The Republic of China 1912 to 1949

by Paul¿s, Xavier; Lightfoot, Lindsay

• ISBN13: 9781509552573
• ISBN10: 150955257X
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781509552597
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2024-01-23
• Publisher: Polity
• More Book Details

Summary

The declaration of the Republic of China in 1912 signalled an entirely new era. Not only did the revolution of 1911-1912 bring about the fall of the Qing dynasty: it also brought an end to the entire series of dynasties which had marked Chinese history for over two millennia. Radical reforms since 1901 had culminated in the ending of the political status quo and the rejection of the very idea of empire. 

Drawing on the most recent historical research, Xavier Paulès provides a comprehensive account of the crucial but chaotic period that stretched from the founding of the Republic of China in 1912 to the civil war of 1945-49, which ended with the victory of the Chinese Communist Party and the establishment of the People's Republic of China.  Paulès challenges various common claims about this period. It is often assumed that the Chinese Communist Party was instrumental in bringing about key events by skilfully mobilizing the population to serve its ends. Paulès argues, by contrast, that the CCP took advantage of fortunate circumstances and that, even then, they were only in a position to challenge the supremacy of the Guomindang as late as 1944. His analysis takes a broad view by considering the importance of political actors both within and external to the revolutionary movement, enabling him to offer a balanced interpretation of the republican period which sheds new light on China’s political, cultural and economic development.

Author Biography

Xavier Paulès is Associate Professor in History at EHESS, Paris.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

List of Illustrations and Maps



Introduction



Chapter 1: The 1911 Revolution

The flashpoint in Wuhan

The last dynasty’s unorthodox downfall 1912, the year of many possibilities

The years under Yuan Shikai (1913-1916)

The international context and the influence of the war in Europe

 The fall of Yuan Shikai



Chapter 2: Cliques And Warlords (1916-1928)

The rivalry amongst North China's major cliques for control of the government

Who were the warlords?

The implausible identikit portrait

The driving forces behind junfa power Conflicts, alliances and viscosity

Was national unity in jeopardy?

The diplomatic context, May Fourth Movement (1919) and the rise of nationalism

Two decades of spectacular diplomatic recovery for China (1906-1926)

Disappointed expectations from the Versailles negotiations

A movement without precedent

The rise of the Guomindang (1917-1926) and the Canton decade
     925: the death of Sun Yat-sen and its aftermath, the May Thirtieth Movement

The Northern Expedition

Phase 1: the defeat of Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang

Phase 2: the time of divisions

Phase 3: Zhang Zuolin’s defeat



Chapter 3: The Nanking Decade (1928-1937)

1928-1932: Troublesome former allies

The period of stabilisation: 1932-1935

The Guomindang’s achievement

The looming Japanese threat Warlords on the wane

The successful marginalization of the Chinese Communist Party

The successful marginalisation of the Chinese Communist Party

The run up to the Sino-Japanese war: 1935-1937



Chapter 4: The War Against Japan (1937-1945)

The war of movement: 1937-1939

Why did Chiang Kai-shek choose confrontation?

Japan’s first victories

The Second United Front and Soviet aid

938, the difficult conquest of the Middle Yangtze River basin
1939, settling in for a long war

The war of position (1940-1944)

 Stabilisation of the front

Population movements

China and the Allies

1940: the beginning of the Guomindang state’s disintegration

The CCP, a new force

Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek, the crossed paths of destiny

Occupied China and the collaborating governments

1944-1945: return to the war of movement

From the Ichig  offensive to the surrender

The war's outcome



Chapter 5: Civil War (1945-1949)

A very favourable situation for the Guomindang

The political and symbolic dividends of victory

The economic rebound in the immediate post-war period

Immediately post-war: 1945-1946

The role of the USSR and the USA

Locking of horns for the first time

 The Guomindang’s post-war failure

The military era: 1946-1949

Sclerosis of the Guomindang

The issue of corruption

Lack of renewal within the Guomindang

The impossible democratic transformation

The CCP's policy

A third force gone missing

The withdrawal to Taiwan, a victory for the Guomindang?



Chapter 6: Overview of the Chinese Economy

China in an international context

The financial and monetary system

The shortcomings of the financial system

Progress and crisis in the monetary system

The primary sector

The very slow evolution of the agricultural sector

Mining: the triumph of coal and emergence of oil

The secondary sector

Industry and the rise of Chinese capitalism

Maintaining cottage industries

The service sector

Transport

Traditional services

The effects of the 1937-1945 war and the civil war

Relocation and state control of the economy

The origins of Communist China's planned economy?



Chapter 7: Building the State

Political culture

Inventing a political culture

Continuities with the New Policies period

Continuity with an older political order

The Guomindang and the party-state model post 1928

Sun Yat-sen, a guiding light

Institutional structure

Cliques and clique struggles

The endless return of revolution

The question of fascism

The extension of the State's scope, a fundamental trend

The question of the relationship between the State and local elites

 A plurality of State-building trajectories



Chapter 8: Changes in Society

The Population

Demographic

Data Migrations

Social groups

The proletariat

The urban middle classes

The recomposition of elites

Highly resilient intermediary bodies

Living standards and lifestyles

The issue of the impoverishment of Chinese peasants

Did the Guomindang lose interest in the countryside?

Endemic insecurity in the countryside ‘Problems’ in Chinese society

New leisure activities

Can we call it westernisation?

Women



Chapter 9: Cultural Renewal

The dissemination of ideas

The development of primary and secondary education

Higher education

The media

Passing influences

New interest in the non-Western world

The May Fourth Movement 1919 and that of the new culture (xin wenhua yundong      )

Chinese Culture’s Western Crisis

A reinvented language

The wenti  

The competition of 'isms’

Religious revivals

China's cultural influence
.
The undiminished prestige of classical culture

China as a conduit for knowledge from the West

Transmission of popular culture



Conclusion And Epitaph



Timeline



Appendixes

Sun Yat-sen’s Last Will (yizhu   )

Comparison of China’s population with that of other major countries

Comparison of the length of China's rail network with that of other countries (in kilometres)

The Song family simplified family tree



Maps

Bibliography

Notes

Index