China and the Rise of Communism · China and the Rise of Communism Democracy’s Failed...
Transcript of China and the Rise of Communism · China and the Rise of Communism Democracy’s Failed...
China and the
Rise of
Communism Democracy’s Failed Battleground
Big Trouble in Little China
• Qing Dynasty Falls (1911)
• New republic under Sun Yixian and Shikai
• Warlords began to seize power
– Foreign powers increased influence
– Take over N. China
Dealing with the Warlords
• Sun Yixian and Nationalist Party form gov’t in S. China
– Raises an army to defeat warlords
– Western powers refuse to help so he goes to Russia
• 1920’s Chinese Communists form political party
Death and a Change in
Leadership
• Sun Yixian died 1925
• Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-Shek) took control of Nationalist Party
– Did not like Communism or democracy
An Unlikely Alliance
• Nationalists join forces w/ Communists against
• Mao Zedong – leading member of Communist party
– Believed Communists should look for support among peasants
The Shanghai Massacre, 1927
• Communists winning supporters
• Jieshi doesn’t like this
– Orders slaughter of Communists and workers who support them
• Civil war starts that lasts 22 years
• Communists join forces w/ the Nationalists – Mao Zedong (Communist)
• Organizes guerrilla attacks against Japanese
• Improves literary and food production
– Gains peasant’s loyalty
• Controls N. China
– Jiang Jieshi • Controlled S. China • Aided by the US
– Much of the money and aid went to corrupt officers
• Fought few battles against Japan
Please pause for a brief
intermission during WWII
Civil War Starts Again
• Communists and Nationalists fight again WWII
– Lasted from 1946-1949
– Communists initially outnumbered
– US pull back on support of Nationalists
The Creation of Two Chinas
• People turn to Communism
– Oct. 1949, Mao gains control of China
– Names it People’s Republic of China (PRC)
• Jieshi flees to Taiwan
– Recognized by the US as Republic of China
People’s Republic of China
(PRC) - 1949
China in the Cold War
• US aids Nationalist gov’t in Taiwan
• USSR aids the Communist gov’t in China
– Chinese and USSR sign a pact to always come to each other’s aid
Chinese Expansion
• Tibet (1950)
• Parts of India
• Fighting French in Indochina
• Southern Mongolia
– Clashed with USSR
Tibet and China
• 1950 China takes Tibet
– Chinese promised Tibetans autonomy under Dalai Lama (religious leader)
– Chinese control tightens, Dalai Lama flees to India
– India took in Tibetan refugees after 1959 failed revolt
• Creates resentment btw India and China
Communist Stability
• Mao reforms
– Agrarian Reform Law (1950)
• Seizes land from large landlords – Kills over a million who resist
• Redistributes land to lower classes
– Nationalized industry
• Gov’t owned
• Huge increases in production
– Collective farms
The 100 Flowers Campaign
• People reject his changes
– Mao lets people state grievances
– Angry about demands, Mao stops program and murders dissenters
Great Leap Forward, 1958
• Five-Year Plan in 1955
– Failed because it was “not bold enough”
• Great Leap Forward (1958) meant to fix problems
– Communes created – larger collective farms
• Life strictly controlled by gov’t
• People owned nothing
– Ended 1961 after famine killed 15-40 million people
China and the
USSR
• Problems start btw China and USSR
– USSR and China share huge borders – leads to fighting
– China wants to own Communist decisions
• By the late 1950s, both countries want to be the leading communist country
Mao Backs Off (kind of)
• After Great Leap Forward (1961), Mao reduces gov’t role
– New leaders move away from strict policies
• Families could own homes and sell crops they grew on private plots of land
– Mao said weakened China’s goal of equality
• Called for cultural revolution – High school and college students form RED GUARD
Cultural Revolution, 1966
• Lead by Red Guards
• Cultural Revolution – Goal: establish equal society of
peasants and workers
– Hero: peasant who works hard
– Enemy: scholar, artist who questioned
– All students read the Little Red Book – explained ideology of Chinese Communism
• Anyone who resisted was targeted
End of the Cultural
Revolution
• 1968 - Mao ordered stop to Cultural Revolution
– Used army to put down Red Guards
– Zhou Enlai, Communist party founder and premier, restored order