Upheavals in China
Chapter 12
Section 4
China
Collapse of Qing Dynasty
• When the Qing Dynasty collapsed in 1911, Sun
Yixian became president of China’s new
republic
• He hoped to rebuild China, but he made little
progress
• The country fell into chaos when 1) local
warlords (tribal leaders) seized power and the
2) Chinese economy fell apart
• These were called the “twin evils” that led to the
weakening of the Chinese republic
• Millions of peasants suffered severe hardships
• Sun Yixian stepped down as president in 1912
Sun Yixian
President of the Chinese
Republic after the Qing
Dynasty collapsed.
Foreign Imperialism in China
• Amid the upheaval, foreign imperialism
(control by other countries) increased in
China
• During World War I, Japan presented
Chinese leaders the Twenty-One
Demands
• These were intended to give Japan, an
imperialist country, control over China, and
the Chinese gave into some of the
demands
• After the war, the Allies gave Japan control
over some former German possessions in
China
• This angered Chinese Nationalists
Asia
May Fourth Movement
• As protests spread, students led a cultural and intellectual
rebellion known as the May Fourth Movement
• Leaders of this movement rejected Confucian tradition
(ancient Chinese beliefs) and looked to Western
knowledge and learning (adopt western ways)
• Other Chinese people embraced Marxism (beliefs of Karl
Marx)
• Also at this time, the Soviet Union trained Chinese
students and military officers, hoping they would become
the vanguard (elite leaders) of a communist revolution in
China
Guomindang
• In 1921, Sun Yixian led Guomindang, or Nationalist
Party, as it established a government in South China
• To defeat the warlords, he joined forces with the Chinese
communists
• After Sun’s death, Jiang Jieshi assumed leadership of the
party in 1925
• Jiang felt the Communists threatened his power
• He ordered his troops to slaughter Communists and their
supporters
Jiang Jieshi
Long March
• Led by Mao Zedong, the Communist army escaped north
in what became known as the Long March – Mao’s epic
retreat
• The Long March became a symbol of Communist
heroism
• During the March, Mao’s soldiers fought back using
guerilla hit-and-run tactics
• Along the way, Mao’s soldiers treated the peasants kindly
• Communists sought support among the peasants who
formed the majority of the Chinese population
• The Communists paid for the goods they needed and were
careful not to destroy the peasants’ crops
• Many peasants had suffered because of the Guomindang,
so they supported the Communists instead
Long March
Manchuria
• While Jiang pursued the Communists across China, the
Japanese invaded Manchuria (NE China), adding it to
their growing empire
• Then, in 1937, Japanese planes bombed Chinese cities
and Japanese marched into Nanjing, killing hundreds of
thousands of soldiers and civilians (Rape of Nanjing)
• Rape of Nanjing included beheadings, brutal murders,
torture, medical experiments with heads and bodies
thrown into mass graves
• In response, Jiang and Mao formed an alliance
(friendship) to fight the invaders
• The alliance held up until the end of the war with Japan
• The Japanese invasion affected the Chinese civil war
because the Guomingdang and the Communists joined
forces – temporarily – to fight the Japanese
Manchuria
Rape of Nanjing
Rape of Nanjing
The End