| Contents of lectures |
At the beginning of the 20th century, the painful realization of the backwardness and stagnation of Chinese society—compounded by the humiliations inflicted upon China by Japan, the United States, Germany, Russia, Great Britain, France, and others, as well as the persistent conflict between tradition and modernity—gave rise to a liberation and revolutionary movement. This movement reached its full strength in 1911 and 1919. On May 4, 1919, a "new China" was born, increasingly dominated by ideas of evolution, revolution, progress, and freedom. Profound changes took place in the cultural sphere.
This course will cover the following topics: World War I and China; China’s struggles in the economic, cultural, military, demographic, and scientific realms; the civil war; the Long March; Japanese aggression and the establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo; World War II and China; the second civil war; the birth of modern China; the Korean War; China and Western powers; "one country, two systems"; the "black cat and white cat" concept, etc. |
