China in the 20 th Century

1. China in the 20th Century

3. A French political cartoon of 1899 represents the carving of China into spheres of influence

4. Twilight of the Qing Dynasty • Boxer Rebellion left no doubt about need for reform • Empress Cixi accepted reforms • New education system based on Western model • Provincial & national legislatures • Not allowed to pass laws • Reforms did not improve economic conditions • Emerging middle class impatient with pace of reform

5. Empress Cixi chills out at the Summer Palace

6. Sun Yat-sen • Republican & anti-Qing activist • Educated in US and lived in Japan • Founded Chinese Revolutionary Alliance in 1905 • Popular with overseas Chinese, reformers, and young military officers • Three Principles of the People: • Nationalism: overthrow the Manchu Dynasty and end foreign hegemony • Democracy: establish an elected republican government • People’s livelihood: implement a mild form of socialism to aid the common people

7. Sun Yat-sen celebration Tiananmen Square, Beijing, 2005

8. 1908 • Empress Cixi died • Pu Yi became emperor at age 3

9. Xinhai Revolution (1911-12) • October 1911: discontented army units in Wuhan overthrew the local govt after an anti-Qing plot was discovered • Similar uprisings from army units and Revolutionary Alliance groups followed throughout China • 15 of 24 provinces declared independence • January 1912: Sun Yat-sen elected first President of the Republic of China by independent provinces • General Yuan Shikai joined the rebellion and turned on the Qing govt • February 1912: Emperor Puyi abdicated

10. Revolutionaries hang flags in the streets of Shanghai during the revolution

11. A poster commemorating Yuan Shikai and Sun Yat-sen Long live the Republic!

12. Early Republic • Republic of China was established in Nanjing on January 1, 1912 with Sun Yat-sen as Provisional President • All effective power, however, was possessed by General Yuan Shikai in Beijing • To prevent civil war Sun Yat-sen resigned in favor of Yuan Shikai in March 1912 • Yuan’s military power overshadowed that of political parties and parliament • Yuan became increasingly dictatorial • In August 1912 the anti-Yuan Kuomintang won a majority of seats in parliament

14. Rebellion & Chaos • Relations between Yuan and the Kuomintang deteriorated in 1912-13 • In July 1913 7 southern provinces rebelled • Rebellion was swiftly suppressed by Yuan and a compliant parliament elected him President • Most countries formally recognized Yuan’s govt • Yuan agreed to autonomy for Outer Mongolia and Tibet and special privileges for Russia and Britain

15. China Under Yuan • Small bandit armies wreaked havoc throughout the provinces • In 1914 Yuan substantially enlarged the powers of the President • Political parties, provincial leaders, and the public grew steadily more disenchanted with Yuan • In December 1915 Yuan declared himself emperor of China • Several southern provinces declared independence • In March 1916 Yuan abdicated as emperor • He died in June 1916

16. 21 Demands • In 1914 China declared war on German and seized property • In 1915 Japan issued the 21 Demands to the Yuan govt • Japanese economic control in Shandong, Manchuria & Fujian • Yuan to appoint Japanese advisors to key posts • Would essentially make China a protectorate of Japan • China rejected most demands but accept Japanese control over parts of Shandong & Manchuria • Concessions were extremely unpopular with the public but a sign of the govt’s weakness

17. Warlord era (1916-27) • After Yuan’s death in 1916 no new national govt was able to assert control over the provinces • Regional warlords fought each other for control in a series of constantly shifting alliances • In 1917 Sun Yat-sen became President of a rival govt in southern China • Both northern and southern govts were highly reliant on regional warlords and were unsuccessful in unifying the country

18. 1916-28: China was essentially divided among warlords constantly fighting one another

19. May 4th Movement • In 1917 China declared war on Germany in hopes of recovering Shandong from Japan • In May1919 the Great Powers at Versailles decided to allow Japan to retain Shandong • This sparked massive demonstrations throughout China against Japan and the West • China refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles • Students, intellectuals and reformers became disillusioned with the West, democracy and liberalism • The May 4th Movement defined China’s aspirations as nationalistic and anti-Western

20. Economic changes • European & American traders brought changes to China’s coastal cities • Growth of industry • Rise in imports and exports • China increasingly linked to world market • Improved transportation and communications systems • Improved banking system • New crops raised food production • Negative impacts • New factories destroyed existing local industries • Profits went to foreigners

21. Shanghai in 1920

22. Cultural changes • 35,000 foreigners lived in Shanghai and shared their culture with the new Chinese urban middle class • Western literature, art, clothing, and music became popular • Some reformers condemned Chinese traditions as barbaric • Young people were drawn to Western ideas • Individualism • Women’s rights • These cultural changes hardly reached most Chinese in rural areas

23. Cigarette advertisements

24. Chinese communist party • Founded in 1921 in Shanghai • Most Chinese communists believed that the revolution must come from the tiny urban proletariat • Mao Zedong believed that the peasantry must be the source of revolution • Party remained very small and weak during 1920s • Comintern agents were sent by Moscow to help organize the CCP • In 1923 they orchestrated a United Front with the Kuomintang (KMT)

25. Kuomintang • Largest opposition party during the 1920s • Led by Sun-Yatsen until his death in 1925 • Advised by the Comintern to ally with the CCP • Chiang Kai-shek was an ally of Sun Yat-sen and rose through the ranks to become the head of the Whampoa Military Academy • Was quickly seen as Sun’s successor • Had a more right-wing and nationalist set of beliefs than Sun

26. Chiang consolidates power (1925-27) • In 1925 Chiang’s National Revolutionary Army (KMT) embarked on the “Northern Expedition” to defeat warlords and unify China • By 1926 half of China was under KMT control • Chiang became increasingly suspicious of the loyalty of the CCP to the alliance • In April 1927 Chiang initiated the Shanghai Massacre in which most of the CCP leadership was killed or arrested • The alliance was destroyed and the CCP was severely weakened • Chiang was now undisputed leader of the KMT

27. KMT consolidates power • By 1928 KMT controlled most of China and moved capital to Nanjing • Recognized by foreign govts • 1928-36: time of relative stability • Nationalist govt initiated reforms • Legal and penal systems • Banking and currency • Railroads and highways • Hospitals and schools • Industry and agriculture • Reduced foreign concessions • Newspapers and radio proliferated • Promoted women’s rights • KMT reduced political freedom and opposition movements • Throughout much of China KMT still heavily relied on cooperation of regional warlords and generals

28. China received significant industrial and military aid from China from 1928-36

29. Civil war (1927-34) • Shanghai Massacre (1927) is start of the Chinese Civil War • Remnants of the CCP flee to rural areas of southern China and work to foment peasant rebellions • All revolts are small and quickly crushed by KMT • Mao creates the Jiangxi Soviet based on communist principles • 1930-34 KMT repeatedly launches unsuccessful raids to crush it • KMT encirclement in 1934 forces CCP to flee Jiangxi and trek north to unite with other CCP forces

30. Long March (1934-35) • 90,000 CCP members and families trek west and north over 12,500 km to unite with CCP group in Yenan province • Arrive in Yenan after 1 year • KMT and warlords attack Red Army all along the route • Extreme cold, hunger and fatigue take heavy toll • Only 8,000 survived the trek • During this ordeal Mao shows good judgment and consolidates his position as leader of the CCP • By 1936 the CCP has been all but annihilated and quarantined within China by the KMT

31. Manchurian incident (1931) • In 1931 Japan invades Manchuria and establishes puppet state of Manchukuo • Motivated by desire for raw materials and industry • League of Nations fails to respond effectively • 1932-36 Japanese forces slowly extend control into coastal provinces • KMT preoccupied with war against CCP • Public is increasingly disillusioned with Nationalists’ priorities, corruption, incompetence, and Westernism

32. Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-45) • 1936: Chiang is kidnapped and forced to ally with the CCP in order to fight the Japanese as the term of his release • 1937: skirmishes at the Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing lead to full-scale warfare between China and Japan • KMT and CCP declare the Second United Front • Japanese army rapidly advances into coastal China and captures Nanjing • Rape of Nanjing • KMT retreats and continues the war from central China

33. KMT army marches through Burma during the Second Sino-Japanese War

34. The CCP in Yenan (1937-45) • Second United Front gives CCP a chance to consolidate hold in Yenan and grow • CCP allows KMT to do bulk of fighting against Japan • From 1940 KMT-CCP conflicts become more frequent • Administrative, land and tax reforms in Yenan prove highly popular with peasants • During this period Mao becomes undisputed leader of CCP and expounds his interpretation of communism based on a peasant proletariat

35. 1945 • Japan surrenders in September 1945 • Much of eastern and China has been destroyed • Hyper-inflation, starvation, and homelessness • Floods and war create a refugee crisis • Nationalist govt infamous for corruption, profiteering and hoarding • Soviet troops occupy Manchuria • Remove most industrial infrastructure to USSR • Allow CCP to access military equipment of retreating Japanese Army Mr. & Mrs. Chiang Kai-shek with American advisor Joseph Stilwell (1942)

36. American involvement • During WW2 US sees China as a key ally against Japan • Send high level advisors and billions of $ in military aid • US is repeatedly disillusioned by corrupt and ineffective Nationalist regime • In 1945 US forces occupy Beijing and adjacent areas • Provide logistical support to KMT to help govt consolidate control over all China • Increasing unpopularity of Nationalist regime and rising size of the CCP Red Army by 1947 • US suspends weapons shipments and combat support in 1947; extends massive economic aid

37. “War of liberation” (1946-49) • Red Army expands in size, skill and technology by 1946 • 1946: negotiations fail and Chiang attacks CCP stronghold in north • Red Army adopts “passive defense” to avoid open battle • High attrition and desertion in KMT army as the Red Army grows in size • 1947-48: Red Army launches offensives in north and east China and gradually wears down the KMT • 1949: Red Army captures Beijing and invades southern China • Nationalists gradually retreat south

38. Establishment of the pRC (1949-50) • Mao proclaims People’s Republic of China in Beijing on October 1, 1949 • Chiang and 2 million Nationalists flee to Taiwan • Isolated pockets of resistance in western China are quickly subdued • Chiang proclaims Taipei as temporary capital of the Republic of China • Mao considers Taiwan a rebellious province

39. Why did the CCP win the war? • CCP won the hearts and minds of the Chinese • Reduced taxes, rents and interest on the peasants • Redistributed land to peasants • Helped raise agricultural production • Provided effective administration in rural areas • Encouraged peasants to participate in local govt • Proved willing to cooperate with the KMT to fight Japan 2. KMT proved corrupt and ineffective • Nationalist bureaucrats were known for incompetence and corruption • Nationalist leaders were seen as culturally Westernized and beholden to Western economic and political interests • Nationalists proved unable to provide effective governance in provinces • Unwilling to make modest social reforms to win popular support • Shouldered most of the fighting against the Japanese • Brutish behavior of KMT troops alienated the peasantry • In-fighting amongst Nationalist generals

40. Why did the CCP win the War? 3. Mao’s leadership proved effective • used brainwashing and terror to keep CCP members in line • Allowed peasants to violently seize property from landlords • Allied with local gentry when circumstances dictated • Encouraged Red Army to show exemplary conduct towards peasants • Long-term ability to guide the CCP through constant danger to victory was seen as messianic 4. Economic mismanagement of the Nationalist regime • Hyperinflation afflicted China from 1937 onward • Heavy borrowing to finance the war • Debasing the currency • KMT army requirements left little money for social spending or debt payments • Economic collapse discredited the regime

41. Why did the CCP win the war? 5. Uneven foreign support • Soviets gave Japanese weapons to CCP in 1945 • Soviets allowed Red Army to occupy most of Manchuria in 1945-46 • US advisor Joseph Stilwell had horrible relationship with Chiang Kai-shek • US would sell but not give weapons to the KMT • US withdrew all combat support in 1947