-
1807
First Protestant Christian missionary arrives in China from the London Missionary Society. -
Period: to
1839-1842
First Opium War, Britain imposes an unequal treaty on China and takes Hong Kong. -
Period: to
1856-1860
Second Opium War; Britain and France defeat China and impose harsh Treaties of Tientsin. -
Period: to
1894-1895
First Sino-Japanese War, former tributary Japan defeats China and takes Korea -
1898
Young men in Shandong form Righteous Fist groups, practicing martial arts and traditional spiritualism -
October 1898
Boxers attack Liyuantun village's Catholic church, converted from a temple to the Jade Emperor. -
Period: to
1912-1925
China declares itself as a republic with Sun Yat-Sen as first president. Shihkai attempts to restore the monarchy but fails, and after his death, the country was left without a strong central leader, and descends into a period controlled by warlords. -
Period: to
1921-1935
Chinese Communist party was founded in Shanghai. Mao Ze Dong leads and establishes revolutionary headquarters. -
1925
Sun Yat Sen dies, Chiang Kai-shek assumes leadership and reunifies China under Nationalist government. -
Period: to
1946-1949
Civil war between the Nationalists and the Communists results in the Communists’ victory; the Nationalist government evacuates. -
1953
Mao Ze dong begins Rural Collectivisation based on a five-year plan. Individual landownership is abolished and replaced with cooperatives. -
Period: to
1958-1962
The “Great Leap Forward” plan calls for an unrealistic increase in industrial and agricultural production. All land is collectivized and farmers are organized into People’s Communes. -
Period: to
1958-1962
Mao declares the goal of passing Great Britain in industrial production by 1972, steel production furnaces were created across the country. However, the steel produced is of poor quality and the agricultural reforms cause one of the largest famines in human history, with an estimated 30 million deaths from starvation.