-
First Opium War
Due to the huge debt England had, they thought of selling opium and started to sell it in China, even though it was illegal. India took some actions to attack opium commerce. This meant bankruptcy to England. China stopped all food supplies out of England and British people moved to an island (now Hong Kong) to get food but were intercepted by Chinese forces. -
Taiping Rebellion
Rebellion for social and religious causes that aimed to to initiate a major transformation in society to convert to Christianity. This envolvement of regional armies began the move away from centralized control, which would result in the Warlord Era -
Self-Strengthening Movement
After a series of defeats, the emperor believed that the Qing Dynasty would be overthrown soon. A series of reforms were implemented to modernize China. It was divided in three phases -
Ruso-Japanese War
Fight between Russian Empire and Japan over territorial ambitions in Manchuria and Korea. Commerce advantages were seek from both disputing countries.They aimed to obtain Liaodong Peninsula and Mukden in Southern Manchuria and the seas around Korea, Japan and the Yellow Sea. -
Double Tenth Revolution
Overthrow of Qing Dynasty. After the death of the emperor, many revolts and uprisings happened. The revolution ended with the abdication of the six-year-old Last Emperor, Puyi, on 12 February 1912, that marked the end of imperial rule and the beginning of China's early republican era with its capital in Beijing. -
The rule of Yuan Shikai
Yuan ruled China as a military dictator. Regionalism continued under Yuan's rule. Sun's party reformed as the Guomindang and declared itself a parliamentary party. The 1912 Republican constitution had created regional assemblies, which he abolished to centralize power. This alienated the provincial powers. He proclaim himself emperor in 1916. He lost the support of the military and stood down. -
Warlord Era
After Yuan's death, China lost any unity they had. China broke up into provinces, each controlled by a warlord and his private army. They ran its territory independently. With warlords extending their wealths, by expanding their territories, peasants suffered. This lead to increase both humiliation and the desire to get rid of foreign influence, thus to nationalism. China was divided. -
The May Fourth Movement
Lead by students and intelectuals in Beijing, this mas demostration was against the warlords, traditional Chinise culture and foreign influence. China's feeling of humiliation came from the settlement of the Treaty of Versalles. The aim of the movement was to change China into a proud and independent nation.
Both political movements, communists and nationalists, made an alliance in 1922 -
The First United Front
Both parties, the GMD and the CCP, knew the first thing to do was to get rid of the warlords and foreign imperialist powers. The First Principle of Sun Yixian's "People Livelihood" was often called socialism. Jiang was not a communist and got rid of all communists from the GMD to take the first step. The GMD set out on the Northern Expedition to crush the warlords and succeeded. They took Beijing in 1928 and announced that it was the legitimate government of China with a new capital in Nanjing. -
The GMD attacks the CCP
Worker's and peasant's support to communist were decisive for Jiang's in-toleration towards them in the GMD. To Jiang it seemed that the CCP needed to be crushed to unify China. The White Terror was reached due to this. The GMD carried out similar attacks that meant the massacre of many communists. The CCP was nearly crushed so they decided to flee into the mountains of Jiangsi. The GMD pursued them to destroy the communists. The war then began.
