China: Modernization, Revolution and Civil War

• In the mid to late 1800s, China faced a conflict between modernization/westernization and traditionalism.
• China fought a war with Japan.
• The Open Door Policy led to European and U.S. influence in China.
• The Boxer Rebellion failed.
• Communism appealed to the Chinese, who saw the Russian Revolution as an example.

Sun Yat-Sen

• Sun Yat-Sen is known as the "Father of the Revolution."
• Sun Yat-Sen advocated the "Three Principles of the People": democracy, nationalism, and livelihood.
• He was the head of the Nationalist Party.
• The Qing Dynasty fell in 1911, and Sun Yixian was named President.
• Sun Yixian's death in 1925 triggered a civil war between the Nationalists and Communists.

Chinese Civil War

• Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai Shek) became the leader of the Nationalist Party after Sun Yat-sen.
• Under Jiang Jieshi's rule, there was corruption, and landlords had too much power.
• In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria, a Chinese province, upsetting the Chinese people.
• Mao Zedong led the Communist Party.
• Mao Zedong wanted to give land and power to peasants.
• During the Long March in 1934, Jieshi's forces led Communists on a 6,000-mile march, which strengthened the Communist party.
• Mao gained the support of peasants and women.
• By 1949, Mao and the Communists seized control of China and established the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Political Reforms after Communist Revolution

• China built a one-party totalitarian state under communist rule.
• Communist ideology was promoted.
• The landlord and business classes were eliminated.
• Many political opponents were killed.

Economic Reforms after Communist Revolution

• Five Year Plans aimed to increase coal and steel output and develop heavy industry.
• Factories, railroads, and canals were built.
• The Great Leap Forward in 1958 aimed to increase farm and industrial output.
• Communes were created, with thousands of acres of land and up to 25,000 people, including schools, factories, housing, and dining halls.
• Communes had production quotas.
• The Great Leap Forward was a failure, resulting in low-quality goods, slowed food output, and a famine in which 30 million Chinese starved.

Social Reforms after Communist Revolution

• The Cultural Revolution in 1966 aimed to purge China of Mao's opponents.
• Red Guards, indoctrinated teenagers, carried the Little Red Book (Mao’s sayings).
• Teachers, writers, party leaders, artists, and the wealthy were targeted.
• Schools and universities closed, the economy slowed, and a generation of young adults was lost.
• Mao simplified Chinese characters to increase literacy.
• Healthcare workers, known as “barefoot doctors,” were sent to rural areas to help decrease disease.

Deng Xiaoping

• Mao died in 1976, and Deng Xiaoping came to power in 1981.

Deng Xiaoping Economic Reforms

• Deng Xiaoping initiated the Four Modernizations, emphasizing agriculture, industry, science, and defense.
• He allowed for private ownership of property.
• He implemented free market policies similar to capitalism.
• In agriculture, the responsibility system gave peasants farmland, with the government taking some crops, but farmers could sell the rest for profit.
• Entrepreneurs were allowed to set up their own businesses.
• Deng Xiaoping welcomed foreign capital and business.
• Joint businesses and special enterprise zones were established.
• China adopted a one-child policy.

Tiananmen Square

• In the late 1980s, Chinese citizens demanded greater political freedom and democracy.
• In Beijing, students and workers supported democracy.
• In May 1989, 10,000 protestors gathered in Tiananmen Square, demanding more freedom.
• A statue, Goddess of Democracy, was erected.
• Deng Xiaoping sent in troops, resulting in protestors being killed or wounded.
• Despite economic growth, communist leaders were determined to stay in control.