1899 French magazine

Unequal Treaties

1. Reimburse Britain for costs incurred

fighting the Chinese

2. Open several ports to British trade

3. Provide Britain with complete

control of Hong Kong

4. Grant extraterritoriality to

British citizens living in China

Western invasions (1839-1900)Western invasions (1839-1900)

• Opium War (1839 - 1842)• The Second Opium War

(1856 - 1860)• Russia’s territorial gains

Northeast China (1858 - 1860)

Northwest China (1881 - 1884)• Sino-French War (1883 - 1885)• Sino-Japanese War (1894 - 95)• 8-nation forces (1900)

Weakness fully exposedWeakness fully exposed

• Sino-Japanese War of 1894 - 1895– Chinese navy destroyed– Taiwan ceded to Japan– large indemnity– most-favored-nation– more treaty ports– Korea

• start of Japanese empire

Internal ProblemsInternal Problems

• Irrigation systems and canals were poorly maintained, leading to massive flooding of the Huang He valley.

• The population explosion that had begun a century earlier created a terrible hardship for China’s peasants.

• An extravagant court, tax evasion by the rich, and widespread official corruption added to the peasants’ burden.

• Between 1850 and 1864, peasants took part in the Taiping Rebellion, the most devastating revolt in history.

• Followed by the Boxer Rebellion against foreigners.

**In both rebellions the Qing dynasty had to rely on European troops to regain power

By the 1800s, the Qing dynasty was in decline.

5

Radicalization of politics

Qing court Reformers

Peasants Revolutionaries

status quo

pre-1841 China

modern monarchy

republic

Marxism? Capitalist-Democratic?

Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925)

Sun Yat-sen becomes the leader of the revolution sets up a republic is elected presidentHopes to establish govt. based on the three principles of the people.

1. Nationalism

2. Democracy

3. People’s Livelihood

Overthrow of Manchu Dynasty (1644-1911)

World War I--Asia

Japan:•1917-China and Japan aide Allies vs.Germany- Chinese used as laborers not soldiers- Japan sends navy to help Brits blockade German ports and drives Germans out of China

•1919 Treaty of Versailles:•Japan gains territory & privileges previously belonging to Germany in China. (Shandong Province)

Chinese Response: May Fourth Movement: May 4, 1919

students protest in Peking.

slogan: ‘Down with the Imperialists’

1. Spreads to other cities

becomes a nationalist movement:

2. Nationalism & anti-imperialist sentiment grow.

May Fourth Movement Spreads

Force release of imprisoned studentsdismissal of Japanese officials from govt.

Some turn against Sun Yat-sen’s belief in western democracy.

• Boycott Japanese products• workers and merchants join

Protests in major Chinese cities • Goes international:

Paris, California

Following the Russian revolution the GMD turned to Russia for help.

The Comintern sent Mikhail Borodin (left) to organise the new Chinese Communist Party and to assist the GMD to unite and overthrow the warlords.

New political partiesNew political parties• Nationalist Party (GMD)

- established prior to the Revolution by Sun Yat-Sen, but dies in 1925

– General Chiang Kai-Shek takes over• Communist Party was established in 1921

– Mao Ze Dong was one of its founding members

-becomes leader by 1935 during

the Long March

Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek Chairman Mao Zedong

Communists in rural areas• revolutionary bases in Jiangxi Province for CCP

elite and purge survivors AND their Soviet advisors• To grow their base and spread communist revolts to

other areas

Nationalist Republic of China (1928-37)

Chiang Kai-shek becomes President.U.S. & Britain recognizes KMT government

Government becomes dictatorial and corrupt.

•Focuses on modernizing & developing cities.•Ignores the peasants—life does not improve

Mao Tse-tung and the Peasants

Recognizes potential.

Organizing soviets to train peasants

Divides CCP land amongst peasantsWins their loyalty

• The Japanese posed an even bigger threat, taking Manchuria

• After 1937 they invaded and conquered the rich coastal plains and cities of China in a brilliantly successful but brutal campaign, culminating in the massacre at Nanjing where 300,000 civilians were slaughtered in an orgy of rape, pillage and execution. But this only united and motivated the Chinese to fight them.

• It then became Chiang Kai Shek’s turn to flee to the interior of China and resist as best he could in Chungking until the Americans arrived with help.

• Mao’s Red Army did most of the fighting against the Japanese.

• Gaining combat experience to use against Chaing Kaishek when the Japanese are defeated and the Civil War restarts (1945-49)

Mao’s China:

1949: “China has stood up!”

• “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.”

Having defeated the Guomindang, Mao set about building a Communist China. His first concern was rebuilding a country that had been torn apart by years of civil war.

• Communist ideology shaped new government

• Change in China’s political, economic systems

• Government discouraged practice of religion

Rebuilding China

• Also seized property of rural landowners, redistributed among peasants

• Put in place Soviet-style five-year plans for industrial development

Development

• By 1957, first plan doubled China’s small industrial output

• Early efforts to build economy successful

• Improved economy, reduced poverty

First Plan

China under Mao

• China Modeled on Soviet Union

• Soviet Union provided financial support, aid in China’s first years

• China modeled many of its new political, economic, military policies on Soviet system

• 1950s, territorial disputes, differences in ideology pushed China away from Soviet ally

Improvements in literacy rates, public health • Chinese life expectancy increased sharply over next few decades

• Improvements came at a cost– To consolidate Communist control over China, government soon began to

eliminate so-called “enemies of the state” who had spoken out against government’s policies

– Many thousands—including public officials, business leaders, artists, writers—killed, or sent to labor camps