The history of 19th century and 20th century China, leading up to the Chinese Revolutions, the Republic of China and then the People's Republic of China.
This podcast was inspired by Mike Duncan's Revolutions. This podcast follows him by telling the stories leading to the Chinese Revolutions.
The episodes cover the Opium Wars, Taiping Rebellion, foreign treaties and concessions bringing trade and Christianity to China, the Boxer Rebellion, China's 1911 Revolution, the Warlord Period, the KMT and the rise of the Communist Party of China. The Chinese United Fronts are discussed. Personalities like the Empress Dowager Cixi, the Qing emperors, Earl Li Hongzhang, Kang Youwei, Sun Yat-sen, Yuan Shikai, Wu Peifu, Wang Jingwei, Chiang Kai-shek, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De and Mao Zedong are featured. The experiences of Chinese working overseas, including in Australia, Canada, Malaysia, South Africa and the United States of America are also brought to life. We have looked at stories from the late Qing Dynasty. Now we are looking at the stories of the Republic of China, the Communist International (Comintern)'s interest in exporting world revolution to China and the United Fronts, including the Second Sino-Japanese War.
For more information, sources and content see: https://chineserevolution.substack.com
Or enjoy The Chinese Revolution YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCOjBYMNC_3xjQXKv6ab9YA?sub_confirmation=1
The Chinese Revolution podcast has charted as a top history podcast in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Ghana, Great Britain, Hungary, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Norway, Poland, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.
The Chinese Revolution podcast has been listened to in about 110 countries.
You can support this show through Buy me a coffee. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thechineserevolution
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The history of 19th century and 20th century China, leading up to the Chinese Revolutions, the Republic of China and then the People's Republic of China.
This podcast was inspired by Mike Duncan's Revolutions. This podcast follows him by telling the stories leading to the Chinese Revolutions.
The episodes cover the Opium Wars, Taiping Rebellion, foreign treaties and concessions bringing trade and Christianity to China, the Boxer Rebellion, China's 1911 Revolution, the Warlord Period, the KMT and the rise of the Communist Party of China. The Chinese United Fronts are discussed. Personalities like the Empress Dowager Cixi, the Qing emperors, Earl Li Hongzhang, Kang Youwei, Sun Yat-sen, Yuan Shikai, Wu Peifu, Wang Jingwei, Chiang Kai-shek, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De and Mao Zedong are featured. The experiences of Chinese working overseas, including in Australia, Canada, Malaysia, South Africa and the United States of America are also brought to life. We have looked at stories from the late Qing Dynasty. Now we are looking at the stories of the Republic of China, the Communist International (Comintern)'s interest in exporting world revolution to China and the United Fronts, including the Second Sino-Japanese War.
For more information, sources and content see: https://chineserevolution.substack.com
Or enjoy The Chinese Revolution YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCOjBYMNC_3xjQXKv6ab9YA?sub_confirmation=1
The Chinese Revolution podcast has charted as a top history podcast in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Ghana, Great Britain, Hungary, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Norway, Poland, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.
The Chinese Revolution podcast has been listened to in about 110 countries.
You can support this show through Buy me a coffee. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thechineserevolution
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Nationalists' Northern Expedition began with doubts by their Communist allies.
But it was a military success and quickly Henan and then Hebei provinces were captured. Mikhail Borodin then wanted the armies to move north along the Hankou-Beijing railway line. Instead, Chiang Kai-shek (Jiang Jieshi) preferred to follow the Yangzi River downstream and take the rich provinces controlled by the warlord Sun Chuanfang. That was slower going and the new KMT administration in Wuhan was threatening Chiang's funding and role as Commander-in-Chief.
Chiang supported a purge of Communists in his territories and the crackdown on Communism in Shanghai and other cities caused a split in the Guomindang. Two rival capitals and governments were set up. One in Wuhan was allied with the Communists and Soviets. Chiang's in Nanjing was anti-Communist.
Warlords joined in and the Manchurian General had Li Dazhao killed when the Soviet Embassy was raided. Zhou Enlai barely escaped Shanghai.
The Wuhan administration pushed the military campaign north towards Beijing while trying to stop the peasants from "excesses" in the countryside. Then Wuhan and the Soviet's ally, the Christian Warlord Feng Yuxiang, turned on the Communists and insisted that the Wuhan government purge itself of Communists. The first United Front was over and the split in the Guomindang ended. The crackdown on Communists and the social revolution intensified.
Chiang and his allies were then able to push north and capture Beijing. The Northern Expedition had been a military success. The Nationalists had achieved their long held goal of forming a national government.
Mao Zedong was a survivor of the anti-communist violence and led a small group of rebels in the countryside. They would need to relocate to a mountain hideout. Mao learned a few things during the Northern Expedition. "Political power is obtained from the barrel of the gun." He also realized that taking land from independent cultivators who neither paid rent nor received rent, was a mistake. They were the "swing voters" of the rural revolution. By 1928, he realized he needed those middle peasants as allies.
Chiang Kai-shek had won the battles of the Northern Expedition. But would he win the peace?
Image: "Chiang Kai-shek in 1927" by quinet is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
You can support this show through Buy me a coffee. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thechineserevolution
For more information, sources and content see: https://chineserevolution.substack.com
Or enjoy The Chinese Revolution YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCOjBYMNC_3xjQXKv6ab9YA?sub_confirmation=1
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.