Xavier Paules

The Republic of China (eBook, ePUB)

1912 to 1949
Übersetzer: Lightfoot, Lindsay

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

The declaration of the Republic of China in 1912 signalled an entirely new era. Not only did the revolution of 1911-12 bring about the fall of the Qing dynasty: it also brought an end to the entire series of dynasties that had marked Chinese history for over two millennia. Radical reforms since 1901 had culminated in the ending of the political status quo and the rejection of the very idea of empire.

Drawing on the most recent historical research, Xavier Paulès provides a comprehensive account of the crucial but chaotic period that stretched from the founding of the Republic of China in 1912 to the civil war of 1945-9, which ended with the victory of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the establishment of the People's Republic of China. Paulès challenges various common claims about this period. It is often assumed that the CCP was instrumental in bringing about key events by skilfully mobilizing the population to serve its ends. Paulès argues, by contrast, that the CCP took advantage of fortunate circumstances and that, even then, it was only in a position to challenge the supremacy of the Guomindang as late as 1944. His analysis takes a broad view by considering the importance of political actors both within and external to the revolutionary movement, enabling him to offer a balanced interpretation of the republican period which sheds new light on China's political, cultural and economic development.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: John Wiley & Sons
• Erscheinungstermin: 8. November 2023
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781509552597
• Artikelnr.: 69438283

Autorenporträt

Xavier Paulès is Associate Professor in History at EHESS, Paris.

Inhaltsangabe

Acknowledgements

List of Illustrations and Maps

Introduction

Chapter 1: The 1911 Revolution

The flashpoint in Wuhan

The last dynasty's unorthodox downfall 1912, the year of many possibilities

The years under Yuan Shikai (1913-1916)

The international context and the influence of the war in Europe

The fall of Yuan Shikai

Chapter 2: Cliques And Warlords (1916-1928)

The rivalry amongst North China's major cliques for control of the government

Who were the warlords?

The implausible identikit portrait

The driving forces behind junfa power Conflicts, alliances and viscosity

Was national unity in jeopardy?

The diplomatic context, May Fourth Movement (1919) and the rise of nationalism

Two decades of spectacular diplomatic recovery for China (1906-1926)

Disappointed expectations from the Versailles negotiations

A movement without precedent

The rise of the Guomindang (1917-1926) and the Canton decade
925: the death of Sun Yat-sen and its aftermath, the May Thirtieth Movement

The Northern Expedition

Phase 1: the defeat of Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang

Phase 2: the time of divisions

Phase 3: Zhang Zuolin's defeat

Chapter 3: The Nanking Decade (1928-1937)

1928-1932: Troublesome former allies

The period of stabilisation: 1932-1935

The Guomindang's achievement

The looming Japanese threat Warlords on the wane

The successful marginalization of the Chinese Communist Party

The successful marginalisation of the Chinese Communist Party

The run up to the Sino-Japanese war: 1935-1937

Chapter 4: The War Against Japan (1937-1945)

The war of movement: 1937-1939

Why did Chiang Kai-shek choose confrontation?
Japan's first victories

The Second United Front and Soviet aid

938, the difficult conquest of the Middle Yangtze River basin
1939, settling in for a long war

The war of position (1940-1944)

Stabilisation of the front

Population movements

China and the Allies

1940: the beginning of the Guomindang state's disintegration

The CCP, a new force

Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek, the crossed paths of destiny
Occupied China and the collaborating governments

1944-1945: return to the war of movement

From the Ichig offensive to the surrender

The war's outcome

Chapter 5: Civil War (1945-1949)

A very favourable situation for the Guomindang

The political and symbolic dividends of victory

The economic rebound in the immediate post-war period

Immediately post-war: 1945-1946

The role of the USSR and the USA

Locking of horns for the first time

The Guomindang's post-war failure

The military era: 1946-1949

Sclerosis of the Guomindang

The issue of corruption

Lack of renewal within the Guomindang

The impossible democratic transformation

The CCP's policy

A third force gone missing

The withdrawal to Taiwan, a victory for the Guomindang?

Chapter 6: Overview of the Chinese Economy

China in an international context

The financial and monetary system

The shortcomings of the financial system
Progress and crisis in the monetary system

The primary sector

The very slow evolution of the agricultural sector

Mining: the triumph of coal and emergence of oil

The secondary sector

Rezensionen

'All too often the Chinese Republic is overlooked as a wretched interlude between imperial collapse and communist victories. Yet its contribution to a Chinese modernity that a century later is still in the making was essential. Paulès' nuanced and erudite synthesis introduces us to the paradoxes of these creative and dramatic decades like no other book I know of.'
Pierre-Etienne Will, Collège de France

'The Republic was a short but transformative period for China. Xavier Paulès shows its importance as a time of political possibility, covering conflict, economics and culture with flair and precision.'
Rana Mitter, University of Oxford

'Paulès presents a fascinating account of the decades that followed the collapse of China's imperial order, highlighting the effects of political fragmentation, imperialism, industrialization, domestic and international migration, and world war. This lively book analyses current debates about the politics and personalities of the era, arguing that the decades before 1949 demonstrate the fluidity and resilience of Chinese culture.'
Kristin Stapleton, University at Buffalo