1
The People’s Republic of China (1949–2005)
This book is designed to prepare students for People’s Republic of China (1949–2005). This is Topic 14 in HL Option 3, History of Asia and Oceania for Paper 3 of the IB History examination. First, it will examine the consolidation, after 1949, of the rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under Mao Zedong. The major economic, political and social challenges – both internal and external – facing China in the period 1949–76 will then be explored, along with the nature and impact of Mao’s responses to those challenges. Finally, the main political and economic developments in post-Mao China from 1976 to 2005 will also be examined – in particular, the changes arising from the rule of Deng Xiaoping. Under him, and successive leaders, China has experienced a combination of economic reform and rapid industrial growth – making China the world’s second largest economy – and political repression which has, so far, enabled the CCP to contain challenges to its regime and so remain in power.
Figure 1.1: A Democracy protestor – known only as the ‘Unknown Rebel’ or ‘Tankman’ – confronts tanks in Tiananmen Square the day after the government’s violent suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing, June 1989.
8