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The People's Republic of China

It is said that China is a country that smells like tradition, customs and effort .One of the oldest civilizations in the world, a country ruled for hundreds of years by hereditary absolutist monarchies called Dynasties .China seemed to have anchored in time, its forbidden city, sanctuary of the monarchies and spaces where the nobility lived very differently from their population.But as we will see below, different events led to a popular revolution, creating a new concept of country called People's Republic of China .Because the Dynasties disappeared after so long, because its name was changed from Republic of China to Republic Popular of China.

The People's Republic of China

The People's Republic of China | The End of the Dynasties

The first dynasty that ruled in the country was the Xia dynasty , a dynasty that practically has not been recorded except for the literary records that place his government around 2,205 BC From this first dynasty to the last, which governed from 1644 to 1912, the Qing dynasty , thousands of years of tradition, culture and science that began to falter towards the end of the 19th century.

The People's Republic of China

Forbidden City

The 19th century was a very convulsive century for the Chinese population, the constant incursions of the Northern peoples, especially from the Huns, caused a migratory movement difficult to absorb. Years of poor harvests and a population as large as China caused one of the greatest catastrophes such as the Hungry one suffered in the northern part of the country, a famine that caused approximately thirteen million deaths.

At the end of the 19th century , the idea of ​​establishing a constitutional monarchy I take Emperor Guangxu to undertake a series of reforms, but they were quickly aborted after being overthrown in a coup devised by the Empress Cixi.

The People's Republic of China

Cixi poses with all the imperial splendor

Maybe the idea of ​​Empress Cixi it was not to modify the monarchical system, but if it was in charge of modernizing the country, it is due to the arrival of the railroad or the telegraph, while modifying certain practices that were considered traditional as it was the legging of Chinese women's feet.

The People's Republic of China | The Rebellion of the Boxes

But the so-called Rebellion of the Boxers , managed to weaken the government of Cixi and therefore of the Qing dynasty.

called Rebelion de los Boxer began in late 1899 and ended in September 1901, it was a movement against foreign influence in different sectors such as commerce, religion or politics.movement in favor of old traditions and against progress.

The rebellion ended with the Xinchou Treaty or Boxer Protocol. A treaty for which China promised to execute the officers involved in the rebellion as well as indemnify the winning countries with more than three hundred million dollars as war damages, a payment that should be paid in a period of 40 years.

The People's Republic of China

Boxer's Rebellion

The winning countries en and signatories of the Boxer Protocol were:

  • Germany
  • Austria
  • Hungary
  • Belgium
  • France
  • United States
  • Spain
  • United Kingdom
  • Italy
  • Japon
  • Netherlands
  • Russia

Commercial advantages and permission to establish troops between the capital Beijing and the Yellow Sea, were an essential part of the signing of the treaty

The People's Republic of China

Boxer-Repression Rebellion

The Qing dynasty weakened by events at that had to face during the nineteenth century as the different Opium Wars against the British Empire that led them to have to sign very unequal treaties with great economic compensation and even the loss of territories in favor of Great Brittany as was the loss of the Port of Hong Kong.

The People's Republic of China

In a few weeks , the Japanese controlled the east-west corridor from Beijing to Tianjin, in the Gulf of Chihli.

Wars like the Sino-Japanese between 1894-1895, whereby lost the island of Taiwan in the hands of Japan, as well as the influence that China had on Korea.All these wars and rebellions such as Miao, Nien, Panthay, weakened the government creating a state of discomfort among the Chinese population.

The People's Republic of China

Xinhai Chinese Revolution

Laultima revolution of Xinhai in 1911, ended with millennia of tradition and dynastic culture, giving rise to the Republic of China.

People's Republic of China | The Republic of China

After the Xinhai Revolution, on the first day of January 1912, the Republic of China was proclaimed.The first president Sun Yat-Sen, leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party, although this would hold his office ephemerally. In 1915, a former general belonging to the Qing dynasty called Yuan Shikai was self-proclaimed Emperor of China.

The People's Republic of China

Sun Yat-Sen

This proclamation did not please the Chinese people and the new army.Without the support of the army and with the discontent of the Chinese people, Yuan Shikai, he was forced to abdicate and re-establish the Republic of China.

The People's Republic of China

Kuomintang

China's political situation was very weakened, despite having been recognized by the international community, power remained concentrated in the great regional lords.The situation changed in the late 1920s, when the Chinese Nationalist Party or Kuomintang, I can reunify under the mandate of Chiang Kai Shek , the country.

The People's Republic of China | The People's Republic of China

Transfer the capital of Beijing to Nankin and dedicate its policy to the development and modernization of China, with the only idea of ​​getting a democratic and modern China.the outbreak of the Chinese Civil War in 1949 , the communist party of Mao Zedong , was declared the winner.

The People's Republic of China

Chinese Civil War in 1949-Mao Zedong

Everything the Chinese nationalist party had fought against communism and in favor of a democracy , it had collapsed. In 1949 in Beijing the People's Republic of China was proclaimed. The political opponents who found refuge on the Island of Taiwan, creating in it its own Republic of China since the revolution never got control of it.

The People's Republic of China

Island of Taiwan

From 1949 until today, the Republic of China has continued to claim its right legitimate by the government of China, being recognized by much of the international community. Nowadays Taiwan is still the Republic of China, while for the rest of the country the name is that of People's Republic of China, making clear the difference in regimes.

The People's Republic of China

For the next entries, we will continue to develop the fascinating history of China, its situation today, the economic colossus in which it has become or how it lives and develops its society and its technology.

History Today Online has taken into account the theme developed in This article and we have looked for other related topics that may also interest you such as:

The People's Republic of China | Image GalleryThe People's Republic of China

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