Read the 109-year history of modern China in one go. By general standards, China's modern history lasted 109 years, from 1840 to 1949. In 1840, Britain provoked the Opium War under the pretext of Lin Zexu Humen's cigarette sales, and China's modern history began. In this war, the Qing ** showed the characteristics of arrogance in the early stage and compromise and peace in the later stage.
At the beginning of the war, the Qing ** regarded the British army as "barbarians" and considered them to be no threat. But in fact, the Qing Dynasty sailors lacked the ability to counterattack the British army, and could only let the British fleet run rampant in China's territorial waters. In July 1840, the British army captured Dinghai, Zhejiang, and in August, the British ** team reached the mouth of Dagu, Tianjin, and Emperor Daoguang wavered and agreed to trade and punish Lin Zexu, but the British army did not give up.
In 1842, the British captured the Wusong Fort, the fleet sailed into the Yangtze River, threatening Nanjing, and the Daoguang Emperor was forced to sue for peace, and in August 1842, the Treaty of Nanjing, which was also the first unequal treaty in modern Chinese history. Qing ** ceded Hong Kong Island to Britain, paid 21 million silver dollars in compensation, and agreed to Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo, and Shanghai "five ports of trade". At this point, Britain opened the door to China by force. In 1850, Emperor Daoguang died, and his son Aixin Jueluo Yisu ascended the throne as Emperor Xianfeng.
After the Opium War, the United States, France, Belgium and other countries also followed, forcing the Qing to sign a series of unequal treaties. China's small-scale peasant economy gradually disintegrated, a large number of peasants and craftsmen went bankrupt, and class contradictions rapidly intensified. In January 1851, Hong Xiuquan, Yang Xiuqing and others rebelled in Jintian Village, Guangxi, and the Taiping Rebellion began.
As a modern peasant uprising, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement has the characteristics of "combining Chinese and Western", and its founder, Hong Xiuquan, was influenced by the ** religion and founded the "God Worship Society". The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom put forward the slogan "Have land and plough, and have food and food", and the Taiping army quickly swept southeast, capturing Nanjing in 1853 and changing its name to "Tianjing". After that, the Western Expedition and the Northern Expedition were launched, and the Northern Expeditionary Army once reached the vicinity of Tianjin, but it was alone and was defeated by the Qing army.
In 1856, the British and French invaders used the "Yarrow Incident" as an excuse to provoke the Second Opium War, but the Qing ** focused on the suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In 1857, the British and French forces captured Guangzhou, and in 1860, Tianjin and Beijing were captured, and the Qing were forced to sue for peace and sign the Treaty of Beijing.
When Britain and France launched aggression, Tsarist Russia also launched aggression against China's foreign northeast and outer northwest regions. In 1858, the Qing Dynasty was forced to sign the Treaty of Aihui, and in 1860, they seized a large area of land in the Treaty of Peking. In 1864, Tsarist Russia and the Qing Dynasty signed the "Sino-Russian Northwest Boundary Treaty" and seized part of China's Xinjiang. So far, China has lost more than 1 million square kilometers of national territory, including the outer northeast and outer northwest.
In 1856, there was a fierce infighting in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, namely the "Tianjing Incident", Yang Xiuqing and Wei Changhui were killed one after another, and Shi Dakai fled, which greatly weakened the strength of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In 1861, the Qing army captured Anqing, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom came to an end. When Hong Xiuquan died in 1864, the Qing army captured Tianjing, killing his young lord Hong Tianguifu soon after. So far, the Taiping Rebellion failed, but it also dealt a heavy blow to the corrupt rule of the Qing Dynasty.
In 1861, Emperor Xianfeng, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty to hold real power, died before news could be heard of the Taiping Rebellion. After the death of Emperor Xianfeng, his son Zaichun ascended the throne and was the Tongzhi Emperor. The Empress Dowager Cixi, the mother of the Tongzhi Emperor, immediately joined forces with Prince Gong Yixin to launch the "Xinyou Coup", defeating the eight auxiliary ministers and controlling the real power, and the Qing Dynasty entered the Cixi era.
The rulers of the Qing Dynasty felt backward after two opium wars, and launched the Westernization Movement in 1861, putting forward the slogans of "self-improvement", "seeking wealth" and "using Chinese style and Western use". The Westernization Movement allowed China to have a large number of modern enterprises and many technical talents, but it failed to fundamentally change the status quo of China's backwardness.
In 1865, the Kokand Khan ** lord Aguba took advantage of the chaos to invade Xinjiang and captured a large area in the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, and the Russian army also sent troops to occupy Ili. In 1876, Zuo Zongtang regained Xinjiang and eliminated the Agubo regime in one year. In 1881, China and Russia signed the Treaty of Ili, and China recovered Ili.
In 1875, Emperor Tongzhi died, and his cousin Zai Yan ascended the throne as Emperor Guangxu, but the real power was still in the hands of the Empress Dowager Cixi. In 1883, France sent troops to Vietnam and launched an attack on the Qing army, and the Sino-French War broke out. In 1885, the Qing Dynasty signed the Sino-French New Treaty with France, forcing it to relinquish its suzerainty over Vietnam.
In 1894, after the Meiji Restoration, Japan also turned its greedy eyes to China, and in July, the Japanese army attacked the Qing army troop carriers, and the Sino-Japanese War broke out, which also marked a new stage in modern history.
In 1894, Japan provoked the First Sino-Japanese War, and China's modern history entered a new stage. In September, the Beiyang Fleet fought a naval battle in the Yellow Sea with the Japanese army, and finally retreated in defeat. After that, Li Hongzhang implemented the policy of "avoiding war and protecting ships", and the Japanese army seized sea supremacy. On land, the Qing army was also defeated. The Japanese army first seized Korea, and then invaded Liaodong and Shandong. In February 1895, the Japanese army captured Weihaiwei and the Beiyang Fleet was completely annihilated.
In April 1895, the Qing Dynasty signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki with Japan, paying 200 million taels of compensation and ceding Taiwan, Penghu Islands and other places, and at the same time, China also lost its last vassal state, Korea.
After the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, the Western powers came one after another, setting off a frenzy of carving up China, and at the same time, a movement to save the country and save its existence was also set off in China. Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and other scholars set off a "letter on the bus", opposed the peace treaty, proposed to abolish the treaty and fight again, and changed the law to become stronger.
Although this movement failed, the call for reform grew louder and louder. In 1898, Emperor Guangxu, with the support of Kang and Liang, announced the reform of the law and implemented a series of reform measures, which was the "Wuxu Reform Law". But soon after, the Empress Dowager Cixi launched a coup d'état, the reform failed, Kang and Liang fled to Japan, and Tan Si and the "Six Gentlemen of Wuxu" were killed.
After the failure of the Wuxu Reform, China slipped further into the abyss. At this time, Shandong, Zhili, Shanxi and other places broke out a huge Boxer Rebellion, the Qing ** first suppressed this, and then used it, the Boxers also put forward the slogan of "helping the Qing to destroy the foreign".
In 1900, Britain, France, the United States, Germany, Italy, Japan, Austria, and Russia formed an alliance to invade China, which was the Eight-Nation Alliance's war of aggression against China. In order to curry favor with the foreign powers, the Empress Dowager Cixi announced the suppression of the Boxers after fleeing from Beijing, but the Eight-Nation Alliance did not stop the invasion. During this period, the local governments of the southeastern provinces refused to join the war of the Qing Dynasty and negotiated peace with the Western powers on their own, which was the "mutual protection of the southeast".
In 1901, the Qing Dynasty was finally defeated and signed the Treaty of Xincho, an unequal treaty with the largest amount of reparations. The treaty provided for the payment of reparations to the Great Powers.4500 million taels**, with a total of 9800 million taels, and at the same time give a series of privileges to the great powers. This treaty showed that the Qing Dynasty had completely become an instrument of imperialist domination over China, and China had completely degenerated into a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society.
After the signing of the treaty, in order to save its own rule, the Qing Dynasty also carried out some reforms, such as abolishing the imperial examination, establishing a new school and promulgating the "Outline of the King James Constitution", collectively known as the "New Deal at the end of the Qing Dynasty", but these did not touch the fundamental reform and could not save the fate of the Qing Dynasty. In 1908, Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi died successively, and the Qing Dynasty also quickly came to an end.
After the death of Emperor Guangxu, Pu Yi ascended the throne, known as Emperor Xuantong, and the actual power was held by his father, the regent Zaifeng, who was unable to cope with China's growing crisis. In 1911, in order to cope with the financial crisis, the Qing Dynasty had to take back the railway as collateral and borrow money from the foreign powers. This move aroused strong dissatisfaction among the people, and Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan and other places have set off a "road protection movement".
The Baolu Movement became the precursor to the Xinhai Revolution, and when the Wuchang Uprising broke out on October 10, the provinces responded quickly, and within two months the Qing Dynasty lost control of half of China. Zaifeng had to ask Yuan Shikai, the leader of the Beiyang Army, to go out of the mountain, but Yuan Shikai only wanted to benefit himself.
On January 1, 1912, **temporary** was established, and the Qing had to negotiate with the revolutionary party, that is, the "North-South peace talks". In the end, the two sides reached an agreement: Pu Yi abdicated, ** gave preferential treatment to the Qing Dynasty royal family, and Yuan Shikai became **big**. In February 1912, the Qing Emperor abdicated, the Qing Dynasty collapsed, and the feudal imperial system of more than 2,000 years came to an end.
After the abdication of the Qing Emperor, Yuan Shikai took advantage of the situation to become a big **, and vigorously suppressed the revolutionary party, and started the dream of becoming the emperor. In 1913, the revolutionary party rebelled under the leadership of Sun Yat-sen, known as the "Second Revolution", but ultimately failed, and Sun Yat-sen went into exile in Japan.
After that, Yuan Shikai accelerated the pace of becoming emperor and restored the imperial system in 1915. Cai Yi, Liang Qichao, Li Liejun and others immediately launched the National Defense Movement and defeated the Beiyang Army one after another. In 1916, Yuan Shikai was forced to abolish the imperial system and died shortly after, and China entered the era of warlordism.
In 1917, the "government dispute" broke out between Li Yuanhong and Premier Duan Qirui, and the warlord Zhang Xun took the opportunity to invade Beijing in the name of "mediation" and once again announced the restoration of the imperial system. However, Duan Qirui soon led the "rebel army" to launch an attack on Beijing, defeating Zhang Xun, Zhang Xun fled, Pu Yi abdicated again, and the farce of the restoration ended in ten days.
In 1919, due to the decision of the Paris Peace Conference to transfer Germany's rights and interests in Shandong to Japan, Chinese students, workers, and businessmen rose up, and the May Fourth Movement broke out, and people put forward the slogan of "fighting for national rights abroad, punishing ** internally". The May Fourth Movement marked a turning point in China's transition from the old democratic revolution to the new democratic revolution, and also marked the beginning of a new stage in modern history.
In 1919, the May Fourth Movement broke out because of the unfair treatment that China received at the Paris Peace Conference. After the May Fourth Movement, Marxism spread widely in China. In 1920, communist cells were formed in various places. In July 1921, the Communist Party of China was founded, which was a groundbreaking event in Chinese history. In 1923, the contact between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party became more and more frequent, and Sun Yat-sen put forward the policy of cooperation with the CCP, and the first cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party was formed in 1924.
In 1924, Feng Yuxiang staged a coup d'état, overthrew Cao Kun and seized power, and drove Pu Yi out of the Forbidden City. Feng Yuxiang immediately invited Sun Yat-sen to go north to discuss the state of the country, and Sun Yat-sen gladly went, but soon after arriving in Beijing, he fell seriously ill and died soon after, leaving behind a call that "the revolution has not yet succeeded, and comrades still have to work hard".
In 1926, in order to eliminate the warlords and re-complete reunification, the National Revolutionary Army launched the Northern Expedition. The Northern Expeditionary Army was like a bamboo, conquering Nanjing, Shanghai, Wuhan and other places in more than half a year, and hit along the Yangtze River. But just when the Northern Expedition was victorious, Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Ching-wei successively launched a coup d'état, betrayed the revolution, wantonly left-wingers, and the National Revolution failed.
On August 1, 1927, the Nanchang Uprising broke out, firing the first shot of armed resistance against the Kuomintang reactionaries and announcing the establishment of the Red Army. ** Immediately launched the Autumn Harvest Uprising, established the Jinggangshan Revolutionary Base Area, and put forward the policy of "the countryside encircling the city". After that, the Red Army repeatedly defeated the "encirclement and suppression" of the Kuomintang army.
In April 1928, the Kuomintang launched the "Second Northern Expedition" and continued to attack northward, eventually entering Beiping and Tianjin. Zhang Zuolin, the leader of the Feng warlords, was killed by the Japanese in the "Huanggutun Incident" shortly after, and his son Zhang Xueliang announced that the "Northeast Change of Banner" would submit to the rule of the Kuomintang, and China would be formally reunified.
In 1930, Feng Yuxiang, Li Zongren, Yan Xishan and others jointly launched the Anti-Chiang War, and the Central Plains War broke out. Eventually, Chiang Kai-shek, with the assistance of Zhang Xueliang, defeated various warlords and consolidated his rule. However, Japan also saw an opportunity in the warlord melee and launched the "918 Incident" in 1931 to invade and occupy the three eastern provinces. In 1932, he provoked the "128 Incident", invaded Shanghai, and seized a series of privileges.
After Chiang Kai-shek seized power, he encouraged industry, and from 1927 to 1937, China's national industry ushered in a "first decade", and the level of industrialization was improved to a certain extent, but this could not cover up Chiang Kai-shek's mistake of "settling the outside world before securing the interior" policy. On the one hand, Chiang Kai-shek compromised and sued Japan for peace, and on the other hand, he wantonly attacked the Red Army, launching five "encirclement and suppression" in succession.
In the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" in 1934, the Red Army failed due to the erroneous command of Li De and Bogu, and had to make a strategic shift, and the Long March began. The Zunyi Conference in January 1935 established the correct leadership with *** as the core, and then the Red Army created a series of miracles under the leadership of ***. After fighting a series of legendary battles, such as the four crossings of Chishui, the skillful crossing of the Jinsha River, and the forced crossing of the Dadu River, the Red Army finally arrived in northern Shaanxi. In 1936, the Red Army of all walks of life triumphantly joined forces in Huining, Gansu.
In December 1936, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng launched the "Xi'an Incident" and detained Chiang Kai-shek. The Xi'an Incident was resolved peacefully under the mediation of the Chinese Communists, and Chiang Kai-shek had to agree to stop the civil war and unite with the outside world. In 1937, after the Japanese army launched the "77 Incident" and invaded China in an all-out way, the second KMT-CCP cooperation was formally formed.
In the all-out war of resistance, the Kuomintang successively organized a series of large-scale battles such as the Battle of Songhu, the Battle of Taiyuan, the Battle of Xuzhou, the Battle of Wuhan, the Battle of Changsha, the Battle of Zaoyi and the Battle of Changde, which caused heavy casualties to the Japanese army. The CCP also established a series of base areas behind enemy lines, and launched campaigns such as the Battle of the Hundred Regiments, which greatly restrained the Japanese army. However, at this time, the Kuomintang still provoked a series of conflicts such as the Southern Anhui Incident, which undermined the united front.
In August 1945, after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Chiang Kai-shek invited *** to Chongqing for negotiations, and ** resolutely went, and the Kuomintang and the Communist Party signed the "Double Tenth Agreement". However, Chiang Kai-shek had no intention of keeping the agreement, and soon prepared for civil war. In June 1946, the Kuomintang army attacked the liberated areas of the Central Plains, and the Liberation War broke out.
At the beginning of the war, the Kuomintang army implemented the so-called "all-out offensive" strategy, and the PLA foiled Chiang Kai-shek's attempt by retreating. In 1947, the Kuomintang army turned to a "key offensive" and stormed the liberated areas of Shandong and northern Shaanxi. The People's Liberation Army fought the Battle of Menglianggu in Shandong, and then moved to northern Shaanxi, and the plan of the Kuomintang army failed.
In June 1947, Liu Deng's army advanced into Dabie Mountain, opening the prelude to the strategic offensive of the PLA. In 1948, the People's Liberation Army launched the three major battles of Liaoshen, Huaihai and Pingjin, completely eliminating the main force of the Kuomintang army. In April 1949, the People's Liberation Army launched a campaign to cross the river and conquer Nanjing. On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was founded. China's modern history has come to an end, and so has China's century-old humiliation.