Communists, Nationalists, and China's Revolutions

Introduction

Discusses the background of the 1911 revolution that ended the Qing dynasty.
Explains how the revolution started with a bomb explosion and the army joining the rebellion.
Details the establishment of a provisional republic with Sun Yat Sen as president and Yuan Shikai as leader.
Describes the formation of a new government with a Senate and Lower House, leading to Yuan Shikai's dictatorship after Sun Yat Sen's party was outlawed.

Covers the period between 1912 and 1949 known as the Chinese Republic.
Mentions the Guomindang and the Chinese Communist Party's efforts to unify China.
Talks about the alliance between the Communists and Nationalists, which eventually led to a civil war.
Highlights the Long March undertaken by the Communists and their eventual victory over the Nationalists.
Discusses the challenges faced by the Nationalists against the Japanese and their loss of support among the Chinese population.

Mentions Mao's initiation of a "rectification" program in 1942 to re-educate intellectuals.
Describes the Communist victory over Chiang Kai-Shek's armies, leading to the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
Talks about Mao's vision for a socialist state with equal rights for women, land redistribution, and new heavy industry.
Mentions the promises of freedoms of thought, speech, publication, and assembly under Mao's leadership.

Mao's China did not prioritize individual rights like association, correspondence, and religious belief.
- Land redistribution and reform aimed to destroy the power of landlords.
- Difficulty in centralizing power and checking individual ambition.
Mass campaigns like "Resist America and Aid Korea," "Three Anti Campaign," and "Five Anti Campaign" were launched.
- "Counterrevolutionaries" faced humiliation and violence.
- The Five Anti Campaign weakened capitalism and strengthened state control.

China adopted the Soviet model of Five Year Plans for industrialization.
- The first plan exceeded expectations with a 121% increase in industry.
- Peasants had to grow grain at low prices to support industrial growth.
Mao's Great Leap Forward aimed to boost industrial productivity but led to disastrous consequences.
- Backyard steel furnaces and exporting grain for heavy machinery resulted in a famine.
- Approximately 20 million people died between 1959 and 1962.

The Cultural Revolution aimed to reignite the revolutionary spirit in China.
- Empowered frustrated students to denounce authority figures and destroy tradition.
- Red Guards targeted the "four olds" and intellectuals, leading to widespread persecution.
The revolution aimed to consolidate Mao's power but had devastating consequences.
- Millions were persecuted, historical artifacts destroyed, and intellectuals sent to the countryside.