Explore features of Mao's new regime and its program to rebuild China's shattered economy. Also, learn about the Communist Party's delineation of "enemies of the people," its policies of ideological "thought reform," and its national campaigns of land reform.
Tag: The Fall and Rise of China
🎧 Lecture 13: Chiang’s Last Stand, 1945–1949 | The Fall and Rise of China by Richard Baum
Study the final confrontations between Nationalist and Communist forces. Track the Nationalists' effort to dominate urban centers and the Communists' guerrilla methodology, their success in mobilizing the rural Chinese, and their strategic moves to victory.
🎧 Lecture 12: "Resist Japan!" 1937–1945 | The Fall and Rise of China by Richard Baum
In the fireball of World War II, witness the brutal Japanese offensives in China and their grim consequences for the Nationalists, while paradoxically sparing the Communists from annihilation. Learn also about growing U.S. ambivalence toward Chiang K'ai-shek and how Japanese brutality actually aided the Communists' seizure of power.
This lecture was pretty information dense, so I’ve listened to it a second time. Also makes a nice review while trying to continue on with the series.
🎧 Lecture 12: “Resist Japan!” 1937–1945 | The Fall and Rise of China by Richard Baum
In the fireball of World War II, witness the brutal Japanese offensives in China and their grim consequences for the Nationalists, while paradoxically sparing the Communists from annihilation. Learn also about growing U.S. ambivalence toward Chiang K'ai-shek and how Japanese brutality actually aided the Communists' seizure of power.
🎧 Lecture 11: The Republican Experiment, 1927–1937 | The Fall and Rise of China by Richard Baum
Over the following decade, escalating Japanese encroachments on China coincide with mounting violence between China's revolutionary factions. Examine the rise of Japanese militarism and the 1931 invasion of Manchuria. Later, follow Chiang K'ai-shek's attempts to liquidate the Maoist Communists and his dramatic kidnapping.
🎧 Lecture 10: Chiang, Mao, and Civil War, 1926–1934 | The Fall and Rise of China by Richard Baum
Explore the state of China after the death of Sun Yat-sen. Follow Chiang K'ai-shek's unified national revolutionary army as it wages a brutal campaign against the Communists. From the ashes of defeat, the Communists are reborn in the countryside under the leadership of Mao Zedong.
🎧 Lecture 9: The Birth of Chinese Communism, 1917–1925 | The Fall and Rise of China by Richard Baum
Probe the emerging ideologies that fueled two revolutionary movements—Nationalism and Communism. Also, consider the importation of Lenin's theory of imperialism into China and the covert efforts of Soviet agents to forge a "united front" between Sun Yat-sen's Nationalists and the newborn Chinese Communist Party.
🎧 Lecture 8: The Failed Republic, 1912–1919 | The Fall and Rise of China by Richard Baum
China's short-lived republic fell to corrupt power plays and maneuvering to restore the dynasty. Trace the country's descent into political chaos and rule by warlords, and ensuing encroachments by Japan. In addition, follow events leading to the birth of modern Chinese Nationalism.
🎧 Lecture 7: The End of Empire, 1900–1911 | The Fall and Rise of China by Richard Baum
Witness the death spasms of the Manchu dynasty and the tumultuous events leading to the Chinese Republican Revolution of 1911. Afterward, track the rise of the revolutionary Sun Yat-sen, the military commander Yuan Shikai, and the establishment of the Provisional Republic of China.
🎧 Lecture 6: Hundred Days of Reform and the Boxer Uprising | The Fall and Rise of China by Richard Baum
The 19th century closed with further measures of reform within the empire and violent conflict with foreigners on Chinese soil. Study the progressive thinkers who influenced the young emperor Guangxu in his 100 Days of Reform. Then follow the siege of foreign legations by the fanatical Boxers and its bloody aftermath.
🎧 Lecture 5: The Self-Strengthening Movement, 1860–1890 | The Fall and Rise of China by Richard Baum
Facing external and internal pressures, China's faltering empire attempted fundamental reforms. Investigate the Manchus' multifaceted effort to absorb Western science and technology while preserving Confucian institutions. Learn also about the internal sabotage of reform and the other factors in its ultimate failure, as Japan effectively wins the race to modernize.
🎧 Lecture 4: Rural Misery and Rebellion, 1842–1860 | The Fall and Rise of China by Richard Baum
Nineteenth-century China also saw a prolonged agrarian crisis that spurred major peasant revolts, weakening the empire from within. Examine the explosive Taiping Rebellion, a decade-long, religiously themed struggle that threatened to unseat the empire.
🎧 Lecture 3: Barbarians at the Gate, 1800–1860 | The Fall and Rise of China by Richard Baum
The escalating British trade in opium sparked conflicts that crippled the Manchu dynasty. Track the Court's efforts to suppress widespread addiction, leading to the First Opium War and the humiliating Treaty of Nanking. Also, follow increasing foreign encroachments and violent reprisals, forcing a Second Opium War and the opening of multiple ports to Western commerce.
🎧 Lecture 2: Malthus and Manchu Hubris, 1730–1800 | The Fall and Rise of China by Richard Baum
Complex social and economic forces ended China's millennium of supremacy as an empire. Learn about the empire's era of global exploration, followed by long, complacent isolationism. Then chart the economic strain of the 18th-century population explosion and the effects of European economic expansion and the opium trade.
🎧 Lecture 1: The Splendor That Was China, 600–1700 | The Fall and Rise of China by Richard Baum
This lecture sets the stage for the saga of modern China. Uncover the underpinnings of the empire's extraordinary longevity, including its ingenious civil service system, its Confucian moral code, and its sophisticated military base.