Events and Importance of the Long March

The Long March

CAUSES

Growth of Jiangxi Base Area

• After the Shanghai massacre, many Communists regrouped in rural areas as Chiang Kai-shek did not control the Jiangxi province.
• Survivors of the massacres retreated into the Jiangxi province to set up the "Chinese Soviet Republic". 
• Mao Zedong was their political leader while Zhu De led the armed forces of the Soviet.
• Communists gained support of the millions of peasants who reside there because of the Land Law which the Communists passed in 1930 which divided up the cultivated land among the farming population. This reduced taxes on land, set up schools, abolished old-fashioned practices like arranged marriages, Peasant Councils was created to allow communities a say in the running of their affairs.
  

KMT Extermination Campaigns

• The growth of the base area began to concern Chiang and so he decided to launch a series of "extermination camps" to cleanse the communists.
• Between 1930-34 he launched 5 massive extermination campaigns.
• They were failures but over 1 million civilians died with brutality on both sides.
• They were failures because Mao and Zhu De used guerilla tactics. Instead of fighting them on the battlefield, they lured the KMT into deep Communist-held territory and attacked each unit separately before knocking them out in deadly ambushes.
• This is a setback for Mao as the process of luring in KMT into Communist-held areas, communist villagers have to fall victim.
• The fifth campaign in Summer 1933, was finally successful due to the 'blockhouse' tactics of German General Hans von Seeckt.
• Instead of invading the Red areas and trying to capture them by fighting battles, the blockhouse method was to surround the Jiangxi soviet with 500,000 troops who advanced slowly by building blockhouses (concrete shelters), digging trenches and putting up barbed wire fences as they went. 
• This stops all movement in and out of the soviet, starving the communists of food, fuel, weapons and ammunition, thus slowly reducing the area they controlled.
• By October 1934, Communists lost half their territory. 60,000 soldiers in the Red Army had been killed. Area under their control was shrinking as GMD advanced.
• Zhu, NOT Mao, was forced to make the decision to abandon the Soviet. 

EVENTS

• Planned by Zhou Enlai on the night of 16th October 1934, 80 000 Communists started to cross the Gan River and break out westwards towards Guangxi province.
• As they retreated, Reds took all the equipment of the Jiangxi Soviet that would be needed for setting up a new government in Hunan-Hubei. 
• Thousands of bearers carried office furniture, files, a printing press, radio equipment, gold bars, telephone wires etc.
• The Reds also carried as much weaponry and ammunition as it could carry.
• 33,00 guns.
• 1,800,000 cartridges.
• 76,000 grenades.
• 38 mortars.
• 25,000 mortar shells.
• It took 6 weeks for the Reds to break through the blockhouse rings circling Jiangxi.
• In Dec 1934, the CCP faced a major defeat on the Xiang River, on the border on Hunan.
• The CCP lost most of their baggage and 45,000 of their troops. The losses had been partly due to the amount of equipment they were carrying which slowed them down, giving the KMT time to prepare attacks. The Red Army was also travelling in a straight line, making it easy for the KMT to predict its movements.
• This forced the CCP to change direction westward to Zunyi.
• The Wu River was crossed on 7th Jan 1935, and the city of Zunyi captured where a meeting was held.
• The Zunyi Conference criticised Otto Braun for their mistakes (retreating in straight lines, carrying too much equipment), and Mao was made a full member of the Politburo.
• Under Mao, the columns changed routes and split up, trying to avoid KMT and warlord forces.
• On 25th May 1935, they crossed the Dadu River which would later be turned into a propaganda event.
• By Oct 1935, they had reached the communist base at Yanan at Shaanxi province where they were safe.
• They had ;
• fought dozen of battles.
• crossed 24 rivers.
• 18 mountain rangers.
• 24 miles a day.
• 6000 miles in total
• 5,000-6,000 out of 85,000 had remained alive. 

EFFECTS

Survival

• The Long March had seemed like a disaster but it enabled the CCP to survive and rebuild for the next 12 years.
• It was remote enough to be safe from Japanese attack.

Propaganda Victory

• The March was vital in helping the CCP gain a positive reputation amongst peasants due to the determination and good nature of the Red Army.
• The 'Eight Points of Attention' issued by Mao instructed the army to avoid harm or disrespectful to peasants.
• Land redistribution along the way also helped gain support.

Strengthened Mao's position

• Strengthened Mao's position as he was hailed as the great hero of the March.
• He was re-established as the unchallenged leader of the CCP.

IMPORTANCE

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The Northern Expedition/March and The Shanghai Massacre

The Northern Expedition (1926-1928)

CAUSES

• Death of Sun Yat-sen

- After the death of Dr. Sun in 1925, Chiang Kai-shek became the leader of the Kuomintang and was eager to destroy the warlords and reunite China.

• Whampoa Military Academy

- The Whampoa Military Academy in Canton produced a National Revolutionary Army (NRA).

- The NRA was superior to many warlords.

- The NRA was 100,000 strong and equipped with the latest Russian and German weapons.

- Chiang personally relied on the Russian Military advisor, Galen.

- The NRA was supported by the communist "Farmers' Movement Training Institute" in which Mao worked.

- Propaganda from this institute persuaded many peasants to serve as guides and labourers for the NRA against their warlords.

- They declared political objectives of the NRA were :

to protect the welfare of the people. We must overthrow all warlords and wipe out reactionary power so that we may implement the Three principles and complete the National Revolution.

EVENTS

• The Northern Expedition was a combined military operation by the United Front (Kuomintang & CCP) against the rule of the Warlord Beiyang Government in Beijing as well as local warlords.
• July 1926, targeted three most notorious and powerful warlords; Zhang Zhoulin (Manchuria), Wu Peifu (Central Plain region) and Sun Chuanfang (east coast).
• October 10, 1926, Wuhan was captured.
• The NRA had grown to 250,000.
• 1927, Nanjing and Shanghai had been captured.
• This was achieved by a combination of NRA military success, communist propaganda and bribing many warlords.
• The United Front ended on 12th April 1927.
• Chiang Kai-shek arranged the massacre of 5000 communists with the help of triad "Gang of Four" in Shanghai.
• The Kuomintang and NRA pressed on along and June 1928, Beijing had been captured.
• Chiang had set up a new capital of unified China in Nanjing.
• It was recognised by foreign powers

EFFECTS

• Formation of a Soviet.
  The Communists were left with little alternative to armed struggle against the Kuomintang. After the Shanghai massacre, they were forced to flee to Kiangsi province, setting up a Soviet which they were eventually forced to abandon in 1934.
• Warlord problem was still not fully resolved
  Many warlods simply formed an alliance with the Kuomintang to avoid being destroyed. They continued to fight amongst themselves and treated peasants badly. This resulted in continual resentment of Chiang's new Kuomintang government.
• Chiang Kai-Shek's position was strengthened.
  He ruled as a dictator, similar to Hitler in Germany as he always looks up to Hitler as a role model. He was the Chairman of the Military Committee and Commander in Chief, Prime Minister and head of Kuomintang Party.
• Chiang's new regime was supported by the army.
  The NRA enforced control through a secret police called the Military Bureau of Statistics. Most social support came from rich, commercial elites in the cities and richer peasants and gentry in the countryside.

The Shanghai Massacre (12th April 1927).

CAUSES

The CCP Problem

• In 1923, Sun Yat-sen concluded an alliance with the USSR. 
• KMT had financial and military support but in return, the KMT had to cooperate with the CCP.
• Sun agreed to let individual communists join the KMT as long as they remained loyal.
• Covert Communists activities soon attracted opposition amongst many right-wing KMT members.
  

The Kuomintang Split

• Since the death of Sun Yatsen in 1925, the KMT was divided between the NRA (National Revolutionary Army) & Chiang Kai-shek on the right. KMT leader Wang Jingwei, Communists & Soviet Agents on the left-wing.
• Chiang was concerned to protect the business interest of many KMT supporters.
  

Attacks on Foreign Concessions

• January to March 1927, the left-wing of the KMT and CCP forces began attacking western interests in Hankou and Nanjing.
• Chiang Kai-shek needed the support of western powers in order to take Shanghai. 
• By April, Chiang and the right-wing of the KMT became determined to purge the party of communist influence.
  

EVENTS

• The massacre occured on the 12th April 1927 and was the violent suppression of Communist Party organisations in Shanghai by the KMT.
• After capturing Shanghai, the CCP began inciting huge protests and strikes, demanding the return of international settlements. 
• Chiang immediately made arrangements with the representatives of the commercial classes and Shanghai underworld to purge the CCP.
• On the morning of 12th April, heavily armed members of Big-eared Du's Green Gang moved through the international settlement to attack the CCP union strongholds in the working-class districts.
• Du met with the leader of the big CCP workers union to persuade him to change sides but he refused and was beaten and buried alive. 
• Du's men aided by General Bai Chongxi's troops, rounded up Communists and beheaded/shot them.
• Some were thrown alive into the fires of locomotives at the South Railway Station.
• Police put the death toll at 400 although the American jounalist Edgar Snow estimated between 5,000-10,000 deaths.
• CCP leader, Zhou Enlai escaped.

EFFECTS

Power Struggle

• The KMT left wing government in Wuhan expelled Chiang from the Party on 17th April.
• However he simply declared a rival KMT government in Nanjing.
• His financial links with commercial intersts in Shnaghai enabled him to gain more influence, resulting in the Wuhan Nationalist government collapsing.
• Wang Jingwei fled to Europe.
   

End of USSR/KMT Cooperation

• Stalin recalled all Soviet advisors to the KMT included Galen and Borodin.
• Stalins switched his support to the CCP, inciting the Autumn Harvest Uprising in Nanchang in August 1927.
• Later in Canton, both were complete failures.
• Over 300,000 people dided in the ensuing anti-Communist suppresion.

CCP forced to Flee

• The CCP was forced to flee from the Urban areas of China, with many Communists like Mao setting up the soviets in Jiangxi and Hunan provinces.
• This transformed the Communist Party's base of support from the urban proletariat to the rural peasantry.
• Old CCP leaers like Chen Duxiu were discredited and lost their leadership roles to Zhu De and Mao, both leaders of the biggest CCP army groups.

Mao Zedong and the emergence of the Chinese Communist Party

Early Stages (1921-1927)

• The CCP had its origins in the May 4th Movement which encouraged many Chinese intellectuals to turn to new ideologies like Marxism/Leninism.
• The Party was co-founded by Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu on 23-31st July 1921 in Shanghai.
• Chen was elected leader.
• The Party was declared to be part of the Comintern.
• The Comintern provided $5,000 per year in support.
• Under pressure from the USSR, the CCP joined with the Kuomintang forming the First United Front against the warlords.
• Mao Zedong was a delegate at the first Party Conference but did not get on with the CCP leadership of Chen Duxiu, disliking their intellectualism and focus on cities.
• In 1925, he was excluded from the CCP Central Committee and was attracted to the Rural Communism of Peng Pai.

Civil War & WW2 (1927-1949)

• In 1927, Cheng Kai-shek turned on the Communists massacring over 5000 in Shanghai.
• By July, the Kuomintang had expelled all communists from the Party and the CCP was forced to flee to the province of Kiangsi.
• The CCP reacted by founding the "Red Army". They reorganised the Party according to democratic centralism forming a Politburo.
• In Oct 1934, surrounded by Kuomintang troops, the CCP was forced to flee on what became "The Long March".
• At the end in Oct 1935, Mao Zedong had taken over leadership of the party.
• In December 1936, at the Xi'an Incident, Chiang was forced to agree a Second United Front with the CCP against the Japanese.
• In July 1937, Japan began their invasion of mainland China.
• By the end of war in August 1945, the CCP controlled over 95 million people.
• Both the CCP and Kuomintang raced to accept the surrender of Japanese held areas.
• By early 1946, civil war had broken out again. 
• The CCP had only 900,000 soldiers vs 2.7 million Kuomintang troops.
• September 1949, most of China was under CCP control.
• Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan.

Ruling Party 1949-present

• The People's Republic of China (PRC) was declared by Mao on 1st October 1949.
• The ideology of PRC was founded on a Sinification of Marxist-Leninist principles.
• It was officially known as "Maoism"/"Mao Zedong Thought"
• During the 1960s, the CCP broke relations with the USSR and began a second "Cultural Revolution" in 1966 against alleged "class enemies".
• Mao died in 1976, resulting in a power struggle between General Secretary Hua Guofeng, Deng Xiaoping and the Gang of Four.
• Deng became the leader of CCP and instigated a reform and process of "Socialism with Chinese characteristics".
• This meant that China would be communist in politics but capitalist in economics.
• Jiang Zemin succeeded Deng after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
• All leaders would continue Deng's modernisation policies.

Sun Yatsen, Chiang Kaishek and the Kuomintang.

Early Stages of Kuomintang 1894-1913

• The Kuomintang began life as the "Revive China Society" founded in 1894 by Dr. Sun Yatsen, a proponent of Chinese nationalism and democracy. 
• In 1905, Sun joined forces with other anti-Qing groups to form the Tongmenhui (Revolutionary Alliance) who planned and supported the 1911 revolution.
• In August 1912, the Kuomintang was formed with Sun elected as Party Chairman.
• It was based on 3 principles ; Nationalism, Democarcy and People's Livelihood.
• That was written by Sun in 1903 as part of the Nationalist Movement. 
• The Kuomintang won an overwhelming majority in elections to the National Assembly in December 1912.
• The Kuomintang was banned by Yuan Shikai in November 1913 and Sun was forced to flee to Japan.

Re-establishment of Kuomintang 1919-1925

• 1919, Shanghai, the Kuomintang was reformed and established its headquarters in Guangdong province.
• 1923, Kuomintang accepted aid from USSR after being denied recognisiton by Western Powers.
• Soviet Comintern advisers like Michael Borodin arrived with aid and weapons, reforming the Kuomintang along the lines of the CPSU with a Leninist structure. 
• Michael created the National Revolutionary Army as the Kuomintang needed their own army.
• Some elements withtin the Kuomintang were landlords or from business classes.
• Therefore, the Kuomintang remained wary of the CCP. 
• 1923, The CCP was instructed by the Comintern to unite with Kuomintang to establish the "United Front" to fight the warlords and reunite with China.
• At the Kuomintang's first party congress in 1924, Sun's political theory was adopted which included the Three Principles.

Victory 1925-1928

• Sun died in 1925 who was replaced with Chiang Kaishek who was the superintendent of the Whampoa Military Academy in Canton. He had near complete control of the military.
• Chiang launched the Northern Expedition in 1926 to defeat the warlords of Northern China and unite the country.
• The Northern Expedition 1926
• He led the Northern Expedition to crush the warlords.
• 50,000 troops of the National Revolutionary Army marched out of Guangzhou.
• In Hunan, peasants flocked to join the army organised by Mao.
• In 1927, a split emerged in the Kuomintang. 
• The left wing under Wang Jing Wei with the CCP and disagreed with Chiang over strategy.
• The right wing under Chinag Kai-shek.
• A power struggle exists within the Kuomintang.
• Chiang responded by massacring Communists in Shanghai.
• Shanghai Massacre 1927
• The CCP organised workers' union in central and Southern China.
• In Shanghai, there was a general strike organised by Zhou Enlai.
• The CCP had paralysed Shanghai in terms of movement due to the strike.
• Foreign troops were ready to crush the CCP.
• Chiang worried about the rapid growth of CCP strength and power.
• As a result, Chiang supported the massacre of CCP in Shanghai.
• By the end of 1927, Kuomintang had reunited and was under his control. 
• Chiang finally took Beijing in 1928 and led a new unified government based in Nanjing.
• It lasted until 1937.

May 4th Movement

May Fourth Movement

Causes :

• Intellectual Revolution 1917 - 1921

- New intelligentsia of 5 million by 1919, educated in western type schools as a result of the Hundred Days Reforms in 1898.

- Elite who attended school abroad were concentrated in coastal cities. As a result, there was urban population growth eg Shanghai. It was the emergence of bourgeoisie political force.

- The West were seen as a solution to China's problems.

New Youth Magazine

- Magazine founded by Chen Duxiu in 1915.

- Became focal point for all out assault on Confucianism, regarded as a fundamental cause of China's weaknesses.

- Social Darwinism was regarded as old and the rotten are incessantly eliminated to be replaced by the fresh and the living. It supports the idea that the youth is strong and the old is weak.

- It gives the idea that the society is sick, Chinese society is sick and should die, New Society should be born.

- The First magazine was called "The Way Of Confucius and Modern Life" by Chen Duxiu. 

     - It denounced restrictions on women and women's rights. 

     - It advocates that Confucius lived in a feudal age.

     - Essays attacking all Confucius ideas were posted.

Language & Literature Reform

- Classical Chinese (wen yuan) was replaced by the vernacular (baihua)

- From 1910, there was an outpouring of urban popular fiction.

- They plan to overthrow the painted, powdered literature of the aristocratic few, and create the plain, simple literature of the people.

- This movement sprang from disillusionment with traditional Chinese culture following the failure of the Chinese Republic to address China's problems.

- Led by scholars like Chen Duxiu, the movement created a desire for change across China.

- Lu Xun, another scholar, abandoned a medical career to awaken the Chinese people.

- Many key works of Western philosphy were translated.

• Impact of WW1 

- In 1917, China had joined WW1 on the Allied side, with the condition that all German spheres of influence in China (Shandong province), be returned to China.

- American advocacy of self-determination at the Versailles Conference was attractive to Chinese intellectuals, so the failure to award China Shandong province was seen as a betrayal.

- China declared war with Germany on March 1917. 

- They did not send troops to Germany. They sent 140,000 workers to work on the Western Front. 40,000 worked for the French, 100,000 worked for the Brits. 

- Their jobs were to carry trunks and risk their lives on the trenches. 

- They were known as Chinese Labour Corps, a.k.a China's forgetten army.

- They were treated by the British and the French as they were racist. 

- 10,000 died from Shelling, poor treatment and the flu pandemic of 1918. 

Events :

• They May 4th Movment was the name given to an explosion of yearning for change and national rebirth, particularly amongst the young students.
• In 1919, news reached people in China that the Allies at the Versailles Peace Conference in Paris were planning to allow Japan to keep the German concessions in Shandong province.
• Students at Beijing University began an explosive protest. 
• On Sunday 4th May, 3000 students from 13 colleges assembled in Tiananmen Square.
• They demanded their government assert itself against the Japanese.
• They wrecked the houses of the goverment minister responsible for the treaty.
• A city-wide student union was then established devoted to change; the May Fourth Movement.
• This was replicated across China in cities like Shanghai, Wuhan and Tianjin.
  

Effects :

• Protests

- The rising tide of protest prevented the Chinese delegation from accepting the terms of the treaty.

- China refused to sign however Japan still had control of Shandong.

• Cultural Turning Point

- The movement proved that China's social classes could successfully collaborate given proper motivation and leadership.

- Traditional Chinese values began to be questioned.

- People became more willing to support the change from the warlords.

• Intellectual Turning Point

- The movement encouraged many people to become more political.

- It showed that Western-styled democracy was the wrong path to take.

- It hypocritically ignored China's pleas for fairness.

• Marxism

- Political revolutionary theory of Karl Marx and assissted by Freidrich Engles.

- This encouraged many Chinese intellectuals to turn to new ideologies like Marxism.

- Working class rise up and overthrow Capitalist bosses.

- Formation of the CCP in 1921.

1911 Revolution

1911 Revolution : 10th October 1911

Causes :

• Decay of the Qing government

- The Emperors of the Qing dynasty was weak and corrupt.
- Troop morale was low. Because of that, they have lost a series of defeats to foreign powers.
- People lost confidence in the Manchu rule

• Role of Cixi

- The Empress Dowager was deeply unpopular and opposed reforms like Self-Strengthening Movements and Hundred Days Reform.

• Political Decentralisation

- The Provinces of China was weakly controlled by Beijing

• Growth of Nationalist Movement

- Dr Sun Yatsen, a Methodist scholar who had studied abroad returned to China disgusted to see how little progress had been made to develop China.
- In 1894, he led the Revive China Movement, campaigning for modernisation and re-establishment of national power in China.
- In 1903, he released the Three People's Principles ; Nationalism, Democracy and People's Livelihood.
- Revolutionaries supported this giving Dr Sun the ability to form the Tongmenhui revolutionary political group in 1905.
- This group quickly gained popularity and seriously threatened the political stability of China.
- However it also became considered a dangerous revolutionary movement and paved the way for much local political violence and revolt.
- They supported the Anti-Qing revolution and later joined the Sichuan uprising in September 1911, which quickly led to revolution.

- Dr Sun organised 8 uprisings in 1911.

• The Railway problem

- Protests broke out when the government tried to nationalise (take over) regional railways in an attempt to gain revenue and control local authorities.

- This was strongly opposed by provincial authorities especially in Sichuan because the gentry, landowners, and merchants had all invested money in railways.
- Railway Protection Societies was formed which the government tried to suppress with force.
- This intensified anti-Qing feelings and led to a series of violent revolts across the country.

• Education

- Many Chinese students went abroad to places such as Britain, Japan and America to study. 

- They return with heavily influenced by outside knowledge, policies and ideas.

- Some of these scholars were angered by how China was underdeveloped compared to Western societies.

- These scholars pushed for modernisation in China.

• Foreign power and abuse (Opium wars)

- 1839 - 1860, Britain, France and China fought two opium wars, fuelled by Britain's desire to sell Indian Opium in China for huge profits.

- China was badly beaten and forced into unequal treaties, in which China was made to accept missionaries, allow foreign concessions and give ports to foreign powers. 

- In these concessions, foreigners had their own infrastructure, police and courts to keep power over the Chinese.

- Many employed Chinese workers, causing huge socioeconomic disruption in China as villagers moved into cities, leading to overcrowding, shortages and poor living conditions.

- These treaties gave foreign forces huge power from within China, opening trade routes and the ability to live without Chinese interference.

- These unfair terms of these treaties along with the humiliation of defeat and forced submission to foreign powers fuelled resentment in the Chinese people.

• Bomb explosion

- There was a bomb explosion in revolutionary headquarters in Hankou, 9th October. 

- The military governor fled and other cities began to join the revolt, in support of the revolutionaries and Dr. Sun Yatsen's modern, political ideas. 

- Within a month, 20 cities had collapsed and all of the Southern China fell to revolutionaries.

Events :

• An uprising in Wuchang was planned by revolutionaries for 16th October 1911.
• There was a bomb explosion in the revolutionary headquarters in Hankou on the 9th of October. This lead to police arriving at the scene which they found the list of the revolutionary membership.
• As a result, the uprising was brought forward to the 10th October 1911. 
• The uprising was unplanned and disorganised. By the morning of 11th October, the entire city of Wuchang had been captured.
• A "Military Government of Hubei of Republic of China" was created and led by Li Yuanhong, the assistant commander of the New Army.
• 15 other provinces quickly declared their independence from the Qing Dynasty.
• On the 1st of November, the Qing government appointed Yuan Shikai as the prime minister of the imperial cabinet.
• He was the leader of the Beiyang army and represented the Qing dynasty's last hope.
• On 25th December 1911, Dr. Sun returned to China and was elected President of the Chinese Republic.
• On 1st January 1912, Republic of China was declared.
• Yuan Shikai was offered the position of President of the New Republic of China. 
• In return, Yuan Shikai was to persuade the Emperor Puyi to abdicate, which he did on the 12th of February. 
• Yuan Shikai was inaugurated as the Second Provisional President of the Republic of China in Beijing on 10th March 1912. 

Effects :

• End of Dynastic System

- The revolution ended the Qing Dynasty and imperial rule which had existed for over 2000 years.

- The Republic was a new form of government and a milestone in Chinese history.

• The Failure of Democracy (The Presidency of Yuan Shikai 1912-1916)

- November 1912, Sun, Song and Huang set up the Guomindang (People's National Party)

- Elections of 1913 Feb, GMD won the majority of seats in the National Assembly. (43% of votes)

- December, GMD won 269 out of 569 seats in the House Of Representatives. 

- Yuan Shikai was not keen on sharing power with a parliament dominated by Dr. Sun's party.

- Real democracy could not be established. 

- Yuan Shikai ignored the constitution, became a dictator and even tried to restore the monarchy.

     - 12 out of 18 provinces were under his control. 

     - Military governors in these provinces were made sure that they stayed loyal to Yuan. 

     - Yuan orders bloody repression. 

     - Yuan negotiates foreign loans, supported European powers which wanted a strong government in China to protect their trading interests there.

• Lack of Social Improvement

- Little attention was paid to the economy or social reform so China still remained weak.

- In additon, Japan seized German territories in Shandong and economic privileges after the outbreak of World War One.

- Japan demanded control of many of China's factories, railways and ports.

- People were naturally outraged by the 21 Demands.

• Increased Foreign Aggression  

- Although the New Republic was recognised by most of the world.

- Many foreign powers like Japan still forced China to sign unequal treaties like the 21 Demands in January 1915. 

- China was still weak internationally.

Additional Information : What was Russia like in 1905?

Additional Information 

• Difficult to Govern.
• Russia covered 1/6 of the world's land surface.
• Population of 125 million people.
• Many different nationalities ; ethnic groups.
• Autocratic ruling
• Omnipotent authority ; could pass any laws he wanted at anytime.
• No parliament and all political parties are banned.
• Received advice from ministers that he handpicked strictly from the "nobility" class.
• No opposition to the Tsar.
• Extreme censorship of the press and publications.
• Brutal secret police service, Okhrana, they helped eliminate all political oppositions.
• Most opposition groups were exiled to Siberia.
• Overruling of upperclass and nobility.
• Nobles formed 0.1% of the Russian population.
• However, they owned 25% of land.
• Middle class (bourgeoisie) formed following the industrialisation and demanded democracy.
• Peasants
• 80% of Russian population were peasants.
• Old-fashioned farming methods and poor crops meant that food shortages were a norm.
• Lack of technology and infrastructure meant that Russia was well behind.
• Living conditions were horrible.
• Unsanitary - epidemic of diseases were frequent.
• Cramped - most families had to share 1 room.