China Communist Revolution
The Beginning
Mao's Plans
Japan Invades
The END
Mao Leads
The Long March
In 1933, Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek assembled a large army and attacked the Communists at their base in the mountainous area of Jiangxi Province. Knowing that the Nationalists outnumbered them, the Communists fled
Between 1934 and 1935, Mao Zedong led about 100,000 communists through rough terrain in a series of marches that became known as the Long March. Tens of thousands of men lost their lives during the marches.
In 1937, the Japanese invaded China and took possession of, parts of the country. The nationalists and the communists put aside their differences to fight against Japan. On October 1, 1949, the communists declared themselves victorious and established the People's Republic of China.
The Nationalists fled and established their own government in Taiwan, an island just off the coast China. As Chairman of the Communist Party, Mao became the leader of China and established a totalitarian dictatorship.
Mao became the leader of China and established a totalitarian dictatorship. The government seized rural land and forced peasants to work on the farms Between 200 to 300 families lived and worked on each farm, which was strictly supervised by the government. In addition, the government took control of all businesses and industries.
Mao launched a plan called the Great Leap Forward to make China's economy grow even faster. The plan failed because of poor management and the harvests drastically reduced. After 20 million people starved to death Moa canceled the plan.
Five years later, Mao started a plan called the Cultural Revolution that sought to eliminate from China anything that was considered to be anti-communist. To help carry out the plan, the young men belonging to a military group called the Red Guard,attacked anyone they considered to be elite, or higher class. His main targets were teachers and intellectuals.
After Mao's death in 1976, the situation slowly began to change in China. Today the country is still communist, but reforms began in the 1980's and they have had tremendous economic growth and improved the lives of many Chinese.