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Chapter 10, Section 3
For use with textbook pages 514-519
REVOLUTIONARY CHAOS IN CHINA
CONTENT VOCABULARY
guerrilla tactics military maneuvers, such as sabotage and subterfuge, based on the element of
surprise (page 516)
redistribution of wealth shifting of wealth from a rich minority to a poor majority (page 519)
California History
Social Science Standards
10.4 Students analyze patterns of
global change in the era of New
Imperialism in at least two of the
following regions or countries: Africa,
Southeast Asia, China, India, Latin
America and the Philippines.
10.9 Students analyze the
international developments in the
post-World War II world.
Focuses on:
10.4.4, 10.9.4
• Nationalists and Communists (page 515)
In 1921, a group of young radicals founded the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Shanghai.
Comintern agents advised the new party to join with the more experienced Nationalist Party. Sun
Yat-sen, the leader of the Nationalist Party, welcomed the cooperation. In 1923, the two parties
formed an alliance to oppose the warlords and drive the imperialist powers out of China. For
three years, the two parties worked together. They trained a revolutionary army to march north
and seize control of China. This Northern Expedition began in the summer of 1926. By the
following spring, these forces had taken control of all China south of the Chang Jiang (Yangtze
River).
Tensions between the two parties eventually caused problems. Sun Yatsen died in 1925 and was
succeeded by Chiang Kai-shek as head of the Nationalist Party. Chiang pretended to support the
alliance with the Communists. But in April 1927, he attacked the Communists in Shanghai.
Thousands were killed in what is called the Shanghai Massacre. The Communist-Nationalist
alliance came to an end. In 1928, Chiang Kai-shek founded a new Chinese republic at Nanjing.
During the next three years, he worked to reunify China.
• The Communists in Hiding (page 516)
After the Shanghai Massacre, most of the Communist leaders went into hiding in Shanghai.
Some party members fled to Jiangxi Province. The young Communist organizer Mao Zedong led
them. Mao was convinced that peasants in the countryside instead of the urban working class
would lead a Chinese revolution.
Chiang Kai-shek tried to force the Communists out of hiding in Shanghai. In 1931, most
Communist party leaders were forced to flee to Mao's base in South China. Chiang then turned
his forces against Mao's base. Chiang's forces far outnumbered Mao's, but Mao made effective
use of guerrilla tactics (using unexpected maneuvers like sabotage and subterfuge to fight the
enemy) to pursue the enemy.
Academic Vocabulary
pursue: to follow in order to
overtake, capture, kill, or
defeat (p. 516)
• The Long March (page 517)
In 1934, Chiang's troops surrounded the Communist base in Jiangxi. But Mao's army, the
People's Liberation Army (PLA), broke through the Nationalist lines and began its famous Long
March. Mao's army traveled almost 6,000 miles on foot through mountains, marshes, and
deserts. One year later, they reached safety in North China. Only nine thousand of the original
ninety thousand survived the journey. In the course of the Long March, Mao Zedong had become
the sole leader of the Chinese Communist Party.
• The New China of Chiang Kai-shek (page 518)
In the meantime, Chiang Kai-shek had been trying to build a new nation. He was committed to
the plans of Sun Yat-sen, which called for a republican government. First, there would be a
transitional period. Chiang announced a period of political training to prepare people for
constitutional government. The Nationalists also tried to carry out a land-reform program and to
modernize industry.
Academic Vocabulary
constitutional: loyal to or
supporting an established
constitution or form of
government (p. 518)
Creating a new China was not easy, however. Most rural people were drained by civilstrife. The
peasants were still very poor, and most of them were illiterate. Chiang Kai-shek was aware of the
problem of introducing foreign ideas into a conservative population. He tried to combine modern
Western innovations with traditional Confucian values of hard work, obedience, and integrity.
He set up a "New Life Movement" and promoted traditional Confucian ethics. It also rejected the
individualism and material greed that was associated with Western capitalism.
Chiang Kai-shek had other problems. His government only had total control over a few
provinces in the Chang Jiang Valley. The Japanese threatened to gain control of northern China.
The Great Depression was also having a negative effect on China's economy. But Chiang did
have some success. He undertook a huge road-building program and added to the country's
railroad system. He also set up a national bank and improved the educational system. But he was
less successful in other areas. His land-reform program had little effect. Because wealthy
landowners and the urban middle class supported him, he did not push for programs that would
lead to a redistribution of wealth (the shifting of wealth from a rich minority to a poor
majority). His government was also repressive. Chiang was afraid of Communist influence and
suppressed all opposition. By doing so, he alienated many intellectuals and political moderates.