Military History: Warlord Era

Essay Instructions:

double spaced ; Times New Roman 12

For the second essay assignment, you are required to write an historical essay addressing one of the following three topics. Once you decide on a topic, you should read the required articles for each topic as well as relevant chapters in the Search for Modern China. The purpose of this assignment is to give you an opportunity to read some important secondary articles on modern China. Historical studies is a continuous process of knowledge building through empirical inquiry into the past. By reading these scholarly articles you will be able to take a closer look at the realities of the past. You should read the required articles carefully and figure out their main arguments. Then you will be able to reconstruct the contents to make your own cases in answer to the given questions. Length: 7-8 pages Due Date: December 5th in the Dropbox on the Avenue Title: Running Head with a Sub-title (as in the first essay assignment) Footnotes: Follow the format as observed in the required articles below.

Topic #1: Social History: Shanghai in the 1920s-30s: Based on your reading of the following two articles and relevant chapters in the Search for Modern China, describe what life would have been like for ordinary people in Shanghai during the 1920s and 1930s considering competing forces of the Shanghai Underworld (the Green Gang), the Nationalist government, and Shanghai imperialists in foreign concession areas. Hanchao Lu, "Becoming Urban: Mendicancy and Vagrants in Modern Shanghai," Journal of Social History, Vol. 33, No. 1 (Autumn, 1999), pp. 7-36. Brian G. Martin, “The Green Gang and the Guomindang State: Du Yuesheng and the Politics of Shanghai, 1927-37,” The Journal of Asian Studies, Feb., 1995, Vol. 54, No. 1 (Feb., 1995), pp. 64-92. T

opic #2: Military History: Warlord Era Based on the reading of the following two articles and relevant chapters in the SMC, explain who the warlords were, what they were up to, what were their problems, what life would have been under a warlord regime in China. Edward A. McCord, “Cries That Shake the Earth: Military Atrocities and Popular Protests in Warlord China,” Modern China, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Jan., 2005), pp. 3-34. Arthur Waldron, “The Warlord: Twentieth-Century Chinese Understandings of Violence, Militarism, and Imperialism,” The American Historical Review, Oct., History 2MC3, Fall, 2021 2 1991, Vol. 96, No. 4 (Oct., 1991), pp. 1073-1100

Topic #3: Political History: The Anti-Rightist Campaign (1957-1959). Based on your reading of the following three articles (one long and two brief articles) and relevant chapters in the SMC, explain why the CCP government suppressed political dissent and what consequences this political campaign brought about in the further course of Chinese history. Yen-lin Chung, "The Witch-Hunting Vanguard: The Central Secretariat's Roles and Activities in the Anti-Rightist Campaign," The China Quarterly, No. 206 (JUNE 2011), pp. 391-411. Chen Ziming and Caroline Mason, "The 'Active Rightists' of 1957 and Their Legacy: 'Right-wing Intellectuals,' Revisionists,and Rights Defenders," China Perspectives, No. 4 (72) (2007), pp. 39-50. Yu Jianrong and Stacy Mosher, "The Two Stages of the Re-education Through Labour System: From Tool of PoliticalStruggle to Means of

Essay Sample Content Preview:

Military History: Warlord Era
Student’s Name
Institution
Course Number and Name
Instructor’s Name
Date
Military History: Warlord Era
The mention of the Republic of China undoubtedly evokes immense interest, in foes and friends, in equal measure. Since time immemorial, the Chinese have had a strong sense of history. In addition, the country has undertaken every conceivable effort to cut a niche for itself globally, despite a wide array of adversities. This has earned the friends and foes in equal proportions. China ranks as one of the largest countries in the world, with a population of around 1.45 billion people. This constitutes 18.47% of the world's total population (Worldometer, 2022). In addition, the country has the enviable distinction of being the most powerful country in Asia, besides being a world superpower. However, all has not been smooth sailing since its inception as a republic in 1912. In the early 20th century, China was beset with internal and widespread struggles and turmoil (ChinaKnowledge.de, n.d.). For instance, the founding president, Yuan Shikai, faced tremendous opposition from his detractors when he tried to revive the Chinese monarchy. Among the detractors that rejected this move were several groups of Northern and Southern warlords, who later contested with each other for power. These contests occasioned far-reaching consequences on Chinese citizens and the country as a whole. For instance, some citizens had their property stolen or burnt, while others were brutally maimed (McCord, 2005). To have an in-depth understanding of the impact of the warlords, it is crucial to ventilate who they were, what they were up to, and what their problems were.
The Chinese Warlords
Before the Sino-Japanese war, which ended in 1895, China had no national army. That being the case, each of the Chinese provinces had its independent military outfits. They were answerable only to the provincial authority, and their remunerations came from the provincial revenues (GlobalSecurity.Org, 2011). Besides being poorly remunerated, the military outfits were poorly equipped, without any military training or experienced officers and generals. These facts constrained the ruling Qing dynasty to establish a modern army that would be distinguishable from the corrupt and incompetent military establishments (Huan et al., 2021). The new army leader was General Yuan Shikai, who adopted Western-style training methods and modern weaponry.
Yuan Shikai went on to become the founding president after the revolution, which forced the Qing dynasty out of power. The revolution later devolved into depredations that straddled the entire country in what was known as the "warlord era," which spanned from 1916-1928. The era was precipitated by the death of Yuan Shikai, whereby local leaders ruthlessly contended for power. These local leaders were referred to as warlords, a relatively new term in China (Waldron, 1991). Apparently, the first person to use it was Chen Duxiu, who published a weekly journal known as Meizhou Pinglun.
Consequently, the warlords fragmented China by establishing regional military governments. Most of the Chinese warlords were army Generals or political figures who had served in the Yuan's govern...

Updated on January 26, 2024

Get the Whole Paper!

Not exactly what you need?

Do you need a custom essay? Order right now:

Order

Military History: Warlord Era

You Might Also Like Other Topics Related to war essays: