EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT

CHINA

History, government, and economics

 QUICK REVIEW: NATIONALISM

• Nationalism- having pride for one’s country.

• Basically, it means to love your country.
 Qing Dynasty flag

AN OVERTHROWN GOVERNMENT

• In 1911, a group of Chinese nationalists successfully overthrew a

government that has been in place since the 1600s, the Qing Dynasty.
By overthrowing the government, they also took over the entire
country of China. However, the new government did not do so well.
Many lived in poverty. In 1921, a small group made up of young men
got together and formed the first Communist Party of China. It was
led by Mao Zedong. The members promised that this communists
system would improve the lives of many. Soon after, more members
joined. Even though many liked this idea, civil war soon broke out….
 Red Army propaganda

CIVIL WAR IN CHINA

• A civil war broke out between the communism followers and the Nationalists.
The Nationalists are the people who do not support communism. When
WWII started truce was made in order to keep the Japanese from taking over.
In 1946, the fighting resumed. The fighting continued until 1949. The
Communists won. They renamed themselves the Red Army. On October first,
1949, The People’s Republic of China be came a communist country.
 TIME FOR A VIDEO!

The video we will be watching is Great Leap Forward Summary. We will talk
about it more after the video but I suggest you take notes. If you have a question,
raise your hand quietly or wait until the end.
 Collective farming

A GREAT LEAP?

• Mao Zedong quickly became popular after taking away some of the wealthier
people’s land and gave it to peasants. All was even. Mao created the project
known as The Great Leap Forward. The project took action in1958. It was
supposed to speed up China’s economic development. It resulted in disaster.
Under the government’s supervision, up to 25,000 farmers farmed together.
The farmers did not like this. They had no control over any decisions made
about the farm. It was like they never even owned the farm. There were also
many floods and droughts which destroyed the crops. The project was meant
to help China but ended up causing one of the worst famines to happen. In
four, short years, over forty-five million people died.
 Cultural Revolution propaganda

THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION

• After The Great Leap came the Cultural revolution. After all the deaths, many
lost hope for Mao and wanted a different leader. That is when things went
down hill. Mao was not happy and created the Cultural Revolution. He wanted
to stop all anti-communism protest, mindsets, etc. He created The Red Guards.
It was made of students whose job was to imprison attack, and even kill anti-
communists. This lasted for ten years. Unfortunately, many a lot of schools and
factories shut down. Many were refused government transportation or
government provided healthcare.
 MAO’S LITTLE RED BOOK

• This is a collection of fragments of publications and speeches. Chinese citizens

were required carry, read, and memorize.
 DENG XIAOPING

• The Cultural revolution ended in 1976 when Mao Zedong died. The new
leader was Deng Xiaoping. He changed some rules but kept the country a
Communist one. There were some new freedoms though. Businesses were
able to open. Farmers got their land back and got to make decisions. China was
open to foreign investments. Freedom of speech was still not permitted.
 A SAD TIME FOR TIANANMEN SQUARE

• Tiananmen Square is located in Beijing, China. For seven weeks 10,000 people
led peaceful protests asking to move towards a democracy and leave
communism behind. The fateful day came on June 4, 1989. The Government
sent tanks into the square killing thousands of innocent civilians. After this,
many countries convicted China and strongly advising to switch to a
democracy.
 LEADERS AND CITIZENS

• In china, the leader is the president. The current leader is Xi Jinping.

• Here is how the government is made. First, the citizens of China elect 2,000
people for congress. The congress will then elect 200 people to make up the
Central Committee. The Politburo is the next level. 24 members consist of
this level. A lot of important decisions are made on this level. The members of
the Politburo elect 7 people to be a part of the next level. The Politburo
Standing Committee. There, the President and Premier are elected. There is a
new election every 5 years.
 THE PEOPLE’S FREEDOM

• The people of China have received many new freedoms over the years. They
now have freedom to wear what want. If your clothes were “wrong” you could
get in serious trouble. They now can open their own businesses, travel
wherever they want, and buy their own homes.
 SPECIALIZATION AND INTERNATIONAL
TRADE

• Specialization is what you practice, or in this case, make. If a country specializes

in making cars, they have figured out how to make really good cars for cheap.
This encourages trade because other countries will want the high quality cars
without having to make them. China makes a lot of products, but the top three
they specialize in are furniture, computers, and electrical machinery.
• International trade is trading between countries. When two countries with
different currencies trade, they use the system known as the Exchange Rate.
The Exchange rate says how many euros is worth one US dollar. How many
yen is worth a Canadian dollar. To figure out how much the product should
cost, one country would look at how much goods cost in the country they are
trading with.