Modern China

Chinese modern history begins with the 1840 Opium War, which was fought between China and Britain. Before the war, the Qing government had already fought a series battles with Western nations, but it was the Qing defeat during the Opium War that led to the debilitating "Unequal Treaties." Under these treaties, Western nations were able to strip China of its resources, take advantage of its people. In the late 19th century, when capitalism and imperialism fed off each other, Western incursion into China increased. The old Chinese tactic of playing one threat off another was no longer viable, the treaties stipulated a "most favored nation" clause, in effect, whatever concession given to one nation, would be given to all.

As they did in Africa, the imperial powers carved themselves spheres of influence and concession areas where they held extraterritorial powers. In effect, China lost its own sovereignty, for example, Western powers had control of China's customs revenues and could set their own tariffs and taxes for imports.

During this era, China lost control of Macau and Hong Kong, and the Old Summer Palace was burned by Anglo-French force in 1860.

Whilst foreign countries were encroaching into China, endemic government corruption made any efforts to oppose Western encroachment nearly impossible. After the Opium War, the more far-sighted scholars of the ruling class realized that China could strengthen itself by adapting Western science and technology as Japan had done.

Consequently, the scholars actively sought to reform the military and the antiquated Confucian education system despite strong opposition from conservative Qing officials. With China's defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1895, greater impetus was given to the reformist. In 1898 reformers led by Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and the near powerless Emperor Guangxu, proposed dramatic reforms to the Qing government by adopting Western-styled political institutions that would have turned the Qing into a constitutional monarchy. Since ultimate power was held by the Empress Dowager Cixi, who was loath to relinquish any of it, the reform movement ended in failure after 100 days.

Popular uprisings, some of which had egalitarian overtones undermined Qing authority throughout China. Under the leadership of Hong Xiuquan, a failed scholar, the Taiping Rebellion began in 1851. This movement organized and mobilized peasants under a pseudo-Christian banner. 1899 saw the Boxer Uprising ignited. The Boxers were originally an underground organization based heavily on superstitious beliefs. It quickly developed into an anti-foreign movement with the aim of expelling Westerners from China.

Some reformers felt that drastic change was necessary to revitalize China. Mere reform of the imperial dynasty was no longer possible, that China required the overthrow of the Qing if it were to survive. In 1911, led by the tireless revolutionary Sun Yat-sen, the Qing dynasty was overthrown. The next year, in 1912, the Republic of China was founded with its capital in Nanjing. The government was based on Sun's "Three Principles of the People."

Three months after the founding of the Republic of China, China fell into the hands of northern warlords led by Yuan Shikai, a former Qing general. Yuan had grandiose plans to crown himself emperor of his own imperial dynasty, but facing universal condemnation, his effort to don the yellow robes of the emperor failed.

Meanwhile, a social revolution was occurring alongside the political revolution. A "New Culture Movement" was launched in1915. Advocates hoped that democracy and scientific progress could transform China's old culture – they believed that advanced technology from the West and the philosophies of the West's Enlightenment could save China from backwardness. During this period, writing in the Chinese vernacular became fully developed – the stiff formal writing of classical Chinese was dropped. Supporters of this new literature included Lu Xun, one of China's most influential writers and social commentators whose works include The True Story of Ah Q. 

In 1919, the May Fourth Movement, spawned by university students protesting China's weakness at the hands of exploitative warlords and Western imperialism, became one of modern China's most pivotal moments. It was one of the earliest manifestations of Chinese nationalism. As people searched for the answers to China's woes, some turned to Marxism and in 1921, the Chinese Communist Party was established in Shanghai. In 1924, the Nationalists and Communists formally established a united front to combat the rule of the warlords.