History

• CAUSES
• Corrupt and weak Qing emperors in the 19th century troop morale was low leading to defeats by foreign powers
• empress Dowager was unpopular and opposed the self strengthening movement and hundred . days reform
• the provinces of china were weakly controlled by Beijing
• 1905 Sun Yat Sen founded the Tongmenghui which coordinated anti Qing protests across China. Yat sen started 8 uprisings in 1907-11
• goverment tried to take over regional railways to gain revenue and this was opposed by landlords and merchants who had invested. railway protection societies were formed and there was a anti-qing feeling 
• EVENTS
• uprising in Wuchang 1911 
• it was unplanned and disorganised but by the morning of 11th october the entire city was captured
• Qing dynasty lost provinces to an army led by LI YUANHONG
• 1st november Qing government appointed YUAN SHIKAI as the prime minister 
• 25th december SUN YAT SEN returned to China and was elected priminister of the chinese republic
• YUAN SHIKAI was president and emperor puyi was abdicated on 12th February 1912
• EFFECTS
• end of dynastic system and showed the failure of democracy with kmt winnign 43% of vote 
• lack of social improvement in the economy or socially
• increased foreign aggression from japan(twenty one demands) but other countries backed away

• CAUSES 
• New culture movement and there was a desire for change across china led by scholars like Chen Duxiu
• Treaty of versailles in 1917 china joined WW1 they joined the allies because germany had a large sphere of influence on China so they sent labourers to work for Britain and France
• They feelt betrayed after Shandong province was not awarded to them after the Versialles
• EVENTS
• May 4th movement was the name given for change and national rebirth (particulary amongst young students
• 1919 Japan were allowed to keep German possesions of China e.g. Shandong province
• 4th may 3000 students and beijing university student demanded their government assert itself against the Japanese
• The movement was replicated across china and the government minister's house was wrecked
• EFFECTS
• The rising protest stopped china accepting the terms of the treaty and REFUSED TO SIGN but Japa had control over Shandong
• traditional chinese values were questioned and people started to support more warlords
• The intellectual turning point encouraged people to realise that the western style of democracy was not for China 
• new ideologies were turned to e.g. ccp in 1921

• HOW IT STARTED
• 1913 YUAN SHIKAI took over government he replaced house of representatives with a council of state and was a dictator of CHINA
• There was decentralised power as warlords had their own armies
• 1915 Yuan proclaimed himself emeror but many close military supporters abandoned him. Many southern provinces declared their independance and went rebel. Yuan abandoned the empire on 22nd march 1916
• 1916 Yuan dies and replaced by Li Yuanhong tried to rule but failed. china's government lost control due to warlords
• EVENTS
• 1917 Sun Yat sen started independent military government in Guanzhou. He had support of southern provinces
• North south divide between warlords in China
• Warlords ran their own empires they taxed peasants. Economy collapsed as warlords printed more and more money
• warlord control was weakened by famines and droughts 
• HOW IT WAS ENDED
• Sun appealed to the USSR for an army to reunite China
• USSR established the Whampoa military academy in guangszhou and armed the KMT from 1923 onwards
• USSR encouraged KMT and CCP to join in a UNITED FRONT
• 1925 Sun dies and Chiang Kiashek replaced him
• 1926-1928 warlord period ends with the northern expedition

• EARLY LIFE
• Sun yat sen founded it in 1894 as a chinese democracy
• 1905 Sun joined force with anti Qing groups who planned and supported the 1911 revolution
• 1912 Kuomintang was formed and it had 3 principles NATIONALISM, DEMOCRACY AND SOCIAL ADVANCE. KMT won a majority in 1912 elections
• KMT banned by Yuan Shikai and Sun yat sen fleed to Japan
• RE ESTABLISHMENT 
• 1919 shanghai KMT established HQ in Guandong province 
• 1923 KMT got aid from UUSR after being denied by western powers. KMT grew wary of the CCP
• CCP united with KMT to establish a United front to reunite China
• 1924 KMT had adopted Sun' political theory(nationalism, democracy and people's livelihood
• ROAD TO VICTORY
• SUN died 1925 and replaced by Chiang Kai Shek 
• Chiang launched northern expedition 1926 to defeat warlords 
• 1927 split in KMT over strategy and Chang responded by massacring communists in Shanghai and by the end of 1927 had reunited the KMT under his control
• 1928 Chiang took Beijing and led a new government in Nanjing until 1937

EARLY LIFE 1921-1927

• Party was co-founded by Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu july 1921. Chen was elected leader and became part of the comintern which gave $5000 per year in support
• Under pressure from USSR they joined in 1923 on a united front with the KMT
• Mao Zedong disagreed with Cheng Duxiu and was excluded from the CCP central Committe and was attracted to rural communism
• CIVIL WAR AND WW2 1927-1949
• 1927 CHIANG turned on the communists by massacring 5000 in shanghai. CCP fled to Kiangsi
• The red army founded by the CCP with a concentration on emocratic, centralism
• oct 1934 the CCp forced to flee after being surrounded by the KMT on the LONG MARCH and at the end of the long march Mao Zedong had taken leadership of the party
• Dec 1936 Chiang agreed a second united front with the CCP against the Japanese when they invaded manchuria in 1937 and by the end of the war CCP controlled over 95 million 
• 1946 civil war broke out and the CCP had 900 000 soldiers vs KMT 2.7 million most of china was under CCP conrtol so the KMT fled to taiwan
• RULING PARTY 1949- PRESENT 
• PEOPLE republic of china the ideology (Marxist-Lennist principles

• CAUSES
• Chiang kai shek was eager to destroy warlords 
• The Whampoa military academy produced the national revoloutionary army which was superior  to warlords
• NRA had 100,000 well equiped soldiers with the latest guns and weapons from Russia and Germany and Chang relied on the rudssian millitary
• NRA was supported by farmers and peasants
• the political objectives of the NRA was to protect welfare of the people and to overthrow the warlords]
• EVENTS
• The north exped was a united front (CCP+KMT) against warlord Beiyang in beijing
• 1926 the north exped target the three most powerful warlords
• 10th october 1926 Wuxhan on the yangtze river was captured by and the NRA had grown to 250,000. By 1927 Nanjing Shanghai were ccaptured by the NRA and bribing warlords, communist propogands
• april 1927 united front ends and shanghai massacre carried out 
• KMT and NRA set up a government at Nanjing and was recognised by foreign powers
• EFFECTS
• communists forced to retrete after shanghai massacre and set up a soviet in Kiangsi province(abonded by 1934
• Chiang kai sheks position was strengthened as a dictator (KMT)
• Chiangs new regime was supported by the army and most support came from rich commercial elites in the citeis and richer peasant  in the countryside

• CAUSES 
• Sun yat sen allied with the USSR which gave financial and military support but KMT had to cooperate wtih the CCP
• The KMT split the KMT was divided between the NRA and Chiang kai shek
• Attacks on foreign concessions Chiang and the right wing KMT wanted communist influence
• EVENTS
• massacre on 12th april 1927 
• CCP demanded international statements with huge protests and strikes
• 12th april Big-eared Du's green gang moved through the international settlement to attack the CCP union strongholds
• 5000-10000 dead but CCP leader Zhou Enlai escaped
• Effects
• rival KMT government set up in Nanjing.
• end of USSR/KMT cooperation
• Stalin recalled all soviet advisors and stalin switched support to the CCP 
• CCP forced to flee from urban areas this transformed the communists support from a urban support to a rural peasantry. 
• Old leaders like Chen Duxie were discredited and new leadership roles to Zhu De and Mao

• CAUSES 
• Growth of Jiangxi Base Area: many communists regrouped in rural areas 1933 Otto Braund arrived from Germany and Zhou enlai took military control
• KMT extermination campaigns: there was 5 massive campaigns(1930-1934) blockhouse tactics imposed by KMT and Zhu enlai was forced to abandon the soviet area
• EVENTS
• 1934 october communists cross the gan river westwards
• two break outs were led to try and escape
• Dec 19334 CCP faced a major defeat on the Xiang river( border of Hunan). CCP lost most of their baggage and over half of their troops. The CCp had to change direction westward
• Zunyi conference 7jan 1935. Mao was made a full member
• Under mao  they changed route to avoid KMT and warlords 25th may 1935 crossed Dadu River which was great propaganda
• oct 1935 reached communist base Yana and 5000 remained out of 85000
• EFFECTS
• survival from the long march may look like a defeat but they had survived
• propganda victory Dadu river crossing and The eight points which look after peasants and land redistribution 
• strengthened Mao was seen as a great hero of the march

• CAUSES
• Mukden incident sept 1931 japan invaded the northern province of Manchuria. Chiang was concerned with the communists 
• Xi'an incident 1936 extermination attampt by the KMT led by Zhang Xueliang. Chang was then imprisoned to so a second united front could be formed
• Marco Polo bridge incident 7th July 1937 a clash between japanes and chinese troops 10 miles west of Beijing
• EVENTS
• The japanese swept the KMT away: shanghai fell in nov1937 Nanjing jan1938
• By 1941 the japanese had overextended themselves in china and by declaring war on the us chiang had a new ally
• Us supplies flown to Chaings capital Chongqing
• 1945 Japan surrender after atomic bombs hit Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• KMT/CCP during the war
• KMT bad tactics and attacked CCP before Japan, rents remained high and econmy was wrecked by high inflation
• little support in the countryside EMERGED WEAKER FROM THE WAR 
• CCP had improved the quality of women and a better quality of life for rural peasants

• CAUSES 
• long term Chiang was seen as unpatriotic where as communists were seen as patriots 
• short term there was a divided country KMT strong in the south, japanese forces still in China and CCP controlled most of north/north east china
• Immediate USA and USSR forced peace talks but military control resumed
• EVENTS
• july 1946-1947 KMT took major cities but became isolated by the CCP in the counrtyside
• May1947-1948 PLA (Chinese People's Liberation Army) inflicted losses on the NRA and in april 1948 made gains in Shandong isolating th KMT.
• dec1948-1949 vital railway junction of Xuzhou captured and KMT and northern china became seperated 
• Chiang's capital of Nanjing was captured 23rd April 
• 1st October 1949 Mao declared the creation of the peoples republic of china (prc)
• REASONS FOR VICTORY
• military factors: Manchuria was suited for CCP guerrilla tactcs and the KMT were slowly worn down. KMT lost supplies as railway lines were destroyed. NRA became corrupt and chiang overstrechted his armies
• Political factors: CCP was peasant based and a lot of the population were peasant farmers
• Economic factors: Economy under chiang suffered high inflation 
• Foreign support:CCP used highly trained and equipped USSR equipment whiile KMT failed to do so with the US'
• Mao was effective as he trained an efficent fighting force while Chiang had corruption affecting KMT morale