- 1839-1842 Opium War
- Britain forces China to open five treaty ports and relinquish Hong Kong. The Treaty of Nanjing (1842) is the first of many unequal treaties between China and Western nations.
- 1861-1895
- Self-strengthening movement's adoption of Western technology and science fails to stop Western and Japanese encroachment. China loses influence in Japan and Korea. Japan colonizes Taiwan.
- 1900 The Boxer Uprising
- Japan and several Western nations invade Northern China and occupy Beijing.
- 1911-1912
- Rebellion in Wuchang by followers of the Nationalist leader Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925) leads to collapse of the Qing (the ruling dynasty since 1644).
- 1912-1916
- Power falls to President Yuan Shikai, a Qing general-turned-dictator; his warlords will dominate China until 1928.
- 1919
- The May Fourth movement seeks to resist foreign imperialism by revolutionizing Chinese culture, leading to reorganization of Sun's Nationalist Party, the Guomindang (GMD).
- 1921
- The Chinese Communist Parry (CCP) is established; Mao Zedong (1893-1976) is one of the Party organizers.
- 1924
- Soviet aid and advisors to GMD's Whampoa Military Academy train GMD/CCP leadership for national unification, headed by Chiang Kai-shek (1886-1975).
- 1926-1927
- GMD/CCP's Northern Expedition is launched against warlords. Chiang Kai-shek virtually wipes out the urban-based CCP, whose survivors flee to the countryside.
- 1928-1937 Nanjing Era
- Guomindang retains power for a decade.
- 1931
- Japan occupies Manchuria following the Mukden Incident.
- 1934-1935
- GMD forces CCP from Jiangxi Soviet. During the Long March, Mao becomes primary leader of the CCP With Zhou Enlai (1898-1976), Lin Biao (1907-1971), and others, Mao creates the foundations for revolution at Yan'an (1936-1947).
- 1937-1945 World War II in China
- Japan's invasion and the "Rape of Nanjing" in 1937 force the GMD government to Hankou, then to Chongqing.
- 1946-1949
- CCP creates the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA). Civil War ensues. With CCP victory, Chiang and GMD forces flee to Taiwan.
- October 1, 1949
- The People's Republic (PRC) is formally established as a democratic dictatorship. With Mao's visit to the Soviet Union in December, alignment with the Soviets is established despite limited advantage to China.
- 1950
- The economy is rehabilitated. New laws go into effect, including the Agrarian Reform Law (often-violent redistribution of landlords' holdings, completed by 1953). and the New Marriage law (offering unprecedented rights to women).
- 1951-1952
- PRC initiates campaigns against corruption, waste, and bureaucratic abuses, as well as against enemies of the state and the bourgeoisie.
- 1953
- Collectivization in agriculture is initiated (completed by 1957, with nearly 800,000 collective farms). First Five Year Plan is proposed, using Soviet model for industrial development, with advisers and loans from Soviet Union. First modern-style census: population approximately 582.6 million.
- 1954-1955
- Constitution is adopted; Mao becomes Chairman of the PRC. All private enterprises are socialized.
- 1956-1957
- China's industrial output increases enormously. Mao delivers 'One Hundred Flowers" speech, calling for more openness in cultural and scientific inquiry. Anti-Rightist campaign follows criticism of the CCP; intellectuals are harshly suppressed.
- 1958
- Second Five Year Plan sets a goal of 75 percent increase in agricultural and industrial production. Great Leap
Forward is announced, setting impossible goals for production by 1960. Socialized agriculture is effected through creation of People's Communes.
- 1959
- Famine strikes the countryside (20-30 million deaths by 1962). Tibetan uprising is brutally suppressed; the Dalai Lama flees to India.
- 1960
- China is critical of Soviet revisionism; Khrushchev withdraws Soviet experts.
- 1962
- Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping downplay Maoist policies to promote economic recovery. Mao calls for a new emphasis on class struggle in cultural life. China enters the nuclear age with a successful rest of the atomic bomb. Population approximately 694.6 million.
- 1965
- Mao organizes hard-line radicals, including his third wife, Jiang Qing, a severe critic of bourgeois cultural tendencies. Mao launches the Cultural Revolution. Politburo directs Cultural Revolution leaders to attack bourgeois elements in the CCP, the government, the PLA, and cultural circles. First appearance of the Red Guards, encouraged by Mao to criticize and reform the CCP from below. Quotations from Chairman Mao is published for the general public. Schools are closed. China's youth are urged to destroy old customs, old habits, old culture, and old thinking, to attack teachers, leaders, and parents. An outpouring of violence begins, with mass criticisms, imprisonments, torture, and killings. Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping are purged. Red Guards spread chaos throughout China.
- 1967-1968
- China explodes its first hydrogen bomb. Radical struggles continue in Chinese cities. Mao allows PLA crackdown on militant radicals. Campaigns are waged against "bad elements." Mao directs educated urban youth to the countryside for "re-education" by peasants.
- 1969-1970
- Border clashes with the Soviet Union. Lin Biao is chosen as Mao's successor. US trade embargo against China is partially lifted. China indicates a willingness to discuss substantive issues with US. First Chinese satellite orbits the earth.
- 1971
- US table-tennis team is invited to China (so-called "Ping-Pong diplomacy"). Henry Kissinger meets with Zhou Enlai. Lin Biao is killed in a plane crash in Outer Mongolia, after an alleged coup against Mao. Taiwan's Seat in the UN is given to the PRC. The first book of classical literature to be published since onset of the Cultural Revolution appears.
- 1972
- US president Richard Nixon visits China in February, with the Shanghai Communique signifying future realignment of foreign policy for US and China. US recognizes the principle that Taiwan is part of China.
- 1973
- Following struggles between radical and moderate factions in the Parry leadership, Deng Xiaoping, Zhou Enlai's protege, reappears as vice-premier. Population: approximately 892 million.
- 1975
- Chiang Kai-shek dies in Taiwan.
- 1976
- Premier Zhou Enlai dies on January 8. In April, violent dashes break out in Beijing and elsewhere between authorities and demonstrators mourning Zhou. Hua Guofeng (b. 1921) is appointed premier; Deng Xiaoping, now branded a "capitalist roader," is dismissed from all posts. On September 8, Chairman Mao dies. The Gang of Four is arrested in October, ending the Cultural Revolution.
- 1977-1978
- Hua Guofeng is confirmed in leading posts; Deng Xiaoping is restored to secondary positions. The Third Plenum of the Eleventh Party Congress focuses on the Four Modernizations (industry, agriculture, defense, and science/technology), initiating a fundamental reorganization of Chinese economy, society, and culture.
- 1979
- US-China diplomatic relations resume after a thirty-year hiatus. Deng Xiaoping visits the US. Chinese invade Vietnam. Democracy advocate Wei Jingsheng is arrested and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. US Congress passes Taiwan Relations Act and commits to resisting force against Taiwan. CCP announces the establishment of four Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for export. Political posters are banned and the 1978-1979 pro-democracy movement ends. Responsibility system in agriculture returns control of land to individual farmers; communes are subsequently phased out. Under new ruling, students and scholars begin to travel abroad, particularly to the US.
- 1980-1981
- China is admitted to International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Zhao Ziyang (b. 1919) becomes premier. Deng Xiaoping retires. The Gang of Four and several others are tried and convicted for their roles in the Cultural Revolution. The CCP calls the Cultural Revolution a disaster, criticizing the policies of Mao in his late years.
- 1982
- Deng Xiaoping and his associates occupy most positions of party and state power. China's population exceeds one billion.
- 1984
- Premier Zhao Ziyang and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sign Sino-British joint Declaration, agreeing to Hong Kong handover in 1997.
- 1985
- Deng Xiaoping supports capitalist techniques for building "socialism with Chinese characteristics." In a major shift, CCPs power is transferred from elder leaders to younger, better-educated ones.
- 1986
- China becomes a member of the Asian Development Bank. Shanghai Stock Market reopens after nearly forty years. Government encourages foreign investment in China. In November, thousands of students demonstrate for democracy in response to a speech by astrophysicist Fang Lizhi who says that democracy is "not granted but won."
- 1987
- The People's Daily attacks bourgeois liberalization, saying that reform depends on the Four Cardinal Principles: leadership of the CCP, Marx-Lenin-Mao Thought, people's democratic dictatorship, and the "socialist road." Blamed for student demonstrations, Hu Yaobang resigns as CCP general secretary, replaced by Zhao Ziyang. China and Portugal sign agreement for return of Macao in 1999 (under Portuguese administration since 1557).
- 1989
- The death of Hu Yaobang in April incites students in Beijing and other cities to demonstrate for Hu's rehabilitation, democratic freedoms, government accountability and the cleanup of CCP corruption. Demonstrations escalate during the spring, resulting, in widespread violence throughout Beijing, and the Tiananmen Square massacre in June. Deng praises China's military for suppressing counter revolutionaries. pledging to continue post-1978 open-door policy and reforms. Zhao Ziyang, blamed for the turmoil, is dismissed; Jiang Zemin (b. 1926) becomes general-secretary of the CCP. Deng and Mikhail Gorbachev announce normalization of Sino-Soviet relations.
- 1991-1992
- GDP grows at a rate of 7.5 percent, then averages 11 percent per annum, through 1997, the most rapid growth rate of any major world economy. Deng makes "southern tour" to SEZs and to other cities to defend open-door economic strategies against hard-liners.
- 1996
- Democratic elections are held in Taiwan; PRC rockets landing nearby elicit US naval response, creating new US-China tensions. Deng Xiaoping dies on February 19 at age ninety-three. Hong Kong is returned to Chinese jurisdiction. Jiang Zemin visits the US. China's economic growth drops sharply to below 8 percent per annum.
- Economic reformer Zhu Ransil becomes premier. China earns world respect for economic role in Asian financial crisis.
- 1999
- Mounting tension between the US and China over China's entry into the World Trade Organization and NATO's bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. The Fiftieth anniversary of the PRC is celebrated. Population: approximately 1.243 billion.
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