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| History of China 1900-1949 | |
|---|---|
| Name | China (1900–1949) |
| Period | 1900–1949 |
| Major events | Boxer Rebellion; Xinhai Revolution; Warlord Era; Northern Expedition; Shanghai Massacre; Long March; Second Sino-Japanese War; Chinese Civil War |
| Capitals | Beijing, Nanjing (Nanjing); wartime seat Chongqing |
| Leaders | Empress Dowager Cixi, Yuan Shikai, Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Zedong |
History of China 1900-1949 Between 1900 and 1949 China underwent imperial collapse, republican experiment, fragmentation under warlord rule, foreign invasion, and revolutionary transformation culminating in the establishment of the People's Republic of China. These decades saw interactions among figures and entities such as Empress Dowager Cixi, Yuan Shikai, Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Zedong, the Qing dynasty, the Kuomintang, the Chinese Communist Party, and foreign powers like Imperial Japan, United Kingdom, United States, and the Soviet Union.
The turn of the century featured the anti-foreign Boxer Rebellion against missionaries and legations in Beijing, prompting intervention by the Eight-Nation Alliance including Imperial Germany, Imperial Japan, Russian Empire, United States, and France, and leading to the punitive Boxer Protocol. The crisis exposed Qing weaknesses under figures such as Empress Dowager Cixi and reformers like Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, accelerating reforms including the Late Qing reforms and the abolition of the Imperial examination system in 1905. Rising nationalist groups—Tongmenghui led by Sun Yat-sen and constitutionalists such as Liang Qichao—pressed for overthrow of the Qing dynasty, while military leaders like Yuan Shikai gained prominence through modernization efforts in the New Army.
The Xinhai Revolution of 1911, sparked by the Wuchang Uprising, overthrew the Qing and established the Republic of China with provisional presidency of Sun Yat-sen and later the contested presidency of Yuan Shikai, whose bid for empire provoked opposition from revolutionaries and provincial leaders. Key events included the enactment of the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China, negotiations among revolutionary factions, and the fracturing of national unity as figures like Cai E and Li Yuanhong resisted Yuan Shikai's monarchical ambitions. The early republic witnessed intellectual movements including the New Culture Movement, with thinkers such as Chen Duxiu, Hu Shih, and Li Dazhao promoting vernacular literature and socialist ideas influenced by events like the Paris Peace Conference and the rise of the Soviet Union.
Following Yuan Shikai's death, regional commanders—Cao Kun, Zhang Zuolin, Feng Yuxiang, Wu Peifu, and Zhang Xun—competed in the Warlord Era, fragmenting authority and provoking interventions including the Twenty-One Demands aftermath and the occupation of Manchuria. The political vacuum enabled the Kuomintang's reorganization under Sun Yat-sen and later military leadership of Chiang Kai-shek, who coordinated the Northern Expedition with Soviet support and collaboration with the Chinese Communist Party in the First United Front. Campaigns against warlords culminated in the nominal reunification under the Nanjing Nationalist Government and establishment of institutions like the Whampoa Military Academy.
Founded in 1921 in Shanghai with activists including Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao, the Chinese Communist Party grew through labor organizing in cities such as Shanghai and peasant mobilization under leaders like Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai. Tensions with the Kuomintang erupted in the Shanghai Massacre and the subsequent purge led by Chiang Kai-shek, triggering the Chinese Civil War's renewal and the communists' rural turn exemplified by the establishment of the Jiangxi Soviet and the eventual Long March led by Zhu De and Mao Zedong. Strategic alliances included the First United Front and later the Second United Front against Imperial Japan.
Full-scale war began with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident and major battles such as the Battle of Shanghai, the Battle of Nanking, and the fall of Nanjing with the ensuing Nanking Massacre. The Second Sino-Japanese War saw the Nationalist government under Chiang Kai-shek retreat to Chongqing while the Chinese Communist Party conducted guerrilla warfare in base areas like Yan'an and engaged in mass mobilization praised by leaders such as Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai. International dimensions included Japanese occupation of Manchuria creating Manchukuo under Puyi, aid via the Flying Tigers and the Lend-Lease Act from the United States, Soviet confrontations in Khalkhin Gol, and diplomacy at the Yalta Conference affecting postwar settlements. Wartime atrocities, scorched-earth policies, and battles like Taierzhuang Campaign and Hundred Regiments Offensive shaped morale and political legitimacy.
After Japan's 1945 surrender, tensions between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party resumed into a decisive phase of the Chinese Civil War featuring campaigns such as the Liaoshen Campaign, Huaihai Campaign, and Pingjin Campaign. Economic collapse, hyperinflation, and corruption plagued the Nationalist government in Nanjing and Chongqing, undermining military efforts against communist forces under Mao Zedong and commanders like Lin Biao and Liu Bocheng. The communists consolidated rural base areas, carried out land reforms, and won popular support, culminating in the Nationalists' withdrawal to Taiwan with leaders such as Chiang Kai-shek and establishment of rival institutions like the Republic of China (Taiwan). By 1949, communist victories in major cities and the proclamation by Mao Zedong ended the civil conflict's major conventional phase and set the stage for the People's Republic of China.
Category:20th century in China