China

The roots of the Chinese Revolution date back to the 1800's. At the time, China was in decline, beset by famine, drought, and violence. The ruling Qing emperors lacked the vision and leadership skills or earlier Chinese rulers, and many government officials opposed reforms. Even those officials who favored change did not want to give up the traditional system completely. 

While China was battling foreign powers, it faced problems within its own borders. From 1850 to 1900, a wave of peasant rebellions swept through China.

In 1911, China became a republic with Dr. Sun Yat-sen as provisional president. Sun did not have the power to achieve his goals: Nationalism, Democracy, Livelihood.

In 1916, the national government had no real power, and political turmoil swept through China. Local military leaders known as warlords fought each other for control of the provinces. Sun realized that he needed a strong army and turned to the Soviet Union, after being shunned by the West. A Guomindang army was organized in 1924 and Chiang Kai-shek was appointed, by Sun, to lead the army.

In 1925 sun Yat-sen died and Chiang Kai-shek became the new leader of the Guomindang. in 1928 he won a major victory against the warlords.

In his efforts to gain control of China, Chiang had to deal with a rival political organization - the Chinese government party. Soon the Communists and the Guomindang began a struggle for power. In the civil war that followed, Chiang was defeated. He took his followers to the island of Taiwan. The communists ruled mainland China, where in 149, they formed the People's Republic of China.

Major Topics Covered in this Unit:

• The Major Leaders: Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Zedong

• Philosophy of the Guomidang and the Communists

• The Civil War between the Guomindang and the Communists

• The Long March

• The War with Japan   

• The Communists victory

Textbook Readings

• Upheavals in China (751-754)

Links:

http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?ti=02D3E000 (The Kuomintang)

http://www.zhongguo.org/Isaacs/ (The Tragedy of the Chinese Revolution)

http://www.britannica.com/seo/c/chinese-revolution/ (The Chinese Revolution)

http://www.isop.ucla.edu/eas/socpolch.htm/1911_repubrev.htm (The Chinese Revolution)

http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?ti=06ADB000 (Sun Yat-sen)

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy/7146/ (A honors high school paper on Sun Yat-sen)

http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?ti=03C08000 (The Long March)

http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?ti=05330000 (Chiang Kai-shek)

http://www.cnn.com/ASIANOW/time/asia/magazine/1999/990823/cks.html (Chiang Kai-shek)