Communist China Webquest
Introduction
Revolution and War
The combination of internal upheaval and foreign aggression led to the collapse of the Qing (Ch'ing) or Manchu dynasty in 1911 and calls for the establishment of a republic. Sun Yat-sen led the forces calling for a republican government and established the Kuomintang (KMT) or Nationalist Party in 1912. The collapse of the dynastic system ushered in the turbulent "warlord period," however, with regional power centers competing for control. The country was partially reunited under the army of Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist Party in 1928, but it was invaded by Japan in 1937 and subsequently engulfed by World War II.
In the 1920s some Chinese found an explanation for China's subjugation by the imperialist powers and hopes for China's eventual liberation in Marxism. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was formed in 1921 to promote revolution based on Marxist principles. Under Mao's leadership, the Chinese Communist Party established rural (as opposed to urban) vases and began mobilizing farmers. Driven out of southern China by Chiang Kai-shek and Nationalist troops, the CCP made its headquarters in the remote mountainous area of Yenan in north China subsequent to the Long March of 1935-36. The CCP gained strength by calling for united resistance against the Japanese and by experimenting with land reform and other policies to ease the plight of the peasants.
During WWII the Japanese occupied much of China and pursued a policy of dehumanizing the Chinese people. An event in Nanking (Nanjing) changed the point of view of westerners and observers at the time. The Nanjing Massacre, or Rape of Nanjing, was an episode of mass murder and mass rape committed by Japanese troops against the residents of Nanjing (Nanking), then the capital of the Republic of China, during the Second Sino-Japanese War. In the Postal romanization system used at the time, the city's name was transliterated as "Nanking", and the event called the Nanking Massacre or Rape of Nanking.
The massacre occurred over a period of six weeks starting on December 13, 1937, the day that the Japanese captured Nanjing. During this period, soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army murdered Chinese civilians and disarmed combatants who numbered an estimated 40,000 to over 300,000 and perpetrated widespread rape and looting.
After the end of WWII with the defeat of Japan in 1945, a civil war continued between the Nationalists and the Communists over the right to lead China's political and economic development and reestablish China's position in the world. On October 1, 1949, the Chinese Communist Party, under the leadership of Mao Zedong, proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The Nationalist government evacuated to the island of Taiwan, where it established the Republic of China (ROC).
Welcome to the Communist China Webquest!
This webquest will allow you answer the questions associated with Communist China, The Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution. You will be exploring the effects of communism on China and how it has changed over time.
