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The First Opium War
When China was still isolated, Great Britain saw a way to use the country, and set down unfair treaties with it before they resisted. Through these treaties, they would trade multiple items. Great Britain's main export to China was opium, an addictive base drug. The Chinese became attached to this drug, and the emperor's own son died of an overdose. He asked Britain to stop trading but the Queen took this as an insult, and declared war on China. Britain, a strong country, easily won the war. -
The Sino-Japanese War
Back in the late 19th century, Korea was one country, but it was not at all dependent. Korea was a strategic and resourceful peninsula, fought for by three different countries. Two of those countries were China and Japan. Even though China had multiple abundant resources and what seemed like the upper hand, Japan forced China to surrender after only six months, due to their modernization. Therefore, Korea was taken by Japan, and China was severely weakened. -
Boxer Rebellion
In 1898, peasants from Northern China grouped together in protest of the Qing dynasty and foreign influence in China. But, when the Empress started to back the Boxers up, they focused solely on ridding China of the foreigners. They killed many foreign citizens and ministers before they were finally stopped by an international force of over 2,000 American, European, and Japanese soldiers. -
Open Door Policy
The Open Door policy, put on China by the United States, in an attempt to protect equal privileges with countries trading with China. It was met with a great deal of approval, and was very successful. -
The Communist Party is Formed
In 1921, Mao Zedong, former peasant and future leader, formed the communist party, and fought with the opposing nationalist party for control and leadership of China. Eventually, the communists won and the nationalists fled to Taiwan. -
The Long March
12 years after the Communist party has orignally formed, the Nationalist party seemed to have the upper hand in the war. They forced the Communist party to flee in a legendary retreat called the Long March. This took one year, and all along the route, they were constantly assaulted by the Nationalists, causing the Communist Army to lose many of their soldiers. -
Mao Wins the War
28 years after the original Communist party had formed in opposition to the Nationalist party, the war had eneded. The Communist party and Mao Zedong had won the civil war, resulting in the Nationalist Army fleeing to Taiwan and setting up their own government. Mao assumed control of China, and became a "god" to the Chinese after he finally got rid of the Nationalists. -
Great Leap Forward
Called the Great Leap Forward, ironically, this economic campaign was better described as a great leap backward. The campaign was led by Mao Zedong, who wanted to become a greater industrial power. Instead, this caused widespread famine, devstating peasants and landlords alike. However, Mao did not stop this campaign for three years, until finally he realized what he had done. -
China Ends Friendship
For years China had been the Soviet Union's closest ally, but China eventually started seeing the Soviet Union as a big threat. The relationship was very strained by the late 1950's, and they completely broke off the alliance by 1960. -
Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
After the bitter failure of the Great Leap Forward in 1958-1960, Mao Zedong thought that he was losing control of China, and needed ot reassert himself. He thought that China was heading down a revisionist path, and judged it as a bad thing. He reached out to young, moldable minds to set people who were well off "back in their place." The young people thought he was a god, and willingly obeyed anything he told them, even if it was denouncing one's parents in front of a huge crowd of onlookers. -
Nixon Visits China
President Nixon from the USA visited China in 1972 to further establish and normalize relations between the PRC and the U.S. It was an extremely successful visit, as it allied China so closely with the U.S. that China was with the USA in the Cold War versus the Soviet Union. China had since broken off connections with the USSR, so it did not affect anything between those two countries. -
Mao Zedong's Death
On September 9, 1976, Mao Zedong, adored by people everywhere in China, died. He had multiple health ailments when he was older, and a very heavy smoker and drinker. It was surprising he lived to be 82. Before his death, he suffered three major heart attacks, the third one ensuring his death. There was a major scramble for control afterwards, with Deng Xiaoping eventually gaining control of China. -
Tiananmen Square Massacre
In 1989 a horrific event took place in which the military of China caused thousands of casualties of unarmed students protesting. The students were protesting against their strict government with nearly no freedoms, and they began a list describing things the government could do to improve China greatly. The government responded negatively and instead attacked the protestors, who were unarmed, with live ammunition. Onlookers were stunned and greatly disapproved of this act of betrayal.
