10.3 - Communist China

What changes were made in Japan after WWII?

  • POLITICAL CHANGES -
    • Emperor stripped of political power - serves in a ceremonial role
    • Japan became a parliamentary democracy constitutional monarchy
    • Women and men allowed to vote
    • New parliamentary legislature (DIET) created
    • Land seized during WWII had to be given back
  • MILITARY CHANGES-
    • Japanese military disbanded
    • Cannot declare war
  • ECONOMIC CHANGES-
    • Traditional economy replaced with a market economy
    • US became a trading partner
    • Invested heavily in human capital and capital goods
    • Invested heavily in infrastructure
  • SOCIAL CHANGES-
    • English became a second language
    • Japan adopts many aspects of US culture

CHINESE CIVIL WAR

  • 1930s - Nationalists (Guomindang) v Communists
  • Interrupted by Japan invasion & WWII
    • Before the Japan invasion…the communists were loosing and fleeing at the Long March
    • The Long March is one of the reasons the communists won the war.
  • 1949 - Communists win
    • Nationalists flee to Taiwan
  • Reasons for Communist Victory
    • Supported by peasants - largest class
    • They are interacting with more people
    • The peasants were willing to hide them
    • Guerilla tactics - perfected from Japan
    • Not a traditional battle
    • Trying to take your enemy by surprise
    • Attack when they are at their weakness

MAO ZEDONG

  • Leader of Communist party in China
  • Promised to improve living conditions
  • Established People’s Republic of China
    • October 1, 1949
    • Instills Communist ideology within the Republic
    • MAIN GOAL - to make China strong and to make sure people have a better way of life
    • He is going to try to make policies that improve the people’s living situation
  • Dies in 1976
  • “Revolution is not a dinner party, nor an essay, nor a painting, nor a piece of embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained, and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another.” - Mao Zedong
    • The Revolution is going to be violent because there is one class trying to overthrow the other

GREAT LEAP FORWARD

  • Was this a positive or negative policy for China?
    • Negative because there were millions who died
    • “Deadliest Leader of all time”
    • GOAL: to get rid of family farms and making it a group/village owned farms
  • How were the people affected?
    • There was a famine that caused the death of about 55 million people
    • Economic disaster and human tragedy
  • Economic & agricultural policy from 1958-1961
  • GOAL - increase farm & industrial output
    • Communes -> villages & people
    • Backyard industries produce steel
    • Agricultural production
  • DISASTROUS FAILURE = useless goods, famine
    • No one is buying what they are making
    • US steel was way cheaper and better
    • Famine happens across throughout the 3 years
  • RESULTS = 55 million starved to death

CULTURAL REVOLUTION

  • Social program used by Mao Zedong from 1966 - 1976
  • GOAL - purge China of “bourgeois” or non-revolutionaries
    • Anything that goes against communism, the Chinese government, or any Western ideas
  • Chinese youth (Red Guard) = enforcers of this policy/program
    • Little Red Book
  • RESULTS - economy stalled, unrest rose
    • Children are turning in their teachers, parents, and random people
    • Accused are humiliated, beaten, & murdered
    • Skilled workers - forced to farm or labor camps
    • Schools & factories closed

CHINA AND COLD WAR

  • USSR & China = uneasy alliance
    • Communist ideology, yet different - peasants & Marxism
    • Border clashes in 1959
  • They do not have great relationships with either country
  • US & China = roller coaster type relationship
    • US refuses to recognize communist government
    • Supported opposing sides in Korean War
    • Tensions ease in 1971 - China & UN, Nixon visit
    • China is entered into the United Nations
    • Nixon is the first US president to visit China