Homework 1 - Causes of the Chinese Civil War

Long Term

1. One long term cause of the Chinese Civil war was the wars that broke out in Chine due to European and Japanese forces. Many Chinese people blamed the Manchus for allowing China to be overrun and controlled by Europeans. The Europeans had started wars in China over opium, a drug, and took ports and parts of China to control. A rebellion broke out in 1850 that the Manchus broke apart with the help of the Europeans. This made the Manchus more unpopular. This is a political and social cause.
   
   
2. Another Long Term cause was take over by Cixi, the Emperor Guangxu's aunt. At this time the Emperor was introducing new reforms to China, such as better schools and a higher government budget, but Cixi had the Emperor imprisoned and forced him to give her rule so she could put a stop to these reforms. The Empress also encouraged a group of people known as the boxers to fight against the Christians, whom the boxers believed were the reason for China's problems. This is a social cause.
   
   
3. A third long term cause of the civil war was the boxer rebellion. When the boxers began their rebellion, Eurpoean forces intervened out of anger. They forced the Manchus to pay a high amount of money and executed boxers on the streets of China. This showed another weakness in the Manchu dynasty. This is a social and economic cause.

Short Term Causes

1.