Chinese Revolution

Chinese Revolution

» In Oct., 1911, a revolution under the leadership of Sun Yat-sen ousted the Manchu or Ching Dynasty and a republic was set up.
» However, first President San Yat-sen resigned in 1912, in favour of strongman Yuan Shik-Kai (1912-16)
» The period 1916-18, known as the Warlord Era, was one of great chaos, as a number of generals seized control of different provinces.
» A party known as the Kuomintang (KMT)or Nationalists (formed by Sun Yat Sen in 1912) was trying to govern China and control the generals who were busy fighting each other. The KMT leaders were Sun Yat sen and after his death in 1925, General Chiang Kai-shek.
» The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was founded in 1921, and at first it cooperated with the KMT in its struggle against the warlords.
» As the KMT gradually established control over more and more of China, it felt strong enough to do without the help of the communists, and it tried to destroy them.
» The communists, under their leader Mao Tse-tunge (Mao Zedong) reacted vigorously, and after escaping from surrounding KMT forces, embarked on the 6000 mile Long March (Oct. 1934-Oct. 35) to form a new power base in northern China.

» Civil war dragged on, complicated by Japanese interference with culminated in a full-scale invasion in 1937.
» When the Second World War ended with defeat for Japan and their withdrawal from China, the KMT and the CCP continued to fight it out.
» Chiang Kai-shek had help from the USA, but in 1949 it was Mao Tse-tunge and the communists who finally triumphed.
» Chiang Kai shek and his supporters fled to island of Taiwan (Formosa).
» Mao Tse-tunge quickly established control over the whole of China, and he remained leader until his death in 1976.