A revolution in 1911 overthrew the last emperor of China. In 1912 Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925) established a republic that lasted for just four years. Then China once again dissolved into confusion in an era that recalled the Warring States Period. Beginning in 1916, various warlords ruled the land, but in 1927, a combined force defeated them.
This combined force consisted of two opposing groups. On the one side were the Nationalists, led by Chiang Kai-shek (zhuhng kie-SHEK; 1887-1975), a follower of Sun Yat-sen who favored alliances with the West. On the other side were the Communists, led by Mao Zedong (mow zhay-
Emperor Ch'ien-lung (1711-1799) was a most successful Manchu ruler. He established trade relations with the United States, and eliminated Turk and Mongol threats to China. Archive Photos. Reproduced by permission.
DAWNG; 1893-1976), who allied themselves with Soviet Russia. Their period of uneasy cooperation ended in 1934, when Chiang turned against Mao, forcing the Communists on the “Long March,” a 6,000-mile retreat deep into the countryside.
Meanwhile, Japan had invaded Manchuria in 1931. Though World War II began in Europe in 1939, for the Chinese it started in 1937, when the Japanese launched a full-scale attack on them. The defeat of the Japanese in 1945 did not bring peace, however.
There followed a four-year civil war between the Nationalists, who had heavy American backing, and the Communists. The latter emerged triumphant in 1949.
Mao soon involved his country in the Korean War (1950-1953), which pitted the Chinese and North Koreans against South Korea, the United States, and other nations. The war ended in a stalemate, leaving Korea divided. China, too, was divided, the Nationalists having fled to the island of Taiwan (tie-WAHN), where they established an independent state. Meanwhile, Hong Kong remained in British hands. Over the next decades, it would grow to become an economic powerhouse.
Recognizing that his own nation's economy lagged far behind much of the world, Mao tried to spur it into rapid industrialization through a program he called the “Great Leap Forward” (1958-1960). In his eagerness to transform the Chinese economy overnight, Mao practically wrecked it, bringing about a famine that claimed more than twenty million lives.
World History
