WhatwasChinalikeintheearly20th century?

L/O– ToidentifyanddescribethekeyeventsinChina1911-1927

ChiangKai-shek

SunYat-senYuanShikai

EmperorPuyi

The1911Revolution• On10th Oct1911,thecityofWuchangexplodedinrevoltwhichquicklyspreadtoallmajorcitiesinChina.

• On12th February1912,the6-Year-OldEmperor,Puyi,wasforcedtoabdicatebyYuanShikai,theleaderofthearmy.

• ItwastheendofnotonlytheQingDynastywhichhadruledsince1644butofImperialChinaitself.ChinawasnowaRepublic.

AftertheRevolution• In1912,YuanShikai becamethePresidentoftheChineseRepublic.HewastheleaderoftheBeiyangArmy,thebestfightingforceinChina.Itscommandersallowedhimloyalty.

• SunYat-Sen hadnochoicebuttosurrenderthePresidencytohim.TheyhopedhewouldruleasaconstitutionalpresidentwithaparliamentmodelledontheUSCongress.

YuanShikaiYuanShikai

December1912Elections• Therewastobea senateelectedbythedifferentprovincialassembliesandahouseofrepresentatives.

• FourmainpoliticalpartiesemergedinChinawithover300localparties.TheNationalPeople’sParty(GMD/KMT)wascreatedbySunYat-sen.

• TheKMTwon43%voteand259/596seats.

SunYat-sen

YuanShikai takesover• TheKMTexpectedtoformanewgovernmentandtheyappointedSongJiaorenasprimeminister.

• Hewasassassinatedon20th March1913ashewasabouttoboardatraintoBeijing.

• InMay,KMTmilitarygovernorsweredismissedandNanjingwasoccupiedbyYuanShikai’s troops.Thenewassemblywasforcedtoelect YuanaspresidentforfiveyearsandtheKMTwasbanned!

SongJiaoren

TheTwenty-OneDemands• YuanhadbecomeleaderofaChinafacingseriousproblems.Theregimeheledreliedonforeignloans.Taxincomewasdeclining.

• Luckily,WW1haddistractedmanyforeigngovernmentsbutJapantookadvantageofChina’sweaknessandinJanuary1915,presentedthe21Demands.

• Yuanwasforcedtosignthesedemands,furtherundermininghisauthority.

TheTwenty-OneDemands• Despitethishumiliation bytheJapanese,Yuanpressedaheadwithhisplans.HedeclaredhimselfemperorofChinabutthisjusttriggeredrevolts.Yunnandeclaredindependence.

• Yuanreluctantlyback-peddled anddroppedtheplansinMarch1916.InJune,hediedaged56.HewasreplacedbythevicepresidentbutinJuly1917,hefellvictimtoacoupbyYuan’scommanders.Theeraofthewarlordshadbegun.

YuanShikai

EraoftheWarlords• Chinanowdescendedintoanarchy.In1917,ChinadeclaredwaronGermany,hopingtogaincontrolofGermanconcessionsinShandongprovince.

• Thiswasnottobe.IntheTreatyofVersailles,JapanwasgivencontroloftheGermanconcessions,notChina.

• Thisfreshhumiliationsparkedoffthe4th Maydemonstrations.

4th MayMovement1919• AnexplosiveprotestfromthestudentsofBeijinguniversitytookplaceinTiananmenSquare.3000studentsfrom13collegesassembled.

• TheyprotestedatthehumiliationofChinaanddemandedtheirgovernmentconfrontJapan.

• Astudentunionwasestablished– theMay4th movement.ThiswasreplicatedacrossChina.AgeneralstrikewasheldwhichpreventedtheChinesedelegationfromsigningthetreaty.

TheWarlordPeriod• Despitethe4th Mayprotestsmovementbyyoungstudents,mostpeopleinChinafacedtragicconsequencesasYuanShikai’s generalsviedwithoneanotherforcontrolofaparticularregion.

• Theyalsofoughtfortheultimateprize– controlofBeijingandthecentralgovernmentthatintheorystillfunctionedthere.

TheWarlordPeriod• Between1920-1928,competinggroupsofwarlordsfoughtbattlesalloverChina.Theyallneededmoneytodothis.Troopsneededfeedingandpaying.

• Everythingwastaxedandcashsqueezedfromasufferingpeasantry.Manywarlordsjustprintedmoney– resultinginsevereinflation.Moneylostitsvalue.

TheWarlordPeriod• Tomakemattersworse,therewasadrought innorthernChinain1918andfaminesin1920-21.1923-25alsosawmoreflooding.

• Howevertherewasagrowthinindustryatthistime– WW1meantEuropeanproductscouldn’tgettoChina– givingChina’sproducersanopenmarket.

TheChineseCommunistParty(CCP)• Twogroupscametogetherinthe1920stodefeatthewarlords.OnewastheCCP.

• ManyChineserevolutionarieslookedtoRussiaforsupport.In1917,theBolshevikshadtakencontrolinRussiaandofferedtogivebackallareasofChinabacktotheChinese.

• Communismseemedtoofferasolutiontothewarlordproblem.

TheChineseCommunistParty(CCP)• RevolutionarieslikeChenDuxiu,leaderofthe4th MayMovement,increasinglybecameinterestedinMarxism.

• SmallMarxistsstudygroupswerefoundedinShanghaiandBeijing.MaoZedongfoundedagroupinChangsha.

• NumbersweresmallbuttheUSSRsentCOMINTERN agentstohelpsupportthesegroups. MaoZedong

ChenDuxui

TheChineseCommunistParty(CCP)• AgentGregoryVoitinski madecontactwithChenDuxui inMay1920.AtranslationoftheCommunistManifestowasarranged.

• ThefoundingcongressofthepartywasheldinaclassroomatagirlsschoolintheFrenchconcessionof Shanghai,July1921.MaoZedongwasoneofthedelegatesbutChenDuxiuwaselectedsecretarygeneral.

GregoryVoitinski

TheChineseCommunistParty(CCP)• TheCOMINTERNprovided$5000USDayear tokeep

thepartyalivehowevertherewereconstantdisagreementoverwhethertoworkwiththeGMD

ornot.

• TheUSSRwantedtheCCPtoworkwiththeKMT,whotheyviewedasthestrongerparty.

• Inthe1922congressoftheCCPitwasagreetoseekanalliancewiththeKMTtofightthewarlords.Inthethirdcongressof1923,theyactuallyagreedtolet

communistsjointheGMD.

TheChineseCommunistParty(CCP)• MaojoinedtheKMTaswellin1923andwonmembershipoftheCCPcentralcommittee.From1923-26heworkedwithintheUnitedFrontasaKMTofficial.

• HedidnotgetonwiththeCCPleadershipcirclearoundChenDuxiu.Hedislikedtheirintellectualismandtheirfocusoncityworkers.

• In1925,hewasexcludedfromthecentralcommitteeandwasattractedtotheideasofPengPai,whohejoinedatatraininginstituteforruralmilitants. PengPai

ChenDuxui

TheChineseCommunistParty(CCP)• DespitethelowexpectationsoftheUSSR,theCCPexpandedrapidlyfrom200membersin1922to7000in1926and30,000bytheendofthatyear.

• By1927,membershipreachedabout58,000makingitthe3rd largestcommunistpartyintheworldandamajorforceinChina.

• TheGMDslowlybecameconcerned withthisgrowth,despitetheiralliance.

TheKuomintang(KMT/GMD)• ThiswasthePeople’sNationalParty andwasformedtouniteChina.

• ItwassetupbySunYat-senandwasbasedonhis3principles.

• HewasdeterminedtoridChinaofforeigninfluenceandtoremovethepowerofthewarlords.

The3PrinciplesoftheKuomintang

1.)Nationalism:toridChinaofforeigninfluenceand

exploitation

2.)Democracy:tocreateamoremodernsystemof

governmentacceptabletothepeopleofChina

3.)SocialAdvance:tobringaboutreformsinindustryandeverydaylifeandparticularlytoimprovethepositionof

Chinesepeasants

TheKuomintang• TheUSSRmadecontactwiththeKMTinJanuary1923throughtheirrepresentative,MikhailBorodin.BorodinhelpedSunYat-sentoreformtheKMT.

• SunrealisedthathewouldneedanarmytodealwiththewarlordsandregainChina.TheUSSRofferedtheKMTmoneyandadvisorstosupportanewmilitaryacademyatCanton.

• TheWhampoaMilitaryAcademywasfoundedbytheUSSRwithChiangKai-ShekasitcommandantandZhouEnlai asitspoliticalcommissar.

MikhailBorodin

ZhouEnlai

SunYat-sen Dies…• In1925SunYat-sen diedofcancer.ChiangKai-Shek,whowastheleaderoftheKMTarmy,becameleader.

• ChiangK-SwasalarmedatthegrowingpoweroftheCCP.MostKMTofficerswerelandlords orcamefromthebusinessclasses.TheywereafraidoftheCommunists.

SunYat-sen

ChiangKai-shek

TheNorthernExpedition1926-1928• Theattackonthewarlordsbeganin1926,inacombinedoperation amongsttheKMTandCCP.

• Peasants&workerswelcomedChiang’sarmies&therewaslittleresistancefromthewarlords.

• Chinawasnowreunified andChiang’sgovernmentwasrecognisedbyforeignpowers.

TheShanghaiMassacres- 1927• Chiangfeared thegrowinginfluenceoftheCCP,especiallyinShanghai.

• In1927theworkersofShanghairebelledagainstthewarlordinthearea.TheKMTarmyandthetriad‘greengang’executed alltheCommuniststheycouldfind.

SummaryQuestions

1. WhydidthecontrolofthegovernmentinBeijingovertheprovincesofChinabreakdowninthe

years1912-26?

2. WhatexplainsthesuccessoftheNorthernExpeditionof1926?

3. InwhatwaysdidtheUSSRinfluencepoliticaldevelopmentsinChinaintheperiod1921-27?

4. WhydidtheUnitedFrontcometoanendin1927?