China Post-Emperors to Modern Day
Dec 25, 2015
Review
• Empress CiXi dies and her infant son becomes Emperor
• 1911 – Royal Guard joins revolt and overthrows Emperor. (He’s a baby, what do you want?)
• Sun Yat-sen becomes President
Sun as President
• Ends rule of emperors• Much of the country in the hands of warlords
– Fighting for power
• Industry in the hands of foreign powers– “hypo-colony”
• Solution? – Sun accepts help of the Soviet Union– Communists become members of Kuomintang
Sun Dies
• Sun Yat-sen dies in 1925
• Chiang Kai-shek named commander of Kuomintang Army
• Mao Zedong (or Tse-tung) in charge of propaganda and political agents
Military Success
• Kuomintang drive to the North and controls all of China south of the Yangtse River by March 1927– Chiang decide to get rid of communists
• Rounded up and killed
• Take the capital of Peking in 1928
• 1930 – Chiang declares himself ruler and moves capital to Nanking
What about Mao?
• Mao survives the violence against communists
• Moves to the mountains in Southern China– Sets up the Kiangsi Soviet– Begins communist army
• Ward off 3 attacks by Chiang
Does this make sense?
• Japan attacks in 1931– Chiang pays little attention, keeps trying to
destroy communists
The “Long March”
• October 1934– Chiang blocks communists
• Outnumbers them 3 to 1
– Mao starts trek north• Takes over a year• Loses ¾ of his men• Sets up Yenan Soviet
And in this Corner
• Three groups vying for power in China– Mao’s Communists– Chiang’s Kuomintang– Japan
• STAY TUNED
Together Again
• By 1936 Japan launches a full scale invasion of mainland China
• Chiang is kidnapped and forced to accept an alliance with Communists against the Japanese
Who does what?
• Communists– Bulk of the fighting– 1 million men in
army, 2 million peasants in militia
– Seen as strong liberators
• Nationalists– Did very little– Squandered aid– Seen as corrupt
and incompetent by people
Back to being enemies
• Chiang signs treaty with USSR– Says his is the proper government– He should accept Japanese surrender
• Mao sends his men to accept surrender
Civil War
• US backs Chiang, but tries to mediate– Lends air support
• 1947 Civil War breaks out
• 1948 – Nationalist troops desert and flee
• Mao controls above Yangtse River by April 1949
• Chiang and Kuomintang flee to Taiwan
China under Mao
• People change loyalties to Mao– Part of culture– Remember Confucianism– Chiang seen as losing fitness to lead
Democratic Centralism
• Party gives complete obedience to leaders
• Bring everything under central control– 18 Provinces made into six regions– Bring Northern territory under Party control– Party members at all levels of government
• Supreme People’s Court (not Whopner)– Used to accuse and try opposition
Economic Changes
• Agrarian Reform Law– Gave land to peasants
• Industry and business fall under state control– Directly controlled: banks, railroads, heavy
industry– Other firms pushed out by policies and price
controls
Five Year Plans
• Mao gets idea from USSR– He visits
• 10,000 Soviet planners help with plan
• Give priority to heavy industry– Oil, coal, steel
• Paid for by taxing peasants
• Mao allows free speech and then revokes it when criticized
Collectivization
• Two Different Groups– Lower Stage APCs
• Combined 30 – 50 households• Kept ownership of the land
– Collective• 200 – 300 households• Land managed by committee• Small plots allowed
Great Leap Forward
• Reorganized farms into 26,000 communes– Each like a little country
• Had own army, industry, and farms• About 25,000 people
• Advanced science and industry– China explodes nuclear bomb in 1964
• Problems– Low quality– Much waste
Lin Shao-ch’i
• Given title of President of China by Mao– Rewards given
• Higher education• Better prices
• Mao concentrates on communist ideology– Realized he wasn’t most organized person
Cultural Revolution
• “Going Down” – people of privilege sent to farms to see how peasants live
• Army– Ranks abolished
• The Little Red Book– Book of Mao’s ideas and writings
• Culture changed– Plays, etc. about communist struggle
Red Guards
• Bands of students indoctinated by Mao
• Closes school for 2 years for curriculum changes
• Encouraged that revolt was good sometimes
• Replace leaders with revolutionary committees– Liu Shao-ch’I included
Moderates
• Backed by Party, government administration, and army
• Wanted: – Political stability– Economic growth and development
Radicals
• Backed by trade unions, militia, and Communist Youth League
• Controlled press and radio
• Wanted:– Class struggle