Chinese History Flashcards

Flashcards about Chinese History

Dynasty

A family line of rulers and monarchs.

KMT

The nationalist party in China formed by Sun Yat-Sen.

Proletariat

The working class people.

Puppet State

Manchuko, with PuYi as the fake leader who really had no control over it.

Mao Zedong

A communist reformist who formed the CCP. He led soldiers in the Long March, formed the Red Army, and took influence from the USSR.

Sun Yat-Sen

A nationalist reformist who formed the KMT. He returned to China after fleeing to other countries to learn about westernization and modernization, to bring it back to China.

Chiang Kai-Shek

A nationalist traditionalist who took over the KMT after Sun Yat-Sen died. He was a Chinese general trained by the USSR and Japan, and created a military academy to train soldiers and help protect the KMT.

Yuan Shih-Kai

A traditional former Chinese army general who became the prime minister of China after the dynasty system ended.

Warlord Era

Started after Yuan Shih-Kai resigned as emperor, because they had no one to fill in as the government. China was not unified anymore and quickly disintegrated into hundreds of small states, controlled by warlords with private armies.

End of the Manchu Dynasty

Occurred when a civil war seemed likely, so Sun Yat-Sen and Yuan Shih-Kai joined together to force the emperor out of power.

Collapse of China under Yuan Shih-Kai

Happened because Yuan Shih-Kai was establishing himself as an emperor which nobody supported.

May Fourth Movement

When Peking University students and others protested together to demand China’s refusal to sign the Paris Peace Settlement because they didn’t want Japan to take their land.

Sun Yat-Sen's Three Principles

Nationalism, democracy, and social and economic reform.

Northern Expedition

When the KMT traveled North (started in the South) under Chiang Kai-Shek’s orders to eliminate the warlords from China.

Shanghai Massacre

Occurred when the KMT (led by Chiang Kai-Shek) targeted the CCP, especially the CCP headquarters, which were in Shanghai.

Purification Movement

Created to eliminate and arrest any communists.

White Terror

More widespread violence that spread throughout China to eliminate any communists.

Long March

The CCP’s journey to Yenan.

Xi'an Incident

When Zhang and Yang took a ton of soldiers to Chiang Kai-Shek’s quarters in an attempt to arrest him because he was targeting communists.

Nanking Decade

Between 1927 and 1928, focusing on the economy, agriculture, and industry in China. The goal was to push foreigners out and improve the quality of life for workers and peasants.

Yenan Soviet

The CCP members working and living with the peasants, because Yenan was now their headquarters.

Mao’s Rectification Movement

A new experience for the Yenan Soviet, being told to read and criticize Mao’s works. Anyone who did critique his work was punished.

Sino-Japanese War

Began in 1937 and began with China accidentally firing on Japanese soldiers. Japan used this to declare war on China.

Manchurian invasion

Japan blew up Mudken and blamed China. Then Japan used this as an excuse to take over Manchuria.