Nation/State-building in China
late 1700s - Europeans come to China to trade for silk,
porcelains and tea. They are confined by the Qing court to the southern
port of Canton.
1839 - Chinese authorities in Canton seize and destroy
millions of dollars worth of British opium, British retaliate with punitive
expedition, thus starting Opium Wars.
1842 - China loses the Opium Wars and is forced to sign
the Treaty of Nanjing, opening China to foreign trade and giving Hong
Kong Island to Britian.
1898 - Emperor Guang Xu announces a series of reforms
to prepare the way for a constitutional monarchy. Dowager Empress Ci Xi
leads a coup d'etat and has Emperor Guang Xu imprisoned. The British acquired
a ninety-nine-year lease over the so-called New Territories of Kowloon
which increased the size of their Hong Kong colony. Britain, Japan, Russia,
Germany, France, and Belgium each gained spheres of influence in China.
1911 Fall of last imperial dynasty, the Qing, to Republican
forces. Sun Yatsen returns from the U.S. But powerful regional leader
Yuan Shikai had taken power. Yuan Shikai was sworn in as provisional president
of the Republic of China 1912.
1911-1949 Tumultuous period of nation-building; centralized
political control collapses into competing regional warlords and civil
war between KMT and CCP. Threats and humiliating defeats from imperialist
Japan and western states.
-1912-1927 Early Republican
-1928-1949 Nationalist
May 4, 1919 May Fourth Movement; Chinese students and
merchants protest Japanese interference and corruption in the warlord
govt. in Beijing, new national identity formed--"the Chinese People"
(Zhonghua Minzu). Intellectual movement called "New Culture Movement"
Oct. 1919 Sun Yatsen establishes Guomindang (KMT) in
Guangdong as rival to govt. in Beijing.
1920 In March the Society for Study of Marxist Theory
was founded by Li Dazhao. In May the Chinese Communist Party was secretly
founded in Shanghai, with Chen Duxiu as the leader.
1925 Death of Sun Yatsen. Chiang Kaishek succeeds him.
Leads troops on Northern Expedition to conquer northern warlords. By 1926
he represses opposition to become paramount leader of KMT. Conflict between
his faction and Communists grows.
1927 Chiang Kaishek purges Communists from KMT, and destroys
Communist headquarters in Shanghai, establishes anti-Communist govt. in
Nanjing.
1931 Japan seizes Manchuria.
1934 Mao Zedong rises as leader of Communist Red Army
after organizing among peasants in Hunan. Leads 100,000 communists fleeing
KMT persecution on Long March across the country. Set up headquarters
at Yan'an in Shaanxi province. Organizes peasants and sets down vision
for national future.
1945 Defeat of Japan, and return to civil war between
KMT and CCP forces.
1949 CCP wins civil war; establishes the "multinational
state" of the People's Republic of China. Chiang Kai-shek and a few
hundred thousand Nationalist troops fled from the mainland to the island
of Taiwan.
1953 Chinese scholars begin massive effort to investigate
and define "minzu" groups. 400 different groups initially claim
separate identities; 56 eventually recognized by the state, with "Han"
defined as the majority, all others as "minority" minzu.