Communist Takeover of China
Formation of the Chinese Republic
! The Qing Dynasty à Sun Yat Sen
! The people of China, under nationalist leader
Sun Yat Sen, demanded:
–  Nationalism à The end of foreign domination &
influence
–  Democracy à Formation of a representative
government
–  People’s Livelihood à A modernized & industrialized
economy to provide security for the people of China
Formation of the Chinese Republic
! Sun Yat Sen
–  Leader of the Kuomintang
! Kuomintang à China’s Nationalist Party
! Overthrows Qing Emperor in 1911 and becomes
China’s first president, but…
! Sun could not unite China
! Turns over presidency to a top general who
overturns democratic reforms
! China becomes a military dictatorship overrun by
warlords
The Communist Party in China
! Many intellectual Chinese turned against
Western Democracy
–  How had democracies treated China
previously?
! Communist Party
–  Lead by Mao Zedong
–  Influence by the Russian Revolutions of 1917
Jiang Jieshi & the Nationalists
! After Sun Yixian’s
death in 1925, Chang
Kai Shek becomes
the head of the
Kuomintang
! Chang
–  Feared communism
–  Supported by bankers
and businessmen
–  Over saw a corrupt
government
Chinese Civil War
! Jiang Jieshi starts a campaign against
communists
–  Has troops and armed gangs kill members of the
Communist Party and union members
! In 1928 the US and Britain recognize Chang Kai
Shek as president of China
–  The Soviet Union does not due to persecution of
Communist Party in China
Chinese Civil War
! Mao forms the Red Army by recruiting
peasants
–  Established themselves in the countryside of
south-central China
–  Trained Red Army in guerilla warfare with help
from Soviet Union
! Chang sends Nationalists soldiers after
them, but can’t completely wipe them out
due to guerilla warfare
Chinese Civil War
! The Long March
–  Jiang sends 700,000 men after Communists
and surrounds them
–  100,000 Communists flee and begin a 6,000
mile-journey (The Long March)
! Tens of thousands die due to
–  Starvation
–  Battle wounds
–  Exposure to the cold
–  Mao and 8,000 survivors take shelter in the
caves of northwestern China.
Civil War in China
! 1927-1932 and 1933-1937 – war between
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Communists and Nationalists
Communists – Mao Tse-tung (Mao Zedong)
Nationalists – Chiang Kai-shek
War halted 1932-1933 and 1937-1945 to fight
Japanese aggression
Communists were victorious in 1949
Nationalists retreated to Formosa (Taiwan)
End of imperialism in China
–  Hong Kong returned to China in 1997
Political Changes under Mao
! Communist government
on mainland China
! Mao Tse-tung (Mao
Zedong)
–  Chairman of the
Communist party and
leader of China from
1943-1976
Mao Zedong
Changes Under Mao
! Rebuilding Economy
–  Distributed land to peasants
–  Cooperative farming
! Remolding Society
–  Confucianism à communism
–  Simplified Chinese characters to improve
literacy
–  Improved healthcare
! Women
–  Women won equality
Economic Changes under Mao
! First Five-Year Plan (1953-1957)
–  Advances in agriculture and coal, electricity, iron,
and steel production
! Second Five-Year Plan (1958-1962)
–  “Great Leap Forward”
–  China became a leading industrial country
–  Peasants organized into communes
–  Widespread catastrophe – famine – at least
14,000,000 deaths
Foreign Relations
! Russia (Soviet Union)
–  Growing split between USSR and China
! “Peaceful coexistence” policy of USSR viewed as surrender
–  1960 – end of Soviet economic aid
! Tibet
–  Seized in 1962
! Korea
–  Aided North Korea in the Korean War (1950-1953)
! Vietnam
–  Supported North Vietnam and aided Viet Cong during
Vietnam War (1959-1975)
China after Chairman Mao
! Mao died in September, 1976
! “Gang of Four”
–  Failed at a coup d’état in
October, 1976
! China continued to industrialize
! One-Child Policy adopted –
1979
! Tiananmen Square Massacre –
1989
! Today – issues include:
–  Balancing limited capitalism with
communist ideals
–  Environmental pollution
–  Unequal male-to-female ratios
resulting from One-Child Policy
–  Control of Tibet