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Period: to
The People's Republic of China
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Opium shipment destroyed, war broke out
Britain began to sell opium from India to China. By The early 1800s many Chinese became addicted to this drug. The need for the drug drained China's silver becuase people were using the silver to pay for the opium. The Chinese government set out a harsh law. Any user or smuggler caught faced the death penalty. In 1839 the Chinese destroyed a British shipment of opium, and war broke out. -
The uprising of the Taiping Rebellion
The most serious peasant uprising was the Taiping Rebellion. It lasted for 14 years. More than 20 million people were killed in this struggle. This fighting further weakend the dynasty. -
Japanese beat China in the Sino-Japanese War
Japan adopted western technology and modernized its industries. As a result, Japan won Formosa (present-day Taiwan). About 4 million to 6 million deaths were recorded. -
The Long March
During the late 1920s and 1930s, Mao Zedong emerged as the leader of the Chinese comunists. The communists fled from Chiang's armies in 1934. Led by Mao, they trekked more than 6000 miles from southeastern China to the remote northwestern province of shaanxi. The chase lasted more than a year. -
Japanese invasion
In 1937, the Japanese launched an all-out war against China. Japanese planes bomebed Chinese cities, and Japan's armies overran the most heavily populated regions of China. The Japanese were very brutal with the Chinese.
