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European powers caused China's desestabilization
Due to European interventionism, China has been exploited, humiliated and also it was weakened, economically and politically (Manchu Dynasty), due to all the unequal treaties that China was forced to sign. -
The majority of the population were peasants
They had a hard life because they were extremely poor. Also they had to pay taxes; and afford on their own the flood, droughts, starvation and famine. -
Double Tenth Revolution
It was a movement that has as a goal to overthrown the Manchu Dynasty due to the high instability during their government. It was successful and as a result, a republic was established. The first president was Dr. Sun Yixian. -
Division of China
China was dived in two, northern and southern provinces, each one ruled by a leader with different ideologies. The north was ruled by Yuan Shikai based in Beijing from Chinese Communist Party; and the south was ruled by Sun Yatsen from Guomindang Party (Nationalist). -
Warlord Era
Due to the lack of unity, provincialism in China resulted in the creation of small states that were controlled by an independent leader (warlord) and his private army. All of these incremented the humiliation feeling and affected peasants and with the continuous wars. It is importan to mention that no warlord was willing to establish a central government. -
May Fourth Movement
It was a movement organized by college students in China against the Versailles Peace Conference, specifically because of Shangdong was given to Japan instead of China. With this event, China was leaded to a new life and he communist movement was starting to increase popularity thanks to the Bolsheviks. -
First United Front
This was the first attempt to unify China. Both political parties (GMD & CCP) wanted to unify China and their main obstacle were the warlords. Even though the new leader of GMD, Jiang Jieshi, became anti-communist, he was aware that the main goal was to unify the country and he would not be able to do it without the CCP help. -
Northern Expedition
CCP and GMD set up this movement in order to defeat the warlords of central and northern China. It was a great success and they soon recovered Hangzhou, Shangai and Nanjing. However, it did not mean that China was already unified. -
White Terror
Once warlords were defeated, Jiang Jieshi was more sympathetic to landlords and middle classes, all of these was contrary to the CCP ideology. Eventually, ideologies divided both parties. After that, GMD expelled all the communists from the party and started attacking them. The most important attack was the "White Terror", which was a masacre of communists in Shangai that marked the beginning of the called "Purification Movement". -
A new GMD government was established
Two years after the took of Beijing, the GMD announced the creation of a new government based in a new capital city, Nanjing. By this time, communists have already escaped to Jiangsi mountains. However, GMD was determined to pursue them until they were completely destroyed.
