China: A Time of Turmoil

Opium Wars Great Britain wanted tea from China but China didn’t want anything from Britain Great Britain broke Chinese law and smuggled opium, grown mostly from India, into the country. 1839- Chinese ordered all opium destroyed in Guangzhou- the British fought back 1842- British Naval forced captured Shanghai Peace Treaty of Nanjing was signed – very unfair Opened 5 more cities to western trade Gave extraterritorial rights to British

Taiping Rebellion Qing Dynasty was said to have lost their “mandate to heaven”- this led to a series of rebellions Taiping Rebellion was led by Hong Xiuquan (Shee-oo-choo-ahn)- thought he was “the brother of Jesus.” He wanted to create a “Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace” Qing and foreign soldiers finally defeated the Rebellion in 1864- with a loss of 20 million Chinese lives

Attempted Reforms Foreign Troubles Qing Dynasty built more coal mines, factories, railroads Introduced modern military equipment and western knowledge and languages 1898-Empress Dowager Cixi ended it all because she felt too much power was being taken from the Dynasty Open Door Policy- American idea that would allow European-run port cities to remain open to all trade Defeat to Japan over Korea in 1894 highlighted serious military weakness in China

The Boxer Rebellion The Boxers were a secret society of Chinese who were trained in martial arts, hated foreigners and wanted to return glory to China The Rebellion started in 1899 with attacks on missionaries and Chinese Christian converts June 1990- Boxers laid siege to foreign area of Beijing for 55 days 55,000 foreign troops finally brought down the uprising

The 1911 Revolution Sun Yixian (Yat-Sen) January 1912- Revolutionaries Nationalism, democracy and “peoples livelihood” China should be a democracy but not too quick, a nationalists party should help transition the government January 1912- Revolutionaries declare China a Republic The 268 year old Qing Dynasty is over

Impact of WWI on China China declared war against Germany during WWI in an attempt to gain back German territory if they lost Instead the Treaty of Versailles gave the land to Japan! May Fourth Movement: Thousands of students protested in the streets of Beijing, the movement then spread throughout the country

Jiang Jieshi- Nationalist Vs. Moa Zedong- Communists Both groups worked together to rid China of Japan in the early 1920’s Jieshi turned against the communists because their ideas were becoming too popular in the country side The Long March: 100,000 communists fled nationalist troops – they walked 6,000 miles through China, only about 8,000 survived