1. Reform and Revolution in China
As Indian leaders worked to reform British rule in India, Chinese reformers sought to bring change to their nation and its government. In 1850, radicals tried to end the Qing (ching) dynasty whose emperors had ruled China for more than 200 years. The resulting Taiping Rebellion turned into a long civil war. Chinese troops finally defeated the rebels in 1864. The rebellion cost some 20 million lives, according to conservative estimates, and it seriously weakened the Qing dynasty.
Reform Movements Lead to Power Struggles The Self-Strengthening Movement, which began in the 1860s, tried to establish modern industries and otherwise reform China according to Western ideas. However, conservative Qing rulers opposed China’s Westernization and disliked the spheres of influence that Western nations established in China by late 1800s. However, the Qing were too weak to resist this economic imperialism. China was also too weak to prevent Japan from seizing Korea in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95 and taking control of part of Manchuria.
China’s defeat in the Sino-Japanese War increased the calls for reform. When the emperor began to make some of these changes, he angered the conservative empress dowager (the widow of a dead emperor) Cixi (tsoo-SHEE). In 1898, Chinese officials loyal to Cixi removed the emperor. She took power and reversed his reforms.
Cixi supported Chinese leaders who encouraged an uprising against foreigners called the Boxer Rebellion. Bands of Boxers roamed the countryside in 1899 attacking Christian missionaries and destroying foreign-owned mines and other property. Many foreigners fled to Beijing, China’s capital. In August 1900, some 19,000 troops sent to Beijing by Western nations defeated Chinese forces and freed the foreigners the Boxers had trapped there. The Boxers were Buddhist mystics who believed that they were immune to bullets, which proved not to be the case. A coalition of British, French, and other European forces crushed their rebellion.
After the Boxer Rebellion failed, Cixi began making some of the reforms she had reversed in 1898. However, it was too late. The Qing dynasty had been hopelessly weakened. Protests and revolts broke out across China. Cixi died in 1908. Just before her death, she had the emperor she replaced in 1898 killed by poison. This left his three-year-old nephew Puyi to be emperor. A regent ruled until 1912, when revolution forced Puyi from the throne. Puyi was China’s last emperor. His overthrow ended 267 years of Qing rule and a form of government more than 2,000 years old.
The Revolution of 1911 Although the Boxer Rebellion failed to drive foreigners from China, it strengthened Chinese nationalism. This was especially true for young and well-educated Chinese. When the reform movement also failed, many of these Chinese came to believe that revolution was the only solution. They wanted to replace China’s old ruling system with a republican form of government.
The revolutionaries were led by Sun Yat-sen, a Western-educated medical doctor from South China Although he had no political training, Sun was troubled by the Qing rulers’ resistance to modernizing China. Following China’s defeat in the Sino-Japanese War, he called for a revolt in Canton (now Guangzhou), the capital of his home province. When the plot collapsed, Sun fled China. He spent the next 16 years living in Europe, Japan, and the United States. During his exile, Sun collected funds from Chinese overseas to organize several more uprisings in China. They all failed.
Another revolt occurred in 1911, when army units near Beijing rebelled against the Qing. As the revolt spread, Sun’s supporters joined it. By November, 15 of China’s 24 provinces had declared independence from Qing rule. Sun returned to China and was named president of a new Chinese republic. However, Yuan Shikai, the commander of China’s army, was already acting as China’s leader. To avoid civil war, Sun stepped aside. In February 1912, Yuan became the first president of the Republic of China.
As Indian leaders worked to reform British rule in India, Chinese reformers sought to bring change to their nation and its government. In 1850, radicals tried to end the Qing (ching) dynasty whose emperors had ruled China for more than 200 years. The resulting Taiping Rebellion turned into a long civil war. Chinese troops finally defeated the rebels in 1864. The rebellion cost some 20 million lives, according to conservative estimates, and it seriously weakened the Qing dynasty.
Reform Movements Lead to Power Struggles The Self-Strengthening Movement, which began in the 1860s, tried to establish modern industries and otherwise reform China according to Western ideas. However, conservative Qing rulers opposed China’s Westernization and disliked the spheres of influence that Western nations established in China by late 1800s. However, the Qing were too weak to resist this economic imperialism. China was also too weak to prevent Japan from seizing Korea in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95 and taking control of part of Manchuria.
China’s defeat in the Sino-Japanese War increased the calls for reform. When the emperor began to make some of these changes, he angered the conservative empress dowager (the widow of a dead emperor) Cixi (tsoo-SHEE). In 1898, Chinese officials loyal to Cixi removed the emperor. She took power and reversed his reforms.
Cixi supported Chinese leaders who encouraged an uprising against foreigners called the Boxer Rebellion. Bands of Boxers roamed the countryside in 1899 attacking Christian missionaries and destroying foreign-owned mines and other property. Many foreigners fled to Beijing, China’s capital. In August 1900, some 19,000 troops sent to Beijing by Western nations defeated Chinese forces and freed the foreigners the Boxers had trapped there. The Boxers were Buddhist mystics who believed that they were immune to bullets, which proved not to be the case. A coalition of British, French, and other European forces crushed their rebellion.
After the Boxer Rebellion failed, Cixi began making some of the reforms she had reversed in 1898. However, it was too late. The Qing dynasty had been hopelessly weakened. Protests and revolts broke out across China. Cixi died in 1908. Just before her death, she had the emperor she replaced in 1898 killed by poison. This left his three-year-old nephew Puyi to be emperor. A regent ruled until 1912, when revolution forced Puyi from the throne. Puyi was China’s last emperor. His overthrow ended 267 years of Qing rule and a form of government more than 2,000 years old.
The Revolution of 1911 Although the Boxer Rebellion failed to drive foreigners from China, it strengthened Chinese nationalism. This was especially true for young and well-educated Chinese. When the reform movement also failed, many of these Chinese came to believe that revolution was the only solution. They wanted to replace China’s old ruling system with a republican form of government.
The revolutionaries were led by Sun Yat-sen, a Western-educated medical doctor from South China Although he had no political training, Sun was troubled by the Qing rulers’ resistance to modernizing China. Following China’s defeat in the Sino-Japanese War, he called for a revolt in Canton (now Guangzhou), the capital of his home province. When the plot collapsed, Sun fled China. He spent the next 16 years living in Europe, Japan, and the United States. During his exile, Sun collected funds from Chinese overseas to organize several more uprisings in China. They all failed.
Another revolt occurred in 1911, when army units near Beijing rebelled against the Qing. As the revolt spread, Sun’s supporters joined it. By November, 15 of China’s 24 provinces had declared independence from Qing rule. Sun returned to China and was named president of a new Chinese republic. However, Yuan Shikai, the commander of China’s army, was already acting as China’s leader. To avoid civil war, Sun stepped aside. In February 1912, Yuan became the first president of the Republic of China.
2. China’s Civil War
Sun Yat-sen, leader of China’s 1911 revolution, is known as the father of modern China. He hoped to build a nation based on what he called the Three Principles of the People—nationalism, democracy, and socialism. However, the new republic’s first president, Yuan Shikai, was mainly interested in increasing his power. To counter Yuan, Sun joined with other former revolutionaries to found a new political party—the Kuomintang (KMT) or Nationalist Party.
The Republic’s Early Struggles Elections in February 1913 gave the Nationalist Party a majority of the seats in China’s new parliament. Yuan responded by having the party’s leader killed. When a revolt against Yuan failed in the summer of 1913, Sun and its other leaders fled to Japan. In November, Yuan banned the Nationalists and removed its members from parliament. In 1914, he dissolved parliament and issued a new constitution that made him president for life.
Yuan declared China neutral when World War I began in August 1914. However, Japan, which fought for the Allies, seized the German sphere of influence in Shandong, in eastern China. Japan also forced Yuan to grant it a sphere of influence in Manchuria. When Yuan appealed to the United States and other Western powers for help, they refused to get involved.
Perhaps unwisely, Yuan chose this moment of humiliation to announce his plans to make himself emperor. Rebellions broke out all over China. Japan secretly provided arms and money to Sun and other leaders to aid these revolts. In several provinces, warlords declared their independence of the central government in Beijing. After Yuan fell ill and died in June 1916, alliances of warlords fought for control of that government. Sun Yat-sen and warlords in southern China organized a rival government in 1917. Its repeated efforts to control all of China plunged China into a long civil war.
Hoping to regain Shandong, both governments declared war on Germany in 1917. However, the Paris Peace Conference following World War I let Japan keep German holdings in China. Some Chinese nationalists blamed the Beijing government for this failure. On May 4, 1919, a massive student protest erupted in Beijing. The calls for change that followed became known as the May Fourth Movement. They ranged from the westernization of China to the establishment of socialism. The May Fourth Movement, along with China’s split between the two rival governments, soon sent the nation down a new revolutionary path.
Sun Yat-sen, leader of China’s 1911 revolution, is known as the father of modern China. He hoped to build a nation based on what he called the Three Principles of the People—nationalism, democracy, and socialism. However, the new republic’s first president, Yuan Shikai, was mainly interested in increasing his power. To counter Yuan, Sun joined with other former revolutionaries to found a new political party—the Kuomintang (KMT) or Nationalist Party.
The Republic’s Early Struggles Elections in February 1913 gave the Nationalist Party a majority of the seats in China’s new parliament. Yuan responded by having the party’s leader killed. When a revolt against Yuan failed in the summer of 1913, Sun and its other leaders fled to Japan. In November, Yuan banned the Nationalists and removed its members from parliament. In 1914, he dissolved parliament and issued a new constitution that made him president for life.
Yuan declared China neutral when World War I began in August 1914. However, Japan, which fought for the Allies, seized the German sphere of influence in Shandong, in eastern China. Japan also forced Yuan to grant it a sphere of influence in Manchuria. When Yuan appealed to the United States and other Western powers for help, they refused to get involved.
Perhaps unwisely, Yuan chose this moment of humiliation to announce his plans to make himself emperor. Rebellions broke out all over China. Japan secretly provided arms and money to Sun and other leaders to aid these revolts. In several provinces, warlords declared their independence of the central government in Beijing. After Yuan fell ill and died in June 1916, alliances of warlords fought for control of that government. Sun Yat-sen and warlords in southern China organized a rival government in 1917. Its repeated efforts to control all of China plunged China into a long civil war.
Hoping to regain Shandong, both governments declared war on Germany in 1917. However, the Paris Peace Conference following World War I let Japan keep German holdings in China. Some Chinese nationalists blamed the Beijing government for this failure. On May 4, 1919, a massive student protest erupted in Beijing. The calls for change that followed became known as the May Fourth Movement. They ranged from the westernization of China to the establishment of socialism. The May Fourth Movement, along with China’s split between the two rival governments, soon sent the nation down a new revolutionary path.
China’s Nationalist Government In October 1919, Sun Yat-sen restarted the Nationalist Party. He hoped that a democratic political party in the south would weaken the warlords in Beijing, which the West recognized as China’s legal government. In 1921, Sun became president of China’s southern government. Because of its domination by the KMT, that government became known as the Nationalist government.
Until his death in 1925, Sun devoted himself to reuniting China under Nationalist rule. However, his appeals to the Western democracies for aid were ignored. So Sun turned to the Soviet Union, which had recently achieved its own revolution. In 1923, Soviet advisers arrived to help Sun unite China. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), founded with Soviet help by members of the May Fourth Movement in 1921, was instructed to cooperate with the KMT. CCP members joined the KMT, although they never lost their identity as Communists.
The Rise of Chiang Kai-shek One result of Sun’s cooperation with the Communists was the rise of Chiang Kai-shek as leader of China. Chiang came from a prosperous farm and merchant family in northern China. He had gone to Japan as a young man to train for a military career. There he met Chinese exiles plotting the overthrow of the Qing dynasty and became a revolutionary. When China’s 1911 revolution began, he returned home to fight against the Qing.
In 1918, Chiang joined Sun Yat-sen in reorganizing the Nationalist Party. Sun sent Chiang to the Soviet Union, where he learned Western military strategy from the Red Army. Returning home, he organized the Nationalist government’s National Revolutionary Army and was named its commander. In 1926, Chiang led this army north to fulfill Sun’s dream of reuniting China. Chiang’s army was accompanied by Soviet military advisers. He was also assisted by a KMT “propaganda corps” of Chinese Communists who stirred up unrest against the Beijing government in the regions it controlled. By 1927, much of China was in Nationalist hands.
Nationalists Versus Communists While the Nationalist army was on what was called the Northern Expedition, serious splits took place in the KMT. With Sun gone, a struggle developed among its leaders for control of the party. Radical party members wanted to establish socialism or communism in China. They hoped to gain the support of China’s poverty-stricken masses with calls for social revolution. This alarmed the party’s conservative wing, which wanted only to unify China under Nationalist rule. Many KMT conservatives were well-to-do. They preferred Chinese society as it was. At the same time, the party’s socialists and conservatives shared a concern over the Communists’ growing power.
All these issues came to a head in early 1927, when radical leaders moved the Nationalist capital from southern to northern China. The party’s conservatives appealed to the leader they backed, Chiang Kai-shek. In April, he set up a rival Nationalist government in the city of Nanjing and expelled Communists from the army and the party. He also used Nationalist troops to brutally end a Communist-led general strike by workers in Shanghai. Large numbers of Communists were arrested and executed. Similar anti-Communists actions were carried out in several other Chinese cities. Those who survived fled into hiding in the countryside.
In 1928, Chiang captured Beijing and completed the Nationalists’ reunification of China. A new national government was established at Nanjing, with Chiang at its head. The West quickly recognized Chiang’s Nationalist government as China’s legal government.
Until his death in 1925, Sun devoted himself to reuniting China under Nationalist rule. However, his appeals to the Western democracies for aid were ignored. So Sun turned to the Soviet Union, which had recently achieved its own revolution. In 1923, Soviet advisers arrived to help Sun unite China. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), founded with Soviet help by members of the May Fourth Movement in 1921, was instructed to cooperate with the KMT. CCP members joined the KMT, although they never lost their identity as Communists.
The Rise of Chiang Kai-shek One result of Sun’s cooperation with the Communists was the rise of Chiang Kai-shek as leader of China. Chiang came from a prosperous farm and merchant family in northern China. He had gone to Japan as a young man to train for a military career. There he met Chinese exiles plotting the overthrow of the Qing dynasty and became a revolutionary. When China’s 1911 revolution began, he returned home to fight against the Qing.
In 1918, Chiang joined Sun Yat-sen in reorganizing the Nationalist Party. Sun sent Chiang to the Soviet Union, where he learned Western military strategy from the Red Army. Returning home, he organized the Nationalist government’s National Revolutionary Army and was named its commander. In 1926, Chiang led this army north to fulfill Sun’s dream of reuniting China. Chiang’s army was accompanied by Soviet military advisers. He was also assisted by a KMT “propaganda corps” of Chinese Communists who stirred up unrest against the Beijing government in the regions it controlled. By 1927, much of China was in Nationalist hands.
Nationalists Versus Communists While the Nationalist army was on what was called the Northern Expedition, serious splits took place in the KMT. With Sun gone, a struggle developed among its leaders for control of the party. Radical party members wanted to establish socialism or communism in China. They hoped to gain the support of China’s poverty-stricken masses with calls for social revolution. This alarmed the party’s conservative wing, which wanted only to unify China under Nationalist rule. Many KMT conservatives were well-to-do. They preferred Chinese society as it was. At the same time, the party’s socialists and conservatives shared a concern over the Communists’ growing power.
All these issues came to a head in early 1927, when radical leaders moved the Nationalist capital from southern to northern China. The party’s conservatives appealed to the leader they backed, Chiang Kai-shek. In April, he set up a rival Nationalist government in the city of Nanjing and expelled Communists from the army and the party. He also used Nationalist troops to brutally end a Communist-led general strike by workers in Shanghai. Large numbers of Communists were arrested and executed. Similar anti-Communists actions were carried out in several other Chinese cities. Those who survived fled into hiding in the countryside.
In 1928, Chiang captured Beijing and completed the Nationalists’ reunification of China. A new national government was established at Nanjing, with Chiang at its head. The West quickly recognized Chiang’s Nationalist government as China’s legal government.
The Rise of Mao Zedong One of the Communists who escaped to the countryside in 1927 was the head of the KMT’s propaganda corps, Mao Zedong. Like Chiang Kai-shek, Mao was the son of a prosperous farmer and merchant. Although he had no formal military training, he too took part in the 1911 revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty. After the revolution, Mao drifted about, in search of education and a profession. May 1919 found him at Beijing University, where he took part in the May Fourth Movement.
Mao helped found the CCP in 1921 and was one of the first Communists to join the KMT, where he quickly rose to a leadership position. Along with other radical KMT leaders, Mao worked to organize peasants for a communist revolution. After being expelled from the KMT in 1927, he led a peasant revolt in Hunan Province. When Nationalist forces crushed the revolt, Mao and a few hundred survivors fled into the mountains. There he helped organize a Red Army of peasants and workers that by the spring of 1928 had some 10,000 troops.
The Communists’ Struggle for Power Mao wanted to wage a guerrilla war from bases in the Chinese countryside. The leaders of the CCP opposed this strategy.They ordered the Red Army to attack several major cities in south-central China in hopes of inspiring a workers’ revolution. No such revolution took place and the Communist forces were crushed by the Nationalist army.
The urban campaign’s failure increased Mao’s standing in the CCP. His followers created 15 rural bases in central China. From these areas, they seized land from wealthy landowners and gave it to the peasants. By 1931, the Red Army had grown to some 200,000 troops. Mao established the Chinese Soviet Republic in southeastern China, with himself as its head. Under his leadership, the Communists soon controlled a population of several million.
Chiang sent four expeditions to crush Mao’s government. The Red Army successfully fought them off using guerrilla warfare tactics. Finally, in late 1934, some 700,000 Nationalist troops advanced on the Communist capital. CCP leaders ordered the Red Army to directly attack this overwhelming force. The Red Army was nearly destroyed as a result. In October, Mao, other government and CCP officials, and the remains of their army broke through the Nationalist lines and fled.
Over the next 12 months they crossed 18 mountain ranges and 24 rivers in a 6,000-mile retreat that became known as the Long March. For the first three months, they suffered repeated attacks from Chiang’s ground troops and almost constant bombardment from his warplanes. Of the 100,000 Communists who began the Long March, only 8,000 survivors arrived at their new base in northwest China in October 1935. However, the retreat allowed Mao to oust his rivals and take control of the CCP.
With the Soviet border and Japanese-held territory in northeast China nearby, Mao was able to rebuild his army without fear of attack by Nationalist forces. By 1937, it again numbered about 100,000 troops.
Mao helped found the CCP in 1921 and was one of the first Communists to join the KMT, where he quickly rose to a leadership position. Along with other radical KMT leaders, Mao worked to organize peasants for a communist revolution. After being expelled from the KMT in 1927, he led a peasant revolt in Hunan Province. When Nationalist forces crushed the revolt, Mao and a few hundred survivors fled into the mountains. There he helped organize a Red Army of peasants and workers that by the spring of 1928 had some 10,000 troops.
The Communists’ Struggle for Power Mao wanted to wage a guerrilla war from bases in the Chinese countryside. The leaders of the CCP opposed this strategy.They ordered the Red Army to attack several major cities in south-central China in hopes of inspiring a workers’ revolution. No such revolution took place and the Communist forces were crushed by the Nationalist army.
The urban campaign’s failure increased Mao’s standing in the CCP. His followers created 15 rural bases in central China. From these areas, they seized land from wealthy landowners and gave it to the peasants. By 1931, the Red Army had grown to some 200,000 troops. Mao established the Chinese Soviet Republic in southeastern China, with himself as its head. Under his leadership, the Communists soon controlled a population of several million.
Chiang sent four expeditions to crush Mao’s government. The Red Army successfully fought them off using guerrilla warfare tactics. Finally, in late 1934, some 700,000 Nationalist troops advanced on the Communist capital. CCP leaders ordered the Red Army to directly attack this overwhelming force. The Red Army was nearly destroyed as a result. In October, Mao, other government and CCP officials, and the remains of their army broke through the Nationalist lines and fled.
Over the next 12 months they crossed 18 mountain ranges and 24 rivers in a 6,000-mile retreat that became known as the Long March. For the first three months, they suffered repeated attacks from Chiang’s ground troops and almost constant bombardment from his warplanes. Of the 100,000 Communists who began the Long March, only 8,000 survivors arrived at their new base in northwest China in October 1935. However, the retreat allowed Mao to oust his rivals and take control of the CCP.
With the Soviet border and Japanese-held territory in northeast China nearby, Mao was able to rebuild his army without fear of attack by Nationalist forces. By 1937, it again numbered about 100,000 troops.
The Nationalists and Communists in World War II Japan’s invasion of China in 1937 brought a temporary halt to China’s civil war. Nationalist and Communist leaders agreed that it was better for both armies to resist the Japanese than to continue fighting each other. An uneasy alliance was formed. However, little cooperation existed. The burden of resisting the invasion fell on the Nationalist army. By the time Japan’s conquest was complete in 1939, Chiang’s army had been seriously weakened. It retreated into western China, along with other Chinese who fled from Japanese rule.This region became known as Free China.
For the rest of World War II, Japan tried to bomb Free China into surrender. Thousands of soldiers and civilians died. Free China was also plagued by political disputes and corruption. The Nationalist government and its army were further weakened as a result.
Meanwhile, the Communists broke most of the Red Army into small units. These groups went behind enemy lines to fight a guerrilla war against the Japanese. By the end of the war in August 1945, the Communists had gained control over thousands of miles and some 90 million people behind Japanese lines in northern and central China. The Red Army had grown to between 500,000 and 1 million troops.
Formation of the People's Republic of China With World War II over, conflict between China’s Communists and Nationalists resumed. The situation had changed, however. The war had left the Nationalists unpopular and weak, while the Communists emerged from it much stronger. A negotiated peace between the two groups was blocked by conservatives in the KMT, who still believed in a military victory. The fighting resumed in March 1946. The Nationalists made gains at first, but the tide soon turned in the Communists’ favor.
Buoyed by widespread peasant support in the countryside and supplied with weapons left behind by the Japanese, the People’s Liberation Army (the Red Army’s new name after the war) began to push south in 1947. By late 1948, the Nationalist position was looking increasingly hopeless. In January 1949, the Communists took Beijing without a fight. Most of China’s other major cities soon passed from Nationalist to Communist control. Chiang Kai-shek abandoned mainland China, moving his government and remaining Nationalist forces to the nearby island of Formosa, which became the nation of Taiwan. He proclaimed the Taiwanese city of Taipei the temporary capital of China. On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong announced the formation of the People’s Republic of China, with its capital at Beijing. The Nationalists remained in Taiwan.
For the rest of World War II, Japan tried to bomb Free China into surrender. Thousands of soldiers and civilians died. Free China was also plagued by political disputes and corruption. The Nationalist government and its army were further weakened as a result.
Meanwhile, the Communists broke most of the Red Army into small units. These groups went behind enemy lines to fight a guerrilla war against the Japanese. By the end of the war in August 1945, the Communists had gained control over thousands of miles and some 90 million people behind Japanese lines in northern and central China. The Red Army had grown to between 500,000 and 1 million troops.
Formation of the People's Republic of China With World War II over, conflict between China’s Communists and Nationalists resumed. The situation had changed, however. The war had left the Nationalists unpopular and weak, while the Communists emerged from it much stronger. A negotiated peace between the two groups was blocked by conservatives in the KMT, who still believed in a military victory. The fighting resumed in March 1946. The Nationalists made gains at first, but the tide soon turned in the Communists’ favor.
Buoyed by widespread peasant support in the countryside and supplied with weapons left behind by the Japanese, the People’s Liberation Army (the Red Army’s new name after the war) began to push south in 1947. By late 1948, the Nationalist position was looking increasingly hopeless. In January 1949, the Communists took Beijing without a fight. Most of China’s other major cities soon passed from Nationalist to Communist control. Chiang Kai-shek abandoned mainland China, moving his government and remaining Nationalist forces to the nearby island of Formosa, which became the nation of Taiwan. He proclaimed the Taiwanese city of Taipei the temporary capital of China. On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong announced the formation of the People’s Republic of China, with its capital at Beijing. The Nationalists remained in Taiwan.