China Communism

Opium Wars

Territory, sovereignty, and control to European powers through unequal treaties.

Self-Strengthening Movement

A failed 1800s effort to modernize China's military and economy using Western ideas.

Boxer Rebellion

1900 anti-foreign revolt; crushed by Western powers, weakening the Qing dynasty.

Sun Yat-sen

Leader of the 1911 Revolution and founder of the Guomindang (Nationalist Party).

Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles

Nationalism, Democracy, and People's Livelihood.

End of Qing dynasty

1911.

Yuan Shikai's leadership

Became a dictator and ended the early Republic.

After Yuan Shikai's death

China broke apart under warlord rule.

Chiang Kai-shek

Leader of the Nationalists (Guomindang).

Mao Zedong

Leader of the Communists (CCP).

First United Front

To defeat warlords and unify China (1923-1927).

Collapse of the alliance

Chiang purged Communists in 1927, starting the Civil War.

Long March

6,000-mile Communist retreat (1934-35); Mao became CCP leader.

Japanese invasion of China

1937.

Second United Front

A temporary truce between Nationalists and Communists.

Nationalists' loss of popularity

Corruption, harsh taxes, and failure to fight Japan effectively.

Communists' victory in the Civil War

1949.

Nationalists' flight

Taiwan.

People's Republic of China

Founded on October 1, 1949.

Mao's government system

A "People's Democratic Dictatorship."

Mao's early reforms

Land redistribution, women's rights, literacy, and health campaigns.

Marriage Law of 1950

Gave women equality and banned arranged marriages.

Resist America and Aid Korea campaign

Mao's push to support the Korean War and remove foreigners.

Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries

Violent purge of "enemies of the state" (many executed).

Three-Anti and Five-Anti Campaigns

Movements against corruption, waste, and private business.

First Five-Year Plan

Soviet-style industrialization plan (1953-57) focusing on heavy industry.

Success of the First Five-Year Plan

Yes, industry grew fast, but peasants suffered from low grain prices.

Great Leap Forward

Mao's failed plan (1958-62) for rapid industrialization using communes.

Failure of the Great Leap Forward

Backyard steel furnaces and false grain reports led to famine.

Deaths during the Great Leap Forward

About 20-30 million, many from starvation.

Cultural Revolution

Mao's 1966 movement to revive revolutionary spirit and purge enemies.

Red Guards

Youths who attacked "bourgeois" elements and the "Four Olds."

Four Olds

Old Ideas, Old Culture, Old Customs, Old Habits.

Intellectuals during the Cultural Revolution

Sent to countryside for "reeducation" through hard labor.

Effects of the Cultural Revolution

Chaos, violence, school closures, destroyed culture, millions persecuted.

Mao's death

1976.

Deng Xiaoping

Replaced Mao after his death.

Deng Xiaoping's main reforms

Economic reform, opened China to trade, allowed private business.

Deng's system description

"Socialism with Chinese Characteristics."

Political freedom under Deng

No, only economic freedom.

Tiananmen Square Massacre

1989 pro-democracy movement crushed.

End of dynastic rule in China

The 1911 Revolution.

Establishment of the People's Republic of China

1949 by Mao Zedong.

Guomindang's main goal

To unify China and modernize under a nationalist government.

Mao's main goal

To build a socialist, classless society through revolution.

Long-term change from Deng's reforms

Massive economic growth and modernization, but continued one-party rule.