Political instability in China
1. Chinese Empire
- The Chinese Empire had been ruled by dynasties for centuries.
- But during the 19th C they suffered a series of military defeats resulting in foreign countries exploiting it.
- This in turn undermined the dynastic rule until in 1911 the last dynasty, the Qing/Manchu was dethroned and China became a Republic.
Note
- There are two systems to transliterate Chinese characters into English: Pinyin and Wade-Giles.
- That is why in different books you can find the same concept or name written in such a different way.
- For example, Qing and Manchu are two transliterations of the same name of the dynasty.
- Both are accepted and both versions will appear in your Paper 1, so don’t worry!
2. Guomindang (GMD)/Kuomintang (KMT)
- The Guomindang (GMD)/Kuomintang (KMT) was the party that took down the Qing
- But they were unable to unite China and the territory got split into regional political units led by strong and personalistic individuals.
- This was the Warlord Era (1916-1927).
- In 1926-1927 the Northern Expedition, aimed at defeating the warlords and unifying China.
- The expedition was led by Chiang Kai-shek (Jiang Jieshi) and, by the end of 1927, he had established a new Nationalist government based in Nanjing.
Note
- The unification of China is a very complex process, and it involves the key input of the Chinese Communist Party led by Mao and oscillating relations with the USSR.
- These topics will be discussed in depth for Paper 2 topic 10: Authoritarian States.
- For Paper 1, we will focus on the role this political instability had for the Japanese-Chinese relations.
3. Manchuria
- In Manchuria the situation was different, and very volatile.
- The warlord leading Manchuria was Zhang Zoulin, and he had declared independence in 1922.
- The initial attitude of the Japanese had been one of uneasy collaboration.
- In exchange, Zhang had allowed Japan to continue developing railways, mills, mines and other businesses.
- Nevertheless, as militarism and authoritarianism grew in Japan, some senior Kwantung Army officers viewed Zhang's autonomy as detrimental to Japan.
- They thought that a weaker Manchuria would be better for Japan´s interests.
- In 1928, the Kwantung army killed Zhang Zoulin but this backfired for Japan: his son took over and allied with the GMD.
Note
The Kwantung Army was Japan's elite military force in Manchuria, and they were very influential in Japanese expansionist policy.
4. Chinese Unification
- This allowed the Northern Expedition to culminate with the unification of China under the GMD and Chiang Kai Shek´s leadership.
- Japan's concerns grew, and they sent more Kwantung army soldiers to be stationed in the Liaodong Peninsula, to protect Japan's installations and investments.
- By that time, the Warlord Era had come to an end, and with it Japanese foreign policy towards China changed dramatically.
- For the Japanese, the newly unified China appeared as a threat to their interests
- Especially because the GMD came to power with a proposal of ending all foreign concessions in China.
Tip
- While you're preparing this topic, look at a map of the Manchurian region and the reasons why Japan would be keen on controlling the area
- Look at other territories that Japan had authority on, for example Korea.
Note
Japan's aggression from 1931 onwards can be seen as a response to this changing political situation in China, alongside the economic and political needs Japan had derived from the impact of the Great Depression.
