Imperial China Collapses

Nationalists Overthrow Qing Dynasty Kuomintang: the Nationalist Party of China that pushed for modernization. It’s forerunner, the Revolutionary Alliance, helped overthrow the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty. Sun Yixian: Leader of the Kuomintang.

Kuomintang

Nationalists Overthrow Qing Dynasty Pu Yi – the last emperor of China. He died in October, 1967.

Shaky Start for the New Republic In 1912, Sun Yixian became president of the new Republic of China. He wanted to establish a government based on “Three Principles of the People”: 1. Nationalism- an end to foreign control. 2. People’s Rights- democracy. 3. People’s Livelihood- economic security for all Chinese people.

Shaky Start for the New Republic Sun turned over the presidency to a powerful general, Yuan Shikai, who betrayed the democratic ideals of the revolution. Civil War broke out in 1916, and authority fell into the hands of warlords and military leaders.

World War I Spells More Problems China supported the Allies during the war, declaring war against Germany in 1917. China thought the Allies would return Chinese territory that had previously belong to Germany. Instead, the Treaty of Versailles gave those territories to Japan.

World War I Spells More Problems May Fourth Movement – May 4, 1919 – 3,000 angry students gathered in Beijing to protest the Treaty of Versailles. It exploded into a national movement. These demonstrations showed the Chinese people’s commitment to the goal of establishing a strong, modern nation. Many young Chinese turned against Western Democracy in favor of Lenin’s brand of Soviet communism.

The Communist Party in China In 1921, Mao Zedong helped create the Chinese Communist Party. Mao wanted peasants to be the true revolutionaries in China.

Lenin Befriends China Sun Yixian also becomes disillusioned with Western Democracy. His nationalist party set up a government in South China. Sun decided to ally the Kuomintang with the new Communist Party. In 1923, Vladimir Lenin sent military advisers and equipment to the Nationalists in return for allowing the Chinese communists to join the Kuomintang.

Peasants Align with Communists Chiang Kai-Shek (also called Jiang Jieshi) became leader of the Kuomintang after Su Yixian died in 1925. He feared the Communists’ goal of creating a socialist economy modeled after the Soviet Union’s.

Peasants Align with Communists Chiang Kai-Shek promised democracy and political rights to Chinese. His government became steadily less democratic and more corrupt. Many peasants began to support the communists.

Nationalists and Communists Clash At first, Chiang Kai-Shek fought with the Communists against the warlords. Then he turned on the Communists. In April 1927, Nationalist troops moved into Shanghai and began killing communist party leaders and members. In 1928, Chiang Kai-Shek became leader of the Nationalist Republic of China.

Nationalists and Communists Clash The U.S. and Great Britain both formally recognized the new Chinese government. The Soviet Union did not. The Communists’ rage over the massacre erupted into a civil war that lasted until 1949.

Civil War Rages in China Civil War erupted between the Nationalists and Communists in 1930. Mao Zedong led the communists and recruited peasants to join his Red Army. He then trained them in guerilla warfare. He established a stronghold in South-Central China. Mao called this “Swimming in the peasant sea”.

The Long March By 1933, Chiang Kai-Shek gathered an army of 700,000 men. He surrounded the communists’ mountain stronghold. Outnumbered, 100,000 communist forces fled. They began a hazardous 6,000 mile journey called the Long March.

The Long March

Chain Bridges: The Long March

The Long March Between 1934 and 1935, the communists barely stayed ahead of Chiang Kai-Shek’s forces. Thousands died from hunger, cold, exposure, and battle wounds. After over a year, Mao and the seven or eight thousand Communist survivors settled in caves in Northwest China, where they gained new followers.

The Caves

Civil War Suspended Japan took advantage of China’s weakening situation and invaded Manchuria in Northeast China. The Japanese threat forced an uneasy truce between Chiang Kai-Shek and Mao Zedong’s forces. The Civil War came to a temporary halt as the Nationalists and Communists fought against the Japanese.