CHINA
The Republic 1912-1949
The Guo Min Dang
Warlords
The Communists
The Japanese invasions
Civil War and the People’s Republic
1911 -Qing Emperor abdicated to retire to the Forbidden
City. The Double Ten Revolution of 1911 was successful.
1912 - Sun Yat Sen was declared first president of the new
Chinese Republic.
General Yuan Shi Kai
returned to politics and
replaced Sun Yat Sen who
had no power base.
Sun became minister of
transport hoping to
modernise China.
Yuan wanted to become
emperor of China.
He opposed by other
generals and died in 1916
Set a precedent for generals
to try to seize power.
China was to enter one of
its darkest periods, the War
Lord Period.
The Warlords
Li Yuanbong
Zhang Zuolin Yan Xishan
Feng Yuxiang
Fought for control of Beijing, to be recognised as the
official government of China .
Effects were disastrous, particularly on the peasants who
were raped and pillaged and forced to pay taxes up to 30
years in advance, for their “protection and safety”.
China joined the allies in the Great War hoping to
regain at least the territories run by the Germans but
the treaty of Versailles awarded them to the Japanese.
May 4th 1919 demonstrations broke out in many
Chinese cities and people of all classes protested and
joined parties like the Guomindang (Sun’s party) or the
newly founded Communist Party.
They united in 1922 to end warlord rule and western
domination of China. Sun Yat Sen was in control of
eastern China
Despairing of the imperial powers of ever helping they
turned to Communist Russia for help.
They realised the need for an efficient army of their
own, if China was ever going to be free and strong.
May 4th protests
1923-1927 - The
Comintern sent
Mikhail Borodin
(left) to organise the
new Chinese
Communist Party
and to assist the
GMD to unite and
overthrow the
warlords.
A military
academy was
organized
outside
Guangzhou at
Whampoa to
train officers
to create an
effective army.
Sun Yat Sen seen
here on a
fundraising tour
in the USA
1925 - Sun
died before
his plans
could come
to fruition.
His funeral
train is seen
with his
picture on
the front.
Chiang Kai Shek
(his brother in law
and leader of the
new army)
Took command
and established
himself as leader
moving against the
War Lords in the
successful Great
Northern
Expedition 19271928 .
GMD soldiers in Guangzhou eat before departing for the
North.
Success of the Northern Expedition surprised everyone as many of
the Warlords were defeated or made peace with the GMD.
The march to Shanghai became a triumphal parade but left Chiang
with a problem.
He did not want to share power with his Communist allies,
preferring the capitalist way of development which would ensure
close ties with the USA.
He decided therefore to end the United Front which had been so
successful in defeating the Warlords and to eliminate his
communist allies.
1927 - A bloody purge of the communists followed in Shanghai and
in Guangzhou.
The massacre was successful and left Chiang free to march on
Beijing and establish himself as China’s first strong ruler since
1911.
He would be in a position to carry out Sun Yat Sen’s programme of
modernisation of a united country.
Death
in
Shang
hai 1927
Death in
Guangzhou - 1927
Chiang was able to
modernise China as
the electric cables for
street cars shown in
this picture
demonstrate.
Generally cities,
particularly Shanghai,
made great progress,
even in the harsh
economic climate of
the 1930’s Great
Depression.
Chinese young men learning to type.
Western
medicine
became
more
popular.
Even Pu Yi the former boy emperor adopted Western ways
A new capital
was built in
Nanjing, to
demonstrate a
break with the
past. The
language was
simplified and
great efforts
made to improve
literacy,
particularly in
the cities.
This rich man is determined on an old and new
funeral.
This Shanghai movie star is very modern
The cheongsam became
very
fashionable as
foot binding
was finally
eradicated as a
custom.
Some people
became very
rich……..
Whilst others
remained
desperately
poor.
Some communists escaped the purges like Mao
and Zhou and took communism to the country
side, starting the civil wars again.
The
Encirclement
Campaigns
drove the
communists to
escape in the
Long March
1934-1935.
Mao is seen
here with his
second wife
who
accompanied
him on the
march.
1931Japanese took
Manchuria and put Pu
Yi on the throne as a
puppet. 1
1937 they invaded and
conquered the rich
coastal plains and cities
of China in a brilliantly
successful but brutal
campaign, culminating
in the massacre at
Nanjing where 300,000
civilians were
slaughtered in an orgy
of rape, pillage and
execution.
Victorious Japanese troops at Shanghai
It then became Chiang Kai
Shek’s turn to flee to the
interior of China and resist until
the Americans arrived with
help.
Chinese
defeat
Chinese
refugees flee
to the interior
The unlucky
remain in
Nanjing…
….to await their fate
By 1941 the world was at war and China found a great ally
in America who sent men and huge quantities of supplies.
America also tried to bring the ever distrustful Nationalists
and Communists together.
Chiang Kai Shek with “vinegar Joe” Stillwell
Reluctant and distrustful allies, Chiang and Mao
The Americans tried hard to persuade the Communists to
work with Chiang.
1945 the
Japanese
were
defeated
1946-1949
the Civil
War began
again.
Here a
suspected
communist is
lead off to
execution.
The Communists had the best leaders, the best general Zhu
De and the best tactics.
America became disillusioned with the corruption of
Chiang’s regime and withdrew support.
1949 - Popular support for the communists among the
peasants proved decisive and Chiang fled to Taiwan to set
up his Republic of China .
The People’s Republic of China is declared. The Chinese
have their first strong government for over a century.
It’s time for the
“Foreign Devils” to
go home.
They had started
the turmoil and
the fall of the
Empire a 100 years
before after the
first Opium War.
There would be no
more unequal
treaties.
Here they are seen
escaping Shanghai as
refugees from the
advancing Red Army, the
People’s Liberation Army.