China and The Communist
Revolution
I. Language
A. There are two main languages in China
1. Mandarin
2. Cantonese
B. They sound very different from each other
and most people only speak one of them.
II. Writing
All Chinese writing uses the same set of
characters. There is no connection between
the written and spoken forms of language.
III. The End of the Dynasties
A. During the last dynasty-Qing Dynasty-the
population of China tripled, leading to shortages,
famines, and wars.
B. Opium Wars between Great Britain and China
from 1839 and 1842.
1. Treaty of Nanking
2. China lost Hong Kong to Great Britain and was
forced to allow more trade with Great Britain.
End of the Dynasties
C. Many peasants were angered by the treaty
and a rise in nationalism led to Chinese
rebellions against the Qing Dynasty.
1. Taiping Rebellion - 14 years
- 20 million deaths
2. Boxer Rebellion
The End of the Dynasties
D.
Many western educated Chinese wanted a more
modern China with a democratic government.
1. Sun Yat-sen founded the Nationalist Party and
overthrew the Qing Dynasty to begin The Republic of
China.
2. As the Nationalist Party struggled with the new
republic, other political powers began including the
communist party.
IV. Civil War
Chiang Kai-shek leader of
Nationalist Party
Mao Zedong leader of
Communist Party
A. The Nationalist Party
and the Communist
Party had many
clashes over the years.
B. The Communist
Party had to flee to
northern China—this
is called The Long
March.
B. The Long March
1. 100,000 people
walked 6,000 miles to
escape from the
Nationalist Party.
2. During The Long
March Mao Zedong
became the official
leader of the party.
V. The Nationalist Party
A. The Nationalist republic
maintained control through
1949. They improved
transportation, provided a
better education to more
people, and encouraged
industry.
B However, peasants and
workers lives were not
improved…
VI. Communism in China
A. In 1949 the Communist Party wins the
civil war.
B. Mao declares China a communist state
called The People’s Republic of China.
C. Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist Party
flee to the island of Taiwan and establish
The Republic of China.
Chairman Mao
October 1, 1949
The People’s Republic
of China
D. The First Stage of
Communism
Land was seized from the wealthy and
given to the peasants.
2. A five year plan brought all industry under
the government’s control.
3. Peasants combined their land to form
collective farms.
1.
E. The Great Leap Forward
1. Collective Farms became
huge communes—25,000
peasants living together!
2. Poor production, droughts,
and floods caused one of
the worst famines in
history.
3. In two years 20 million
people starved to death.
Terraced Farming – Rice Paddies
F. The Cultural Revolution
1. To maintain control
Chairman Mao
launched the Cultural
Revolution to remove
opposition to the
Communist Party.
Cultural Revolution
2. The Cultural
Revolution punished
people who spoke
against communism or
the government. Artist
were forced to create
propaganda
supporting
communism.
VII. Human Rights
A. During the years of the Cultural Revolution the
economy weakened and the government was
unable to perform their duties such as health
care and education.
B. Many Chinese called for reform.
C. Mao Zedong died in 1976 and the Cultural
Revolution ended.
Human Rights
Deng Xiaoping took
power in 1977.
Opens up diplomatic
relations with the
west.
Continues repression
of human rights.
President Nixon and Chairman Mao had a historic meeting
in 1972. The U.S. had not met with China since 1949.
D. Tiananmen Square - 1989
Student protest against human rights abuses.