SGQ3

How did the Communists come to power in China?

1. Revolution and the warlord era
a. Explain the three major crises of this era?
i. Europeans began to forcefully move into China
ii. The Taiping Rebellion
iii. The defeat at the hands of the Japanese/The Boxer Rebellion
b. What was the immediate cause of the 1911 revolution?
The soldiers began the revolution and were quickly followed by the rest of the population.
c. What were the two important positive developments that took place during the Warlord Era?
i. The May the Fourth movement against the warlords began.
ii. The Guomindang gained power, eventually having enough to defeat the Warlords by 1928.

2. The Kuomintang, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, and Chiang Kai-shek
a. What were Sun Yat-sen's three goals for China?
i. Nationalism: to make China a respected power and rid her of foreign influence.
ii. Democracy: China should be ruled by the people, once educated.
iii. Land reform: Sun wanted land to be given among the peasants, but also did not want landlords' property to be confiscated.
b. What three steps did Chiang take to consolidate power?
i. He removed all left-wingers from high positions in the GMD.
ii. He set out on the Northern march to destroy the warlords.
iii. He launched an extermination campaign against the Communists.

3. Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party
a. How did the Communists survive the extermination campaigns?
They ran into the mountains and, when surrounded, broke through the lines of the GMD, hiking 6k miles in a little over one year, passing through mountains, capturing cities and eluding governmental armies.
b. Why did Mao and the Communists gain support?
i. The GMD was was corrupted and looked after the interests of the wealthy rather than the peasants.
ii. The factory conditions barely improved
iii. The peasants remained poor, due to the hoarding of food in cities and high taxes. By contrast, the Communists gave even the poorest peasants land and restricted rents.
iv. The GMD put up no resistance the Japanese. Chiang would rather destroy the Communists than the Japanese, although nobody else agreed. He was eventually forced to ally with the Communists against Japan, bringing them great honor and resources.

4. Briefly summarize how the CCP won their struggle with the KMT, and give 2 reasons
At first, it appeared as if the the GMD would win, with foreign support and more occupied land. However, the CCP was able to avoid their armies until their force was sufficient for a head-on attack, which they executed immediately. They were able to defeat the GMD due to a better organized party system, as well as the possession of leaders who were more dedicated to their cause and were able to exploit the weaknesses of the GMD.