Transcript Chinese Civil War

Chinese Civil War
Dates: 1927 – 1936, 1945 – 1950
 The Chinese Civil war took place over a
long period of time between 1927 and
1950. The war was interrupted when
Japan invaded China in 1936 and by World
War II. The war was fought between the
nationalist government of China, also
called the Kuomintang (KMT) (kwa min
tounge), and the Communist Party of
China (CPC).
Before the War
 After the Qing Dynasty collapsed in 1911 there was a vacuum of
power in China. Two major parties formed, the Nationalist
Kuomintang Party and the Communist Party. Some areas of the
country were controlled by warlords. The KMT and the CPC united
for a time. They wanted to unify China. They both received help
from the Soviet Union. Although they were somewhat united,
they continued to have an internal rivalry between the two major
parties.
 In 1927 the rivalry became a war! The KMT decided to get rid of
the CPC; they killed and arrested many of the CPC leaders in what
is today called the Shanghai Massacre.
 Mao Zedong of the CPC led an uprising against the KMT called
the Autumn Harvest Uprising. The uprising failed, but the civil war
had begun.
Ten Years Civil War
 Over the next ten years, from 1927 – 1936 the two sides fought. Mao Zedong
led peasants and common people in uprisings against the KMT. At the same
time the KMT tried to put down the uprisings and eliminate Mao and the CPC
Army.
The Long March
 In 1934, Mao and the CPC army had to
retreat from the KMT. They went on a series
of long marches that lasted an entire year,
from October of 1934 – October 1935. They
traveled around 7, 000 miles (that would be
like walking from Hammond, IN to Delhi,
India)!
 Out of around 80,000 soldiers that began
the march, only 8,000 or so made it to the
end!
Chinese Civil War
 When the Japanese invaded China in 1937, the two sides once
again united in order to fight the Japanese. However, the two sides
still hated each other.
After the end of WWII in 1945, the two sides resumed their civil
war. America supported the KMT and the Soviet Union supported
the CPC.
 For the first few years the US tried to broker a peace between the
two sides where the country would be split. However, neither side
was willing to give in.
The End of the Fighting
 By 1948 the CPC was gaining momentum. They continued to take nationalist cities and with each victory they
were gaining support within the population of China. In October of 1949, the CPC captured Beijing. They
declared victory and said that China was now under the rule of the People’s Republic of China. The nationalists
fled to the island of Taiwan where they established their own government called the Republic of China.
Facts About the Chinese Civil War:
1.
Even today both governments lay claim to being the legal government of China.
2.
It was the third largest war in the history of the world after WWI and WWII
3.
It was during the Long March that Mao Zedong gained total control of the CPC as its primary leader
4.
Mao Zedong was a follower of Marxism
Yom Kippur War
 Was
fought between Israel and the
Arab states of Egypt and Syria. It took
place between October 6 and October
25 in 1973 with the initial attack taking
place on the Jewish holy day of Yom
Kippur. The war heightened tensions
in the Cold War between the world’s
two nuclear superpowers, the United
States and the Soviet Union.
1.
The Leaders
 The
Prime Minister of Israel was
Golda Meir. Israeli military leaders
at the time included Minister of
Defense Moshe Dayan, David
Elazar, and Israel Tal.
 The President of Egypt was
Anwar Sadat. The Commander-inChief of Egypt’s army was Ahmad
Ismail Ali. The President of Syria
was Hafez al-Assad and the
Minister of Defense was Mustafa
Tlass.
2.
3.
1. Anwar Sadat
2. Golda Meir
3. Hafez al-Assad
What Other Countries Were Involved
 The United States was on the side of
Israel; they helped to supply Israel with
weapons as well as put pressure on the
attacking states to stop fighting. A few
years after the war the United States would
help to broker a peace treaty between
Israel and Egypt at the Camp David
Accords.
 Egypt and Syria were supported directly
with armed forces from Iraq and Jordan.
They were also supported by the Soviet
Union and a number of Arab states
including Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and
Lebanon.
How the War Began
 The Egyptians and the Syrians started the attack on Yom Kippur. They figured that the Israeli
Army would be less alert on their holy day. The initial attack worked very well. The Egyptians
crossed the Suez Canal and took control of the Sinai Peninsula. At the same time the Syrians
attacked to the north taking control of the Golan Heights.
Israel Counterattacks
A few days after the initial attack, the Israelis counterattacked. They quickly took back the Golan
Heights as well as the Sinai Peninsula. They continued to push back both the Egyptians and the
Syrians. Soon the Israeli Army was a mere 35 miles from Damascus, the capital of Syria, and only
65 miles from Cairo, capital of Egypt
How it Ended
 On October 22, the United Nations negotiated a cease-fire,
however, the fighting soon broke out again. Soon Israel had the
Egyptian Army nearly surrounded.
 With the war escalating, tensions between the United States and
the Soviet Union began to mount. If one of them should join in the
war to help out an ally, the other would likely join as well. Many
people felt the world was on the brink of WWIII.
 On October 25, 1973 another cease fire was negotiated. This time
the effort was successful and the war came to an end.
Facts About the Yom Kippur War
1. Israel had some warning that an attack was coming. Some Israeli generals
wanted to strike first, but Golda Meir refused to attack first as she was
worried Israel would lose the support of the United States
2. At the start of the attack and the crossing of the Suez Canal, there were
nearly 100,000 Egyptian soldiers against only around 500 Israeli soldiers
3. One of the big advantages that the Israelis had was intelligence supplied by
U.S. with its SR-71 Blackbird spy plane. This plane could fly high and fast over
the battlefield and relay the positions of enemy troops back to the
commanders
4. In response to the U.S. supporting Israel, the Arab oil states (also called OPEC)
stopped shipping oil to the United States. This caused the 1973 Oil Crisis.
Soviet Afghanistan War
The Soviet Afghanistan War was
fought between Afghanistan rebels
called the Mujahideen (moo jah he
den) and the Soviet supported
Afghanistan government. The United
States supported the Afghanistan
rebels in order to try and overthrow
the communist government and to
prevent the spread of communism.
Dates: December 24, 1979 –
February 15, 1989
1.
Leaders
1.
Afghanistan: General Secretary Babrak
Karmal and President Mohammad
Najibullah
2.
Soviet Union: Leonid Brezhnev and
Mikhail Gorbachev
3.
Mujahideen Leaders: Ahmad Shah
Massoud (Lion of Panjshir) and Abdul
Haq
4.
U.S. Presidents: Jimmy Carter and
Ronald Reagan
2.
3.
4.
Before the War
 As one of the bordering neighbors, the Soviet Union had a long history of supporting and
providing aid to Afghanistan. On April 27, 1978 a Soviet supported communist government
took over the country. The new government was called the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
(DRA).
 Many of the Afghanistan people did not like the new communist government, primarily
because many of the laws went against their Muslim religion. They began to rebel against the
current government. The rebels called themselves the Mujahideen.
 In September of 1979, events in Afghanistan became more unstable when Afghan leader
Hafizullah Amin had the current president killed and took control of the communist
government.
The War Begins
 The leaders of the Soviet Union became concerned that President Amin was having
discussions with the United States. On December 24, 1979 the Soviet Union invaded
Afghanistan. They had President Amin put to death and installed their own leader, President
Babrak Karmal.
The War
 Over the next several years the Soviet Army would battle with the Mujahideen. It was a very
difficult battle.
 Many of the Soviet soldiers were untested in battle and their gear was not designed for the
harsh environment of Afghanistan.
 The Mujahideen soldiers were fighting for their homeland and their religion. They were fierce
fighters and had many good places to hide in the mountains
 As the war continued with little success, it became a source of embarrassment for the Soviet
Union. Their army no longer seemed invincible to the rest of the world.
 The Soviets also came under increasing international pressure. The war was condemned by
the United Nations, the US pulled out of the SALT treaty talks, and the US boycotted the 1980
Olympic Games in Moscow.
The War Ends
 When Gorbachev became leader of the Soviet Union he wanted the war to end. He first tried
to increase Soviet troops to end the war quickly. However, this didn’t work. By 1988 Gorbachev
realized the war was costing Soviet troops and hurting their economy. He signed a peace treaty
to end the war. The last Soviet troops departed Afghanistan on February 15, 1989.