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Qing Dynasty
It was the last dynasty in China. It was also called the "Manchu Dynasty", since it came from Manchuria. They established their hegemony over Chinese cultural traditions as an important way of demonstrating their legitimacy as confucian-style rulers. Qing meant pure. The Emperor died and the successor was a 2 year-old boy, Pu-Yi. The people rose against their ruling with the Double Tenth Revolution and they succeeded to overthrow the dynasty for good. -
Opium Wars
War between China and Britain. It arose due to China's attempt to suppress the opium trade between British merchants and China, since it had created a widespread addiction in the country that had caused severe social and economical disruption. The British won the conflict and the unequal Treaty of Nanjing was signed where the Chinese had to cede Hong Kong to the British and increase their number of treaty ports. This event also resulted in the loss of the people's trust on the Manchus. -
Taiping Rebellion
It was a massive rebellion or civil war in China that lasted until 1864. It was between the Qing Dynasty and cult-like group called the God Worshipping Society by a self-proclaimed prophet called Hong Xiuquan. This group of rebels fought with religious conviction due to regional economic conditions and they wanted to be able to practice their religion in peace. Even though they seized the city of Nanjing for a decade, the rebellion eventually failed. -
Self-strenghtening
It was a movement or campaign that lasted until 1895, for economic and military reform in China. It was inspired by the nation's military weakness in the 19th century. It sought to modernize the country by acquiring Western methods and stop foreign control over China. -
Boxer Rebellion
It was a movement that lasted until 1901. It supported peasant uprising that attempted to drive all foreigners out of China. They were martial arts groups of warriors that assassinated every foreign group on Chinese territory, no matter their nationality. They even murdered Chinese civilians if they had done something, like practice another religion, to be considered traitors. -
Socio-economic situation in China
The majority of the population were peasants. It was a hard life with extreme poverty. They all had to pay taxes to the Manchu Imperial Court. Floods and droughts caused starvation and famine. Landlords increased rents and established that workers had to give them 80% of their harvest. There was a high percentage of unemployment. Due to Confucianism, people thought that the ruler was failing to serve society and therefore should be overthrown through rebellion. -
Double Tenth Revolution
It was a revolution that resulted in the overthrown of the Qing Dynasty and the creation of the Republic of China. It began when the government lost control of the military since they revolted and rebellion spread quickly. Most provinces declared themselves independent from Beijing. A political exile, Dr. Sun Yixian was invited to be the first president, but he gave this title to Yuan Shikai in exchange for his help to end the Manchu rule. This event gave rise to the creation of the Guomindang. -
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Rule of Yuan Shikai
He intended to govern as a dictator, named himself emperor and dissolved the National Assembly. The 21 demands were made by Japan in order to stop his ruling and make China their colony. The southern part of China was ruled by Sun Yatsen with the Guomindang. Yuan Shikai died due to a heart attack and this gave rise to the Warlord Era where each military governor had an army and fought for total power. -
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WWI
It began after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. During the conflict, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire (the Central Powers) fought against Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan and the United States (the Allied Powers). New military technologies and the trench warfare brought massive levels of destruction. By the time the war was over and the Allied Powers claimed victory, more than 16 million people, soldiers and civilians, were dead. -
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Warlord Era
Period where a lack of unity increased even more in China due to the death of Yuan Shikai and the rising fight for total power between the different military governors that were in charge of different provinces around China. All they wanted was territory, power and wealth. It was a period of assassinations, violence, war and cruelty. Peasants suffered a lot due to extreme poverty conditions. There was a significant increase in a desire for peace. -
May 4th Movement
It was an anti-imperialist, cultural and political movement that lasted until 1921. Around 3000 university students of Beijing protested against the government's weak response to the Treaty of Versailles at the Paris Peace Conference. It occurred during the Warlord Era. The population wanted for Japan to give Shandong back to China. It had as main goals: national independence, individualism and the rebirth of China through modernization. It is also important since it gave rise to the CCP. -
First United Front
The GMD, leaded by Jiang Jieshi, and the CCP, leaded by Mao Zedong, had two crucial common interests: they wanted a unified China and they wanted to get rid of the warlords. Therefore, they united and formed an official alliance known as the First United Front to fulfill their goals, despite their difference in ideologies. -
Northern Expedition
It had as a main goal to put an end to the Warlord Era. The GMD and the CCP went on an expedition to crush the warlords of central and northern China. This operation was a great success since they captured Hangzhou, Shanghai and took Beijing. They had finally destroyed the power of the warlords and the GMD announced that it was the legitimate government of China and the new capital and seat of the government would be Nanjing. -
Assassination and Persecution of Communists
The GMD and CCP divided due to their differences in ideology. Jiang Jieshi became extremely anti-communist and sympathetic to landlords and the middle classes; while Mao Zedong was with the peasants and workers.
The "White Terror" began when Jiang started to expel and even massacre communists from the GMD.
The "purification movement" began when the GMD started a massacre of thousands of communists, trade unionists and peasant leaders.
The CCP fled to the mountains of Jiangsi to try to survive.
