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Qing Dynasty
The final imperial dynasty of China. -
White Lotus Rebellion
The beginning of the rebellion against the Qing Dynasty. The people were unhappy with the ruling family -
Opium War
When the Qing government realized the harm being done by the opium trade, they decided to ban the use and import of opium. This led to 2 wars with the British. -
Boxer Rebellion
The Chinese people wanted to be free of foreign influence. The Chinese rebels attacked the Foreign Nationals in Beijing in 1900.They were beaten by the Foreign armies and China was punished. This further weakened the Qing and its power in China. They lost the support of the people. The end of the Mandate of Heaven. -
New China
The Qing Dynasty has fallen. Sun Yixian (Sun Yat Sen) takes over as President. He hopes to build China through the people, Nationalism and Democracy. -
Jiang Jeishi (Chiang Kai-shek) and Mao Zedong
Jiang Jeishi took control of the Nationalist Party (the Kuomintang -KMT) and smashed the Warlords His aim was to unite China.
He needed the Chinese Communist Party to help. But Mao Zedong, a member of the Communist Party from the farming communities believed that China’s strength was with the peasant/farming population. He soon became a leader of the party. -
A Civil War
Jiang Jeishi turned his Nationalist troops against the Communists. Their growing support was a threat to his power. -
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Long March
The Nationalist continually attacked the Communists who retreated.
This became known as the Long March. During the long March Mao enforced strict discipline. His soldiers were told to treat people with respect and pay for food and not to damage peoples crops.
The communists were made welcome. The Nationalists treated people harshly. So people support Communists. -
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World War 2
The Chinese were united in their battle against Japan –the invading foreigners. The civil war was forgotten. -
Communist and Mao had control of china
The Communists defeated the Nationalists.
The Nationalists escaped to Taiwan to set up their own Nationalist government. -
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The First 5 year plan
After world war 2 the world was becoming more industrial, China had a Five Year Plan to increase industry and develop agricultural production. -
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The Hundred Flowers Campaign
Mao made an unusual request. He called for the nation's intellectuals and asked them to engage in open criticism of the Party. Some believe this was a trick. Between 300,000 and 550,000 individuals, mostly intellectuals and academics, were identified as ‘Rightists’. They were forced into labour camps for ‘re-education’. -
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The Great Leap Forward (The 2nd 5 year plan)
Mao’s idea was to change China from an agrarian (farming) society to a modern, industrial society in just five years. Mao also wanted to free China from the need to import steel and machinery. He encouraged people to set up back-yard steel furnaces, where citizens could turn scrap metal (and their own pots, pans and farm implements) into usable steel.
But it did not work. -
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The Cultural Revolution
After the Great Leap Forward, Mao was unpopular - he lost control of the party. The Cultural Revolution was Mao’s attempt to regain power over the government. This was a time of very little freedom in China.Mao staged public rallies involving thousands of young supporters. He calculated correctly that the young wouldn't remember much about the failure of the Great Leap Forward and the millions of deaths
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Deng Xiaoping took charge
Deng was also a member of the Communist Party, but he believed that China needed to be more like a market economy
He opened China’s markets to international trade and foreign investment. Allowed new businesses to open; encouraged competition. Changed from command economy to market.
These reforms led to greater economic freedom and economic growth -
Chairman Mao Zedong dies
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The lack of political freedom in China
Students and other people throughout China organized to protest the lack of political freedom in China. The Chinese Government violently crushed these protests. International attention became focused on the lack of freedom in China. Deng Xiaoping’s influence declines.