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8.4 Spread of Communism After 1900

4 min readfebruary 13, 2023

K

Katie Moore

Jillian Holbrook

Jillian Holbrook

K

Katie Moore

Jillian Holbrook

Jillian Holbrook

Chinese Revolution

The of 1900 destroyed the age-old dynasty system. Out of it emerged a republic led by Sun Yat-Sen. However, this republic soon collapsed due to warlord conflicts.

Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party

Nationalists took power next and established their government--the Kuomintang, which battled for political control against the . Anger toward the Kuomintang sparked in the , a cultural and political movement that emerged in China in 1919. It was sparked by a widespread sense of national humiliation and disillusionment with traditional Chinese values in the wake of the country's defeat in World War I and the imposition of unequal treaties by foreign powers.

Student-led protests, intellectual debates, and cultural activism aimed at modernizing China and promoting democracy, science, and vernacular language during the played a key role in the intellectual and cultural transformation of China, laying the groundwork for the 's (CCP) rise to power in 1949.

Japan's Invasion of Manchuria

The CCP soon gained grassroots support and slowly started pushing the Kuomintang out of cities. However, the CCP’s real growth took off with the  Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931. The Kuomintang was split between defending the government from the CCP or Japanese aggression, and they elected to focus their attention on the CCP.

Conversely, the CCP started to fight the Japanese with the , which earned them widespread public support. The CCP also started to promote more education, better status for women, and . All of this helped them gain support from commoners, and in 1949, the Chinese Communist Revolution ended with the CCP establishing the .

The Great Leap Forward

After the People's Republic of China gained control, the government made economic changes through the , a social and economic campaign launched by the (CCP) under the leadership of from 1958 to 1962. Its goal was to rapidly transform China from an agricultural society into an industrialized one by mobilizing the population to create large-scale agricultural and industrial communes. However, the campaign's hasty and poorly-planned implementation, combined with natural disasters and mismanagement, led to widespread famine and the deaths of millions of people.

The was eventually abandoned in 1962, and its failure led to a significant shift in Chinese economic policies.


Communism’s Spread in Other Areas

Vietnam

The , led by , played a major role in the Vietnamese independence movement against French colonial rule. After World War II, declared the independence of the , which was not recognized by the French or the international community. The Vietnamese communists waged a long and bloody struggle against French colonial forces, culminating in the decisive defeat of the French at the in 1954. This led to the , which partitioned Vietnam into the Communist-led North and the anti-Communist South.

Ethiopia

converted Ethiopia into a communist regime as head of the ruling Marxist-Leninist party, the . He nationalized industries and collectivized agriculture; however, his regime was characterized by widespread human rights abuses, including the execution of tens of thousands of political opponents and the forced relocation of millions of people. Mengistu's government also fought a costly war with Eritrea and faced a major famine that killed hundreds of thousands of people, which led to his ousting from power in 1991.

Land Reform in Kerala

The Indian state of Kerala elected a government that legitimized peasants’ right to cultivate the land and set a limit on the amount of land one could own.

Other states in India enacted similar reforms, such as abolishing the British (feudal landholding) and ending the position of intermediary tax collectors. 

Iran

The (1963) was a set of aggressive modernization reforms, such as forcing big landholders to redistribute land, increasing federal funding for internal improvements, and encouraging industrial growth and education. 

Reform in Latin America

In Latin America, there was a general trend of peasants taking over dispossessed states to cultivate, as well as a trend toward modernization. Some specific examples include Brazil, which added taxes on large land tracts, and Chile, which encouraged peasant farming on large plantations. 


Review Game

Put the following events of Chinese History in chronological order:

  • CCP gains power and influence, largely for attacking the Japanese

  • Republic collapses due to warlord conflicts

  • Establishment of the

  • ; ideas of communism began to expand

  • Nationalists take power and establish the Kuomintang

  • puts into place a republic led by Sun Yat-sen

  • Chinese Communist Revolution

  • Japanese invasion of Manchuria


Answers

  • puts into place a republic led by Sun Yat-sen

  • Republic collapses due to warlord conflicts

  • Nationalists take power and establish the Kuomintang

  • Japanese invasion of Manchuria

  • ; ideas of communism began to expand

  • CCP gains power and influence, largely for attacking the Japanese

  • Chinese Communist Revolution

  • Establishment of the


Key Terms to Review (21)

Battle of Dien Bien Phu

: This was the climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War between French Union's colonial forces and Viet Minh communist-nationalist revolutionaries. It occurred in 1954 and resulted in a decisive victory for Viet Minh, leading to end of French influence in Indochina.

Brazil Land Tax

: A tax imposed by the Brazilian government on landowners, based on the value of their property. This tax is used to fund public services and infrastructure.

Chile Peasant Farming

: A type of small-scale agriculture practiced in Chile, primarily by rural families or communities who grow crops or raise livestock for their own consumption and sell any surplus produce locally.

Chinese Communist Party

: The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the founding and ruling political party of modern China, officially known as the People's Republic of China. Established in 1921, it promotes communism based on Marxist-Leninist ideology.

Chinese Revolution

: The Chinese Revolution refers to the period from 1911 to 1949, during which China transitioned from a feudal monarchy to a republic and then to a communist state.

Democratic Republic of Vietnam

: Also known as North Vietnam, it was a state established in 1945 during decolonization following World War II. It existed until 1976 when it united with South Vietnam to form Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.

Geneva Accords

: The Geneva Accords were a series of agreements made in 1954 that ended the First Indochina War and divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel into North Vietnam (communist) and South Vietnam (non-communist).

Great Leap Forward

: The Great Leap Forward was a campaign led by the Chinese Communist Party from 1958 to 1962, under Chairman Mao Zedong's leadership. It aimed to rapidly transform China from an agrarian economy into a socialist society through rapid industrialization and collectivization.

Ho Chi Minh

: Ho Chi Minh was a Vietnamese communist revolutionary leader who served as the Prime Minister and President of North Vietnam. He played a key role in the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945, and the People's Army during the Vietnam War.

Japan's Invasion of Manchuria

: This refers to when Japanese forces invaded Manchuria (a region in Northeast China) in 1931. This invasion marked the start of Japan's aggressive expansion during the interwar period and led up to World War II.

Land Reform in Kerala

: Land reform in Kerala refers to the redistribution of land from the wealthy landlords to the poor peasants. This was done by the government of Kerala, India, in order to reduce income inequality and improve agricultural productivity.

Mao Zedong

: Mao Zedong was a Chinese communist leader and founder of the People's Republic of China. He ruled from 1949 until his death in 1976.

May Fourth Movement

: The May Fourth Movement was an anti-imperialist cultural and political movement growing out of student protests in Beijing on May 4th, 1919. These protests were triggered by dissatisfaction with Article 156 at Paris Peace Conference where Japan was granted territorial rights previously held by Germany in Shandong province.

Mengistu Haile Mariam

: Mengistu Haile Mariam is an Ethiopian politician who served as head of state of Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991. He is most known for his role in leading Ethiopia's socialist military dictatorship, also known as Derg regime.

Peasant Rebellion

: A peasant rebellion refers to an uprising or revolt by peasants - people typically working in agriculture - against their rulers or government. These rebellions often occur due to economic hardship or social injustice.

People's Liberation Army

: The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the armed forces of the People's Republic of China and its founding and ruling political party, the Communist Party of China.

People’s Republic of China

: The People's Republic of China (PRC) is the official name for the modern state of China, established in 1949 following the Chinese Civil War. It is a one-party socialist republic ruled by the Communist Party.

Vietnamese Communist Party

: The Vietnamese Communist Party (also known as the Communist Party of Vietnam) is the founding and ruling party of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. It follows Marxist-Leninist ideology.

White Revolution

: The White Revolution refers to a major initiative launched in India during the 1970s aimed at increasing milk production through modern dairy farming techniques. It was also known as Operation Flood.

Workers' Party of Ethiopia

: The Workers' Party of Ethiopia was a communist party in Ethiopia that governed from 1984 to 1991 under the leadership of Mengistu Haile Mariam.

Zamindari System

: The Zamindari System was a method of tax collection used during British rule in India. In this system, zamindars (landlords) were given vast tracts of land and tasked with collecting taxes from peasants on behalf of the British government.

8.4 Spread of Communism After 1900

4 min readfebruary 13, 2023

K

Katie Moore

Jillian Holbrook

Jillian Holbrook

K

Katie Moore

Jillian Holbrook

Jillian Holbrook

Chinese Revolution

The of 1900 destroyed the age-old dynasty system. Out of it emerged a republic led by Sun Yat-Sen. However, this republic soon collapsed due to warlord conflicts.

Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party

Nationalists took power next and established their government--the Kuomintang, which battled for political control against the . Anger toward the Kuomintang sparked in the , a cultural and political movement that emerged in China in 1919. It was sparked by a widespread sense of national humiliation and disillusionment with traditional Chinese values in the wake of the country's defeat in World War I and the imposition of unequal treaties by foreign powers.

Student-led protests, intellectual debates, and cultural activism aimed at modernizing China and promoting democracy, science, and vernacular language during the played a key role in the intellectual and cultural transformation of China, laying the groundwork for the 's (CCP) rise to power in 1949.

Japan's Invasion of Manchuria

The CCP soon gained grassroots support and slowly started pushing the Kuomintang out of cities. However, the CCP’s real growth took off with the  Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931. The Kuomintang was split between defending the government from the CCP or Japanese aggression, and they elected to focus their attention on the CCP.

Conversely, the CCP started to fight the Japanese with the , which earned them widespread public support. The CCP also started to promote more education, better status for women, and . All of this helped them gain support from commoners, and in 1949, the Chinese Communist Revolution ended with the CCP establishing the .

The Great Leap Forward

After the People's Republic of China gained control, the government made economic changes through the , a social and economic campaign launched by the (CCP) under the leadership of from 1958 to 1962. Its goal was to rapidly transform China from an agricultural society into an industrialized one by mobilizing the population to create large-scale agricultural and industrial communes. However, the campaign's hasty and poorly-planned implementation, combined with natural disasters and mismanagement, led to widespread famine and the deaths of millions of people.

The was eventually abandoned in 1962, and its failure led to a significant shift in Chinese economic policies.


Communism’s Spread in Other Areas

Vietnam

The , led by , played a major role in the Vietnamese independence movement against French colonial rule. After World War II, declared the independence of the , which was not recognized by the French or the international community. The Vietnamese communists waged a long and bloody struggle against French colonial forces, culminating in the decisive defeat of the French at the in 1954. This led to the , which partitioned Vietnam into the Communist-led North and the anti-Communist South.

Ethiopia

converted Ethiopia into a communist regime as head of the ruling Marxist-Leninist party, the . He nationalized industries and collectivized agriculture; however, his regime was characterized by widespread human rights abuses, including the execution of tens of thousands of political opponents and the forced relocation of millions of people. Mengistu's government also fought a costly war with Eritrea and faced a major famine that killed hundreds of thousands of people, which led to his ousting from power in 1991.

Land Reform in Kerala

The Indian state of Kerala elected a government that legitimized peasants’ right to cultivate the land and set a limit on the amount of land one could own.

Other states in India enacted similar reforms, such as abolishing the British (feudal landholding) and ending the position of intermediary tax collectors. 

Iran

The (1963) was a set of aggressive modernization reforms, such as forcing big landholders to redistribute land, increasing federal funding for internal improvements, and encouraging industrial growth and education. 

Reform in Latin America

In Latin America, there was a general trend of peasants taking over dispossessed states to cultivate, as well as a trend toward modernization. Some specific examples include Brazil, which added taxes on large land tracts, and Chile, which encouraged peasant farming on large plantations. 


Review Game

Put the following events of Chinese History in chronological order:

  • CCP gains power and influence, largely for attacking the Japanese

  • Republic collapses due to warlord conflicts

  • Establishment of the

  • ; ideas of communism began to expand

  • Nationalists take power and establish the Kuomintang

  • puts into place a republic led by Sun Yat-sen

  • Chinese Communist Revolution

  • Japanese invasion of Manchuria


Answers

  • puts into place a republic led by Sun Yat-sen

  • Republic collapses due to warlord conflicts

  • Nationalists take power and establish the Kuomintang

  • Japanese invasion of Manchuria

  • ; ideas of communism began to expand

  • CCP gains power and influence, largely for attacking the Japanese

  • Chinese Communist Revolution

  • Establishment of the


Key Terms to Review (21)

Battle of Dien Bien Phu

: This was the climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War between French Union's colonial forces and Viet Minh communist-nationalist revolutionaries. It occurred in 1954 and resulted in a decisive victory for Viet Minh, leading to end of French influence in Indochina.

Brazil Land Tax

: A tax imposed by the Brazilian government on landowners, based on the value of their property. This tax is used to fund public services and infrastructure.

Chile Peasant Farming

: A type of small-scale agriculture practiced in Chile, primarily by rural families or communities who grow crops or raise livestock for their own consumption and sell any surplus produce locally.

Chinese Communist Party

: The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the founding and ruling political party of modern China, officially known as the People's Republic of China. Established in 1921, it promotes communism based on Marxist-Leninist ideology.

Chinese Revolution

: The Chinese Revolution refers to the period from 1911 to 1949, during which China transitioned from a feudal monarchy to a republic and then to a communist state.

Democratic Republic of Vietnam

: Also known as North Vietnam, it was a state established in 1945 during decolonization following World War II. It existed until 1976 when it united with South Vietnam to form Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.

Geneva Accords

: The Geneva Accords were a series of agreements made in 1954 that ended the First Indochina War and divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel into North Vietnam (communist) and South Vietnam (non-communist).

Great Leap Forward

: The Great Leap Forward was a campaign led by the Chinese Communist Party from 1958 to 1962, under Chairman Mao Zedong's leadership. It aimed to rapidly transform China from an agrarian economy into a socialist society through rapid industrialization and collectivization.

Ho Chi Minh

: Ho Chi Minh was a Vietnamese communist revolutionary leader who served as the Prime Minister and President of North Vietnam. He played a key role in the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945, and the People's Army during the Vietnam War.

Japan's Invasion of Manchuria

: This refers to when Japanese forces invaded Manchuria (a region in Northeast China) in 1931. This invasion marked the start of Japan's aggressive expansion during the interwar period and led up to World War II.

Land Reform in Kerala

: Land reform in Kerala refers to the redistribution of land from the wealthy landlords to the poor peasants. This was done by the government of Kerala, India, in order to reduce income inequality and improve agricultural productivity.

Mao Zedong

: Mao Zedong was a Chinese communist leader and founder of the People's Republic of China. He ruled from 1949 until his death in 1976.

May Fourth Movement

: The May Fourth Movement was an anti-imperialist cultural and political movement growing out of student protests in Beijing on May 4th, 1919. These protests were triggered by dissatisfaction with Article 156 at Paris Peace Conference where Japan was granted territorial rights previously held by Germany in Shandong province.

Mengistu Haile Mariam

: Mengistu Haile Mariam is an Ethiopian politician who served as head of state of Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991. He is most known for his role in leading Ethiopia's socialist military dictatorship, also known as Derg regime.

Peasant Rebellion

: A peasant rebellion refers to an uprising or revolt by peasants - people typically working in agriculture - against their rulers or government. These rebellions often occur due to economic hardship or social injustice.

People's Liberation Army

: The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the armed forces of the People's Republic of China and its founding and ruling political party, the Communist Party of China.

People’s Republic of China

: The People's Republic of China (PRC) is the official name for the modern state of China, established in 1949 following the Chinese Civil War. It is a one-party socialist republic ruled by the Communist Party.

Vietnamese Communist Party

: The Vietnamese Communist Party (also known as the Communist Party of Vietnam) is the founding and ruling party of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. It follows Marxist-Leninist ideology.

White Revolution

: The White Revolution refers to a major initiative launched in India during the 1970s aimed at increasing milk production through modern dairy farming techniques. It was also known as Operation Flood.

Workers' Party of Ethiopia

: The Workers' Party of Ethiopia was a communist party in Ethiopia that governed from 1984 to 1991 under the leadership of Mengistu Haile Mariam.

Zamindari System

: The Zamindari System was a method of tax collection used during British rule in India. In this system, zamindars (landlords) were given vast tracts of land and tasked with collecting taxes from peasants on behalf of the British government.


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AP® and SAT® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse this website.


© 2024 Fiveable Inc. All rights reserved.

AP® and SAT® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse this website.