The Spread of Communism

The adoption of Communism in China was significant.
China's 2,000-year dynastic rule ended with the revolution of 1911 under Sun Yat-sen, establishing China as a republic.
By the 1920s, internal tension brewed against the Nationalist Party due to their perceived dependence on Western powers.
The Chinese Communist Party, led by Mao Zedong, was their main antagonist.
From 1927, a conflict arose between Chinese Communists and Nationalists over control of China.
In 1931, Japan invaded northern China.
By 1935, the Communists and Nationalists united to fight the Japanese.
After Japan's defeat by the Allied Powers, the Chinese civil war resumed.
The Communists won with Soviet help, leading to the Communist Revolution in China.
In 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China in Tiananmen Square.
Under Mao, China nationalized industry and redistributed land to peasants through collectivization of agriculture.
Unlike the Soviet Union's experience, collectivization in China was relatively peaceful due to the Communist Party's trust with peasants during the Civil War.

Mao brought the Chinese economy under state control through the Great Leap Forward.
The Great Leap Forward was an economic plan to rapidly industrialize China through heavy industry development.
Relations between China and the Soviet Union became strained because Mao believed the Soviet version of Communism was corrupted.
Mao focused on small-scale industrialization in rural areas, contrasting with Stalin's focus on urban areas.
Industrial goods created in rural areas were of poor quality.
Bad harvests led to the starvation of 20 to 50 million Chinese people.
Mao refused foreign aid during the famine and continued to export grain.

The British and French completed the Suez Canal in 1869 and controlled this strategic link between Europe and Asia.
The Suez Canal was crucial for European powers' economic well-being by providing a shortcut for trade.
In 1952, Gamal Abdel Nasser led a movement to overthrow the British and proclaimed independence for Egypt.
Nasser implemented socialist reforms, including the nationalization of the Suez Canal, placing it under Egyptian control.
British, French, and Israeli forces invaded Egypt in retaliation.
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev threatened a nuclear strike against the invaders.
U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower pressured Britain and France to withdraw.

During World War II, Japan occupied Vietnam, a French colony.
After Japan's defeat, Vietnam declared independence from Japan and France.
Two rival governments were established: a communist government in the north and an anti-communist government in the south.
The communist government in the north began land redistribution, canceling wealthy landowners' ownership and giving land to rural peasantry.

In 1956, Fidel Castro led a revolution in Cuba, establishing a communist state.
Castro aimed to purge Cuba of dependence on the United States, who had been controlling Cuba economically for decades.
With Soviet support, Castro launched a program of land distribution and raised wages, transferring about 15\% of Cuba's wealth from the rich to the poor.
Castro nationalized land belonging to U.S. corporations.
The U.S. CIA led a failed attempt to overthrow Castro, radicalizing him and leading to closer ties with the Soviet Union.

Mao brought the Chinese economy under state control through the Great Leap Forward.
The Great Leap Forward was an economic plan to rapidly industrialize China through heavy industry development.
Relations between China and the Soviet Union became strained because Mao believed the Soviet version of Communism was corrupted.
Mao focused on small-scale industrialization in rural areas, contrasting with Stalin's focus on urban areas.
Industrial goods created in rural areas were of poor quality.
Bad harvests led to