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Political weakness and influence of foreign powers
Years before the Chinese Civil War, European powers had exploited and humiliated China. Britain had defeated China in the Opium Wars (19th century) and then the Chinese Empire was divided into spheres of influence by the Europeans. China was forced to sign unequal treaties, foreign powers did not obey China's laws and corruption was among local and central government. -
Boxer Rebellion
Violent anti-foreigner movement. Westerners were attacked by "boxers" which were nationalist young men trained in martial arts. The Qing dynasty was weakened by the rebellion and tensions between the royalist and anti-Western north and anti-Qing revolutionary south increased. -
Socio-economic factors
The majority of the population in 1900 were peasants, their life was hard, they had to pay taxes and work the land, they were extremely poor. Peasants faced starvation during flood and droughts. Then landlords increased rents and peasant's plots of land were reduced. Some peasants headed to urban areas looking for better conditions, but they faced unemployment. -
The overthrow of the Manchu dynasty
At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a growing feeling that the Manchu dynasty should be overthrown so China could be Westernized and democracy introduced. The Emperor died in 1908 and the political weakness increased. In 1911, the dynasty was overthrown in the Double Tenth revolution. Arepublic was creted. -
The rule of Yuan Shikai
Yuan ruled China as a military dictator from 1912 until 1915.But the issues that led to the revolution in 1911 remained unsolved. The Guomindang (GMD), which was Sun Yixian's party, declared itself a parliamentary party in 1912. -
Political weakness: Regionalism and the Warlords
After Yua abdicated, China lost the only figure that maintained a bit of unity. China was now divided into small states and provinces controlled by Warlords and their private army. This period increased the sense of humiliation felt by many Chinese and led to an increase in nationalism. -
The May Fourth Movement
Political movements as a response to warlords and foreign influence. This movement was dedicated to change and the rebirth of China as a proud and independent nation. -
The First United Front
Both parties wanted to unify China. First, they agreed that they have to get rid of the warlords and that China needed to be free of the influence of foreign powers. They formed the First United Front. -
Communists and nationalists
After the death of Sun, General Jiang Jieshi took over the leadership of the GMD. He was a committed nationalist. Soviets began to invest in the GMD. In 1921 another revolutionary party emerged, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). -
The GMD attacks the CCP
After the Northern Expedition that aimed to unify China by crushing the warlords of central and northern China, China was still not unified. The United Front was for convenience so finally, Jiang decided there would be no more cooperation. He was sympathetic to the landlords and the middle classes, he was more to the right now.Jiang expelled all the communists from the GMD and he attacked them in Shangai in the "White Terror" on April 1927, and in several occasions the GMD carried attacks.
