Causes of the Chinese Civil War

Question 1

Long Term Causes Timeline

Answer 1

1839-42 - First Opium War
1856-60 - Second Opium War
1864 - Taiping Rebellion
1894-95 - First Sino-Japanese War
1899-1901 - Boxer Rebellion
1904 - Russo Japanese War
1911 - Double Tenth Revolution
1915 - Japans 21 Demands
1916-28 - Warlord Era
1919 - May Fourth Movement

Question 2

Foreign Intervention

Answer 2

• Forced into ‘unequal treaties’ by the west
• West could trade and station troops at will
• Boxer Rebellion, 1901, was over foreign intervention and put down by Europe, China humiliated

Question 3

Warlords

Answer 3

• Quasi-military dictators controlling provinces/regions
• Collected taxes, were corrupt and often took taxes for themselves

Question 4

Economy

Answer 4

• Peasant based population, 80% in poverty
• Pop. grew 8% after 1850, and land cultivated only grew 1%
• Some paid 80% of harvest in taxes
• Hyperinflation from war with Japan continued into CW

Question 5

Double Tenth Revolution

Answer 5

• Emperor died, succeeded by 2yr old Pu Yi
• 1911 revolution overthrew the Manchu Qing dynasty, and replaced by a republic led by President Sun Yat-Sen
• Real power belonged to Yuan Shikai, who established a military dictatorship in Feb 1912, Pu Yi abdicated

Question 6

First United Front and the Northern Expedition

Answer 6

• 1922, CCP (formed 1920) and GMD form a United Front to carry out the Northern Expedition to overthrow the Warlords in 1926
• Success but the GMD grew divided under Jieshi
• CCP only had 50K members, could only have 1/3 of seats

Question 7

Fourth of May Movement

Answer 7

• Shandong province taken by Germany in WW1 was given to Japan
• China humiliated and begins to break from Confucianism

Question 8

When does Sun Yat-Sen die

Answer 8

1925, Jiang Jieshi takes over

Question 9

1927 Shanghai Massacre

Answer 9

• Demonstration of the workers ability to paralyze the biggest city
• Jieshi marries Sung Meiling to ally himself with the underworld Green Gang
• April 12, 5-10k Communists killed, terror spread
• CCP flees to small towns, gain support of rural peasants, bases had 65k by 1930 and Jiangshi soviet covered 26k km squared

Question 10

Autumn Harvest and Guangzhous Uprisings

Answer 10

Autumn Harvest 1927: Failed revolt by Enali in Nanchang, 300k died
Guangzhou 1927: Encouraged by Stalin, 37k died

Question 11

Causes of Phase 2 (1945)

Answer 11

• CCP strengthened, GMD weakened by war with Japan
• Polarization of international relations due to Cold War
• Gen. Marshall forms a temporary council, sets up one army and local elections, as this is finalized in 1946, CCP and GMD troops march to Manchuria