil War
-Mao gained full control of country in 1949 and called it the People’s Republic of China
-Jian g and other Nationalists retreated to Taiwan, called Formosa by westerners
-This result fueled US anti-Communist feelings, which only grew in 1950 when the Chinese and Soviets signed a treaty of friendship
Two Chinas
-Nationalist China on Taiwan
-People’s Republic of China on the mainland
-This split intensified the Cold War bc different powers supported different sides
Superpowers interfere in China
-US helped Jiang Jieshi set up the Republic of China in Taiwan
-Soviets gave financial, military, and technical aid to Communist China
-Chinese and Soveits pledged to come to each other’s defense if either was attacked
-US tried to stop Soviet expansion (eg Korean war)
China expands
-Early reign of Mao, Chinese expanded into Tibet, India, and Southern/Inner Mongolia
-Told Tibet they would have autonomy, but they strengthened their rule, leading the Dalai Lama (Tibet’s religious leader) to flee to India
—-Others also went to India as they welcomed refugees, causing resentment and brief fighting in 1962 btwn India and China
Communists Rule
-The party’s 4.5 mil members were just 1% of the pop
-Like the Soviets, the Chinese Communists set up two parallel organizations: The Communist Party and the national gov (both led by Mao until 1959)
Agricultural socialist reform
-80% of ppl lived in rural areas, but just 10% of them controlled 70% of the land
-The Agrarian Reform Law of 1950 involved Mao seizing the land from these landlords (killed over a million resistors to do so) and dividing it among the peasants
-Made the peasants join collective farms, each with 200-300 households
Industry and business socialist reform
-Private companies brought under gov ownership
-Five year plan that increased coal, cement, steel, and electricity outputs
Great Leap Forward
-Launched in 1958 to expand on success of the Five Year Plan
-Called for even larger collective farms (communes)
—26,000 of them by late 1958
—Each around 25,000 people and 15,000 acres
—Peasants ate, slept, raised children in controlled, communal spaces
—Owned nothing, no incentive to work hard (only the state benefited
-Failed bc of poor planning and inefficient home industries
-Ended in 1961 after crop failures caused a famine that killed 20 mil people
Why did China and Soviets grow apart?
-Each wanted to lead the worldwide communist movement and they faced territorial disputes (they share a huge border)
Mao’s reduced role
-Reduced his gov role after failure of Great Leap Forward and split with the Soviets
-New leaders changed policies, letting farm families have their own homes and sell their own crops and factory workers competing for wage increases and promotions
-Mao said this relaxed system weakened the communist goal of social equality, so he wanted to revive the revolution
—He urged the youth to take action, they formed militia units called the Red Guards
Cultural Revolution
-Red Guards’ uprising to establish a society of peasants and workers where all were equal
-Praised hard manual labor, said intellectual and artistic things were weak
—-Shut down colleges and schools, made intellectuals do hard labor
-Thousands killed or imprisoned for resisting them
-This chaos hurt farm and factory production
-In 1968 even Mao said they must stop and the army was ordered to put them down
-Zhou Enlai, a Chinese Communist party founder, began to restore order