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The last of the imperial dynasties in China.
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–The Qing Dynasty has fallen
Sun Yixian (Sun Yat Sen) takes over as President – he hopes to build China through –The people, Nationalism and Democracy. -
Once again – Internal and External Factors affect this.
The Warlords of Tribal China
Foreign Powers trying to take power
Eventually the Army (Koumintang -KMT) took control. -
The Warlords continued to fight.
The army were divided and no-one was in control.
Foreign Powers were taking control of China’s economy.
Japan were slowly trying to take control of Chinese land.
Around the world WW1 was raging.
Communism and Fascism were growing in the west. Their influence was spreading. -
In 1926 Jiang Jeishi took control of the Nationalist Party (the Kuomintang -KMT) and smashed the Warlords – his aim was to unite China.
He needed the Chinese Communist Party to help. -
The NATIONALISTS continually attacked the Communists who retreated.
This became known as the Long March. -
The Chinese were united in their battle against Japan –the invading foreigners. The civil war was forgotten. After WW2 – Communism grew in Eastern Europe and support for the Chinese communists grew, more and more Chinese joined the communist party.
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In 1949 the Communists defeated the Nationalists.
The Nationalists escaped to Taiwan to set up their own Nationalist government. -
After world war 2 the world was becoming more industrial, China had a Five Year Plan to increase industry and develop agricultural production. (1953-57) By 1956, the number of people living in cities had almost doubled from before the communist takeover, and there were shortages of food, housing and consumer goods.
There was public dissent about these living conditions, though they were rarely given voice. -
So, on February 27, 1957, Mao made an unusual request.
He called for the nation's intellectuals and asked them to engage in open criticism of the Party.
Some believe this was a trick. Between 300,000 and 550,000 individuals, mostly intellectuals and academics, were identified as ‘Rightists’. -
The Great Leap Forward was Mao’s attempt to modernize China’s economy.
One that, by 1988, would rival America.
Forced farmers to work in “communes” instead of for themselves A huge failure
China’s economy actually experienced negative growth.
As a result there was not enough food for the country.
18 million to 45 million people died between 1958-62.
Most starved; some murdered by the government.
Many Chinese fled to neighbouring countries. -
After the Great Leap Forward, Mao was unpopular - he lost control of the party.
The Cultural Revolution was Mao’s attempt to regain power over the government.
This was a time of very little freedom in China.
Mao staged public rallies involving thousands of young supporters.
He calculated correctly that the young wouldn't remember much about the failure of the Great Leap Forward and the millions of deaths. -
After Mao’s death, China went into a different direction
China started to change its economic policies to become more capitalist
This change in policy perhaps says something about the failure of Mao’s leadership