AP World HistoryUnit 5

A dynastic system for two thousand years.◦ Hierarchical system. Virtually becomes a colony in 1644.◦ Isolation.◦ Britain defeated China.

Forced it to open trade and exempt British citizens from Chinese laws.

◦ Manchu government defeated and gave into similar demands from other European countries and the United States.

Sun Yat-sen◦ Influenced by Western ideas.◦ Wanted a modern and democratic

government. In 1911, soldiers rebelled against the

dynastic leaders. Sun Yat-sen failed to create a western-

style democracy in China.◦ Resulted in a period of disorder with warlords

and military generals fighting to control various provinces in China.

Civil War ◦ General Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Nationalist Party,

established himself president. Civil war still continued.

Mao Zedong gets power. ◦ Wins support of peasants by collecting land from

landlords and redistributing it to poor peasants.◦ Mao leads the Long March.

90,000 communist supporters over thousands of miles. 6,000 marchers survived.

From 1937–1949 Chiang Kai-shek and Mao unite armies their armies to defeat the Japanese who occupied China.◦ Peoples Liberation Army.

Japanese defeated in WWII.

Civil War resumes.◦ Nationalists vs. PLA

Chiang Kai-shek and Nationalist supporters flee to Taiwan.

October 1, 1949, Mao declares China a communist “People’s Republic of China”

Mao says peasants share all the land

China asks for advice about economic modernization.

China builds large factories and complex machines.

Mao dismisses further Soviet assistance.◦ He wants China to move more quickly toward

socialism.

Mao mobilized large masses of people to modernize China.◦ Construction of dams,

reservoirs, railroads, etc. People gave up their

land, so there was no private property.

Organized China into communes where people lived together.

Ordered people to study communist values and rid themselves of improper thoughts.◦ No anti-communist

thoughts.

Plan failed. There wasn’t equality. Former landowners

publicly “denounced”. Limited effects of call for

steel production. Corrupt officials. Hundreds of thousands of

people died of starvation.

Communist leaders wanted to focus on rebuilding the economy.

Mao worried that people would become concerned with making money.◦ This was a capitalist

thought.◦ Threat to socialism.

Mao wanted to get rid of the “Four Olds”.1. old ideas.2. old culture.3. old customs.4. old habits.

Many Communist Party officials opposed Mao’s ideas.

Mao turned to young people to bring back the “culture of revolution”.◦ Red Guard.

Humiliated, imprisoned, beat, and killed thousands of “enemies” of the revolution.◦ Educated people, teachers, city

dwellers, corrupt Communist Officials. Anyone rumored to be corrupt.

Red Guard traveled the country raiding homes, museums, and historical monuments, destroying anything associated with the Four Olds.

Military and police ordered not to interfere with the Red Guards.

Communist leaders lost control of the Cultural Revolution.◦ Called on the Red Guard to disband.

Mao dies in 1976. Who will run the country?

Mao’s wife, Jiang Qing and three colleagues gain power.◦ Gang of Four.

Gang of Four is arrested for trying to overthrow the government and causing the deaths of 34,000 people during the cultural revolution.

In 1979. Deng Xiaoping becomes leader of China. ◦ He disagreed with Mao and had been dismissed

from his official position. Deng shifts focus on economic reform.

◦ Some privately owned farm land.◦ Four Modernizations:

1. Science2. Industry3. Technology4. Defense

Students protest and demanded political reforms.◦ Want freedom of

press and democracy. Deng sends the

military in.◦ They killed 700 –

3,000 students, other protesters and bystanders

Create a chart comparing Sun Yat-sen and Mao Zedong’s view of The Chinese Revolution.

This is not a graded assignment, but will appear in a related question on Quiz #9.