Section 1

• When was the boxer rebellion?

  1900
• Reasons for the boxer rebellion

  • The imperial house was weak and in decline
  • Foreigners were weakening China and bringing unwanted religion and technology
• Events of the Boxer Rebellion

  • Foreigners & Chinese Christians were attacked (German ambassador shot & British legation sieged for 55 days)
  • Anything associated with foreign influence destroyed (railways)
  • Empress dowager Cixi supported Boxers
  • Foreign forces squash the rebellion
  • Empress dowager Cixi flees to Xian disguised as a peasant
• Impacts of the Boxers rebellion

  • China must pay £67 million as a penalty
  • Chinese government blamed (10 officials executed)
  • military defences and weapons destroyed
  • Foreign Legation next to the forbidden palace under direct foreign rule (barred Chinese)
  • Imperial houses authority is weakened
• When was self strengthening and reform?

  1902-1911
• Reasons for self strengthening and reform

  • Cixi had to accept foreign power in China
  • She believed China could copy western technology in a way that exploited chinas resources for its own benefit
• Events of self strengthening and reform

  • Railways were nationalised (more control for Qing dynasty)
  • New scholarships to study abroad, military academies and girls being educated
  • Foot binding banned (1902)
  • Traditional civil servant exam abolished - leading to mandarins dominating civil service (1905)
  • New army under Manchu control (1908)
  • Provincial assemblies introduced with limited right to vote (1909)
  • National Consultative council responsible to advise goverment (1910-11)
• Impacts of self strengthening and reform

  New reforms failed because

  • educated Chinese wanted political power
  • Educating girls challenged Chinese social tradition
  • Taxes increased as reform was expensive and the financial penalty for the boxer rebellion was still crippling
  • civil servants that trained for traditional exam were upset
  • Only 0.4% of population could vote in provincial assemblies
• when was the 19-- revolution

  1911
• Reasons for the 1911 revolution

  • Qing dynasty was unpopular and weak (Emperor Puyi was 2 years old and his uncle ruled as regent & many small uprisings)
  • Sun Yat sen spread ideas of republicanism and nationalism and believed the Qing dynasty must be overthrown for China to modernise
  • foreigners still had too much control (sold rights to build railways)
  • Failed reforms
  • National consultative council was majority Manchu and only 0.4% of the population could vote at provincial councils
• Events of the 1911 revolution

  • revolutionaries accidently exploded a bomb signalling the start of the revolution
  • Soldiers in Wuhan started to mutiny massacring Manchu officers- this spread to other provinces
  • Yuan Shikai was a former general who said he was going to stop the soldiers rebelling
  • Yuan ShiKai immediately became a rebel when he arrived in Wuhan returning to Beijing to start a Han government as revenge for his dismissal.
  • Sun yat sen was given presidential position but Yuan shikai made him step down
• Impacts of the 1911 revolution

  • Dictator Yuan shikai replaced the Qing dynasty
  • Yuan shikai tried to become emperor (1915)
  • Yuan shikais army revolted against him (1915) (after he accepted Japans 21 demands to control chinas ports, railways and factories)
• When was the era of warlordism?

  1916-1927
• Reasons for the era of warlords

  • Yuan Shikai died of a stroke in 1916
  • Independent military commanders and armies started to govern provinces
• Events of the era of warlords

  • There were hundreds of warlords with different ideas about ruling (Zhang Zongchang liked splitting peoples heads open and Feng Yuxiang was Christian)
  • Peasants suffering in droughts (1918) and floods (1923-25) due to the lack of government
  • foreign powers funded warlords so they could exploit chinas resources
• Impacts of era of warlords

  • Political ideas were spread by peasants (communism & nationalism)
  • GMD became more popular in the south
  • 10000 killed in battles
• When was the May the fourth movement?

  1919
• Reasons for the may the fourth movement

  • Treaty of Versailles gave german territory in china to Japan
• Events of the may the fourth movement

  • 3,000 students led a protest in Beijing (beat up Japanese minister to China)
  • The movement spread to other cities (strikes, angry protests & demostrations)
• Impacts of the may the fourth movement

  • China announced they could not sign the treaty
  • rejection of old-fashioned ideas and supporting democracy, freedom and equal rights was popularised
  • Revolutionaries were inspired to fight for unity and independence (1920)
• When was the formation of the first united front?

  1924
• Reasons for the first formation of the united front

  • Russian Bolshevik government wanted Marxist revolution in Chinas but the CCP was too small and there were mainly peasants not workers
  • CCP couldn't say no to Russians because they provided $5000 a year
  • GMD 3 principles were similar to communist views on equality
  • Both parties were too small to achieve their aims alone
  • GMD & CCP had common aims: improve lives of ordinary people, destroy warlords, expel foreigners
• Impacts of the first formation of the united front

  • Chiang Kai-shek called on the united front to destroy the warlords (1926)
• When was the northern expedition?

  1926-1928
• Reasons for the northern expedition

  • The NRA was an effective fighting fore due to help from soviet advisors
  • To defeat warlords in central, eastern and northern China
• Events of the northern expedition

  • NRA treated peasants with respect to win their support
  • Communist general strike & uprising led to the capture of Shanghai (1927)
  • Chiang took control of eastern China and drove warlord Zang Zuolin out of Beijing
• Impacts of the northern expedition

  • GMD was declared legal government of china
• When were the shanghai massacres?

  1927
• Reasons for the Shanghai massacres

  • Chiangs supporters were wealthy land owners, industrialists and middle classes - He didn't like communists.
  • Chiang belived the united front had served it purpose by defeating warlords.
• Events of Shanghai massacres

  • soon after the capture of shanghai Chiang betrayed the communists
  • Chiang's troops went on a killing spree known as 'the white terrors' (alongside criminal gangs)
  • over 5000 communists were killed
  • The attacks spread to other provinces (250,00 killed in Hunan)
• When were the extermination campaigns?

  1930-1934
• Reasons for the extermination campaigns

  • Chiang was determined to destroy communism
  • Mao fled & set up the Jiangxi soviet after a failed uprising (1927)
• Events of the Extermination campaigns

  • first campaign failed. Communists used guerilla tactics and the NRA commander was captured tortued and beheaded.
  • Next three campaigns also failed- GMD burnt down villages and killed peasants, many GMD fell ill
  • fifth campaign was successful - GMD built thousand of forts around the Jiangxi soviet and had a army of 70,000 men
• Impacts of the extermination campaigns

  • communists had to abandon the Jiangxi soviet
  • GMD became unpopular with peasants - 1,000,000 were killed between 1930-1934