Modern China: 1916 to Present

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Modern China 1916 to Present
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Civil War (The First)

• Warlords and Communists and Students, Oh My.

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• I. Civil War (1916 - 1928)
• A. The Political and social situation
• 1. Again, China had a weak, powerless central
  government
• 2. Again, individual generals or warlords
  controlled Chinas provinces
• 3. This was a period of great destruction and
  starvation within China
• B. Two Great Forces Emerge
• 1. The Communists
• a. On May 4, 1919, radical students and
  professors, violating government orders
  protested outside of the Forbidden City in
  Beijing
• 1. The students were upset about Japan being
  granted rights to Germanys former sphere of
  influence within China
• 2. This so-called May Fourth Movement spread
  into other parts of China

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• b. Later in 1921, The Chinese Communist Party
  (CCP) was founded in the city of Shanghai by
  many of the same participants in the May Fourth
  protests
• 2. The Nationalists
• a. Sun Yat-sen returned to China in 1917 and
  reformed the Guomindang
• b. By 1920, Sun and the Guomindang had made
  powerful alliances with
• 1. the warlord controlling the province of
  Guangdong now Sun had a military
• 2. The Soviet Union
• a. While not a Marxist, Sun admired the way
  Lenin orchestrated the 1917 revolution and
  had begun to organize Russia/The USSR
• b. Because of this support from the USSR,
  many members of the new Chinese Communist
  Party were encouraged to support and even
  join the Guomindang.
• c. Sun Yat-sen died in 1925 Chiang
  Kai-shek (or Jiang Jieshi, if you prefer)
  took over as the new leader of the Guomindang

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• C. Between 1923 and 1926, the combined
  Nationalist and Communist forces were actively
  working and fighting together to unify China and
  remove outside, imperialistic forces -- under
  the guidance of the Comintern
• 1. A Revolutionary Army was trained
• 2. In 1926, the Northern Expedition was
  undertaken to defeat the warlords and gain
  control of Northern China.
• 3. By the spring of 1927 most of China had been
  unified under the control of the Guomindang
• D. Relations between the Communists and
  Nationalists began to sour very quickly
• 1. Communists unsuccessfully tried to seize
  control of the Guomindang in the Spring of 1927
  Autumn Harvest Movement in Hunan
• 2. Chiang Kai-shek quickly turned against the
  communists in retaliation ordering Nationalist
  troops to kill communists in Shanghai as well as
  many other of Chinas major cities

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• a. tens of thousands of communists were killed
• b. most of the leaders of the CCP were forced
  into hiding (including Mao Zedong)
• E. By 1928, the now (communist-free) Guomindang,
  led by Chiang Kai-shek, unified all of China and
  established a new government centered in Nanjing.

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Nanjing Republic and WWII

• Here comes Chairman Mao.

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• II. The Nanjing Republic and World War II (1928 -
  1945)
• A. Major Policies of Chiang and his Government
• 1. Some Improvements Made
• a. building infrastructure roads and rail
  lines
• b. encouragement of industrialization
• c. more schools built
• 2. Incorporation of Chinas warlords into the
  government
• . One special target Zhang Xueliang of
  Manchuria (to reduce Japanese influence there)
• . Obviously this worked until 1931 (when Japan
  took it over)
• 3. New Life Movement mostly introduced by
  Chiangs wife, Mei-ling Soong
• a. Promotion of western-style industrialism
  (without the materialism and individualism
  part)
• b. Many traditional, Confucian values still
  encouraged (especially hard work and honesty)

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• 4. The lives of most of Chinas people (who were
  rural peasants) still stunk and were not
  improved!
• a. A planned land-reform policy in 1930 failed
  miserably
• b. Great Depression severely effected the
  Chinese economy
• c. rise of a new (but small) urban middle class
  their needs were addressed more by the
  government
• d. Obviously, this eventually helped the
  Communist cause!
• B. Reformation and Survival of the Chinese
  Communist Party
• 1. In the southern, mountainous province of
  Jiangxi, the CCP formed a stronghold under the
  direction of Mao Zedong
• a. After the massacres of 1927, many of the
  Chinese Communist Party leaders and members
  fled there

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• b. Realizing the plight of the peasants, Mao
  understood that utilizing their strength was key
• c. By 1930, Mao had organized a force of about
  30,000 peasants which he called the Red Army or
  Peoples Liberation Army (PLA)
• d. Mao also supported and encouraged womens
  rights
• 1. Mao and the Communists had organized the
  textile workers from Shanghai and incorporated
  them into the party
• 2. In Jiangxi, Mao and the Communists
• a. Organized women farmers
• b. Banned arranged marriages
• c. Outlawed foot binding
• d. Allowed women to be members (but not
  leaders) of the party

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• 2. In 1933, Chiang ordered his troops to destroy
  Maos base
• . The base was surrounded, but Mao and many of
  his army managed to use guerrilla tactics to
  temporarily hold-off the Chinese army.
• 3. In October 1934, Mao and what was left of his
  army escaped from Jiangxi and began what was
  called The Long March
• a. Mao led about 100,000 of his followers to
  the northwest to the town of Yanan
• b. When their destination was reached (6,000
  miles later entirely on foot) in 1935, only
  about 8,000 of the followers were still with Mao
• C. The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)
• 1. China was invaded by Japan in July of 1937
• 2. Mao offered to help the Chinese government
  fight off the Japanese invaders, but Chiang
  refused

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• 3. Formation of two separate governments after
  Japan took over Eastern China by 1939
• a. Mao formed a communist government and army
  in North-Central China
• . Mao asserted that the communists were
  interested in fighting the Japanese
• b. Chiang retreated to the province of Sichuan
  in Central China where he reformed the
  Nationalist government and army (in anticipation
  of fighting the communists, not the Japanese)

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Civil War (The Second)

• Nationalists versus Communists.

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• III. Another Civil War (1945 1949)
• A. After the Japanese surrender, the two
  governments were encouraged to work together
• 1. Chiang, supported by the USA and encouraged
  to form a coalition government with Mao, instead
  continued to build up his forces to defeat the
  Communists
• 2. Mao, with his power base in the North,
  gathered one million troops and gained growing
  support from the rural peasants and urbanites
  angry with Chiangs policies

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• B. China lapsed into a Civil War between these
  forces from 1946-1949
• 1. In spite of being outnumbered almost 4 to 1,
  Maos Peoples Liberation Army defeated the
  Nationalists and established The Peoples
  Republic of China (with its capital at Beijing)
  on October 1, 1949
• 2. Chiang and his remaining forces escaped to
  Taiwan and established the Republic of China
  (with its capital at Taipei)
• . These two governments still remain
• 1. Mainland China considers Taiwan a rebel,
  breakaway province
• 2. Taiwan considers itself to be Chinas
  legitimate government (The Republic of China)
• 3. Most of the world considers them as two
  separate countries

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The Peoples Republic of China

• The Chairman smiles.

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• IV. The Peoples Republic of China under Chairman
  Mao and Premier Chou Enlai (1949 1976)
• . Mao and the Communist government gradually
  weaned China into a communist system by
  enacting several policies
• A. New Democracy (1949 1955)
• 1. Large scale industry was controlled by the
  Government
• 2. Small businesses (mostly trading and
  manufacturing) were continued to be owned
  privately
• 3. Land redistribution lands taken from
  wealthy landowners and given to peasant
  families
• . Simultaneously, many of these rich
  landowners and landlords were tried for crimes
  against the people and executed

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• B. Let a Hundred Flowers Blossom (1957)
• 1. Main Idea Mao wanted Chinese artists and
  intellectuals to freely express what they
  thought about the Communist revolution and
  government so far
• 2. Two possibilities for his intentions
• a. He truly wanted artists and intellectuals
  to express themselves and see what they
  thought
• b. He wanted to flush all dissenters out into
  the open so he could get rid of them
• 3. The results
• a. Many artists and intellectuals gave
  scathing criticisms
• b. Most of these people were removed from
  their positions and sent to prisons, labor
  camps, or collective farms

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• C. The Great Leap Forward (1958 1960)
• 1. This was Maos version of Stalins
  Collectivization and Five Year Plans, with a
  twist
• a. Beginning in 1955, Mao ordered the
  collectivization of farms
• 1. Individual farm plots in villages were
  combined and worked communally by the people
  there
• 2. Families were allowed to farm very small
  plots of their own
• b. Beginning in 1958, Mao combined the
  collective farms into larger units called
  peoples communes, which were farmed by about
  30,000 people each
• D. The Cultural Revolution (1966 1976) Maos
  aim was to form a totally classless society
• 1. Formation of the Red Guard
• a. Comprised of young communist party members
  and young people
• . Most were between 15 and 20 years old, with
  little prospects for doing anything else

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• b. Their orders
• 1. seek out and cleanse China of all capitalist
  and outside influences (as well as the people
  who practiced them)
• 2. eliminate the four olds
• a. old ideas
• b. old culture
• c. old customs
• d. old habits
• . They were allowed access to schools,
  businesses and even the government to seek out
  and eliminate these influences
• 2. All schools and universities closed until
  January 1967, so a new curriculum (based on Maos
  version of Chinese Communist ideology) could be
  put into place
• . Many Teachings came from Maos Little Red
  Book, a collection of his teachings and ideas

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Mao Says

• A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an
  essay, or painting a picture, or doing
  embroidery it cannot be so refined, so leisurely
  and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous,
  restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an
  insurrection, an act of violence by which one
  class overthrows another.
• Every Communist must grasp the truth, "Political
  power grows out of the barrel of a gun. Our
  Principle is that the Party commands the gun, and
  the gun must never be allowed to command the
  Party.

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• 3. Attacks on individuals who had engaged in (or
  supposedly) engaged in practices of thoughts that
  were not tolerated by Mao
• . Typical punishments
• 1. public humiliation being forced to
  confess at public meetings
• a. Beatings/torture artists and musicians
  were often treated in such ways for owning,
  creating or performing western compositions
• E. Other Policies and Happenings under Mao
• 1. Expression of gender equality more rights
  for women beginning in the 1950s
• a. Women allowed to serve in the Communist
  Party and government
• b. New marriage laws passed and women now
  allowed to seek divorce
• c. freeing from expectation of performing
  traditional chores in the household
• d. encouragement for women to enter the
  workforce as equals
• . According to Mao women hold up half the
  heavens.

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• 2. Abandonment of most traditional, Confucian
  ideals (which were believed to interfere with
  Communism)
• a. Children encouraged to report disloyal
  activities of parents or teachers
• b. Employees encouraged to do the same on their
  employers
• 3. Encouragement of the spread of Communism
  during the Cold War
• . The Korean War
• 4. Brutal takeover of Tibet and exile of the
  Dalai Lama in 1950
• 5. Rift between the USSR and China began in the
  mid 1950s into the 1960s. (Sino-Soviet Split)
• . Ironically, this led to improved relations
  with the USA (which were heightened by a visit
  from President Nixon in 1972)

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Post-Mao China

• Tiananmen, Economic Change, and A Billion More.

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• V. Post-Mao China (1976 Present)
• A. China under Deng Xiaoping (1976 - 1997)
• 1. ended the Cultural Revolution
• 2. Arrested the Gang of Four Maos wife
  (Jiang Qing) and three of her advisors who
  helped run Maos government
• . Sentenced to life in prison
• 3. The Four Modernizations policy
• a. improvements made in industry,
  agriculture, technology and national defense
• b. More capitalistic policies adopted
• 1. People encouraged to work for Chinas
  benefit as well as their own gain

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• 2. Encouragement of foreign investment
• . Special Economic Zones were established
  in which foreign businesses were allowed to be
  set up with almost no government interference
• c. Chinese students allowed to freely study in
  other countries
• d. Results
• 1. great steps in improving sanitation,
  housing, income, agricultural output, and
  technology
• 2. many Chinese people began to ask for more
  democratic government reforms (especially from
  those who were educated outside China)
• a. Many of these people were imprisoned
• b. to this day, China has a very suspect
  record on human rights

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• 4. The Tiananmen Square Massacre of June 1989
• a. In the late 1980s there were many calls for
  reform (especially from Chinese students)
• b. Demonstrations broke out in the streets of
  many Chinese cities the most famous one being
  in Beijings Tiananmen Square
• c. Wanting to maintain control, the government
  sent in troops (with tanks) to end the protests
• d. Violence erupted and many of the protesters
  were killed
• (Well come back to this in a bit.)

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• B. China under Jiang Zemin (1993 2003) and Hu
  Jintao (2003 Present)
• 1. In the wake of Tiananmen Square Massacre,
  Jiang Zemin was named the new president of China
• . Deng Xiaoping continued to really run the
  show behind the scenes until his death in 1997
• 2. Current President Hu Jintao
• 3. Major Policies and Events in Recent Chinese
  History
• a. Economic gap developed
• 1. Chinas coastal cities became much more
  prosperous than its interior regions
• 2. result mass urbanization for more job
  opportunities

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• b. Further western-style economic reforms
• 1. Chinese companies allowed to sell stock to
  shareholders (but the Chinese government
  continues to be the main shareholder)
• 2. Continued growth in trade with the rest of
  the world
• . China has Most Favored Nation Status from
  the USA
• b. The fastest growing economy in the world
  (estimated to be the worlds largest economic
  power by 2050)

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• c. Construction of the Three Gorges Dam on the
  Chang Jiang
• 1. To prevent flooding
• 2. To create hydroelectricity
• 3. Drawback destruction of many farms,
  cultural sites and villages
• d. Some continuation of human rights abuses
• e. China regained control of former European
  colonies
• 1. Hong Kong (from Great Britain) in 1997
• 2. Macao (from Portugal) in 1999

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