1. The Emergence of Modern China
Geography 9B

2. What is Communism?
Don’t forget to answer number 1 on your worksheet, “What is communism?” using the answer from your spark

3. The Nationalist People’s Party
Emerged in China in the early 1900s
They were influenced by Western ideas but did not like foreign powers in China
Forced China’s emperor to abdicate (or give up) his throne in 1911
Declared China a republic
Sun Yat-sen (soon yaht sen) was chosen as the country’s first president

4. Sun Yat-sen

5. The Nationalist People’s Party
It had been easier for them to take control than it was to keep it
The former army fought against the Nationalists
Meanwhile local warlords took power in their own areas
Warlords are regional leaders with their own armies

6. Zhang Zoulin, Chinese Warlord, 1927

7. The Nationalist People’s Party
When Sun died, Chiang Kai-shek (chyahng ky shek) took control of the party
He was a soldier, and quickly trained the Nationalist troops
Within two years Chiang defeated one warlord after another and took control over much of China
He became president by 1928

8. Chiang Kai-shek

9. The Long March
In the 1920’s the Nationalist party began to split, as some members became fans of Karl Marx’s idea of communism
They thought this would bring prosperity to China
The Communists wanted to give power to the workers and give land to the peasants
Chiang Kai-shek did not agree and in he ordered all Communists be killed

10. The Long March
The Communists that survived were forced to flee to the south China province of Jianxi (jyahng shee)
They built a stronghold here and their numbers grew
In 1933 Chiang sent a huge army to hunt and destroy the communists
He was scared they would try to challenge him and the government in the future

11. The Long March
They fought for months, and the Nationalists began to win
In 1934 the Communists left Jiangxi and started “The Long March” a journey to northern China that lasted a year
They crossed 18 mountain ranges, more than 20 rivers
March was 6,000 miles total

12. The Long March

13. The Long March
100,000 people left on The Long March, but only 8,000 survived
They faced hunger, disease, and attacks by Nationalist troops
Their goal was safety in one of China’s northern provinces
They set up a new headquarters in a city called Yan’an (yahn ahn) under Mao Zedong’s (mow zhuh doong) leadership

14. The Long March

15. The Second Sino-Japanese War
In the early 1930’s the Japanese invaded China
They took advantage of the Chinese fighting amongst themselves
They invaded the province of Manchuria and tried to take over other parts of China
The Nationalists and Communists united to fight their common enemy

16. The Second Sino-Japanese War

17. Communists Take Over
The war ended in 1945 and the two parties began to fight once more
During the war the Communists had made powerful reforms in areas of their control
This included lowering rent for the peasants
Many peasants then joined the Communists and by 1949 the Nationalists were defeated

18. Communists Take Over
Chiang Kai-shek was forced to flee to the island of Taiwan for safety
He vowed to someday reconquer China
On Oct. 1, 1949 Mao Zedong declared the establishment of a new Communist state: the People’s Republic of China

19. Mao Zedong