Communism In China Notes

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Communism In China Notes
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I. China Before the Chinese Civil War

• By the 1900s, China with a was ripe for
  revolution
• Ruled by the Qing dynasty, which was unable to
  make changes to improve China
• Foreign countries controlled Chinas trade and
  economic resources led to years of humiliation
  during Imperialism
• Feudalism created an unfair and unequal system in
  China
• Roughly 80 of the population live in rural
  areas, with 10 of the rural population
  controlling 70 of the land
• Many Chinese believed that modernization and
  nationalism held the countrys key for survival

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I. China Before the Chinese Civil War

• Chinese Revolution (1911)
• Between 1911-1912, the Kuomintang, or Nationalist
  Party, overthrow the last emperor of the Qing
  dynasty
• Created the Republic of China with Sun Yixian as
  the first president
• New government wanted to bring nationalism,
  democracy, and economic security

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I. China Before the Chinese Civil War

• Chinese Revolution (1911)
• Sun Yixian loses control of government due to
  warlords the goals of reforming China were
  abandoned
• As a result protests broke out in China
• Tensions increased after WWI and the Treaty of
  Versailles because Chinese territories,
  controlled by imperialist countries, were NOT
  returned to the people of China, even though
  China helped the Allied Powers win WWI

Warlord Era
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I. China Before the Chinese Civil War

• Rise of the Chinese Communist Party (1921)
• Due to the corruption, economic problems, and
  failures of the government many people began to
  support the newly created Chinese Communist Party
  
• 1925 Chiang Kai-shek (Jiang Jieshi) became the
  leader of the Kuomintang, after the death of Sun
  Yixian in 1924
• Communist party would work with Nationalist to
  defeat warlords in China uniting China under one
  government

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I. China Before the Chinese Civil War

• Rise of the Chinese Communist Party (1921)
• Mao Zedong would emerge as a leader in the
  Communist Party
• Gained support from the peasants in China by
  promising land and education reform received
  support from the U.S.S.R.
• Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist would receive
  support from the U.S., but many officials kept
  the money (3.5 billion)
• 1927 Chiang turned against the communist party,
  nearly wiping out the entire Chinese Communist
  Party
• This marked the start of the Chinese Civil War
• 1928 Chiang became the President of the
  Republic of China

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II. Chinese Civil War (1927-1950)

• Chinese Communist vs Chinese Nationalist
• The communist regrouped in south-central China a
  very rural area with lots of peasants who would
  join the Red Army
• The army was trained in guerrilla warfare, but
  outnumbered by Nationalist army
• By 1933, communist were surrounded and Mao Zedong
  was forced to flee
• The Long March (1934-1935) a hazardous
  6,000-mile-journey from southern China to
  northern China
• Thousands would die of hunger, cold, exposure,
  and battle wounds
• Eventually the communist settled in caves in
  northwest China

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II. Chinese Civil War (1927-1950)

• World War II
• However in 1931, the Japanese invade Manchuria in
  northwest China
• In 1937, the Japanese launch an all-out invasion
  of China controlling large parts of China by
  1938
• The Chinese Civil War is put on hold to fight
  against the Japanese occupation of China
• After WWII, the civil war for power and control
  in China would resume

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II. Chinese Civil War (1927-1950)

• Communist Win the Chinese Civil War
• Even more peasants in China join the communist
  due to their fierce fighting of the Japanese and
  the decline of the Chinese economy (even some
  soldiers from the Nationalist Army switch sides)
• Due to the increased support, Mao is able to win
  control of mainland China and force Chiang to the
  island of Taiwan
• Mao establishes a communist government Peoples
  Republic of China (Oct. 1949) and allied with
  the U.S.S.R
• U.S. helped Chiang set up a government on Taiwan
  Republic of China

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III. Communist Transform China

• Once in power Mao expanded Chinese borders into
  Tibet, India, and parts of Mongolia
• Mao wanted to transform the Chinese economy and
  culture

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III. Communist Transform China

• Agrarian Reform Law (1950)
• The government take land from landlords in China
• More than a million executed for resisting
• Land divided among peasants
• Later peasants are forced to join collective
  farms consisting of 200-300 families
• Collective Farms large government-controlled
  farms formed by combining small farms

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III. Communist Transform China

• Nationalized Businesses
• Gradually private companies were nationalized or
  brought under government ownership
• First Five-Year Plan (1953)
• Set high production goals for industry
• Five-Year Plan a plan to meet specific economic
  goals in 5 years typically used in communism
• By 1957, Chinas output of coal, cement, steel,
  and electricity had increased drastically

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III. Communist Transform China

• Great Leap Forward (1958)
• Maos second five-year plan
• Established Communes or even larger
  government-controlled farms (avg. 15,000 acres
  and 25,000 people)
• Peasants worked the land and lived together
  everything produced went to the government to be
  redistributed
• No incentive to work hard and led to crop
  failure, which led to a famine with 20 million
  deaths
• Great Leap Forward was a disaster and ended in
  1961

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Great Leap Forward
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Famine
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III. Communist Transform China

• Sino-Soviet Split (1960s)
• China and Soviet Union share a border, so they
  argued over borders and territory
• Both wanted to spread communism, but had
  different ideas of what communism was and how it
  should be run
• There are more elaborate similarities/differenc
  es, but this is the basic similarities/differences
  

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III. Communist Transform China

• Chinese Communism (Maoism)
• Focuses on peasant and agriculture
• Lasted longer and happened later
• Adapted to survive

• Soviet Communism (Stalinism)
• Focuses on factory workers and industry
• Shorter and happened earlier
• Ends in 1991

• Both
• Authoritarian government
• Centralized one-party
• Collectivization/ Nationalization
• State over individual need
• Need to change social problems

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IV. Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)

• With the failures of the Great Leap Forward and
  the end of the alliance with the Soviet Union
• Mao decides to reduce his role and control in the
  government
• New leaders move away from Maos strict policies
• Mao thought these new ideas were weakening the
  goal of social equality

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IV. Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)

• Mao calls for young people in China to revive the
  revolution
• Millions of high school and college students
  formed the Red Guard
• Red Guard - soldiers who want to remove anyone
  and anything that was opposed to Maos ideas
• Wanted to establish a society of peasants and
  workers in which everyone was equal

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IV. Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)

• 20-30 million Red Guards began a Cultural
  Revolution
• Guided by Maos Little Red Book a book of
  quotes
• Want to destroy the Four Olds Old culture,
  ideas, customs, and habits

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Cultural Revolution Destruction
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IV. Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)

• Buddhist temples are destroyed
• Intellectuals and artists were seen as useless
  and dangerous - Colleges and schools were shut
  down
• Intellectuals had to purify themselves by doing
  hard labor in remote villages
• People were attacked for having traditional or
  capitalistic beliefs

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Cultural Revolution Public Shame
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IV. Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)

• Legacy of the Cultural Revolution
• Cultural Revolution disrupts Chinas economic and
  educational systems
• Chinese culture, knowledge, and history are lost
  
• Estimated that 36 million people are persecuted,
  while 750,000 2 million die

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IV. Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)

• Communist party in China decided that the
  Cultural Revolution was having a negative effect
  on China
• Mao Zedong dies in 1976, while the Chinese army
  is used to end the Cultural Revolution and arrest
  the Gang of Four
• Many people become opposed to Maos form of
  communism but Mao is still seen as a national
  hero
• By late 1970s- Early 1980s China begins to talk
  with the U.S. and moves towards a less communist
  economy, while focusing on modernizing and
  industrializing

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The End

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