...political chaos. Following a revolution in 1911, which overthrew the Manchu dynasty, the new Republic failed to take hold and China continue to be exploited by foreign powers, lacking any strong central government. The Chinese Civil War was an attempt by two ideologically opposed forces – the nationalists and the communists – to see who would ultimately be able to restore order and regain central control over China. The struggle between these two forces, which officially started in 1927, was interrupted by the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war in 1937, but started again in 1946 once the war with Japan was over. the results of this war were to have a major effect not just on China itself, but on the international stage. Long-term causes of the Chinese Civil War[edit] Socio-economic factors[edit] Summary of Socio-economic factors In 1900, China was ruled by the imperial Manchu dynasty. The vast majority of the population were peasants. Their life was hard, working the land, and most were extremely poor. It was the peasants who paid the taxes that in turn paid for the great Manchu imperial court.It was also the peasants who faced starvation during floods or droughts, as their subsistence farming techniques often left them with barely enough to feed their families. The population in China grew by 8 per cent in the second half of the 19th century, but the land cultivated only increased by 1 per cent. This imbalance made famines more frequent. Peasants' plots of land were reduced...
Words: 2625 - Pages: 11
...insular Chinese people and awaken the great sleeping dragon, that would propel them into modernity. A number of factors were present in China at the turn of the century that would led to the gradual establishment of Communist rule under the charismatic, enigmatic Mao Zedong. At the time of the CCP's inception in 1920 China was a deeply divided socially, economically and politically backward country ruled by self-serving, despotic war-lords and encumbered by foreign powers who held unequal treaties which entitled them to special economic and territorial privileges in China, a source of great discontent to the Chinese people. This great social upheaval gave rise to new and more radicalized schools of thought, led by disenchanted intellectuals who strove to unify China and rid her of her many tyrannical overlords.The Nationalist KMT Party were the Communists main contender for power; not only were they the public face of politics in China, they also had the backing of Soviet Russia, but, over time Chiang Kai-Shek and the KMT would come to represent consummate despotism; Siphoning of public funds, their brutality towards the people, their liaisons with the U.S.A, and their appeasement of Japan all led Chiang and his Government losing legitimacy in the eyes of the people. The Long March although arduous and cost the lives of many of those who took part in it, but it was also a period of momentous change both in the fortunes of the party as they had now established strong peasant support...
Words: 3549 - Pages: 15
...In 1966, China’s Communist leader, Mao Zedong started a revolution. It became known as the Cultural Revolution to reaffirm his authority over China’s government. A significant part of the Cultural Revolution were the peasant communes. These communes were places where many poor families lived. Nothing was owned by an individual person, from cattle to kitchens, everything was shared by the members of the commune. Despite the positive ways the government propaganda displayed or described the communes, they were places of suffering. Feng Jicia, a former Chinese athlete who is now a writer, tells the story of his sister’s suffering in an article called “Feng Jicai on mistreatment in a peasant commune (1981)”. In this article, Feng talks about the...
Words: 675 - Pages: 3
...• The seed that planted the Chinese Civil war lies in its social, political and economic instability within the Chinese society. The Chinese civil war was an armed conflict between two ideologically opposed forces - the Nationalists Guomingdang (GMD) and the Communists People Liberation Army (CCP) – to see who could ultimately restore power and regain central control over China. As Historian Jonathan Spence argues, the Chinese Civil War should refer more narrowly to this latter conflict between 1946 and 1949, as this produced a decisive result. Although there are many causes to the outbreak of the war, the main long term, mid-term, immediate and catalyst causes will be discussed. The overthrow of the Manchu Dynasty coupled with the Warlord era, followed by the ideological divide between the CCP and the GMD during the First United Front led to the catalyst cause during the Sino-Japanese war, in which the two parties truly showed the extent to which they will go to, to become the leader and unifier of the country, unleashing the ultimate trigger to the outbreak of the Chinese Civil War. The most significant long term cause of the civil war in China was the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, as it played a fundamental role in creating the conditions for the event. The Qing government became weakened economically, socially and politically from internal and external threats by the end of the 19th century. European imperialist powers and Japan forced their way into China to take advantage...
Words: 2371 - Pages: 10
...17th course of AFCC PLA PRC Mao Tsetong’s military thinking Richest source of power to wage war lies in the masses of the people Introduction: Ever since we started learning the concepts of Mao Zedong’s military thinking, one thing that really impressed me is how strong power is a mass of the people. Especially whence Chinese communist party gained support of peasants and overthrow the power imbalanced war………… By this paper I will attempt to make a more complete explanation of the concept which named “Richest Source of power to wage war lies in the masses of the people” of Mao Zedong's military thought. People’s war Before we start to understand about this concept We should clearly find out What is the people’s war actually. The ones who first created the “people’s war” conception in scientific theory and made distinction from other wars are Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels . There are few famous revolutionary leaders such as Vladimir Ilych Lenin, Fidel Castro and also Mao Tsetung who inherited and developed Marxist theory of the people’s war. As mentioned above Mao Tsetung who was a leader of Chinese completely enriched and developed proletarian concept of the People’s war. He deeply relieved the essence and political basis of the people‘s war, systematically expounded the basic principles of waging a people’s war. Mao Tsetung’s concept of the people’s war is not only concentrated in his military works, but also fully reflected in his great practice of directing...
Words: 1235 - Pages: 5
...Cultural Revolution lasted for a decade and saw the fragmentation of China only ending after yielding seemingly little benefit to anyone involved. Mao Zedong was foremostly, and most successfully, a revolutionary and much of his life had been spent seeking to fundamentally transform China. Mao’s goal, to form a new strong and prospering China, required the creation of a new national sense of being through the Cultural Revolution. To forge a new society and culture, rid of entrenched feudal ways was considered absolutely necessary with the omnipresent shadow of the New Culture Movement, which had been frustrated by the size of the task. Only a mass movement by the entire nation to reform themselves could succeed. Mao found his answer in the political philosophy of Marx and Lenin whose work he synthesised and altered, eventually focusing on the potentially revolutionary aspects of widespread revolution. Mao made a significant contribution to Marxist philosophy by concluding that in order to keep the results of a revolution in place, the revolution too had to be permanent. Mao launched the Cultural Revolution, motivated by this genuine desire to preserve and protect the revolution by making it impossible for China’s leaders to become comfortable and lead the nation to regress to capitalism. The Communist victory in 1949 and subsequent decade of control saw some slow improvements in the life of the ordinary Chinese, and few leaders of the CCP were adamant that a revolution was a necessary...
Words: 3264 - Pages: 14
...controversial political leaders of the twentieth century. He has been known both as a savior and a tyrant to the Chinese people. From his strategic success of the Long March, to his humiliating failure of the Great Leap Forward, to the Cultural Revolution that shocked the country and took countless lives, Mao has significantly influenced the result of what China is today. From humble origins, Mao Zedong rose to absolute power, unifying with an iron fist a vast country torn apart by years of weak leadership, imperialism, and war. This astute and insightful account by Jonathan D. Spence brings to life this modern-day ruler and the tumultuous era that Mao Zedong did so much to shape. Mao Zedong was born on December 26, 1893 in Shaoshan village in Hunan. He experienced a middle peasant upbringing that was “rooted in long-standing rural Chinese patterns of expectation and behavior” (Mao, 10). Mao went to Shaoshan village school where he learned the customary Chinese curriculum as well as studied the “time-honored texts from the Confucian canon” (Mao, 11). At this time in his childhood, the whole country could foresee the fall of the previous dynasty, the Qing. Mao studied to be a teacher at The First Provincial Normal School, in Changsha, which influenced his future thinking and beliefs. He believed that the Chinese way of thinking needed reform, therefore fixated on younger people and peasants to build his political career. In 1912 Mao decided to go to Wuhan. For five years he studied and received...
Words: 1405 - Pages: 6
...Developing China The future of communism in China is unknown, as the world economy becomes more international. Communism has been in China since 1949 and is still present in the country’s activities. Presently China is undergoing incredible economic growth and promises to be a dominant power early in the next century. China’s social tradition has come under heavy pressure from forces of modernization generated in a large part by the sustained contact with the West that began in the middle of the nineteenth century. The Western incursion, not only refined China militarily but brought in its course new ideas- nationalism, science and technology, and innovations in politics, philosophy, and art. Chinese leaders have sought to preserve the nation’s cultural uniqueness by promoting specifically Chinese blends of tradition and modernity. China has undergone several major political transformations from a feudal-like system in early historical times, to a centralized bureaucratic empire that lasted through many unpredictable changes till 1911, to a republic with a communist form of government in the mainland since 1949. Economic geography and population pressure help account for the traditionally controlling role of the state in China. The constant indispensability for state interference, whether for great public works programs or simply to keep such a large society together, brought up an authoritarian political system. The family prevailed as the fundamental social, economic, and religious...
Words: 2617 - Pages: 11
...of the Manchus, the Mongols fought on behalf of the Qing to turn the Chinese agricultural territories, the oases of the Turkic peoples in Xinjiang, and the Tibetan plateau into Qing territory. Qing rule lasted for 300 years, but in the 19th century “barbarians” with blond hair and blue eyes arrived by sea. The Mongolian cavalry fought fiercely against the Westerners at the fort of Tianjian near Beijing, but the enemy’s heavy artillery forced the mounted warriors to withdraw. As military allies of the Manchu during the Qing era, the Mongolians were named to high positions as noblemen. Their grasslands were carefully protected, with the migration of Chinese peasant farmers into those areas strictly prohibited. These restrictions lasted until the Qing court was defeated by the European powers. The Qing eventually opened passages in the Great Wall so that Chinese peasants could enter the north; conflicts between the Mongolians, who sought to follow their nomadic ways, and the Chinese, whose intentions were agricultural, became inevitable. In October 1891, Chinese peasants in the southeastern part of Southern Mongolia rebelled. The...
Words: 1483 - Pages: 6
...Chinese Revolution Revolution is a total change. It can be a change that is political, social, economic, cultural or technological. Revolutions change the way people live. There were many revolutions throughout history. The one that will be introduced to you in this essay is Chinese Revolution. Chinese Revolution happened in 1949. There were many events that caused the revolution. Chiang Kai-Shek was the leader of nationalist government and Mao Zedong was the leader of communist group. Nationalist government was trying to suppress the communists and eliminated them. Civil War started in 1927 between these two groups. Sun Yat Sen's impact on the Chinese Revolution Sun Yat Sen is a figure that is impossible not to refer to while studying the Chinese Revolution. His involvement in the early days of the revolution is hard to deny but how effective and important his contribution was is arguable. There are many different arguments to whether Sun was a failed revolutionary or well deserving of the title ‘Father of the revolution”. There is a variance of opinion of how much sun contributed to the 1911 revolution is a great one. By early 1900 Sun had already expressed his need for the overthrowing of the Qing dynasty. To begin this Sun sent followers into China to attempt uprisings to make the most of the turmoil during the boxer rebellion but these uprisings failed. In 1905 two student revolutionary groups in Japan allied themselves with Sun Yat Sen’s Revive China Society to...
Words: 2502 - Pages: 11
...changed the way that China exists to this day. His ideas revolutionized Chinese culture and lifestyle for decades. His changes resulted in the deaths of millions of people, wasted time and brainwashed the people of China to follow his often misguided lead. A part of Mao's rise to power involved millions of people dying. Regularly land was taken from the landlords and given to the peasants who worked the land. This was a positive change in that it improved the lives of many Chinese people. Unfortunately, Mao also encouraged the public humiliation and murder of these landlords. Thousands of these men were put on stages, harassed and killed. Although the landlords made life miserable for the Chinese farmers and peasants,...
Words: 758 - Pages: 4
...Genghis Khan, first known as Temujin, was the son of a leader of a Mongolian tribe. He was brought up in a time of warring tribes and factions. Genghis Khan was a fierce and brilliant military commander, who achieved unprecedented success in setting Ghengis Khanup an Empire which stretched across Europe and Asia. His Mongol armies left a trail of fear, death and destruction. But, he also created a vibrant empire with a common language, booming trade, tolerance of religion and some basic customs and laws( Pettinger., 2010). Arguably the most famous Asian of the last 2,000 years, Genghis Khan created an empire that was more than twice the size of any other conqueror's in history, and that endured for more than a century and a half after his death. Almost everything we know about him came from the descendants of people he conquered, and they have seen him as merely one of many bloodthirsty savages -- such as Attila the Hun and Tamerlane -- who periodically erupted from the steppes like some evil force of nature to ravage the superior civilizations around them(Weatherford, 2000). Although Genghis Khan was a great conqueror, he never stopped becoming open to new cultures and he was very open to learn from the technologies, practices and even religions of the different territories he conquered. A great leader never stops learning and it is the key to your success too. You must be humble enough to realize that you can learn from anyone, anywhere no matter how far you have come as...
Words: 3609 - Pages: 15
...Name: Tutor: Course: Date: World History since 1945 Truman Doctrine The doctrine is named after the then-president Harry Truman. The speech made by the president before Congress in 1947 gave birth to the doctrine. The reason President Truman made the speech was because Britain had announced that they will no longer support the Greek government economically and military wise. Through the doctrine, the government of United States of America (USA) promised to provide political, army and economic aid to all democratic countries under threat from authoritarian powers. It further outlined the change in the USA foreign policy from its usual withdrawal stance from regional conflicts not directly touching on the country, to one of intervention in conflict all over the world. The doctrine also promised to help Turkey and Greece economically and through military actions against the communists this after Britain announced that they would be withdrawing their support. These countries were to receive $400,000,000 aid. The doctrine contents were justified by the need to help free people in their fight against totalitarian rule which would undermine international peace and hence affect the security of the USA (Jones, 36). NSC-68 The National Security Council Paper NSC-68 was a top secret report meant to confront the treat the hostile design of the Soviet Union had on the USA. The report banned the regeneration of US isolationism arguing that it will result in Soviet Union supremacy...
Words: 1422 - Pages: 6
...The Boxer Uprising (1898-1901), also known as ‘Yi Ho Tuan’ Movement, was a major peasant uprising marked by anti-Manchu and anti-foreign sentiments. In the period after the Opium Wars, the nature of Sino-Western relations had changed, leading to a scramble for concessions. This had exposed the inefficacy of the Manchus. Simultaneously, it had intensified the socio-economic crisis already prevalent in the 19th century. This essay attempts to analyze the causes, nature and impact of the Boxer Movement. Causes 1. A study of the traditional Chinese society and economy is imperative to trace the origins of the Uprising. The Chinese society was strictly compartmentalized by the principles of Confucianism. The society was highly stratified and had a rigid and inflexible hierarchical structure. A unique combination of power, wealth and knowledge defined the gentry or the elite class. The peasantry was the ‘exploited’ class, the taxpayers, who despite the theoretical emphasis on ‘career open to merit’ could rarely attain gentry status. The growing tax burden and exploitation caused discontent among them and though they remained placid, the simmering of discontent was always there. However, peasant uprisings, though a frequent occurrence, were spontaneous and scattered and so easy to suppress. The growing unrest culminated into agitation, and found expression in the Boxer Movement. 2. A series of natural calamities in the late 19th century intensified the discontent...
Words: 4759 - Pages: 20
...war break out in China in 1927? The seed that planted the Chinese Civil war lies in its social, political and economic instability within the Chinese society. During the period 1911-1927, China can be described to be a state of great "unease". The Chinese civil war was an armed conflict between two ideologically opposed forces - the Nationalists Kuomintang and the Communists People Liberation Army – to see who could ultimately restore power and regain central control over China. The civil war was fought in two separate phases, 1927-37 and 1946-49 respectively, as a result of the interruption of the Sino-Japanese war. Although there are many causes to the outbreak of the war, the overthrow of the Manchu Dynasty coupled with the death of Sun Yat-Sei, which resulted in the rise in power of Chiang’s Kai-Shek’s, who was determined to rid China of left wing factions within the government at all costs, unleashed the ultimate trigger to the outbreak of the Chinese Civil War is. In the following, I shall analyze each of this maneuvers and how they sparked the ultimate outbreak of the Chinese Civil war. The destabilization of China’s ruling regime, which ultimately set fire to the outbreak of the Chinese civil war, was heightened when European imperialist powers humiliated and exploited China in the early 20th century. Due to the defeat of the Opium Wars, the Europeans, Americans and ultimately, the Japanese carved up the Chinese Empire into spheres of influence. A humiliated China had...
Words: 1123 - Pages: 5
