History of the People's Republic of China (1949–1976)

The time period from October 1949 until September 1976 is known in the history of the People's Republic of China as Red China.

 Before 1949 

 Chinese Civil War 
Since 1921, the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Communist Party of China (CPC) were helping each other to unify China, which had divided into small groups known as Warlords.

In 1927, after the death of Sun Yat-sen, former leader of the KMT, they began to disagree with each other, until Chiang Kai-shek killed CPC people while the CPC betrayed the KMT by founding our own chinese republic (Chinese Soviet Republic), starting the Chinese Civil War.

 Second United Front 
In 1937, the KMT and CCP decided to stop fighting and fight against Japan. The Japanese Army had been invading and conquering parts of China since 1931; forming the Second United Front.

 End of the Anti-Japanese War 
In August 1945, the KMT and the CPC with help of the Soviet Union, United States and United Kingdom, kick the Japan out of the China and the japanese forces surrender.

After the World War II, the KMT and the CPC had tried to make the peace and create a united government in China, but the both of the sides don't agreed with other, starting again the Chinese Civil War in 1946.

 Early years of the People's Republic (1949 - 1952) 

 Foundation of the People's Republic of China 
In October 1949, Mao Zedong, main communist leader since 1930s, create the People's Republic of China after a discuss in Beijing, the new capital of the China. The KMT, also know as nationalists, flee to Taipei and moves the Republic of China to Taiwan.

Also, since 1949 until 1960, Some nationalists troops continued in mainland China, fighting against the People's Republic of China and your army.

 Post-War China 
In 1950, for the first time since the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, China had a time of peace for start your reconstruction from the damage caused by the Chinese Civil War and the World War II. So, Mao Zedong started the Land Reform and the collectivisation of land.

 Korean War 
In 1950, North Korean forces invaded South Korea. The UN sent forces to help South Korea and stop North Korea's advance. With the help of the UN, South Korea managed to capture large chunks of land and invade North Korea.

The Chinese warned that if the UN and South Koreans invaded North Korea, they would send help to North Korea. General Douglas MacArthur ignored the warning and China sent troops to help North Korea which easily reversed the war again.

In 1953 the Korean War was stopped with a small armistice of peace between both sides.

 Consolidation of the Chinese Communist Party (1953 - 1965) 
The chinese help to North Korea in the Korean War delayed China's postwar reconstruction. 

A few months after Mao Zedong created the PRC, he sent some diplomats to Moscow, but was received coldly, as Stalin and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union did not trust Communism followed by the PRC.

 The chinese atomic bomb 
In 1964 the People's Republic of China tested your own atomic bomb in Xinjiang.

 The "Great Leap Forward" 
The Chairman Mao Zedong in 1958 declared a plan for the fast industrialization of the China and it ended in 1961. The Great Leap Forward failed to bring industrialization and the famine that it created killed millions of people. Some people think it to be the biggest famine in history.

 Cultural Revolution (1966 - 1976) 
After the failure of the Great Leap Forward, Mao Zedong sought to eliminate all liberal or revisionist opposition within the Chinese Communist Party, which increasingly disagreed with Mao's actions. Known as Cultural Revolution, was started in 1966 and ended it in 1976, after Mao's death.

 Mao's Death 
Mao had been in poor health for several years and had declined visibly for at least six months prior to his death. There are unconfirmed reports that he possibly had ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. Mao's last public appearance was on 27 May 1976, where he met the visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto during the latter's one-day visit to Beijing.

At around 5:00PM on 2 September 1976, Mao suffered a heart attack, far more severe than his previous two and affecting a much larger area of his heart. Three days later, on 5 September, Mao's condition was still critical. On the afternoon of 7 September, Mao's condition completely deteriorated. Mao's organs failed quickly and he fell into a coma shortly before noon where he was put on life support machines. He was taken off life support over 12 hours later, quarter to midnight and was pronounced dead at 12:08 am on 9 September 1976.

His body lay in state at the Great Hall of the People. There was a three-minute silence observed during this service. His body was later placed into the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, despite his wishes to be cremated and he had been one of the first high-ranking officials to sign the "Proposal that all Central Leaders be Cremated after Death" in November 1956.

 Hua Guofeng's Government (1976) 
Hua Guofeng was appointed as Mao Zedong's successor and took office after his death in 1976, Contrary to what many think, Guofeng was Mao's de facto successor, before Deng Xiaoping.

Guofeng also decreed the end of the Cultural Revolution, arrested the Gang of Four, opened diplomatic relations for the first time with Europe and the Americas and was the forerunner of the economic reforms that would later be carried out by Deng Xiaoping.

From 1978 until 1981, most of the Chinese Communist Party began to pressure Hua Guofeng to leave his post, which happened in June 1981.

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 References 

Category:History of the People's Republic of China