| 1644-1911 |
Qing Dynasty
|
| 1792-4 |
Lord Macartney’s
embassy to China
|
| 1839 |
Lin Zexu’s destruction of
20000 chests of opium leads to the deterioration of
relations between Britain and China and the outbreak of
the First Opium War
|
| 1842 |
The First Opium War
concludes with the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing (Nanking)
which provides for the opening of the first five treaty
ports-in Shanghai Ningbo Xiamen (Amoy) Fuzhou (Foochow)
and Guangzhou (Canton)-and the cession of the island of
Hong Kong to Great Britain
|
| 1845 |
The Sino-American Treaty
of Wangxia permits Americans to trade in the treaty
ports and to purchase land for Protestant churches and
missions. It also establishes the principle of extra
territoriality by which foreigners are tried only by
their own consuls
|
| 1850-64 |
Taiping Rebellion
led by Hong Xiuquan
|
| 1856 |
Outbreak of the Second
Opium War
|
| 1858 |
Signing of the Treaty
of Tianjin (Tientsin) which allows for the opening
of more cities to trade and foreign residence and the
establishment of foreign ambassadors in Beijing
|
| 1860 |
The refusal of the Chinese to observe the terms of the
Treaty of Tianjin
results in renewed hostilities. An Anglo-French force
occupies Beijing and destroys the Imperial Summer Palace
|
| 1860s-90s |
The opening of a Foreign Office in Beijing in 1861
marks the beginning of a number of diplomatic and
military modernization projects described collectively
as the Self-Strengthening
movement
|
| 1894-5 |
China’s defeat in the Sino-Japanese War
exposes the limitations of the Self-Strengthening
movement. By the Treaty of Shimonoseki
(1895) China is forced to cede the Liaodong peninsula
and Taiwan to Japan in perpetuity and to permit
Japanese to reside and trade in China. Young radicals
among them Sun Yat-sen form Self-Strengthening and
Revive China societies
|
| |
Foreign powers scramble for concessions in China.
Russia is forced to grant a 25-year lease on Lushun (Port
Arthur) and the Dalian (Dairen) peninsula. Germany
acquires Jiaozhou (Kiaochow) Bay. France demands a lease
on Guangzhou (Kwangchow) Bay and Britain obtains a lease
on Weihaiwei for as long as the Russians remain in Lushun
and on Hong Kong’s New Territories for 99 years. |
| 1898 |
In an attempt to strengthen China the Guangxu emperor
embarks on a programme of reform but the ’Hundred Days Reform’ is
ended by the Empress Dowager Cixi. The Emperor becomes
a prisoner in his own palace. The Dowager Empress and
the court flee to Xi’an
|
| 1901 |
By the Boxer Protocol,
China is required to pay a large indemnity to the
foreign powers
|
| 1900 |
The Boxer Rebellion
leads to the siege of the legations in Beijing.
|
| 1905 |
Civil service examinations are abolished. In Tokyo
Sun Yat-sen forms the Alliance Society 1908 |
| |
The Empress Dowager dies and the 2-year-old Puyi is
proclaimed emperor. China holds the first elections for
regional assemblies the following year |
| 1911 |
An uprising in Wuhan
leads to the overthrow of the Qing dynasty. Nanjing is
proclaimed the national capital
|
| 1912 |
On 1 January the Republic of China is
declared with Sun Yat-sen as provincial president. Yuan
Shikai a Manchu general then takes China’s first
constitution is proclaimed
|
| 1914 |
On the outbreak of the First World War China declares
herself neutral |
| 1915 |
Japan presents the Twenty-one Demands calling
for Japanese control of Shandong Manchuria Inner
Mongolia the south-east coast of China and the Yangtze
valley as well as the use of Japanese advisers in the
Chinese administration
|
| 1916 |
Yuan Shikai declares himself emperor but dies soon
after. Generals of provincial armies declare their
independence as local warlords
|
| 1917 |
Sun Yat-sen’s Kuomintang
(KMT) Party sets up a military government in Guangzhou
|
| 1919 |
By the terms of the Treaty of Versailles Japan’s
demands for control of all former German territories in
China are accepted by the Western powers. On 4 May
students in Beijing demonstrate in protest and organize
a strike and boycott of Japanese goods. The cultural
and intellectual revolution taking place during this
period is subsequently commonly known as the May Fourth movement
|
| 1921 |
The northern warlords declare war on Sun Yat-sen’s
government in Guangzhou. The Chinese Communist Party is
founded in Shanghai
|
| 1922 |
Sun Yat-sen launches the Northern Expedition
against warlords
|
| 1925 |
Sun Yat-sen dies. A demonstration in Shanghai on 30
May is fired on the order of a British police inspector:
9 students are killed. A general strike is called in
Shanghai which leads to anti-British demonstrations
elsewhere and a boycott of British goods |
| 1926 |
Chiang Kai-shek assumes command of the KMT armies
relaunches the Northern Expedition and
takes Hankou
|
| 1927 |
Chiang Kai-shek launches a purge of Communists. In
Hunan Mao Zedong leads the Autumn Harvest Uprising. When
the revolt fails he is forced to flee |
| 1928 |
Japanese troops land in Shandong. Mao and Zhou Enlai
establish a Soviet regime in Ruijin Jiangxi |
| 1930 |
Chiang Kai-shek launches the first of five campaigns
of encirclement and extermination against the Communists.
The first major internal purge of Chinese Communists
takes place in what becomes known as the Futian
Incident |
| 1932 |
The Japanese attack Shanghai but then withdraw. Zhou
Enlai establishes the first ’Labour Persuasion’ camps in
Communist-controlled territory |
| 1934 |
KMT armies encircle the Communist Red Army in Jiangxi.
In October the Communists break out and begin the
Long March to Yan’an in
Shanxi province
|
| 1936 |
Chiang Kai-shek is kidnapped in Xi’an and forced to
agree to a United Front with the Communists against
Japan |
| 1937 |
An incident at the Marco Polo bridge
west of Beijing marks the beginning of the Japanese
invasion of China
|
| 1938 |
Japan occupies most of eastern China. The KMT
government moves its capital to Chongqing |
| 1942 |
At Yan’an Mao purges his enemies in the Rectification
movement. He also outlines Party policy on intellectuals
at the Yan’an Forum |
| 1943 |
Britain and America relinquish all extra territorial
privileges and concessions in China |
| 1945 |
Japan surrenders. Civil war between the Communists
and the KMT resumes |
| 1949 |
On 1 October Mao Zedong declares the People’s
Republic of China. Chiang Kai-shek and the KMT government
flee to Taiwan |
| 1949-51 |
Land reform already undertaken earlier in
Communist-controlled areas is now enforced throughout
China leading to the persecution of millions of landlords
and wealthy peasants |
| 1950 |
China invades Tibet. Hostilities break out between
North and South Korea. China sends Volunteers to assist
the North |
| 1953 |
The first five-year
plan is launched
|
| 1955 |
Mao begins the collectivization of peasants’ holdings
into co-operatives |
| 1956 |
Under the slogan ’Let a hundred flowers bloom and a
hundred schools of thought contend’ Mao launches the
Hundred Flowers
movement to encourage greater freedom of debate in
political matters
|
| 1957 |
Those who have spoken out during the Hundred Flowers
movement are condemned and imprisoned in the
Anti-Rightist
movement
|
| 1958 |
In an attempt to create a socialist Utopia Mao launches
the Great Leap
Forward. The peasants are stripped of their
remaining possessions and forced to join communes
|
| 1959 |
In Tibet China suppresses a rebellion and the Dalai
Lama and his supporters flee to India. By the autumn many
parts of China are in the grip of a severe famine as a
result of the policies of the Great Leap Forward. Between
1959 and 1961 over 30 million Chinese starve to
death |
| 1960 |
The Soviet Union withdraws all its experts from China
and stops all aid |
| 1966 |
In a bid to restore his authority after the failure of
the Great Leap Forward Mao launches the Cultural Revolution
|
| 1969 |
Fighting breaks out along the Ussuri River between
the USSR and China |
| 1971 |
After a failed coup d’?tat against Mao Lin Biao flees
but dies in a plane crash |
| 1972 |
The American President Richard Nixon visits
China |
| 1975 |
On Taiwan Chiang Kai-shek dies |
| 1976 |
The death of Zhou Enlai in January provokes
demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Mao dies
in September having named Hua Guofeng as his successor.
An attempted coup by the Gang of Four in October fails
and its members are arrested and subsequently put on
trial |
| 1978 |
At the Third Plenum of the Eleventh Party Congress
Deng Xiaoping becomes de facto successor to Mao and
announces the Four Modernizations. Meanwhile posters
begin to appear on what becomes known as Democracy Wall
in Beijing in which issues of political significance are
openly discussed and Mao is criticized. A young
electrician Wei Jingshengputs up a poster calling for a
Fifth Modernization democracy |
| 1979 |
The communes are dissolved and free markets begin to
spring up. Price controls on many goods are lifted. The
one-child policy is introduced in the countryside 1982 In
January Deng visits the United States. In February China
attacks Vietnam in punishment for its invasion of
Cambodia but the Vietnamese successfully block the
attack. China is forced to withdraw. In October Wei
Jingsheng is put on trial and in December the Democracy
Wall is closed down Hu Yaobang becomes Party General
Secretary 1983 Campaigns against crime and ’spiritual
pollution’ are launched |
| 1979-83 |
The communes are dissolved and free markets begin to
spring up. Price controls on many goods are lifted. The
one-child policy is introduced in the countryside |
| 1982 |
Hu Yaobang becomes Party General Secretary |
| 1983 |
Campaigns against crime and ’spiritual pollution’ are
launched |
| 1986 |
Pro-democracy demonstrations by students occur in
major cities |
| 1987 |
Hu Yaobang is forced to step down and an
Anti-Bourgeois Liberalization campaign is launched. Zhao
Ziyang replaces Hu as Party General Secretary and Li Peng
becomes Prime Minister |
| 1989 |
Zhao pushes for political reform |
| 1989 |
Hu Yaobang dies. In honour of his memory students
hold demonstrations in Tiananmen Square and occupy the
square for over a month. On 20 May martial law is
declared in Beijing and on 3/4 June the army reposes the
square killing hundreds. Zhao Ziyang is arrested and
Jiang Zemin is declared Deng’s successor. A clampdown on
political activity follows |
| 1992 |
Deng embarks on a Southern Tour to relaunch his
economic reforms Deng falls into a coma |
| 1996 |
Taiwan holds its first open elections for the
Presidency and the National Assembly. China fires
missiles into the Taiwan Strait |
| 1997 |
Deng Xiaoping dies. Hong Kong hitherto under British
rule is returned to China |
| 1998 |
Zhu Rongji becomes Prime Minister and seeks
membership for China of the World Trade Organization |
| 1999 |
Macao the last territory on the mainland occupied by
the Portuguese for four hundred years is returned to
China |
