Analyse the factors that led to the rise of the Communist party in China.

Authors Avatar

Sanya Aurora

DP-1

Q. Analyse the factors that led to the rise of the communist party in China.

        In the beginning of the 20th century, the Qing dynasty, which had ruled China for 2000 years, was in decline. The period following the end of the empire in 1911 was a turbulent one, with various groups fighting for power in China. This civil war ended only in 1949, with the Chinese Communist Party establishing control over the country. There are quite a few factors that led to this rise of communism in China. The decline of the empire, foreign interference and imperial advances, and the warlord era are some factors, and these in turn contributed to the discontent of the peasants, another major factor. The actions of the rival political party, the Kuomintang, also aided the growth of communism. Another point to consider is the Japanese invasion. All these points, coupled with the way the CCP took advantage of the actions of the KMT, gained popularity among the peasants, and the overall suitability of communism for China at the time are the causes for the rise of the communist party. This essay will elaborate these factors, and analyse the relevance of each.

        The Manchu dynasty began losing power toward the end of the 19th century. There were many imperial advances in China by Europeans. The British were a prominent threat. Britain fought two Opium Wars with China, one in 1839 and one in 1960, the second one in alliance with France. The British took control of Hong Kong, and set up many ‘treaty ports’ where they were allowed to trade. The Europeans began to dig their heels in many parts of China. The people hated them. The Manchu dynasty was blamed, and it was apparent that the Manchus were beginning to grow weak. In 1950, the Taiping Rebellion against the Manchus broke out. There was horrible bloodshed for 14 years. The Manchus took European help to suppress the rebellion, which angered the people further. This event marked the beginning of discontent and rebellion against the empire.

China was also defeated by the Japanese in 1894, who took control of Chinese territory. This too caused disillusionment with the Manchus.

In 1989 the Emperor Guangxu tried to change the way China was run, during a period called the hundred days of reform. He introduced new educational systems and tried to make financial reforms. However, the Empress Dowager Tzu-hsi took the throne for herself. In any case, by now it was too late. Opposition to the empire was rampant in China by this time. In 1900 a Chinese rebellion broke out, known as the Boxer rebellion, as the members of the movement practiced martial arts. Their discontent with the empire reached breaking point when failed harvest and floods caused famine. Tzu-hsi managed to gain their support by encouraging them to attack foreigners. This shows how anti-foreign the Chinese were. The rebellion was suppressed by international armies, and the Empress Dowager had to pay indemnities for the damage of foreign property in China. The armies even looted Beijing. The harsh suppression of the rebellion increased hatred for Europeans. Once again, the weakness of the Manchus was apparent.

Join now!

The empire fell in 1911. There was a rebellion by the soldiers in Wuchang, and after that many provinces declared themselves independent. To squash the rebellions, the Manchus appealed to a retired general; Yuan Shih-Kai. However, he did a deal with the revolutionaries, where if he got the child emperor Pu Yi to abdicate, he would become the first president of a republican China.

Foreign interference and Chinese unrest were the main reasons for the decline of the Manchu empire. If the empire hadn’t ended, there would be no need for a new form of government. Therefore all the ...

This is a preview of the whole essay