China is a nation with a long and colorful history, dating as far back as 2000 BC. There is a long line of Dynasties that ruled over the Chinese people, each adding something unique to the culture. The last dynasty to rule China was the Qing Dynasty, which came into power in 1644 and ended with the republican rebellion in 1911.

With the rebellion in 1911, the Qing Dynasty soon fell from power, a nationalist government was formed. The revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen was inaugurated as the first provisional president of the new Chinese government, but ceded his right to presidency to the warlord leader Yuan Shikai in order to keep China united under one government.

The Yuan Shikai Period

The Shikai regime was one of strife and conflict. When he came into power, he soon outstripped the parliament and began to make constitutional changes at will. Shikai changed the Chinese government in a matter of months to a dictatorship. In August of 1912, the National People's Party was formed, ran against Shikai for parliament, and won the majority of the seats. This victory was an important one in the attempt to balance Shikai's power, but was quickly offset by the order from Shikai that the leader of the Nationalist Party was to be assassinated, along with other important members of the party. With this act, several southern provinces of China rebelled against Shikai in the summer of 1913, but were all repressed. Shikai led the government down the path of destruction even further when he dissolved the Nationalist Party, and suspended parliament. Laws were made that gave Shikai presidency for life, but even this did not satisfy him. He declared that he would reinstate the monarchy system, with himself as the leader in 1915. With this rebellions across China broke out, and a number of the provinces declared their independence. Shikai died in 1916, failing to return to the monarchy system of government, and leaving China in a state of disarray.

Fight for Control of Chinese Government

Following the death of Shikai, several warlords sought to replace him and bring to power their own rule. Sun Yat-sen started a movement toward the Nationalist government that he had wanted to instate after the revolution in 1912, but had failed due to Shikai's rule. He eventually became the president of the southern provinces of China, and spent the rest of his time trying to unite with the north. When Western democracies failed to aid his quest, he turned to the Soviet Union, which had just been through its own rebellion. The Soviet Union supported Yat-sen, but also offered its support to the newly formed Chinese Communist Party. This duality allowed the Soviets to help both sides, and still maintain good graces with whichever party came out as the ruler of China. This began the conflict between the Nationalists and Communists in China.

As the Nationalist leader, Chiang Kai-shek, tried to unify and modernize China, the rise of the Communists eventually undermined his work. The Communists, under the leadership of Mao Zedong, began to protest the Nationalist government with uprisings of the peasants. The first of the numerous insurrections was the Autumn Harvest Uprising in1927. Although this failed, Zedong was beginning the process of making a name for himself that would eventually help him become the leader of the Communist Party. With these protests by the Communist party, and the war with Japan during World War II, the Nationalist government was becoming weaker and began falling apart. With this continuous fighting, the Nationalists were eventually driven to the south of China, and fled to Taiwan. There, Kai-shek declared Taipei the temporary capital of China, vowing to one day reclaim the mainland of China for the Nationalist party.

The People's Republic of China

As the Communist forces took over the government of China, they were actually met with peace as opposed to military conflict. During the first year or so of the change of government, the Communist party realized that it needed the popular support of the people from all classes, and sought to please everyone. With these goals in mind, this reconstruction was quite impressive with widespread public support.

In October of 1949, the Soviet Union recognized the People's Republic of China and signed the Treaty of Friendship, Alliance, and Mutual Assistance the next year. This peaceful time did not last long, and in 1951, China entered into the Korean War. After entering the war, China began massive widespread changes in their domestic policies.

Domestic Reforms

After the Korean War, China adopted new ways of dealing with "enemies of the state". There were massive trials against any person who was thought to be an American spy; millions were persecuted under these new laws. Civil unrest grew under these circumstances, but any disputes were quickly put out. The most prominent and explosive example of this was in Tienanman Square 1989. Students were protesting the lack of freedom of speech, and the Chinese militia forced its way into the square, and killed thousands of people.

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