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This event was the start of the Chinese Revolution. It was a revolt that started in the city of Wuchang. When an unplanned explosion occurred in the city, it led army units to create a mutiny in Wuchang and they seized the city. This uprising also resulted in the death of multiple German soldiers, which put lots of pressure on the government to continue to make reforms, which continuously failed these revolutionaries and led to more uprisings.[1]
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Yuan Shikai was used as an intermediary between republic politicians and the Qing Dynasty. He eventually provided the military support the republicans had against the Qing government that helped overthrow them. This forced Sun Yixian to step down, as it was the condition for the military support being provided.[2]
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The Xinhai Revolution started out as many altercations, national protests, and uprising in cities around China in revolt of the Qing Dynasty over the course of a decade. Negotiations by appointed government leaders had failed, as they continued to oppose any reforms against their beliefs. When 6-year-old emperor Puyi was abdicated by Yuan Shikai, it ended the end of the 276-year reign of the Qing dynasty, ended the monarchy system, and is considered the beginning of the republic era of China.[1]
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Regardless of the reforms that had been made to satisfy the republicans and the revolutionaries, Yuan Shikai restored the monarchy that he also helped to destroy, which he later abandoned due to the opposition he faced. He was eventually abdicated, which led to even more decades of political division, the era of warlordism, and attempts of restoring the imperial government of the Qing dynasty.[1][2]
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Before his death, he had failed to create a legitimate government of China. This led to the Era of Warlordism, which ended up filling the hole in government and a power vacuum between military groups, which also caused the national army to break apart from lack of leadership. Armies across northern China ended up disintegrating and were taken in by the three Warlord factions competing for power: the Zhili clique, the Anhui clique, and the Fengtian Clique.[3]
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This anti-imperialist movement was a result of the Treaty of Versailles and created by many students who were in support of the New Culture movement, and a surge of Chinese nationalism for the way of life in China and Confucianism. These supporters were angered by the treaty, and students across the country went on strike. The result of the movement led to most of their demands being met but did not stop the signing of the treaty. This led to even more energized and radicalized movements. [4]
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The CCP was formed after two professors from Peking University discussed Marxism and the idea of it rapidly spread across China. This resulted in urban intellectuals that later led the CCP developed a radical agenda of mass mobilization, labor organization, rural uprisings, anti-imperialism, and national unification. The start of the CCP was established after the first congress of the CCP, which specified the objective of the CCP: to overthrow the capitalist party of China.[5]
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The Northern Expedition was led by the Chinese Nationalist army, and supported by Soviet arms and advisors. The power of the military had spread from southern China where it originated to Northern China. The Northern Expedition was significant both for the final emergence of Chiang Kai-shek as the sole leader of the nationalist and for the purge of the communists in Nanjing.[6][7]
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A group of military forces named the Guomindan, supported by urban gangsters and warlord militias, attacked members of the CCP in Shanghai. Many communist of the CCP and otherwise in Shanghai were arrested, assassinated, tortured, and executed. This massacre was a significant turning point in the Chinese revolution and destroyed the United Front between the Nationalists and the CCP, which led to the purge of the communists.[8]
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The Long March was the flight of the CCP through enemy lines and their headquarters. This escape by the CCP determined Mao Zedong as the leader of the party. Seeing the determination of the CCP resulted in many young, influenced Chinese people to enlist in Mao’s Red Army, showing strong support for his leadership.[9]
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To stop the resistance from Chinese people, Japanese military were ordered to destroy the city of Nanking. They burned down most of the city, killed 150,000 male civilians, and an estimated 20,000 women and girls were raped and many of them were severely mutilated and even killed in the process. This atrocity led to the People’s Republic of China to attempt to consolidate a new country's reputation to gain recognition of a new legitimate system of government from the rest of the world. 10
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The Battle of Taierzhuang was the Chinese’s first major victory in WWII, where they humiliated the Japanese after recapturing Nanjing and Shanghai. The goal was to occupy Xuzhou, the transport hub between the north and the south. This battle significantly ruined the Japanese army’s spirit, but it peristed to strengthen the spirit of the Chinese army and uplifted them to keep fighting for their country, an important part of also fighting for their revolutionary demands of government reform.[11]
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The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was due to the frame of mind against the Chinese for the humiliation and damage to their reputation. It was charged the American government being discontented by the atrocities of the Raping of Nanking, which lead them to cut off their financial support for Japan and they placed trade embargoes between them and Japan. This shows how Chinese nationalism was creating an impact on relationships between other countries and helped create support for themselves.[12]
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This military campaign was the first of three major campaigns created by the People’s Liberation Army against the Guomindang Nationalist government towards the end of the Chinese civil war. The PLA effectively caused the government’s loss of the cities Jinzhou, Changchun, and Chenyang. This was the first time in history when the Communists had an advantage over the Nationalists.[13]
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After Mao Zedong’s proclamation of the head of state for the People’s Republic of China, it showed the success of decades of the battles between Communists and Nationalists. Despite this establishment of government, the United States did many things to harm their relations, by keeping them out of the United Nations, and arguing that their government was corrupt and inefficient. The People’s Republic of China is the change was considered the official end of the Chinese revolution.[14]