1. COMMUNIST REVOLUTION IN CHINA
UNIT V: LESSON #4
COMMUNIST REVOLUTION IN CHINA

2. LESSON #4: THE CHINESE COMMUNIST REVOLUTION
BACKGROUND:
China was and is an introverted empire.
In the ’s it was intruded upon by most western countries who developed colonies along its coast and took advantage of it.
Although giant in size it seemed slow and backward, unable to stop its own decay.

4. LESSON #4: THE CHINESE COMMUNIST REVOLUTION
I. BACKGROUND: D : The Taiping Rebellion was a class and religious uprising that weakened the Manchu Dynasty and brought many local warlords to power. E. 1900: The Boxer Rebellion was an antiforeigner rebellion quietly supported by the Manchu Dynasty. F. 1912: The Dowager Empress abdicated in favor of 5 year old Pu-Yi. As he grew he wanted to be European and sophisticated, not Chinese.

5. THE BOXER REBELLION

6. LESSON #4: THE CHINESE COMMUNIST REVOLUTION
I. BACKGROUND: G. January 1, 1912 a Republic is declared by Dr. Sun Yat-Sen. Pu-Yi is quietly walled in to the forbidden city. The Political Party is called the Kuomintang. H. He is replaced by General Yuan (Warlord). I : China descends into chaos as General Yuan dies and the republic unravels. Student protests arise against foreign interventionists. J. July, 1921: The Chinese Communist Party is formed in Shanghai.

7. LESSON #4: THE CHINESE COMMUNIST REVOLUTION
II. The Communist Civil War: A Sun Yat-Sen dies and is replaced with Chiang Kai Shek, an Army Officer. B. He takes control of the Kuomintang. C. Instead of rounding up the peasants to make a revolution happened they read Karl Marx and went after factory workers in the cities. There were few. D. Cities were the center of Nationalist (Kuomintang) power. This would not end well.

8. LESSON #4: THE CHINESE COMMUNIST REVOLUTION
II. The Communist Civil War: E. 1927: After working with the Communists to get rid of warlords across China, Chang Kai Shek turns on them and slaughters thousands . F. 1931: The Communists set up a Soviet government in a rural part of China. G. October 1934: Mao retreats across China to the West. This was known as the “Long March.” ,000 people marching 6,000 miles. Survivors were the core used to recreate the revolution.

9. LESSON #4: THE CHINESE COMMUNIST REVOLUTION
III. World War II:
A : Japan invades through Manchuria, which it had seized in 1931.
B. Chang does most of the fighting.
C. The Communists are good at organizing out in the countryside.
D. 1946: When the war ends they equip themselves with abandoned Japanese weapons.

10. LESSON #4: THE CHINESE COMMUNIST REVOLUTION
IV. After World War II:
A.1945: Allies of the Chinese aren’t sure how to support them after the war.
B. The USSR supports the Communists.
C. The United States and Great Britain support the Nationalists.
D. Corruption in Chang’s Army weakens it. Support for Communists grows (peasants) so the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) grows.

11. LESSON #4: THE CHINESE COMMUNIST REVOLUTION
V. The End of the Civil War:
A. Jan 1949 the Communists capture Peking.
B. Mao proclaims a “People’s Republic.”.
C. The Nationalists escape to the island Taiwan under American protection.
D. Communist transformation of China begins. People are reeducated by “Reform through Labor.”
E. There is an on and off relationship with the USSR.

12. LESSON #4: THE CHINESE COMMUNIST REVOLUTION
VI. The Great Leap Forward:
A. February 1958: Launched a revolutionary wave of reforms.
B. A giant step to “modernize” China.
C. Collectivization and mechanization fell apart thousands died of starvation.
D. Efforts to boost industrial production also fail.

13. LESSON #4: THE CHINESE COMMUNIST REVOLUTION
VII. The Cultural Revolution:
A Mao retires and becomes “Father of the Country” but leaves the running of things to others.
B. Economic and cultural rules ease and a period of recovery begins.
C a play makes fun of Mao and he cracks down. This creates a new wave of revolution with a younger generation.
D. The “Little Red Book” of Mao’s beliefs becomes the bible of the army and new revolutionaries.
E. Mao uses this new wave to kill off all of his old party comrades, jail and torture thousands.

14. LESSON #4: THE CHINESE COMMUNIST REVOLUTION
VIII. The 70’s and 80’s:
A. 1972: President Nixon thaws the Cold War by visiting China.
B. 1975: Chang Kai-Shek dies. Stand off between Taiwan and China continues.
C. 1976: Both the current leader Zhou en Lai and Mao die.
D. The “Gang of Four” Mao’s wife and three main supporters are arrested for conspiring.
E. Deng Xiaoping comes to power.

15. LESSON #4: THE CHINESE COMMUNIST REVOLUTION
VIII. The 70’s and 80’s:
A. 1989: With the weakening of the USSR, the collapse of the Berlin Wall and Eastern European Communism, college students in China want a change toward Democracy.
B. The Communist Government are patient for a few weeks and then crush them at Tiananmen Square.
C. The army rolls in to Beijing and “Tank Man” makes a one-man protest against the violence.
IX. Trade opened in a major way with China and now most of our democratic goods are made in Communist China.
E. Recent attempts for Democratic change have so far met the same fate as those in 1989.