 At the beginning of the 20th century, China was divided into sphere

of influence with each powerful Western nation trying to exert as

much control over it as possible. The Chinese resented foreigners
control and expressed this at the beginning of the 20th century with
the Boxer Rebellion. At the same time, the traditional government of
China began to fail in the early years. The Chinese people, being
resentful of foreigners and dissatisfied with inability of the present
government to throw them out, initiated the Revolution of 1911,
replacing the Chinese 2000 year old imperial system with the
Republic of China headed by Sun Yat-sen.
 1912: The Republic of China - Fueled by western-educated
revolutionary Sun Yat-Sen, the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 culminated
in the Wuchang Uprising, and 15 provinces declared their
independence from the Qing Dynasty. Sun took control in 1912,
announcing the republic.

 1921: The Communist Party of China - With its roots in the May
Fourth Movement protesting the Chinese government response to
the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, the CPC officially formed.

 1927: Shanghai Massacre - Millions of executions take place when

Nationalist Party leader Chiang Kai-shek orders the massacre of
Communists, which inadvertently causes the creation of the
opposing Communist Red Army.

 1928: Reunification - Elevated to head of the government, Chiang

succeeded in reunifying China by seizing areas under the control of
warlords.

 1931: Civil War - Fighting between the Red Army and the Nationalist
Party escalates into an 18-year-long conflict.
 1937-1945: The Second Sino-Japanese War - Tensions started with
the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria but exploded in 1937. After
the Japanese captured Shanghai and Nanjing, a stalemate ensued
until World War II and American support reframed the conflict into a
theater in the larger war.

 1945: Taiwan returns to China - Following Japanese surrender in

World War II, Taiwan returned to Chinese control. Tensions mounted
between Chinese soldiers and Taiwanese citizens, erupting in
violence in 1947, and ending with Chiang sending further troops.

 1949: People’s Republic of China - After a violent end stage to the

civil war, the Communist Party declared the People’s Republic of
China. Two months later, two million soldiers followed Chiang Kai-
shek into exile to Taiwan where he set up a provisional government
claiming to be the legitimate ruling body of China. Communist party
chairman Mao Zedong became China’s new leader.

 1958-1962: to transform the agricultural base - China’s society into

an industrial one imposed a commune system that organized
peasants and forbade private farming. The plan failed to produce the
necessary yield, and famine followed, leading to 56 million deaths,
including 3 million by suicide.

 1966: The Cultural Revolution - This campaign was initiated by

Chairman Mao to erase Capitalist and traditional Chinese influences
of the People’s Republic and introduce the philosophy of Maoism to
fill the ideological gaps. Schools were closed and Chinese youth
directed to take the lead in change, resulting in youth gangs known
as the Red Guards attacking undesirable citizens. Chaos led to martial
law, Communist Party purges, and 1.5 million deaths.
 *Ping-Pong Diplomacy in China(1971)
HISTORY.COMM EDITORSTV-PG1:20
 In April 1971, China unexpectedly invited the American ping-pong
team to compete in Beijing. The invitation to the Americans, the first
 since the communist takeover in 1949, signaled the possibility of
improved U.S.-China relations. NBC News reports on the outcome of
the match and the upcoming travels in China awaiting the American
athletes.

 1972: Richard Nixon visits China - The first American president to visit
China while serving in office and the first diplomatic meeting
between the countries since 1949, Nixon met with Mao and Chinese
Premier Zhou Enlai, discussing multiple topics, including trade and a
U.S. troop withdrawal from Taiwan.

 April 5, 1975: Chiang Kai-shek dies - After 26 years steering Taiwan to

legitimacy and attempting to take back mainland China, Chiang
succumbs to a heart attack.

 September 9, 1976: Mao dies - Mao’s death after several heart

attacks effectively ends the Cultural Revolution and brought Deng
Xiaoping to power for the next two decades, pushing out Mao’s inner
circle known as the Gang of Four. By the end of his reign, Mao would
oversee the slaughter of some 40 million people.

 A Beijing demonstrator blocks the path of a tank convoy along the

Avenue of Eternal Peace near Tiananmen Square. For weeks, people
have been protesting for freedom of speech and of press from the
Chinese government.

Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

 1989: Tiananmen Square protests - These student-led protests grew
from the '89 Democracy Movement demanding freedom of speech,
freedom of the press and more. They gained worldwide attention
when the government violently cracked down on the protesters and
images of tanks rolling into students inspired universal
condemnation. At least 300 died in the protests.
 1993: Three Gorges Project - The construction of the world’s largest
hydroelectric dam began. Proposed as early as 1920, the project
required flooding 1,500 cities and villages, displacing as many as 1.9
million people and destroying 1,200 archaeological and historical
sites. The dam begins operation in 2015.

 July 1, 1997: Hong Kong returns to China - In a midnight ceremony

with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in attendance, Hong Kong was
given back to China after 156 years. China agreed to preserve the
island’s capitalist economy as part of the handover agreement.

 2010: Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement - China and

Taiwan begin officially speaking to each other for the first time, but
following the 2016 election of Tsai Ing-wen as Taiwanese president,
China rescinds these new ties.

 SOURCES:

 Cambridge Illustrated History of China. Patricia Buckley Ebrey.

 The Dynasties of China. Bamber Gascoigne.
 China Condensed: 5000 Years of History and Culture. Ong Siew Chey.
 What's behind the China-Taiwan divide? BBC.
 The Story of China. PBS.