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Period: to
Modern China
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1st Opium War
Great Britain is exporting Opium, a harmful drug, to China's citizens. Because of this, there ia a war which Great Britain wins, gains Hong Kong, legalizes Opium in China, and forces open Chinese treaty ports, giving them special trading rights. -
Sino-Japanese War
In this war, Japan catches China by surprise and is victorious. Japan only easily wins because of its modernization. Japan then takes over Formosa (Taiwan), an island nation and gains Chinese treaty ports. This victory was key to the Japanese Empire in the making. -
Boxer Rebellion
Chinese Martial Artists were nicknamed "Boxers" by the Europeans because of how they fought. These warriors wanted to remove all foreign influence from China. Empress Ci Xi of the Qing dynasty fully supported but slightly manipulated these "soldiers". The Europeans entered Beijing and defeated the Boxers only after help from reinforcements. -
Open Door Policy
In 1900, this U.S. policy that was devised by the secretary of state, John Hay, allowed western powers to freely trade in any "Sphere of Influence" of another country's within China without actually having power over China-though the foreigners technically had the power. -
Communist Party Organized
A few years after 1921, Mao Zedong became the leader of the Chinese communist party. He believed that there should be only one class and capitalist ideas had to be removed. Wealth was looked down upon, and poverty was respected. The old ways were also something in need of removal. -
The Long March
The Long March was the long difficult journey that some communists took and escaped to Northwest China after the Nationalists attempted to remove them; they did this so they would not be overtaken by their enemy (Nationalists). There was not one but several Long Marches. -
Nationalists Flee to Taiwan/Mao Controls Communist China
During WWII the two parties had to come together in order to fight Japan, but afterwards, they were rivals once again. There was a civil war, which the Communists won. They took over China and the Nationalists were forced to flee to Taiwan. The Nationalists continue to rule over Taiwan. -
Beginning of the Great Leap Forward
The Great Leap Forward was an effort made by Mao Zedong to swiftly develop Chinese industry and agriculture by manufacturing more steel. This ended in terrible failure with food shortages and famine because the farmers had to leave agriculture and work on the Chinese manufacturing. (Became the "Great Leap Backward") -
Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
This movement was made by Mao to show the people his power and also to make up for his unfortunate mistakes during the Great Leap Forward. He brought together young citizens called Red Guards to rebel against education and capitalist ideas. This was done to create a classless society in which the wealth of China was to be distributed equally. Money in large amounts or even history of wealth in a family (bourgeois) would mean bad news for your family. -
President Nixon Visits China
President Richard Nixon visited China to improve relations between our country and theirs. No president had ever visited China since the communist party had take over power. It had been 25 years of separation between the two countries until this event. -
Mao Zedong and Cultural Revolution Die
Mao Zedong, the beloved Chinese leader died of natural causes at the old age of 82, ten minutes past midnight. When the leader passed away, the citizens of China realized they had been brainwashed and there was no one similar in character to guide the people.They now new it had created negative consequences within the country. -
Tiananmen Square Massacre
Tiananmen Square was the site in Beijing, China of the Tiananmen massacre. Hu Yaobang was a party official that many young students supported because of his free ideas. When he died, students protested against the communist party- not just students but Civil workers, intellectuals, and public servants also joined in the demonstrations. Now there were over 1 million people in the square. This led to the government sending soldiers to kill 2,000-4,000 people-though the total will never be known
