basic timeline of major events in china, 1840-1949

China, to 1949: Timeline

Let’s start with a timeline!1840-2: Opium Wars mark beginning of foreign domination over China1865: Daibing Rebellion1865-95: Self-Strengthening Movement1895: Revive China Society created in Hong Kong by Sun Yixian; lead failed revolution in Guangzhou1898: Hundred Days of Reform (which fail)1900-1: Boxer Rebellion ends in utter defeat for China and the Qings1905: Tongmenghui established in Tokyo by Sun Yixian1905-11: Railway Recovery MovementOct 1911: Wuhan Uprising

Provinces in SW China secede & elect Sun Yixian as president12 Feb 1912: abdication of Pu Yi in favour of Yuan ShikaiFeb 1912: Sun Yixian hands presidency over to Yuan Shikai in a naïve gesture of unityJun 1912: Yuan Shikai forces Tongmenghui ministers to resignDec 1912: Tongmenghui amalgamates w/ smaller parties to form Guomindang1913: Guomindang wins election in landslideNov 1913: Yuan Shikai outlaws Guomindang1914: Yuan Shikai dissolves parliament1915: Yuan Shikai crowns himself emperor, immediately losing military supportJun 1916: Yuan Shikai dies

WARLORD ERA1919: Treaty of Versailles -> May Fourth Movement2 Apr 1921: Sun Yixian establishes GMD military government in Guangzhou1921: Chinese Communist Party founded1922: USSR/GMD alliance1923: GMD/CCP alliance1925: Jiang Jieshi becomes military leader of GMD1925: Sun Yixian dies1925: May 30 Movement: workers at Japanese mill arrested, one killed. Protestors fired upon.Jul 1925: Liao Chung K’ai (who held executive power in GMD) assassinated

Jul 1926: JIANG JIESHI ASSUMES LEADERSHIP OF GMDMar 1926: Jiang Jieshi puts Guangzhou under military law, arrests 30 Russians, after supposed kidnap plot1926: NORTHERN EXPEDITIONApr 1927: Shanghai Massacre

White TerrorAug 1927: Autumn Harvest Uprising -> miserable failure, Mao loses all authority1928: Jiang Jieshi elected GMD chairman, govt established in Nanjing1929: Mao Zedong & Zhu De found Red Army in Jiangxi1930: Li Lisan (CCP leader) orders attacks on cities which fail1930-2: Nationalist Encirclement Campaign against CCP1931: Li Lisan removed as CCP leaderNov 1931: Chinese Soviet Republic established in Jiangxi; Mao as chairman1932: Mao expelled from military command – Zhou Enlai new leaderOct 1933: Fifth Encirclement Campaign1934: NEW LIFE MOVEMENTOct 1934: THE LONG MARCH

Jan 1935: Zunyi Conference: CCP Politburo meets, and Mao emerges leaderDec 1936: Xian IncidentJul 1937: war against Japan beginsSep 1937: CCP + GMD form Second United Front1940: Mao’s On Democracy published (Mao’s “three-thirds” system)Jan 1941: Jiang orders New Fourth Army destroyed

End of Second United Front1941-4: Rectification CampaignAug 1945: Japan surrendersJan 1946: US sponsors meeting between CCP & GMD, trying to make peaceApr 1946: fighting begins again between CCP & GMDJul 1946—Jun 1947: CCP retreating, using guerrilla tacticsMar 1947: CCP loses YananApr 1948: CCP retakes YananJun 1948: CCP on the offensiveNov 1948: CCP captures ManchuriaJan 1949: GMD flees for TaiwanApr 1949: Nanjing captured by CCPOct 1949: People’s Republic of China proclaimed