Communists, Nationalists, and China's Revolutions: Crash Course World History #37

In which John Green teaches you about China's Revolutions. While the rest of the world was off having a couple of World Wars, China was busily uprooting the dynastic system that had ruled there for millennia. Most revolutions have some degree of tumult associated with them, but China's 20th-century revolutions were REALLY disruptive. In 1911 and 1912, Chinese nationalists brought 3000 years of dynastic rule to an end. China plunged into chaos as warlords staked out regions of the country for themselves. The nationalists and communists joined forces briefly to bring the nation back together under the Chinese Republic, and then they quickly split and started fighting the Chinese Civil War. The fight between nationalists and communists went on for decades and was interrupted by an alliance to fight the invading Japanese during World War II. After World War II ended, the Chinese Civil War was back on. Mao and the communists were ultimately victorious, and Chiang Kai-Shek ended up in Taiwan. And then it got weird. Mao spent years repeatedly trying to purify the Communist Party and build up the new People's Republic of China with Rectifications, Anti Campaigns, Five Year Plans. the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution. These had mixed results, to say the least. John will cover all this and more in this week's Crash Course World History.
Chapters:
Introduction: China's Revolutions 00:00
Calls for Reform in China 0:58
An Open Letter to Sun Yat Sen 1:33
Overthrowing the Qing Dynasty 2:38
The Guomindang and the Chinese Communist Party 3:44
Mao Establishes the People's Republic of China 6:09
China's Soviet-inspired Five Year Plans 8:11
China's Cultural Revolution 9:52
Credits 11:30
Resources:
The Search for Modern China by Jonathan D. Spence bit.ly/3rLxlCL
Blood Red Sunset: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Ma Bo bit.ly/3EjstK4
Crash Course is on Patreon! You can support us directly by signing up at / crashcourse
Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet?
Facebook - / youtubecrashcourse
Twitter - / thecrashcourse
Instagram - / thecrashcourse
CC Kids: / crashcoursekids

[@jonathanallison785]

Im currently sitting at home in Shanghai, China watching your video. Thanks VPN

[@jonathanallison785]

yeah

[@b19931228]

Jonathan Allison Currently sitting home in Taipei, no circumvention technology required to watch this video.

[@NickWebster]

+Arnold de Wit Hola is a bad idea. It turns your computer into a bot.

[@bluetiger2002]

Me too, haha vpn就是好

[@tropicislands1114]

Lol

[@rcmini1000]

John Green, if I get a 5 or higher in my IB history exams, I will read looking for Alaska.

[@Rheologist]

Ricardo Conde im so screwed

[@sm0rk53]

Same

[@reapersintaki6634]

If you think about it, its your fault for deciding to do HOA

[@Rheologist]

reaper sintaki it's a requirement for IB at my school 😭

[@alphadragonn3685]

what did you get?

[@Rheologist]

Apparently everyone watching this is either using a vpn in China or studying for an exam

[@rastas4766]

I am literally studying for an exam RIGHT NOW.

[@mesdw4334]

can't access their history in their own motherland.

[@arlene5990]

lol

[@yiwang2922]

No I am Chinese who is watching in Malaysia yay

[@sarahhe.5455]

I am a Chinese watching this for fun in Canada lol

[@hmmmhmmm6917]

i watched this in China using VPN :D in our school

[@BBC.Radio1]

You know, you could make a business out of teaching people how to get over the firewall.

[@derektroutman4793]

Same

[@hashimahmed6773]

it is hard to believe that a Fin (Finnish) who lives in china and goes school there exist btw your name gave it away

[@Epicdino2912]

+Hashim Ahmed was thinking the same thing but he could possibly be an exchange student

[@hmmmhmmm6917]

im half Chinese half finnish does that explain everything ?:)

[@jcchen5356]

One correction: Guangdong is not a city. It is a province. It's capital Guangzhou is a city.

[@AlmightyAaron0423]

JC Chen nobody cares

[@xiaozhang7103]

@@AlmightyAaron0423 based on the amount of likes, people clearly do.

[@kianh.76]

@@AlmightyAaron0423 it's reached 235 likes now haha yes

[@ScareSans]

@Wy123 281 likes. get dunked on.

[@kevinj.3310]

@@AlmightyAaron0423 at least i care because well facts matters

[@eveningrice]

Some things that you guys should know that John didn't explicitly say: 1. The alliance that was formed between the Guomindang and the CCP in 1923 was called the First United Front. 2. After Sun Yat-sen died in 1925, Chaing Kai-shek attempted to purge the communists in what is known as the 'White Terror'. 3. There was a second alliance known as the Second United Front between the communists and the nationalists in 1937-1941 in an attempt to stop Japan from invading. Great Video John Green. It really helped me remember stuff

[@suzumiyaharuhi3438]

Indeed, CCP agreed to the visions and proposals of SYS, therefore he remained the "father" of PRC even till now. On the other hand, nowadays TW politicians are denying the contributions of SYS and even considering Japanese invasion to be benevolent.

[@hongeast5174]

SYS want rebulit KMT as a Lenin style socialist party, and adopt socialism ideology. That's why CPC agreed to merge into KMT. SYS in his final life is a socialist. However not all the old KMT agree to switch to socialism. The KMT adopted socialism for compromise because of SYS's great reputation in the party. So when SYS died, the old KMT's split into right wing(nationalism) and left wing(socialism) is inevitable.

[@ryhanzfx1641]

Arikawanda Lol are you kidding? The communist backstab the nationalist after 1945! The KMT already give them a compromise to let them form their own wing Kuomintang faction, but they kept resisting!

[@oc6617]

+Arikawanda Are you a mainlander? You provided no more evidence than Raiyhan did. All both of you did was state your own opinions. No sources/links/etc to back up either of your points. I'm ethnically Chinese too btw, if that helps any.

[@junkscience6397]

the Communists, from the Hangzhou Plenum in 1922 until Chiang crushed the uprising in 1927 and pushed them into the hills for years, were forced by Stalin's Comintern representatives, especially Marin, to publicly join the KMT (but still SECRETLY organize Communist cells within the KMT.) They all had to swear a KMT oath promising not to belong to any other Party, and every CCP member, from Chen Duxiu to Mao Zedong, promised they would NOT do exactly what they planned to do! That's the perfidy of the Communists. They LIE, CHEAT and STEAL if it helps them get closer to their murderous totalitarian goals!

[@99mrslang]

I went to China my Freshman year of high school as an exchange student. One day after school my host brother took me out of his way to show me "old China", and we rode our bikes to the outskirts of town to a small restaurant with bamboo walls and a shingled roof awkwardly crammed between two lifeless concrete structures. Seeing the inside was chilling; it was like stepping into a forgotten world.

[@danzwku]

did you like it?

[@alanlin819]

How old ru

[@jocelynl6875]

“Chilling” “forgotten” sure 🙄 let’s say tht

[@AndrewByrnes1]

i like your writing style.

[@jerryescobedo9263]

Damn are you a writer

[@marcustavern2191]

I've been trying to find a documentary or review of the Chinese civil war that isn't reminiscent of 1950s anti-communist propaganda. This is the only video on youtube I've been able to find that is relatively neutral and honest about its content, without constantly referring to one part or the other as barbaric or whatever bad term you want to insert. Thank you for this video. I appreciate history for the sake of history MUCH more than propaganda I agree with.

[@ramisgoogleacc702]

Jay Blake I read on contradiction first, but thats just me.

[@mangamongot]

Am I the only one who always tear up a bit by Johns serious finishing lines? They're so powerful!

[@nanaadu8604]

This man speaks so fast it's like he's rapping. Seriously, someone put a beat behind him and remix the whole video. It would be fyre.

[@ADeeSHUPA]

Nana Adu wkwkwk

[@donttalkcrap]

@itz GliTz to fastly??? .. you means TOO FAST

[@IKanTowtallySpel]

To everyone like myself studying for AP World, good freakin luck.

[@williamhoganson4995]

+Vincent Mangano Thanks

[@13Day131]

good luck to you too 😭

[@christinale1700]

amen

[@salvadorpereyra3795]

+Vincent Mangano Literal test tomorrow and i'm not ready to fail my class :) Good luck to everyone else though who actually applied themselves! Hopefully your essays will get you that passing score or higher!

[@martinconway8174]

yep, i have this test on wednesday........ tomorrow

[@Life_Weekend]

Sun Yat-sen is still considered as the founding father today in mainland China. In high school history book, it is also taught so.

[@cragnog]

i do love your ability to summarise an encyclopedia's worth of info into 12 enjoyable minutes

[@CaptainSkeletor]

Damn...sometimes I just have to pause in life and really think about the amazing things that I can choose to partake in. The access of this kind of information is truly astonishing. I'm so lucky to live in this time! Thank you Crash Course!

[@Titoyayo02]

Im from Spain and your videos helped me a lot for the school, thank you so much for making awesome and interesting videos.

[@KkllerSnake]

God Bless all, T - 13 hours until the AP World Exam. good luck all

[@emhamp303]

😓😓😩 u too man

[@floridianzach2277]

+HaZerD Same m8 Ap world in 9nth is spooky good luck

[@ScareSans]

@Zach Hohl good luck in "ninnth" XD

[@ambergong7201]

I started to want to throw in the half of the video because I start to really the stories my mother and grandmother told me. This wasn't even history for them, it is their childhood, adulthood. The sick feeling of the pain they suffered. I could not even imagined.

[@t1isdream]

silver gong Learn from their experience and never let what happen to you mom and grandmon ever happen to you or your children. :)

[@Gunnarr123abc]

silver gong Maybe you can share these stories

[@mikuhatsunegoshujin]

They are just stories, I'm not sure if you should trust them.

[@corneliali7747]

I feel you. My great grandpa was indirectly killed by the communist party because he was a "bourgeoisie" ( he owned a small convenience store)

[@rockmakesme]

Why don't you make a video about the "new China", concerning Deng Xiaopeng and his reforms? How far was the Chinese communist model kept and how far was it altered? China may look like a capitalist country today, but there is a lot more behind it.

[@ronnierayavila5635]

China a Democratic- Proletariativation

[@popopop984]

Tiananmen Square Massacre

[@VWYL900802]

Finally! You nailed everything about PRC and the Republic! Very few foreigners can nail our history with that well understanding!

[@loganulery9863]

THANKS! Last minute preparations for AP exam these are a life saver!!!

[@PrimusProductions]

I wonder how Sun Yat-sen would react to the situation in Asia today.

[@zeiitgeist]

Doesn't matter since his 2nd (not counting Kaoru Otsuki) wife Soong Ching Ling (one of the Soong sisters) joined the Communist Party. Lots of people don't know much about Sut-Yat Sen dealings with underground triads/cults (look for the triad three rituals), warlords (e.g. Yuan Shikai), he ran to Japan to *"study"* (forming the TongMengHui), criminal acts and accumulated wealth from oversea Chinese to buy weapons, better yet he divorced his first wife without reason after he married a 13 years old Japanese Girl against her father's wishes and had a child with her then returned to China while she was still pregnant. Lastly, his right hand Chiang Kai Shek (fascist nut-job) and nutty wife, Soong May Ling who loved power so much that she went against her sisters. Moreover, Taiwan, Kinmen and Matsu (they always forget about Kinmen and Matsu =_=||| ) in short the Republic of China only got their democracy after 1988 with a new crazy party called DPP (Democratic Progressive Party). Also know this the three principles of KMT is Nationalism, Socialism (not democracy), Social welfare of the proletariat. Furthermore, the KMT had so much in-fighting and defecting personnel (at one point communist members and KMT members switch between each side). However, if it was Song Jiaoren (founder of KMT and president which after his death deteriorate into power struggles) that was alive than maybe something would be different.

[@andrewchang6143]

zeiitgeist You do realize the DPP has won the presidential election only once since its inception and that very president is now in jail for life because of laundering money...

[@zeiitgeist]

Yes I am aware, but I do hope they do not get the upper hand ever again if KMT makes poor decisions in future solely on their vision.

[@andrewchang6143]

zeiitgeist I agree.

[@arthurxie1655]

Sun Yat-Sen will never let China fall into parts. Taiwan would be united.

[@FlandraLabs]

I watched this in China. When one has a need, one will always find a way to satisfy it. Love watching ya John :) Loving it in China, Eric

[@johnarbuckle2619]

Eric Jiang love you Eric

[@FlandraLabs]

The Anime Drummer EYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY SAMMMMMMMMMM

[@TheAwesomePieGuy]

11:28 Thank goodness for VPNs! Good to meet someone else who live in China!

[@catice1205]

In fact,a huge part of Taiwan's economy comes from Chinese traveller....

[@skyacaniadev2229]

They would be quickly overrun and shoveled into the ocean if anyone would let this happen...

[@sran438]

I just went on a crash course marathon cause I’m a sucker for history and John Green’s comedy.

[@rng7486]

That Mortal Instruments reference at 0:43 though. Nice one, John.

[@passionforlearning5099]

Thank you so much Crashcourse for all the help! You were a lifesaver for me during history classes, and I hope that my own learning/help channel can be as helpful and beneficial to students as yours one day.

[@TheCorrectSadists]

Love this channel. I'll practice being awesome today by sharing my favorite video on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks for consolidating history into entertainment for more to enjoy. If you have a chance it would be great if each video came with a website that included references and resources to the information here. I am sure it's a matter of time and cost and value, but if that stops you and you have the resources available in any form I would love to contribute by organizing it, creating the websites and hosting (as well as all the costs involved in hosting and web dev)

[@Koenentom]

Just wanted to show my appreciation! 3 years and it is still a really good video. Really helped me for my politics class

[@donttalkcrap]

3 years? It was made in 2012 You responded in 2019. That is 7 years Your next Crash Course should be Simple Arithmetic

[@adriankai3420]

If there are any IB history testers cramming, good luck

[@pinkusekk]

any predictions on the topics of paper 2?

[@adriankai3420]

@@pinkusekk I'm not a teacher just a tester, but I'm focusing on Mao v Hitler for authoritarian leaders and WWI and WWII

[@sebmontgomery7787]

@@pinkusekk how'd it go

[@mazzinez.f.6071]

Not studying for my papers yet, but doing summer homework for my Junior year. I fear the worst is ahead of me.

[@edgelord0923]

studying for quiz in ib history two thx depew

[@ChinaIcons]

Loved this, thank you John! Please do more crash course videos about China!

[@xiaoyanhuang6664]

OMG, the speed that talk is supper fast. I have to pause for so many time in order to understand what did u say and then move to the next one. However, ur video is helpful😄

[@julesxaxp3745]

Its the night before the AP, and here i am, binge watching all the crash course videos. Good luck, my friends.

[@lettersandnumbers21]

@3:35 "It is a general truism of the world that a thing long scattered will surely unite, and a thing long united will surely scatter."

[@stockholmsyndromeself-trea7517]

How did you manage to find all the archive footage. Amazing.

[@georgelei3537]

Actually most of my friends can see this video in China as it is easy to get a VPN

[@khanhsp]

That's illegal

[@mingyiliu3436]

I am committing crime! ;p

[@Cutter0908]

No name that's not illegal!

[@Eric-eb6gk]

George Lei 舔的好！

[@patrickwilliam344]

Well, as I major in Chinese Law, I have to say that it is never illegal to use a VPN in China, and my Chinese friends told me that in university you even do not need a VPN at all.

[@brucefrizzell4221]

Thank you for the many subtitles .

[@bingbingzhou1405]

Thanks to VPN. And thank you John for providing a point of view of how other world view China. It’s hard to keep an objective view about its current government if you’re living in China due to the internet blocking and massive propagandas.

[@ahmedsaif2598]

Hi John, I really like your videos and the way you present them is lovely. I also appreciate the team working behind the scenes. Would like to see more of them. BTW, could you do a video on the Spanish Inquisition. THANK YOU

[@UnHermitano]

I would like to see you talk about Deng and China between 1980 and today

[@Nestalgba92023]

Not 1978?

[@insatiabletechfetish9843]

Well done, my good man! Keep it up!

[@winniehwm]

I’m so proud that Dr. Sun Yat Sen and I are both Cantonese. In Guangzhou, there’s a memorial hall of him. And until today, many Chinese (including those in Mainland China) still think Dr. Sun is the father of Modern China.

[@erichuang5785]

The failure of the "self-strengthening" was majorly due to the reactionaries in the Qing central authority. The boxer rebelling played only a small part of that.

[@al-sadata.sabtula3680]

Democratic Dictatorship - You get to vote but there is only one choice. Lol

[@al-sadata.sabtula3680]

The point is that there still voting going on. :D

[@wouldyouliketomeetkenbamba9495]

So does the US since the one that voted is actually the state not the people

[@chenyeetoh7024]

Al-Sadat A. Sabtula US democarcy , u get to vote, but two choice.

[@PeterLiuIsBeast]

Actually Democratic Dictatorship is misleading. Read up on Marxism and you'll find something called the dictatorship of the proletariat. In this view the people own the means of production. It does not actually mean rule by one person who is a tyrant.

[@ehomejoe9613]

This vote means that you agree or disagree with this choice.

[@satrap2364]

Appreciate the video Mr. Green you are awesome

[@najeeford923]

Life saving video thank you!!!

[@cristallachesis]

Sorry about Sun and his lack of luck and Warhol portraits - greetings from Beijing after enjoying the US history crash course - well done Dr. Green!

[@vuvuvu6291]

can't watch in my school too... Not because it's blocked, but the internet connection really suck

[@AndrewByrnes1]

lmao

[@gasmaskfacednerd5896]

Lmao

[@daelee772]

Besides climbing the wall...there is also a large number of mainland Chinese studying or traveling abroad that can get access to youtube（the number may exceed some nations' population ). Many colleges and institutions' internal network also have official access to some 'foreign websites' the monitor isn't THAT strict, to be honest, it works like a filter rather than a block...

[@HaydenLau.]

I'm watching this in China

[@sakketin]

Hayden Lau How?

[@HaydenLau.]

Jamming InDaStreets I live in Hong Kong

[@worsethanjoerogan8061]

I was going to guess you were using a VPN, but I guess living in Hong Kong is the easier solution. :D

[@HaydenLau.]

Dean Cutler If it makes you feel better i am also using a vpn. Borading school wifi blocks youtube

[@SilentSniper-zn7eu]

Hayden Lau Rest In Peace then

[@holly.lawton97]

Chairman Meow is a great name for a cat, and I'm thankful that Magnus Bane was a character to do so XD

[@homerchiu]

hats off to you John! (and your team!) As a western history you have an amazing grasp of the Chinese history! (And your pronunciations are surprisingly good too!)

[@muyun9525]

Watch this on May fourth in 2019!100 hundred years😊Science and democracy spirit of this movement！

[@chickentendy9987]

2 days ago it was may 4th 2020

[@xRS23x]

The end left us a good point to reflect on

[@Bribri-us9yh]

This is a great video! Gave me a basic understanding of Chinese history that I didn't have before as well as some explanation about the creation of Taiwan. This region's history has always been somewhat confusing to me, lol! Thanks for clearing it up a bit:)

[@rachelkzhang7971]

I'm an International student from Canada who is in Shanghai, China watching this video at the moment! Thanks to VPN

[@jeremymorrison263]

The script is written by your high-school history teacher! Too awesome! love the videos.

[@MaverickBos2Ny]

Hey CrashCourse! Can you do a video on the history of Tibet? It would be awesome since there are not a lot of sources anymore since it was captured by China.

[@s02229]

I am a Chinese in Hong Kong, i have learnt that the cultural revolution was initiated partly because Mao fell out of power after the unsuccessful Great Leap Forwa and he wanted to regain it by making the one in power Lao miserable, so the motives weren't pure at all

[@succeedinternationel6616]

教科書沒有告訴我們當時中共和中國面臨著多麼大的危機，毛想要力挽狂瀾，可惜他失敗了

[@reubenm.d.5218]

Hi John, I know you're aiming to provide an overview here but I do think you could have been a little more specific about the CCP's role in WWII. Specifically, while it is true that the Communists' guerrilla tactics were more effective than Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-Shek)'s, it's also true that the forces they faced were different. Whilst Jiang faced the vast majority of the IJA's attacks, Mao Zedong and his allies were in the mountainous, rugged, and economically bereft region of Yan'an, in which Japan was uninterested. Thus, the CCP were able to choose their battles (and, when the CCP tried set-piece fighting, such as in the Hundred Regiments Campaign, it went terribly), while the GMD had to fight Japanese along the entirety of the front.

[@callumgraham3978]

This video is great, but it would have been much better if you had mentioned the New Culture and May Fourth Movement. This is quite an omission. Knowledge of these movements is absolutely essential to understanding how many Chinese reformers went from Confucianism to Communism. To put it simply, New Culture intellectuals saw traditional Chinese culture as backward and incapable of meeting China's urgent need to modernize as it suffered from internal disunity and from the pressures placed on it by Western and Japanese imperialism. Instead, they advocated for 'Mr Science' and 'Mr Democracy.' The events of the May Fourth demonstratiion of 1919 themself serves to encapsulate the ethos and essence of the New Culture movement. In reponse to the news from Versailles that the German territorial concessions would not be given back to China but instead to Japan, around 3000 students from China's top universities, such as Peking University, marched and then gathered around the Tiananmen. Li Dazhao, central to the May Fourth and New Culture Movement, went on to form the CCP with Chen Duxiu in 1921. He had served as the librarian of Peking University and one of his assitants was the one and only Mao Zedong! The historian Maurice Mesiner even claimed that New Culture/May Fourth ideology was more important than Marxist Leninism for Mao's ideological motives to launch the Cultural Revolution in 1966. It was because he saw Chinese culture as backward that he wanted to build a new culture. But of course there were political considerations too!

[@alexrator7674]

Between Han and Sui, there are: The Three Kingdoms (wei Shu wu) Jin dynasty Eastern Jin and the sixteen kingdoms The destruction of Jin (some where 400 to 550AD) The north-south wars (or the north south dynasty) Uniting of the kingdoms Rise of Sui dynasty

[@309387421]

Really disappointed he didn't continue to talk about the most important modern revolution, Deng Xiaoping's 1976 Restructuring and Economic Reform. This essentially paved the way for modern Chinese prosperity. Arguably one of the most important, since it's the reason there's McDonalds, IKEA and iPhones in China. Without the reform China wouldn't be much different from North Korea.

[@wenbinjin259]

*1978

[@309387421]

Wenbin Jin yeah thats my bad, thanks bro.

[@blackbox2080]

+Blue Winter and your right, he should continued and discussed about the reform

[@chechenmuslim6446]

Blue Winter You are an idiot

[@wardog_5539]

Shut up liberal

[@MichaelAllenWilder]

Surely CrashCourse would never be biased. /s

[@Mattthechessplayer]

"How can you have a 'Democratic dictatorship,' amirite?" It isn't surprising his high school history teacher wrote this. Actual historians would never spew out such unfounded garbage

[@Krashnachen]

Could you elaborate ?

[@xiaohongchu384]

My Grandfather Chu, Dagao was one of the 8 brave heroes from the Normal University arrested on May 4th 1919. I'll be commemorating that day on the 100 year anniversary next year 2019.

[@archanamohan7424]

Thanks for helping me get my History degree Crash Course!

[@phamdewestriver3623]

Hello, Mr.john, I saw your course in Wangyi first, good that Chinese government didn't block your course. I like your way of introducing history. 8 don't know if wanyyi get your authorized?

[@archvermin]

Am I the only guy who find that angry Chinese lady at 7:40 really scary?

[@heronofheaven]

The whole cultural revolution is far more scarier than that. You can find pictures of thousands of people insulting 5 to 10 victims in a court, and most of the victims were bruised and with a "dog punishment signs".

[@oneapple]

the sad thing that this mad lady/guy happens everywhere in china during cultural revolution

[@LouieConstantine]

HeronOfHeaven muh western propaganda.

[@satavishasen6584]

Exam tommorow. My fav author helps me. AMAZINGGG

[@TheRussellforbes]

High school history would be awesome learning this!

[@rfimor]

In general very good episode but unfortunately with some inaccuracies. It's partly because modern Chinese history is intertwined with propaganda from both the communists and the nationalists. It's oftentimes hard even for native Chinese people to uncover the historical truth. For example, communists were never better at fighting Japanese, but they were better at avoiding Japanese partly because the Imperial Army didn't consider them a serious menace.

[@aachenmann]

The communists were never better at fighting Japanese, but they were better at avoiding Japanese because that's the strategy of Mao and the communists to let the nationalists bear the brunt of fighting the Imperial Army and defending the country so that they can and will fight the weaken nationalists in the future civil war with huge help from the Soviet Red Army. So if the enemy of my enemy is my friend, then no wonder the communists were hiding in the mountains to avoid battle.

[@dixcico5052]

meh, we know the truth, we just don't say it.

[@aachenmann]

meh, you have the right to remain silent as a fly on the wall. But as noted unequivocally in the article of the Diplomat. === The CCP Didn’t Fight Imperial Japan; the KMT Did === thediplomat.com/2014/09/the-ccp-didnt-fight-imperial-japan-the-kmt-did/ Extremely compelling and readable, Lays to rest the charade that the Chinese Communists aggressively battled the Japanese when, in fact, were it not for the Japanese, Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists would likely have defeated Mao and his forces. The PRC today owes the Japanese a debt of gratitude.

[@jessechen6541]

As a Chinese, I totally agree with you. And there were on famous communist party slogan that goes,"10%fight Japanese, 20%brush-off, 70%development." You can clearly tell that they weren't really trying to do that.

[@tommo9176]

what other inaccuracies are there in vid? or is that the only one?

[@joshbowen8052]

China is awesome, although I myself have never been there. My Step-dad is Chinese, and I do enjoy watching these. Crash Course seemed to make my Social Studies class today when I watched this. Although you could actually elaborate on some topics, for example, the Opium War and how they helped the North Koreans in the Korean War

[@topumasum]

I always have to watch your segments on 1.5

[@thatscrazydawgg]

Thanks for the video. Could you do one on the Bolshevik Revolution?

[@SpyFromMarsZeus]

Read through the comment section and a question came to me. Why does a nation has to destroy another nation in order to be strong? This mentality gotta stop.

[@gilgamesh2399]

It is not to be strong, any nation that ways that is a liar. All wars and conflicts are for the collection of resources, control of trade routes, projection of hard (military and administration) and/or soft(flow of money, ideas and resources) power. If a nation is claiming to fight for a religion, strength, honor and even freedom, their statements should be taken with care. The mentality has already stopped, just abused propaganda. No America citizen would accept the cause of war in the second Iraq War as to secure vital trade routes and ports within the persian gulf for the export of oil, ideas, artifacts and the set up of a potential American puppet state in the Middle East to replace Israel and Iran. For more info on Geopolitics, look up BBC, The Economist, Al Jazeera, Caspain Report, Test Tube, Frontline. For History: BBC, PBS, and Wikipedia (actually a good source in this respect) Be careful of ABC, NBC, MSNBC, Discovery Channel, History Channel, BBC (there bias really only comes through in areas that were once under British Control) Pure facts, CIA world factbook (yes, it is public)

[@LaputanMachad]

Yuwen Taiji It isn't for strength, its for Resources.

[@markvalebcia8750]

Its make sense if you have more land you have more resources more resources to selled to make money. :) Land=resources=$ And the world runs on $.

[@yifeixie206]

Hahahaha. You have a potential to be a communist! A communist wants to end this endless competition of resources and believe there is an alternative system to achieve this. When communism comes true, the globe would be united and there shall be no more conflict/war because "country" does not exist any more. By the way, China and Soviet Union's communism is phony. What they are doing is totally socialist.

[@LeoStudies]

+Yuwen Taiji An idiotic concept called social darwinism

[@kitludd465]

"democratic dictatorship" isnt a contradiction whatsoever when dictatorship is used in the marxist sense, i.e. the domination of one class over the rest of society not the liberal sense of a single person being in total control of government without chance for them to be voted out

[@LuckyNorwegian]

Kit Ludd didn't think i'd see anyone who actually understands this on the crash course channel

[@Jim63071]

And where does the "democratic" part come in?

[@kitludd465]

Jim63071 in the use of democratic means of decision making, I'm not interested in defending maoist China here I'm just pointing out that the words democratic and dictatorship aren't contradictory in marxist theory, like it would be accurate to describe modern America as a democratic dictatorship of the bourgeoisie for example

[@mikukurasawa4485]

Yeah. For Marx, democracy is not absolute. There is this notion of democracy of the bourgeoisie, which is their freedom to exploit. Democracy for the proletariat, is their freedom to acquire the means of production. This "democratic dictatorship" refers to the dictatorship of the proletariat (working class). The context of dictatorship in Marx's theory is the liberalization of the working class to acquire the means of production. It's not our common understanding of the dictatorship wherein there is a 'one-man rule' .

[@user-by1sm4mt1i]

finally someone who knows this show up

[@lumam1562]

Obrigada pela legenda português br

[@chairmanimao7982]

Good work kid, thank you!

[@jackuncles6233]

In my home in Beijing, watching this with VPN. China doesn't block VPN, but they block any VPN that is free. As long as the VPN cost money, you can use it. So you can basically go on youtube freely as long as you pay a little fee (BTW, the vpn I use cost 120 RMB per year; that is around 20 USD)

[@matthewleemle]

+Shengzhi Wang™ Not anymore. The CCP recently cracked down on the free VPN's and basically none are usable

[@matthewleemle]

Shengzhi Wang™ Really? Which one? I guess probably it differs by city

[@jackuncles6233]

Shengzhi Wang™ I mean they do block free VPN if they FIND IT OUT. But I guess world is a big place, they don't have time to block everything. And yes, free VPN are always kinda slow.

[@rickr9435]

+Shengzhi Wang™ hey, can you tell me which vpns you are using? Im going back china for winter break but i really need to check my gmail. please.

[@otonashihanoka7938]

+jack uncles that is just a bunch shit load of fuck.

[@kemchobhenchod]

thank you, chinese leaders, for having catchy 3 syllable names for easy memorization

[@jonahstaskel9618]

this really helped me thats SO much!!!!!!!!!

[@jhopetrash9336]

谢谢🙏

[@toastandplants]

I read somewhere that the communist party was able to conquer China after the war with Japan, because the nationalists had fought most of the battles. They saved their troops to strike when the time was right. Not because they were better. Would be nice to know which version is true.

[@boblaryson3621]

The Nationals fought most of the battles and took over 90% of the casualties . The communists defeated nationalist China after ww2 because they didn't have the manpower and experienced troops that communist China did because they took less casualties and focused on more training

[@mahnoortahir3446]

+Christian Müller Because the communists were constantly killed and persecuted by the Nationals, the communists relied on guerilla warfare while the nationals or Guomindang relied on more conventional styles of warfare. They would fight by attacking behind military lines and in strategic ways and retreat if there was a direct confrontation while the GMD just attempted to fight off Japan head on. So technically, the GMD did end up fighting more battles but in a sense the communists adapted a strategy better suited since Japan had superior military power.

[@michaelger3164]

+Christian Müller Strange because I remember that the Nationalist still had more troops than Communist after WWII. By the time the civil war ended the statistics were reversed.

[@RPclone]

+Christian Müller The government KMT(nationalist)had its well trained elite part of the military participated in major battles at the very start of the japanese invasion and those troops basically got wiped out due to poor strategy and overall outnumbered since the well trained divisions/brigades(german equipment and doctrine) were so little in number. While communist were well adapted to rural survival and guerilla fights long before the war started, they took less casualties and got more experience. The vet, better equipment(obtained from japanese), better sustain(like most rural area support communist due to ideology, closer relationship built during the war when KMT retreated and communist stayed and fought, corruption of KMT) make the number difference between 2 faction really not so matter

[@toastandplants]

***** I was actually on the opposite side, as most ressources I have read state what you said. Thanks for your long explaination.

[@rockCity777]

So I see a lot of talk about socialism and communism down below, but most posts seem to have gone cold. Let me just comment on those few talking about "socialism" in places like the nordic countries or american politics: Use the word "social democracy" or "welfare state" instead. They basically come from the same sources and ideologies as the thoghts that led to communism, but are and have been the greatest poison against communism, as they convey the thought of working inside a democratic system to bring about the same type of change that was desired through revolution at the start of the 20th century.

[@EMTEMT74]

Just one thing to note, the pronunciation of certain names here can vary, e.g. Chang kai-shek can be pronounced as jiang jeishei, so if you're like me and got confused remember there are two methods of pronunciation

[@KUSHWORLDKOLEY]

This is phenoemal. What books do you suggest I read to get more depth on the subject?

[@Galdozino]

That ending was awesome and probably exemplifies the whole meaning of this course, there is nothing good or bad (well apart from the clear ones, like slavery and genocide... etc etc), just different point of views and each one have to be considered in order to make a picture of the problem. Thanks for this course again.

[@munstrumridcully]

I remember how in my world history class in high school (junior year I think) gave one version of Chiang Kai-sheck and the nationalists vs Mao and the communists in China during WW2, where Mao was the devil incarnate and Kai-shek was a champion of democracy and human rights in his role as leader of the group favored by the Allies to rule China(after removing the Japanese occupation of parts of China). I was still young and naive enough to be surprised when I found out the truth of the matter was more...*nuanced*, and that while Mao was a cruel and deranged bastard with a god complex, Kai-shek was no angel himself, and about how Western ideals and values played much less of a role in the Allied support of the nationalists than pure strategic concerns and realpolitik, when I studied 20th century history in college.

[@EzeHSK]

Chiang Kai Shek and later his son, ruled Taiwan as a dictatorship until the late 80s.

[@AkashKumar713]

Thanks for yet another summarized lecture.There is one thing that i doubt..was it that Great Leap Forward under Mao based on Soviet model or was it carried out differently??

[@evankimori]

Only after I watch the latest videos from from this channel in 2019 do I realize how fast John Green speaks in these older videos. XD

[@ittdust]

I'm watching this in China, but I'm using a VPN.

[@alivejai]

Borrow my gun.

[@enriqueuret]

I'm watching this in Venezuela, but I'm using a VPN.... ='D

[@enriqueuret]

communist partners? :'D

[@sidra8987]

me too!

[@ittdust]

***** A way of getting around servers that block particular websites.

[@yrayyis]

I'm watching this from Beijing, China, where I have been living for the past 10 years. Everyone has VPN (virtual private networks), which let you bypass government restrictions and access whatever you want.

[@yrayyis]

+Yasmine Rayyis Literally everyone in urban areas uses youtube or facebook. Do not buy into the idea that life in China is dangerous or oppressive. I live here as a foreigner along with thousands of others and we stay because we love it. 中国是我的家! (China is my Home)

[@andrebatista4803]

+Yasmine Rayyis Just because you can *illegally* access youtube, doesn't make the government any less oppressive, it just means that those laws are not enforced as well as they should be. It's still censorship.

[@yrayyis]

+Amako Tsukasa I don't disagree, but China is often painted in this horrible, tyrannic light, and I want to defend it. All governments have some form of censorship and restrict free speech. Is China perfect? Of course not! But it is not as prominent of an issue as western propaganda makes it seem.

[@lovingandsporty910]

Fun fact: WHAM! was the first western band to perform in China (correct me if I’m wrong) and they performed by the end of the cultural revolution.

[@renatabieniek8768]

I ABSOLUTELY LOOOOVE CRASH COURSE!!!

[@CARLGULA]

i love history, especially Chinese history. it is so vast & full of great things to learn about.

[@timhernandez9353]

You can't skip China! You forgot the Tiananmen Massacre and Deng Xiaoping's reforms!

[@sophiacai8157]

Kudos to Crash Course for mentioning the KZbin thing.

[@seanzhang8182]

谢谢你

[@marian6561]

can you please talk about latin america's history? they don't teach me like the history of Chile, or Venezuela or Argentina, or Colombia, etc at school but I am really interested about it and learning history with you is fun, so... can you do it pleaaaase??

[@user-nf9so5oa7w]

My english teacher said every history class which was taught in Chinese high school was a lie! so I'm here.

[@helmettype8044]

So your english teacher told a lie lol

[@user-ym9zc2ec4b]

或者说您这精神外国人肉体也翻墙了？

[@alexray230]

Thanks for ending on a happy note at least