Transcript Communist China: The People’s Republic of China

Communist China:
The People’s Republic of China
Overview
The establishment of the People’s Republic of
China in 1949 began a new period in Chinese
history. Communists had risen to power during
the 1930s and 1940s by appealing to a large part
of the population and by achieving military
superiority. The communist government
continued to maintain strict control over people’s
lives.
Key Information
Popular support and military power helped the
Communists come to power.
The programs of Mao Zedong hurt China
economically and violated human rights.
Den Xiaping brought economic reforms but not
political reforms to China.
China’s Geography
China is the largest
Asian country and
the most populous
nation in the world.
It is located in
eastern Asia.
Mountains, deserts,
and jungles separate
China from
neighboring nations.
With the beginnings of
communism, China
developed command
economies, or governmentcontrolled economies.
Government controls were
used to boost industrial
output.
Much of China is
rural, and a majority
of its people were
farmers. Large
numbers of people
were needed to work
the land because many
farmers used (and still
do use) traditional
tools.
Despite large oil and
coal deposits in he
western part of China,
development has
proceeded slowly
because of the lack of
transportation. China’s
rivers provide important
routes inland from
seaports.
Communists Rise To Power
In the 1930s Mao Zedong emerged as the leader
of the Communists. In 1934, Mao and 100,000 of
his followers fled the Nationalist forces in what
became known as the Long March.
After traveling more than 6,000 miles, Mao set up
a base in northern China with about 20,000
survivors of the march. For the next several years
the Communists and the Nationalists battled for
control. In 1949, Nationalists fled to the island of
Taiwan.
Reasons for Communist Success
Why was Mao Zedong and his communist
followers victorious against the nationalists led
by Chiang Kai-shek???
1. Mao won the support of the huge peasant
population by promising them land
2. Mao won the support of women by rejecting
inequalities of traditional Confucian society
3. Mao’s army made good use of hit-and-run
guerrilla warfare
4. Many people thought the Nationalist government
was corrupt
5. Some people believed that Nationalists had
allowed foreigners to dominate China.
Civil War
By 1945, there were two Chinese governments.
The Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek
was based in southern and central China. The
United States supported it.
The Communist government under Mao Zedong
was based in North China. In 1945, war broke
out between the Nationalists and the
Communists.
Many peasants joined Mao’s
People’s Liberation Army.
They were attracted by the
promises of land. By the
spring of 1949, the People’s
Liberation Army had defeated
the Nationalists. Chiang Kaishek and his followers fled to
the island of Taiwan.
Communism Under Mao
Mao set out to transform China from an
agricultural society into a modern industrial
nation. Under communism, literacy increased,
old landlord and business classes were
eliminated, and rural Chinese were provided
with health care.
Unfortunately, Mao also established a one-party
dictatorship that denied people basic rights and
freedoms.
China was now ruled by
the Communist Party and
called the People’s
Republic of China. In
1955, the government
began a program to build
a socialist society. Land
was taken away from
wealthy landlords and
given to poor peasants.
About two-thirds of the peasants
received land under the program.
Most industry and commerce was
nationalized, and most farmers were
urged to collectivize. Chinese
leaders hoped collective farming
would increase the food supply and
allow more people to work in
industry, but this did not happen.
The Great Leap Forward
To speed up economic growth, Mao began a
radical program known as the Great Leap Forward.
Collective farms were combined into vast
communes, each with thirty thousand people who
lived and worked together to meet newly imposed
government quotas. Peasant resentment of the
new system, combined with bad weather, led to
the starvation of almost 15 million people. Two
years later, the government began to break up the
communes.
Key Ideas
Like other
totalitarian
governments, the
People’s
Republic made
use of secret
police to crush
opposition.
Great Proletarian
Cultural Revolution
In 1966, Mao launched the Great Proletarian
(working class) Cultural Revolution to renew
loyalty to communism.
To promote the Cultural Revolution, Red
Guards were formed. These revolutionary
groups, were sent throughout the country to
eliminate the “Four Olds” – old ideas, old
culture, old customs, and old habits.
A collection of Mao’s
ideas were published
in a guide called, “The
Little Red Book”.
Using this book as
their guide, the Red
Guards destroyed
temples, books written
by foreigners, and
foreign music.
Vicious attacks were made on individuals who did
not support Mao’s plan. Intellectuals and artists
with pro-Western ideas and others who did not
follow Mao’s plan were attacked. Key groups,
such as Communist Party members and military
officers, did not share Mao’s desire for permanent
revolution. Opposition to Mao began to grow.
Life in Communist China
The Chinese Party wanted to create a new kind of
citizen who would put the society ahead of all
other loyalties. To do so, it attacked the old
Confucian order, including family loyalty, which
Communists felt undermined the state.
During the Great
Leap Forward and
the Cultural
Revolution, children
were encouraged to
spy on their parents
and report any
criticism of Mao and
his policies.
The Changing Role
of Women
Traditionally, in China,
women were treated as
inferior to men. In
Communist China, however,
women gained some rights.
Under the new Chinese
constitution, women gained
some rights.
Roles Change:
• Women could now take
part in politics
• In 1950 a marriage law
gave women equality
with men
• Clothing changed –
people wore only “Mao
suits”
Mao’s Programs
Program
The Great Leap
Forward
Goals
Increase farm and
factory production
•Communes
•Production Quotas
•Program fails
•Economy slows
•Two years of hunger •China closes to outside
and low production world
•People fear arrest
•Civil war threatened
Methods
Results
The Cultural
Revolution
Renew Communist
loyalties
Red Guards attack
opponents
China After Mao
When Mao died
in 1976, a group
of reformers led
by Deng
Xiaoping seized
power and
brought the
Cultural
Revolution to
an end.
Policies of Deng Xiaoping
Four Modernizations:
For more than 20
years, China had been
isolated from
technological
advances around the
world. Xiapoing
worked to change this.
• agriculture
• industry
• technology
• national defense
The government invited
foreign investors to
China and sent students
abroad to study. The
government also
allowed privatization of
agriculture and industry.
Movement for Democracy
Students who studied
in other nations
learned about Western
society and began to
call for a fifth
modernization,
democracy.
The Communist Party
did not allow criticism,
and those calling for
democracy could be
sent to prison.
Tiananmen Square
In the 1980s,
problems of
inflation and
corruption erupted
in student protests
in Tiananmen
Square in Beijing.
Students wanted to
put an end to
communism in
China.
Xiaoping ordered tanks and troops into
Tiananmen Square to crush the demonstrators.
Thousands of protestors were killed.
Two Chinas
Today, China is the most populous nation in the
world. There are two Chinas. The People’s
Republic of China is a communist state on the
Asian mainland. It has a vast land area and
many natural resources.
Taiwan, also called the Republic of China, is a
small island that today is one of the Asian Tigers.
It has a non-communist government.
Taiwan: The Other China
Chiang Kai-shek and his followers
established a capital at Taipei. The
new government built a modern
industrialized society, but other
political parties were not allowed.
After the death of Chiang in 1975,
Taiwan began to move slowly
toward a representative form of
government. Free elections took
place in 2002.
The People’s
Republic still
considers Taiwan
a part of China
proper. Efforts to
reunite the two
Chinas have
sometimes led to
tension because
Taiwan values its
independence.
Return of Hong Kong
In 1842, Britain had gained the island of Hong
Kong, off the northern coast of China. During
the years that Hong Kong was under British
rule, it modernized and became wealthy.
In the 1980s, Britain and China decided that Hong
Kong would return to Chinese rule in 1997. China
agreed not change Hong Kong’s social or
economic system for 50 years and to allow the
island a degree of self-rule. The island was turned
over to China on July 1, 1997.
Summary
The Communists, under Mao Zedong, rose to
power in China after WWII. Their appeal to
peasants and to women, their superior army, and
lack of support for the Nationalists led to
victory for the Communists.
The communist government severely
restricted the rights and freedoms of most
Chinese. Later leaders, such as Deng
Xiaoping, allowed free market reforms but
little political freedom. Violations of human
rights in China have often made relations
between China and the United States difficult.