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China - Coggle Diagram
China
Warlord era
1898–1901 Boxer Rebellion - Nationalist anti-foreign uprising. Suppressed by an 8-nation Western alliance; Manchu (Qing) dynasty forced to pay massive reparations, eroding central authority.
Oct 1911 Xinhai Revolution - Uprising in Wuchang by New Army troops. Caused the collapse of the 2,500-year-old Qing Dynasty (abdication of Emperor Pu Yi in 1912) and established China's first republic.
Sun Yat-sen - Founded the Kuomintang (KMT / Save China League). Became provisional president in Jan 1912 (Nanking) but lacked military power/treasury.
Yuan Shih-kai (1859–1916) - Commander of the Beiyang Army. Appointed PM then President in 1912 to secure unification. Ruled as a military dictator (banned KMT, assassinated PM Sung Chiao-jen in 1913).
1915 Twenty-One Demands - Yuan accepted Japan's demands, destroying his credibility as a nationalist. Proclaimed himself Emperor (Dec 1915), lost army support, resigned, and died in 1916.
Warlord Era (1916–1928) - China fractured into small states run by warlords and private armies (grew from 500,000 in 1916 to 2m by 1928). Caused economic stagnation, violent looting, forced peasant conscription, and extreme political corruption.
May the Fourth/KMT
1917 WWI Entry - China joined Allies, sending ~100,000 laborers, expecting the return of German-controlled Shandong Province.
1919 Versailles Treaty / Shandong Problem - Allies awarded German concessions in Shandong to Japan, sparking outrage.
4th May 1919 Demonstration - 5,000 Peking University students protested in Beijing against Japanese imperialism and government weakness. Triggered nationwide strikes (100,000 workers in Shanghai); government refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles.
Significance - Intellectual and cultural revolution (New Culture Movement). Shifted focus away from outdated Confucianism toward Western democracy/socialism, modernized Chinese written language, and catalyzed the rise of both the CCP and KMT.
Sun's Three Principles of the People - Nationalism: Anti-imperialism, full independence, and national unification. Democracy: Constitutional republic elected by citizens. Social/Economic Reform: End rigid class structures and improve conditions for peasants/workers.
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Long March
Encirclement Campaigns (1930–1934) - Chiang launched 5 campaigns against the Jiangxi Soviet (est. 1931 at Ruijin under Mao). First 4 failed due to guerrilla tactics. The 5th (1933–34) used 500,000 troops, air support, and a blockhouse encirclement strategy engineered by German advisors, starving the soviet.
Oct 1934 Breakout: - 86,000 Red Army soldiers/civilians abandoned Jiangxi.
Nov 1934 Xiang River Crossing - Disastrous defeat due to rigid conventional tactics; lost nearly half the force.
Jan 1935 Zunyi Conference - Key turning point—Mao Zedong criticized Comintern strategy and emerged as supreme operational leader, reverting to flexible guerrilla warfare.
Key Milestones - Crossing Jinsha River (April 1935), Luding Bridge Assault over Dadu River (May 1935), crossing Snowy Mountains (June–July 1935), and crossing Northern Sichuan Grasslands (August 1935).
Oct 1935 / 1936 Arrival: ~8,000–9,000 survivors reached Yan'an, Shaanxi Province.
Significance - Transformed military defeat into a foundational propaganda myth of endurance, consolidated Mao's unquestioned leadership of the CCP, and secured a safe base in Northern China.
CCP+Mao
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First United Front (1923) - Comintern advised the small CCP to collaborate with the KMT. KMT gained Soviet military training/advisors; CCP gained a broader platform to organize mass labor.
Popular Support: Combined anti-warlord sentiment, nationalist impulse from May 4th, and a clear program to restore order.
Xi'an
Causes:
* 1931 Japanese Invasion of Manchuria: Japan established the puppet state Manchukuo (put Pu Yi as Emperor in 1934). League of Nations failed to act.
* Chiang's Policy: "Internal pacification before external resistance" (prioritized exterminating CCP over fighting Japan), angering nationalists.
Events:
* 12 Dec 1936: KMT Generals Chang Hseuh-liang (the "Young Marshal") and Yang Hu-cheng arrested Chiang Kai-shek in Xi'an.
* CCP & Soviet Role: Comintern/Stalin ordered the CCP to secure Chiang’s release rather than execute him, believing only Chiang could lead a unified Chinese effort against Japan to protect the USSR’s eastern border.
* Outcomes (24 Dec 1936): Chiang agreed to end anti-communist extermination campaigns and form the Second United Front against Japan. Mao's CCP gained survival/relief from persecution; Chang was placed under house arrest for 40 years. Full-scale Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937.
Nanking Decade
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Failures, Limitations & Context
* Military Priority Over Reform: 47\% of government income in the mid-1930s went to the military (anti-CCP campaigns, warlord suppression), while only 5\% went to education/social schemes. Infrastructure was built primarily for troop transport rather than social benefit.
* Lack of Rural/Regional Control: Education reforms were resisted by local rural authorities, and the program ended with the 1937 Japanese invasion. Tax reform failed because KMT members opposed Western-style income tax, starving the government of revenue.
* Warlord & Regional Instability: The 1930 Central Plains War against opposing warlords cost thousands of lives and drained treasury resources. Northern provinces remained largely out of central control.
* External & Economic Crises: The 1929 Great Depression restricted foreign loans and exports. Japanese aggression (1931 Manchurian invasion) seized critical iron ore and coal reserves, severely undermining economic development and Chiang's political legitimacy.
CCP Support, Yan'an Soviet & Mao's Rise
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Why the KMT lost support
Why KMT Lost Support:
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* Heavy military casualties, loss of main tax base in coastal cities, hyperinflation, and rampaging corruption among officials.
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