The Republic 1912-1949
The Guo Min Dang
Warlords
The communists
The Japanese invasions
Civil War and the People’s Republic
Their best general Yuan Shi Kai refused to suppress the
rebels, preferring to live as a Daoist monk for a short while,
and the emperor abdicated to retire to the Forbidden City.
The Double Ten Revolution of 1911 was successful. Sun
Yat Sen was declared first president of the new Chinese
Republic in1912.
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 was a general and an
autocrat however and
wanted to become emperor
of China. He caved in to
Japanese pressure and was
opposed by other generals.
He died in 1916 but 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
They fought for control of Beijing, to be recognised as the
official government of China . The 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.
On May 4th 1919 demonstrations broke out in many
Chinese cities and people of all classes protested and
joined parties like the Guo Min Dang or the newly
founded Communist Party. They united in 1922 to end
warlord rule and western domination of China.
Despairing of the imperial powers 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
Following the
Russian revolution
the GMD turned to
Russia for help.
The Comintern sent
Mikhail Borodin
(left) to organise the
new Chinese
Communist Party
and to assist the
GMD to unite and
overthrow the
warlords.
They
organised a
military
academy
outside
Guangzhou at
Whampoa to
train officers
to create an
effective army.
Sun Yat Sen seen
here on a
fundraising tour
in the USA
Unfotunately
Sun died in
1925 before
his plans
could come
to fruition.
His funeral
train is seen
with his
picture on
the front.
His brother in law
and leader of the
new army Chiang
Kai Shek quickly
took command
and established
himself as leader
moving against the
War Lords in the
successful Great
Northern
Expedition.
GMD soldiers in Guangzhou eat before departing for the
North.
The 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. 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
Death in
Guangzhou
China soon came to
know him as the ruler
of the country. He
liked to be called the
Genralissimo. He 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. In the
next slide the
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.
Mao is seen
here with his
second wife
who
accompanied
him on the
march.
The Japanese posed an
even bigger
threat,taking
Manchuria and putting
Pu Yi on the throne as a
puppet. After 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 as
best he could in Chung king
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.
But with
the
Japanese
defeated,
the Civil
War (194649) 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.
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.
Here they are seen
escaping Shanghai
as refugees from
the advancing Red
Army, the People’s
Liberation Army.
There would be no
more unequal
treaties.