| Front | Back | | --- | --- | | Why did the death of Yuan Shikai in 1916 trigger the Warlord Era in China? |

He was the last strongman capable of maintaining central authority.
His death created a power vacuum, allowing military governors to seize regional control.

| | Why did Japan actively prefer a weak, divided China during the Warlord Era? |

A unified China would threaten Japan's economic and territorial ambitions.
A fragmented China allowed Japan to easily exploit resources and expand its regional influence.

| | In 1915, Japan issued the Twenty-One Demands to China, but the resulting outrage and the transfer of German concessions to Japan in 1919 sparked the May Fourth Movement, which birthed modern Chinese anti-imperialist nationalism. | In 1915, Japan issued the Twenty-One Demands to China, but the resulting outrage and the transfer of German concessions to Japan in 1919 sparked the May Fourth Movement, which birthed modern Chinese anti-imperialist nationalism. | | How did the May Fourth Movement (1919) alter China's internal political landscape? |

It acted as a catalyst for modern anti-imperialist nationalism.
It boosted political mobilization and support for both the KMT and the newly-formed CCP.

| | Why did Chiang Kai-shek launch the Shanghai Massacre in April 1927? |

To purge the CCP and trade unionists from the First United Front.
To consolidate his own control over the KMT and secure backing from anti-communist elites.

| | Why was the KMT's unification of China in 1928 considered "nominal" rather than absolute? | Many regional warlords merely pledged formal loyalty to the Nanjing government while retaining actual military and administrative power. | | During the Northern Expedition in 1928, Japanese and KMT troops clashed in the Jinan Incident, resulting in thousands of Chinese civilian casualties and a massive Chinese boycott of Japanese goods. | During the Northern Expedition in 1928, Japanese and KMT troops clashed in the Jinan Incident, resulting in thousands of Chinese civilian casualties and a massive Chinese boycott of Japanese goods. | | How did Chinese boycotts in the late 1920s and 1930s damage Japan's economy? | They reduced Japanese exports to China by up to 40%, severely impacting Japan's export-dependent economy. | | Why did the KMT's "rights recovery" movement alarm Japanese policymakers? | It demanded the return of foreign concessions and an end to extraterritoriality, directly threatening Japan's treaty rights in Manchuria. | |

Why did Kwantung Army officers assassinate the Manchurian warlord pictured here in June 1928?

They wanted to destabilize Manchuria to justify a direct Japanese military takeover.
They feared he was failing to stop the KMT's northward advance.

| | Why did the Kwantung Army's assassination of Zhang Zuolin in 1928 backfire? | His son, Zhang Xueliang, allied with the KMT, bringing Manchuria under Chiang Kai-shek's unified Chinese government. | | What did the Japanese government's failure to punish the assassins of Zhang Zuolin reveal about Japan's domestic politics? | It exposed the civilian government's inability to control the military, marking the growth of military independence. | | In 1927, Japan replaced Shidehara Diplomacy with the Positive Policy, which treated Manchuria as a special zone separate from the rest of China and abandoned international treaty constraints there. | In 1927, Japan replaced Shidehara Diplomacy with the Positive Policy, which treated Manchuria as a special zone separate from the rest of China and abandoned international treaty constraints there. | | Why did Chinese unification under the KMT directly threaten Japan's South Manchuria Railway (SMR)? |

The KMT began building a competing railway network to bypass and undermine the SMR.
A unified China could seize SMR assets and revoke Japan's treaty privileges.

| | On 18 September 1931, the Kwantung Army staged the Manchurian Incident by bombing the South Manchuria Railway near Mukden, using it as a pretext to conquer the region and establish the puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932. | On 18 September 1931, the Kwantung Army staged the Manchurian Incident by bombing the South Manchuria Railway near Mukden, using it as a pretext to conquer the region and establish the puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932. | | How did the survival of the CCP after the Long March (1934-1935) facilitate Japanese expansion? |

It caused ongoing internal instability that weakened China's ability to resist Japan.
It gave Japan a pretext to intervene militarily under the guise of acting as a barrier against communism.

| | How does historian Parks Coble explain the escalation of Japanese aggression in China? | He argues that rising Chinese nationalism directly provoked Japanese anxiety and pre-emptive aggression. | | Contrast Akira Iriye's and Louise Young's historical explanations for the conflict over Manchuria. |

Iriye: Focuses on mutual misperception and lack of understanding between both sides.
Young: Emphasizes a broad domestic consensus in Japan driving empire-building, rather than just rogue military radicals.

| |

How did the collapse of the dynasty shown here in 1911 pave the way for foreign exploitation?

| It ended central imperial authority, plunging China into the political fragmentation of the Warlord Era, which foreign powers exploited to extract concessions. | | The First United Front (1923-1927) was an alliance between the KMT and the CCP designed to end warlordism and unify China, utilizing Soviet military and political assistance. | The First United Front (1923-1927) was an alliance between the KMT and the CCP designed to end warlordism and unify China, utilizing Soviet military and political assistance. | |

| MANCHURIA | |

| (NORTHEAST) | |

| RUSSIAN EMPIRE | |

| OUTER | |

| KOREA | |

| MONGOLIA |

Paper 1 - The Move to Global War6 subtopics

Paper 1 - Rights and Protest6 subtopics

Paper 1 - Conflict and Intervention6 subtopics

Paper 2 - Independence Movements5 subtopics

Paper 2 - Emergence and Development of Democratic States5 subtopics

Paper 2 - Authoritarian States7 subtopics

Paper 2 - Causes and Effects of 20th Century Wars4 subtopics

Paper 2 - The Cold War: Superpower Tensions and Rivalries4 subtopics

Paper 3 - History of Europe18 subtopics

Paper 3 - History of the Americas18 subtopics

Paper 3 - History of Asia and Oceania18 subtopics

IB History Political Instability in China Flashcards

Flashcards for Political instability in China

Flashcards for Political instability in China - IB