China vs Taiwan Situation For Dummies (Unbiased) [Part 1]
Very quick explanation of the China vs Taiwan situation for people with jobs
Imperial Japan (Owned Taiwan 1895-1945)
In 1895 The Japanese Empire stomped out the Chinese Qing dynasty and took over Taiwan.
Some Taiwanese locals decided to resist the transfer of Taiwan to Japanese rule.
These people declared independence, proclaiming the establishment the democratic Republic of Formosa.
Japanese troops mostly stomped out this resistance but got themselves into a long guerilla war.
Under Japanese rule Taiwan industrialized, expanded railways and roads. Taiwan became a huge producer of sugar.
Not everything was sweet though the Japanese massacred, marginalized people and more.
World War 2 was coming up and the Japanese repurposed the island for war.
Taiwan was subject to bombings.
Meanwhile, in China…
1911 a revolution broke out in China and overthrew the Qing dynasty.
1912 Republic Of China was formed.
The guy that commanded the overthrowing army declared himself emperor.
He dies, power vacuum.
Different military leaders around China start fighting each other for power. This was known as the “Warlord Era”.
1920 The Kuomintang (KMT) led by Sun Yat-sen tries to unite a divided china. He forms a base in Guangzhou, called on the Soviet Union to help him and allies with a then very tiny Chinese Communist Party (CCP) .
Sun dies, his protegee Chiang Kai-shek replaces him and starts taking names and territory from the warlords.
The CCP Begins to receive a lot of support from the Soviet Union in the form of money and spies.
The Soviet Union had ambitions for China and was funneling their influence through the CCP.
Chiang defeats the warlords in the south and central China. Secure an alliance with warlords in the north and establishes the National Government of the Republic of China (ROC).
There was a divide between the CCP and KMT on the direction the country should go.
KMT members worried that the Soviets were trying to destroy the KMT from inside using the CCP.
Chiang then turns on the Chinese Communist Party and purges communist elements from his government.
They were arrested and or executed.
1927, Chiang sends the CCP packing and they take a long march across China to the rural northwest.
During the march a new leader emerged: Mao Zedong.
The CCP builds a guerrilla base in Shaanxi Province.
Civil War
August 1927, the CCP launched an uprising in Nanchang against the Nationalist government (ROC) in Wuhan.
This led to the creation of the CCP’s Red Army.
CCP starts to take territories.
KMT tries to reoccupy lost territory and squash rebellions.
This started a back and forth that lasted 10 years (1927-1937)
Old Buddies (1937-1935)
Japan invades China and both CCP and KMT unite to fight them off this was known as the Second Sino-Japanese War
Both the United States and Soviet Union aid China.
The United States supports China through a series of increasing boycotts against Japan.
The US cut steel and petrol exports into Japan.
US mercenaries like the Flying Tigers kinetically engage in the conflict.
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor and declares war on the US.
The US increases support to China and declares war on the Japanese Empire.
Both the US and China Engage the Japanese.
The Japanese surrender September 1945 and China regained all the territories lost to Japan. During the conflict as many as 20 million Chinese civilians died.
What’s coming next will determine the fate of China.
