China and The Communist Revolution

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China and The Communist Revolution
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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.

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II. Writing

• All Chinese writing uses the same set of
  characters. There is no connection between the
  written and spoken forms of language.

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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.

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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

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The End of the Dynasties

• 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.

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IV. Civil War

• A. The Nationalist Party and the Communist Party
  had many clashes over the years.
• B. The Communist Party had to flee to northern
  Chinathis is called The Long March.

Chiang Kai-shek leader of Nationalist Party
Mao Zedong leader of Communist Party
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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.

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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

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VI. Communism in China

• A. In 1949 the Communist Party wins the civil
  war.
• B. Mao declares China a communist state called
  The Peoples Republic of China.
• C. Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist Party flee
  to the island of Taiwan and establish The
  Republic of China.

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Chairman Mao

• October 1, 1949
• The Peoples Republic of China

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D. The First Stage of Communism

• Land was seized from the wealthy and given to the
  peasants.
• A five year plan brought all industry under the
  governments control.
• 3. Peasants combined their land to form
  collective farms.

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E. The Great Leap Forward

• 1. Collective Farms became huge communes25,000
  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.

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Terraced Farming Rice Paddies
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F. The Cultural Revolution

• 1. To maintain control Chairman Mao launched the
  Cultural Revolution to remove opposition to the
  Communist Party.

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Cultural Revolution

• 2. The Cultural Revolution punished people who
  spoke against communism or the government. Artist
  were forced to create propaganda supporting
  communism.

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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.

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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.
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D. Tiananmen Square - 1989
Student protest against human rights
abuses.