China 19111949 Warlords Nationalists

1
China 1911-1949WarlordsNationalists
CommunistsJapanese InvasionCivil War and
Communism

• 8

2
Qing Collapse 1911

• Qing Dynasty ends officially in 1911
• Young emperor survives
• No single leader or government
• Yuan Shikai as President and commander in name
  only
• Warlord factionalism
• 1920s Communists and Nationalists emerge to
  contest leadership
• Both claim Sun Yat-sen as the father of their
  movement.
• Sun survives until 1925 but never really rules
  china

3
China 1910s, 1920s, and 1930sContending Forces

• Nationalists v Communists
• Communists and the COMINTERN
• Urban Communists and Soviet advisors
• Rural communists and Mao Zedong
• Nationalists
• Led by Chiang Kai-Shek, (Jiang Jishi)
• Supported by non-communist West
• Local power base in traditional Gentry and new
  capitalist class

4
Nationalists v Communists

• Communists
• Urban communism in China
• COMINTERN Soviet orthodoxy
• Communism must be urban and based on industrial
  labor
• Peasant Communists in China
• Mao Zedong
• Chinese Communism must be based in agricultural
  labor must have Chinese characteristics
• Both claimed to draw from Sun Yat-sen, Marx and
  Lenin

5
Nationalists v Communists

• Nationalists (KMT)
• Chiang Kai-Shek (Jiang Jishi)
• Claimed to build on Sun Yat-sen
• Unify China under military government
• Establish order and defeat threat of communism
• Power base in traditional Gentry and new business
  class
• Favored and supported by Western nations

6
China 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s Contending Forces

• WW I Japan enters on US-British side
• Tries to claim territory and power in China as a
  victorious nation
• Issues 21 Demands (see book for details)
• WW I ends
• US President Woodrow Wilson
• Rejects 21 Demands
• Defends Chinese Sovereignty
• Upholds Chinese Independence

7
China 1920s and 1930sContending Forces

• United Front 1926 (first)
• Under pressure from COMINTERN, urban Communists
  join with Nationalist
• Under pressure from Western supporters,
  Nationalists join with Communists
• Jiang Jishi initiates a purge of communists 1927

8
China 1920s and 1930sContending Forces

• Pre-WW II 1931 Mukden Incident
• Japanese military stage train sabotage to justify
  mobilization
• Japanese takeover Manchuria
• Establish Puppet Government under former Qing
  Emperor
• Not officially, but this begins the conflicts of
  World War II in Asia

9
1930s

• 2nd United Front
• Under pressure from COMINTERN, urban Communists
  join with Nationalists again
• Under pressure from Western supporters,
  Nationalists join with Communists Again
• Jiang Jishi sees communists as cancer within
  while Japans threats are a disease of the skin
• Jiang launches wholesale attack on communist
  allies 1935
• Urban Communists decimated
• Mao Zedong and Peasant Communists left alone

10
The Long March

• Long March 1935-37
• Nationalists attempt
• to finish off Communists
• Communists flea east then north in Long March
• 2/3 of communists dont survive
• Survivors are seasoned and solidified under Mao
  Zedong

11
Communists v. NationalistsLong March and
Japanese Invasion

• Communists
• United and ideologically motivated
• Disciplined
• Used persuasion and education to recruit
• Traded services or purchased supplies
• Liberated villages from tyrannical local gentry
• Treated villagers with respect
• Promised a better world under their rule

12
Communists v. NationalistsLong March and
Japanese Invasion

• Nationalists
• Conscript army random, violent draft
• Unmotivated and undisciplined
• Support based on gentry and urban rich
• Commandeered supplies, no compensation
• Looting, pillaging, even rape common
• Implied promise more of the same
• Lose support and loyalty through Long March

13
World War II Officially1937-1945

• Marco Polo Bridge incident
• Japanese sweep south and take Beijing
• Nationalists retreat to Nanjing
• Rape of Nanjing Dec. 1937--Mar. 1938

14
World War II

• Nationalists
• Continue to pursue Communists
• Ineffective in defending against Japan
• Terrible public relations within China
• Communists
• Gather in Yenan
• Harass Japanese in small raids
• Cultivate image as REAL defenders of China
• Rebuild and demonstrate success in Yenan

15
World War II Ends 1945

• China Victorious as part of Allied Forces
• Liberated by Americas defeat of Japan
• Allied powers recognize and support Nationalists
  fear and repress Communists
• Jiang and Nationalists remain tyrannical and
  continue to try and purge Communists

16
Civil War 1947-1949

• Full Scale Civil War Erupts
• Communists v. Nationalists
• Soviets back Communists
• US and Western Europe back Nationalists
• Nationalists better equipped and funded
• Communists win battle for hearts and minds
• Communists emerge victorious October 1949