China Paper 2

2. Assess the social and economic causes of the Chinese Civil War.

While there was certainly a number of important economic causes that must be considered when studying the Chinese Civil War, the conflict seems to have been primarily caused by the social reactions of the Chinese people to the events occurring in the world around them. Economic conditions within China led to unrest among the people, while social changes throughout the entire world caused the people to reconsider their traditional values and ideals.

One long-term economic cause of the Chinese Civil War was the influence on China by foreign nations. In the beginning of the twentieth century, many Western countries, such as Britain, France, and the United States, had gained a large amount of economic control over various areas in China. These areas became known as "spheres of influence," because of the influence that these nations had over the economy in the areas they controlled. The Manchu dynasty, which ruled China at the time, allowed this to happen, accepting foreign influence on the country. This resulted in the spreading of Western culture, often in terms of business and religion. Many people, feeling a strong sense of nationalism, were unhappy with how the Manchu dynasty let this international economic situation dominate China.

Multiple movements against the government took place because of this, including the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 and the Revolution of 1911, which finally deposed the Manchus from power. The reason for this being a cause of the Chinese Civil War is the lack of unity after the downfall of the Manchus; numerous factions thought that they could do a better job of governing China than the Manchus did, but there was little agreement between these groups regarding which one should take control. The two most important groups were the Communists and the Nationalists, or Guomindang, which were the combatants during the civil war that followed.

One major social cause of the Chinese Civil War was the Russian Revolution in 1917. This conflict was very similar in many ways to the one that took place in China. The people of Russia were unhappy with their Tsarist government and the influence of capitalist values on their country, and so a large number of them adopted the new social ideology of Marxism. These people started a revolution against the government, overthrowing the Tsar and establishing a communist government under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin. The idea of Communism spread to China after the Manchu dynasty was overthrown and the country was ruled largely by warlords and by Sun Yatsen's Guomindang. In 1922, the Chinese Communist Party was founded, with the hopes of changing the social structure of China in the same way that it was changed in Russia.

Another economic cause of the war was the May 4th Movement, which occurred in 1919. During the First World War, China lost the port of Kiaochow to Germany, and then to Japan. Kiaochow was an important area to China's trade. After the war, when land was being redistributed in the Treaty of Versailles, China had expected Kiaochow to be returned by Japan. However, the port was left in Japan's ownership, causing China to protest. The protests known as the May 4th Movement included boycotts against Japan, which increased tension between the two countries leading up to World War II, in which Japan invaded China again, this time attacking Manchuria. This may seem to be a relatively indirect cause, but it served to divide China further on the issue of interacting with Japan and with other foreign nations.

• New Tide- social movement with a focus on modern ideas such as freedom and equal rights, as well as on the elimination of old fashioned ideas.
  
• Counterclaim that the May 4th Movement and the influence of foreign nations could be seen as social causes, while the Russian Revolution was an economic cause in some ways

Sorry, I wrote what I could of my first essay in about 1 hour and 10 minutes, but I ran out of time preparing for Model UN. I will finish the Paper 2 as soon as possible.