Boxer Rebellion in China, 1900

• In 1900, China was under the rule of Qing Emperor Guangxu and his aunt Cixi.
• The Qing rulers were from the minority Manchu ethnicity, making them seen as foreigners by the majority Han population (90%).
• The Qing maintained respect due to the Mandate of Heaven, but their weak leadership led to exploitation by Western powers and Japan.
• Foreigners controlled China's tea, sugar, silk, and opium trade, invested in railways and telegraphs, spread Christianity, and held advantageous trading privileges due to superior weaponry.
• The majority of China's 300 million people were Buddhist peasants who resented foreign influence and "devils", most worked in agriculture and suffered from natural disasters and had limited education and no democracy.
• Women had even fewer rights; bought and sold, forced into arranged marriages or concubinage, and subjected to foot binding.
• The Mandarins were the privileged class, running the government and blocking reforms alongside Cixi.

The Boxer Revolt

• The Boxers were a secret society of peasants who opposed foreign influence, targeted the spread of Christianity with superstitions and attacks on railways and telegraphs.
• In 1899, the Boxers attacked foreigners and Chinese Christians, prompting Empress Cixi to support them.
• The Western Powers crushed the revolt and killed 100,000 Chinese and forced Cixi into exile until 1902, along with requiring troops to occupy Beijing, China to pay reparations, and the demolition of defensive fortresses.

Self-Strengthening Reforms

• Cixi introduced reforms to maintain power and restore Qing popularity: National Consultative Council to advise the government, abolished civil service exams, established Provincial Assemblies, banned foot binding, provided scholarships, nationalized railways, and created a New Army.
• Cixi and Guangxu died in 1908, leaving the two-year-old Puyi as Emperor, but the regent Prince Chun lacked authority and raised taxes on tea, wine, salt, and land.
• Chun nationalized the railways without full compensation and made an enemy of General Yuan Shikai.
• Reforms to modernize the government failed, offering limited voting rights and dominance by Manchus, leading to the rise of nationalist ideas among students like Sun Yat-sen.
• Following the Boxer Revolt, people believed that the Qing were too weak to resist foreign powers and China should become a republic.

The 1911 Revolution

• The New Army revolted in October 1911 with Han soldiers massacring Manchus in Wuhan.
• General Yuan Shikai joined the revolt and forced Puyi to abdicate in February 1912.
• Yuan Shikai became President of the Republic of China due to military support, later becoming a dictator by rejecting democracy and agreeing to Japan's 21 Demands, increasing Japan's control.

The Warlord Era

• Yuan Shikai's death in 1916 led to the Warlord Era as there was no strong central power.
• Warlords controlled small areas, raised taxes, stole resources from peasants, increased opium cultivation, ignored natural disasters, used private armies fight each other, and oppressed the people.
• They gave foreign powers increased influence and bribes which encouraged future attempts by the CCP, GMD, and Japan to seize control of China.

The May Fourth Movement

• The Treaty of Versailles gave Germany's Chinese territory to Japan.
• Students protested in Tiananmen Square as part of the May Fourth Movement, leading the government to reject the Treaty due to exploitation and violation of self-determination.
• Students also desired freedom, democracy, and an end to foreign domination.

Origins of the Guomindang

• The Nationalist GMD were established in 1919, led by Sun Yat-sen who's goals were the Three Principles of the People which were to end foreign domination, allow democracy, and reduce poverty.
• To achieve these aims, the GMD set up the New Republican Army (NRA) to defeat the warlords.
• Chiang Kai-shek took over after Sun Yat-Sen's death in 1925.
• The GMD had less radical plans for political and economic change which won increased support from Chinese merchants.

Origins of the CCP

• The Chinese Communist Party were inspired by the Russian Revolution and established in 1921, supported by the USSR and intended to overthrow China's rulers and establish a political and economic system based on equality.

The United Front, Northern Expedition, and Shanghai Massacre

• The USSR ordered the CCP to join the GMD to form a United Front in 1923 to defeat the Warlords.
• Soviet advisors provided money, weaponry, and tactical advice to the United Front.
• The Northern Expedition was launched in 1926, and the CCP helped win the support of the peasants.
• In 1927, the NRA occupied Shanghai with the support of local workers organized by CCP.
• Chiang betrayed the CCP by ordering the Shanghai Massacre of 5,000 communists in 1927 because he didn not support communism as he came from a weathly backround.
• The GMD won the Northern Expedition in 1928 and ruled China from Nanjing.

The Extermination Campaigns

• After the Shanghai Massacres, Chiang launched 5 extermination campaigns to eliminate the CCP in Jiangxi Province.
• The first campaigns failed, but the Fifth Campaign (1933-34) succeeded with German advice by surrounding Jiangxi, cutting off supplies, and using bomber planes and scorched earth tactics.
• 60,000 communists were killed, and the rest were trapped.

The Long March

• 80,000 communists escaped the encirclement in Jiangxi by bribing a GMD enemy and embarked on the 13,000 km Long March for a year, suffering from disease, starvation, GMD attacks, desertion and hazardous terrain.
• Only 10,000 made it safely to Yan'an.
• Mao emerged as CCP leader during this time, and the Long March became excellent propaganda for the CCP.

War with Japan

• In 1931, Japan bombed their own railway line in Manchuria and blamed it on the Chinese to justify their invasion.
• Japan renamed the province Manchuko and made Puyi its puppet ruler.
• Japan launched an invasion of the rest of China in 1937 and committed atrocities, leading the GMD and CCP to form the Second United Front, but Chiang repeatedly undermined it by attacking the CCP rather than the Japanese.
• The GMD performed poorly, but the CCP's guerrilla tactics proved effective.
• Japan was only defeated after the USA joined the war in 1941 and dropped A-Bombs forcing the defeated Japanese to leave China.

The Civil War

• After Japan was defeated, the civil war between the CCP and GMD resumed where the CCP were victorious.
• The CCP's disciplined army, the People's Liberation Army, was well led by Lin Bao and used guerrilla tactics.
• Its WW2 membership rose from 40,000 to 1.2m due to their patriotic opposition to Japan and they treated the peasants with respect.
• By contrast, Chiang was viewed as a dictator who had failed to implement Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People.
• Chiang, was also a poor military leader and printing money meant hyperinflation cost him support.
• The US stopped providing support and Chiang fled to Taiwan.
• The CCP was victorious, and Mao established The People's Republic of China.