A Very Brief History of China:From Empire to Communist Nation.

Mao Zedong (Tse-tung)

• For thousands of years, China was ruled by emperors• 1911: Qing Dynasty (the last empire) collapsed

– (Side note: In 1917 their neighbor to the north had a communist Revolution)

• Chinese nationalists wanted a unified China• Communists also wanted imperial powers out• Shanghai Massacre: Nationalists massacre thousands of

Communists…no more alliance against warlords • Nationalists also fought Chinese warlords who wanted to

control individual parts of China (no unification)

• Nationalists asked western nations for aid• Their requests were unanswered • Soviet Union offered aid, in hopes of possibly spreading

communist ideas to China.

A Very Brief History of China:

By 1945, there were two Chinese governments

The Communist government of Mao Zedong in Northern

China

Soviet Union supported.

The Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek based in southern

and central China

United States supported.

• 1946: Civil War – Nationalists vs Communists– Peasants attracted to Communists by the promises of land

(held by • 1949: People’s Liberation Army defeats Nationalists

– commanded by Chairman Mao – Chiang Kai-shek and two million followers fled to the island

of Taiwan.

A Very Brief History of China:

Great Leap Forward1957• Great Leap Forward

– Industrial and agricultural nationalization (i.e. state or government owned industry and farming)

– Villages turned into Chinese “communes”

– Communes fail to produce resulting in famine

– Great Leap Forward = huge failure

Cultural Revolution• Mao's Cultural Revolution:

rid China of everything that reminded them a life other than pure communism– Chinese live in fear as a result

• Quotations of Chairman Mao– “Little Red Book”– A collection of speeches and

quotes by Mao for all citizens to have

• Strived for classless society (last stage or ultimate goal of

communism)“Little Red Book” as it is referred to by westerners, was carried by all citizens during Cultural Revolution

Enter Deng Xiaoping

1976• Mao dies• Deng Xiaoping to

power: allows more economic initiatives that resemble capitalism

• Deng does NOT allow democracy, however

Tiananmen SquareApril 1989• Student protests for

economic and political openness

• Desire for democracy• After 2 months of

protest, the leader of China, Deng Xiaoping, sent troops in to put down the demonstration

• Turned violent and hundreds of students were killed

Video Footage (3:30)

•Today:

•China still has a communist government

•Free-market economy (capitalist)

•Rapidly moving up in the global economy

•Communism in China

A Very Brief History of China: