Unit 6 - Imperial China Collapses

Why did the Amritsar Massacre happen?

10,000 Hindus and Muslims gathered in Amritsar (Punjab) to protest British rule, pray, and hear political speeches regarding the topic. However, they were unaware that they were violating a law banning public meetings. As a result, a British commander in the area ordered his troops to fire on the crowd, killing 400 and wounding another 1,200. This event later became known as the Amritsar Massacre.

What is the Long-March?

A 6,000 mile-long march 100,000 communists undertook (moving to the northern caves of Shaanxi) to escape the much-larger Nationalist army after 700,000 of its troops surrounded the Communist stronghold in 1933 (south-central China). The year-long trek resulted in only seven to eight thousand survivors.

How did the media influence the Indian independence movement? In other words, how did Gandhi's independence movement win worldwide support?

American journalist reported on British brutality in curbing Indian nationalists, which in turn made people around the globe feel sympathetic towards the colony and its desire to be free.

What influence did foreign nations have on China from 1912 to 1938?

From 1912 to 1938, foreign nations had established spheres of influence within the country, which allowed them to oversee all production/trade in the nation in order to make more money. However, the actions they took isolated the Chinese and made them feel that they held no real power in their own country, which eventually led to revolution along with the liberation of China from foreign control.

What are the four reforms Kemal instituted in Turkey?

Gave women the right to vote and hold office, established government-funded programs to industrialize Turkey and spur economic growth, separated Islam from the government, and created a new legal court system based on European government.

What brought many industrialized countries to Southwest Asia?

Huge oil deposits.

Persia became what new country?

Iran

Why were the Rowlatt Acts considered a violation of civil rights?

It allowed the British to jail any Indians for up to two years with no trial.

What was the Government of India Act? How did it fuel tensions between Muslims and Hindus?

It gave India some self-governing powers/democratic practices, which fueled tensions between the Hindus and Muslims since the outnumbered Muslims feared that the Hindus would gain complete control of India.

Why was the civil war suspended? What were Jiang and Mao forced to do?

Jiang and Mao had to work together in order to fight off the Japanese invading China.

What caused the Communist revolutionary movement in China to gain strength?

Jiang's corrupt government and the lure of equality/land by the communists enticed the majority of the population to join the Communist Party.

Who is Mao Zedong and what Party did he belong to?

Mao Zedong was an assistant librarian at Beijing University, who would go on to help found the Chinese Communist Party (Shanghai, 1921).

What forces does Mao identify as those that the peasants will overcome?

Mao argues that by joining the peasants under the communist ideal, they will be able to overcome all forces/obstacles presented by imperialism, militarism, corrupt officialdom, village bosses, and evil gentry.

Who does Mao think would be true revolutionaries?

Mao thought that the true revolutionaries (who would bring communism to China) would be the rural peasants

Whose reforms (Jiang or Mao's) had a greater appeal to the peasants and why?

Mao's reforms appealed more to the peasants because Jiang's corrupt government did not help the poor, and in Mao's communism the peasants would become equal to everyone else. By joining the communists the peasants also gained access to more land (as described in question six).

Who is Mohandas K. Gandhi? What does Mahatma mean?

Mohandas K. Gandhi was a nonviolent Indian advocate for independence, whose political views/teachings relied heavily on religion (blending Islam, Christianity, and Hinduism). Mahatma means "great soul."

What Three Principles promoted the unity to these two "warring" sides?

Nationalism (an end to foreign control), people's rights (democracy), and people's livelihood (economic security for all Chinese).

What land around this body of water has nearly two-thirds of the world's known oil supply?

Persian Gulf

Who is Reza Shah Pahlavi and how is he similar to Kemal?

Reza Shah Pahlavi was the shah of Persia and sought to industrialize, modernize, and westernize the nation like Kemal did with Turkey (by building schools and roads, giving women rights, etc.). However, he held all power for himself instead of practicing democracy like Kemal.

What new country held strictly to Islamic law

Saudi Arabia

Which four countries had large deposits of this commodity?

Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, and Iraq.

What was the May Fourth Movement? How did the Treaty of Versailles help trigger it?

The May Fourth Movement was a series of demonstrations (May 4, 1919) in which 3,000 students gathered in the center of Beijing to protest the Treaty of Versailles giving German-held colonies (that used to be Chinese) to the Japanese rather than the Chinese, despite fighting with the Allies in WWI.

Which two parties were at war with one another? Why?

The Nationalists and the Communists were at war with one another because they had conflicting views on how to run China. The war was triggered when the Nationalists marched into Shanghai in April 1927 and massacred most of the communists (using troops and armed gangs).

What did Mao do to strengthen the peasants' loyalty to his Communist Party?

To strengthen the peasants' loyalty to his Communist Party, Mao divided land that the Communists won among the local farmers.

Who is Mustafa Kemal? What is he also called?

Turkish general who fought off Greek invaders backed by Britain in 1919, and became president of Turkey in 1922. He sought to modernize/westernize the country, and came to be known as "Ataturk", Father of the Turks.

Civil Disobedience

When a group of people purposefully breaks laws that they view as unfair, in order to protest them. This tactic was used extensively by the Congress Party in India.

How was Mao's version of communism different from that of Lenin?

While Lenin based his Marxist revolution on his organization in Russia's cities, Mao envisioned that he could bring revolution to a rural country where the peasants could be the true revolutionaries.