Activity Guide 1 Unit 7: The World Between Wars (1919 – 1939) do now

Global History and Geography Eleanor Roosevelt High School

Mr. Spear
Name: _____________________________________________ Date: ____________________
Activity Guide 1

Unit 7: The World Between Wars (1919 – 1939)
DO NOW

1. List three countries that are near China.

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2. List three countries that are near China, but that you think may not have existed in the 1930’s.

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AIM: What changes occurred in Japan and China during the 1930’s?

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Reading 1

The early 20^th century was a time of great change for China. A few years after the Boxer Rebellion, the Empress Ci Xi died. She was replaced and a three year-old boy named Pu Yi. Since Pu Yi was so young, however, he did not really rule. Instead a “regent” ruled in his place. In 1911, when Pu Yi was six, the Qing dynasty was overthrown by a private army belonging to a warlord and for the next ten years China collapsed into chaos as first one warlord, and then another, gained control of power. During this time, the young Pu Yi remained on the throne of the Forbidden City, a powerless prisoner of his own advisors and bodyguards.

1. 
   What was the Boxer Rebellion? Why was Ci Xi left without real power after it was over?
   

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2. 
   What is a Regent?
   

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Reading 2
In 1921 an extremely important man in the history of modern China became president. His name was Sun Yat-sen. Sun was a western-educated doctor who established a political party known as the Guomindang. The word Gumonidang means “nationalist.” The Guomindang promoted a program known as the Three Principles of the People. The three principles were: Nationalism, Democracy and Socialism. While Sun Yat-sen was a very enlightened and charismatic figure, his government actually controlled very little during his presidency. Instead warlords with private armies ruled the countryside.
1. What kind of economy must China have had during this period if warlords were ruling parts of the country? Why?

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2. Explain what you think each of Sun’s Three Principles of the People meant.

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Reading 3

Sun Yat-sen died in 1925 and for the next several decades China became dominated by one of its most famous leaders in modern history - Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang had been the military leader of the Guomindang. After Sun died, Chiang raised an army of 3 million troops, conquered every warlord across China, and made himself supreme leader. Initially, Chiang’s rise to power had been supported by the Chinese Communist Party. The Chinese Communists believed that because Chiang had been a part of Sun’s government, he too was a believer in Socialism. It was not so. As soon a Chiang was in control, he outlawed the Communist Party and executed most of its leaders. Thousands of Communist survivors led by Mao Zedong fled west on a 6,000- mile journey to safety in the mountains, all the while harassed by Guomindang troops.

Chiang ruled as absolute dictator of China from 1927 – 1949. During the first ten years, China saw vast improvements. Chiang created a central bank to control inflation and a Ministry of Health to control infectious disease. He also began improving his military. He hired advisors from Germany to train 60,000 of his men to serve as elite Special Forces troops.

At the same time that this was occurring in China, however, the island nation of Japan was going through changes of its own. During the 1920’s, Japan was a successful constitutional monarchy. Its young Emperor Hirohito ruled as a figurehead, while laws were made by an elected parliament called a Diet. In 1931, the Japanese army invaded the Chinese province of Manchuria without orders from the Japanese government. There they established a puppet-state ruled by Pu-Yi the last emperor of China who was now a grown man. When the civilian government of Japan protested these actions, the army overthrew the government and made Hirohito a puppet dictator. In 1937, desiring to make Japan a superpower in Asia, the army began the invasion of all China. Chiang’s Guomindang troops fought back strenuously, but to no avail.

1. 
   What great historical event started between China and Japan during the 1930’s, according to this document? Why did it start?
   

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2. 
   What kind of government did Chiang Kai-shek preside over in China? What kind of government did Japan have?
   

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3. 
   Why do you think Japan attacked Manchuria in 1931? Why did it commence an all out invasion of China in 1937?
   

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4. 
   Who was Mao Zedong? What role did he play in Chinese history after 1949?
   

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