China

Post-Emperors to Modern Day

Review

• Empress CiXi dies and her infant son becomes Emperor

• 1911 – Royal Guard joins revolt and overthrows Emperor. (He’s a baby, what do you want?)

• Sun Yat-sen becomes President

Sun as President

• Ends rule of emperors• Much of the country in the hands of warlords

– Fighting for power

• Industry in the hands of foreign powers– “hypo-colony”

• Solution? – Sun accepts help of the Soviet Union– Communists become members of Kuomintang

Sun Dies

• Sun Yat-sen dies in 1925

• Chiang Kai-shek named commander of Kuomintang Army

• Mao Zedong (or Tse-tung) in charge of propaganda and political agents

Military Success

• Kuomintang drive to the North and controls all of China south of the Yangtse River by March 1927– Chiang decide to get rid of communists

• Rounded up and killed

• Take the capital of Peking in 1928

• 1930 – Chiang declares himself ruler and moves capital to Nanking

What about Mao?

• Mao survives the violence against communists

• Moves to the mountains in Southern China– Sets up the Kiangsi Soviet– Begins communist army

• Ward off 3 attacks by Chiang

Does this make sense?

• Japan attacks in 1931– Chiang pays little attention, keeps trying to

destroy communists

The “Long March”

• October 1934– Chiang blocks communists

• Outnumbers them 3 to 1

– Mao starts trek north• Takes over a year• Loses ¾ of his men• Sets up Yenan Soviet

And in this Corner

• Three groups vying for power in China– Mao’s Communists– Chiang’s Kuomintang– Japan

• STAY TUNED

Together Again

• By 1936 Japan launches a full scale invasion of mainland China

• Chiang is kidnapped and forced to accept an alliance with Communists against the Japanese

Who does what?

• Communists– Bulk of the fighting– 1 million men in

army, 2 million peasants in militia

– Seen as strong liberators

• Nationalists– Did very little– Squandered aid– Seen as corrupt

and incompetent by people

Back to being enemies

• Chiang signs treaty with USSR– Says his is the proper government– He should accept Japanese surrender

• Mao sends his men to accept surrender

Civil War

• US backs Chiang, but tries to mediate– Lends air support

• 1947 Civil War breaks out

• 1948 – Nationalist troops desert and flee

• Mao controls above Yangtse River by April 1949

• Chiang and Kuomintang flee to Taiwan

A New Nation

• October 1, 1949 – People’s Republic of China is born

• Mao as leader

China under Mao

• People change loyalties to Mao– Part of culture– Remember Confucianism– Chiang seen as losing fitness to lead

Democratic Centralism

• Party gives complete obedience to leaders

• Bring everything under central control– 18 Provinces made into six regions– Bring Northern territory under Party control– Party members at all levels of government

• Supreme People’s Court (not Whopner)– Used to accuse and try opposition

Economic Changes

• Agrarian Reform Law– Gave land to peasants

• Industry and business fall under state control– Directly controlled: banks, railroads, heavy

industry– Other firms pushed out by policies and price

controls

Five Year Plans

• Mao gets idea from USSR– He visits

• 10,000 Soviet planners help with plan

• Give priority to heavy industry– Oil, coal, steel

• Paid for by taxing peasants

• Mao allows free speech and then revokes it when criticized

Collectivization

• Two Different Groups– Lower Stage APCs

• Combined 30 – 50 households• Kept ownership of the land

– Collective• 200 – 300 households• Land managed by committee• Small plots allowed

Great Leap Forward

• Reorganized farms into 26,000 communes– Each like a little country

• Had own army, industry, and farms• About 25,000 people

• Advanced science and industry– China explodes nuclear bomb in 1964

• Problems– Low quality– Much waste

Lin Shao-ch’i

• Given title of President of China by Mao– Rewards given

• Higher education• Better prices

• Mao concentrates on communist ideology– Realized he wasn’t most organized person

Cultural Revolution

• “Going Down” – people of privilege sent to farms to see how peasants live

• Army– Ranks abolished

• The Little Red Book– Book of Mao’s ideas and writings

• Culture changed– Plays, etc. about communist struggle

Red Guards

• Bands of students indoctinated by Mao

• Closes school for 2 years for curriculum changes

• Encouraged that revolt was good sometimes

• Replace leaders with revolutionary committees– Liu Shao-ch’I included

Results

• Friction between Moderates and Radicals

• Party officials rise in importance

Moderates

• Backed by Party, government administration, and army

• Wanted: – Political stability– Economic growth and development

Radicals

• Backed by trade unions, militia, and Communist Youth League

• Controlled press and radio

• Wanted:– Class struggle

Gang of Four

• Mao dies on September 9, 1976

• His wife and three others try to take control – Continue Radical agenda

• The four are arrested

• Moderates take control