Gaokao Exam History: Modern Chinese History 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The Long March (长征, 1934-1935) was undertaken by the Chinese Red Army primarily to:
- Launch a surprise counteroffensive against Japanese forces occupying Manchuria
- Escape Nationalist encirclement campaigns and relocate to a new revolutionary base in the northwest (Correct answer)
- Negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government
- Establish direct contact with Soviet military advisors along the northern border
Correct answer: Escape Nationalist encirclement campaigns and relocate to a new revolutionary base in the northwest
The Long March was a strategic military retreat to escape the Nationalist 'encirclement and suppression campaigns' (围剿). The Red Army traveled roughly 9,000 km from Jiangxi Province to Yan'an in Shaanxi, where it rebuilt as a revolutionary base — a survival that proved decisive for the CCP's future.
Question 2: The Chinese Communist Party (中国共产党) was officially founded at its First National Congress in:
- Beijing, 1917
- Guangzhou, 1923
- Shanghai, 1921 (Correct answer)
- Yan'an, 1935
Correct answer: Shanghai, 1921
The CCP held its First National Congress in Shanghai in July 1921. Key founding figures included Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao, and Mao Zedong attended as a delegate from Hunan Province.
Question 3: The Marco Polo Bridge Incident (七七事变) of July 7, 1937 is historically significant because it:
- Marked the beginning of Japan's full-scale invasion of China and the Second Sino-Japanese War (Correct answer)
- Led to the formation of the First United Front between the CCP and KMT
- Triggered China's entry into World War I on the side of the Allied Powers
- Resulted in the Nationalist government relocating its capital from Nanjing to Wuhan
Correct answer: Marked the beginning of Japan's full-scale invasion of China and the Second Sino-Japanese War
The clash between Japanese and Chinese troops near Beijing on July 7, 1937 escalated into Japan's full-scale invasion, launching the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), also called the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (抗日战争).
Question 4: The Shanghai Massacre (四一二政变) of April 12, 1927 was a turning point in Chinese history because it:
- Forced Japan to withdraw its forces from Shanghai's International Settlement
- Prompted the Soviet Union to send military aid directly to the Communist Party
- Ended the cooperation between the Soviet Union and Chiang Kai-shek's government
- Shattered the First United Front as Chiang Kai-shek violently purged Communist allies (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Shattered the First United Front as Chiang Kai-shek violently purged Communist allies
On April 12, 1927, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Nationalist forces and Shanghai underworld gangsters to massacre Communist Party members and labor unionists, killing thousands. This ended the First United Front and launched an open civil war between the KMT and CCP.
Question 5: The Xinhai Revolution (辛亥革命) of 1911 most directly resulted in:
- The establishment of the People's Republic of China under Mao Zedong
- The abdication of Emperor Puyi and the founding of the Republic of China (Correct answer)
- The unification of China under the warlord Yuan Shikai as constitutional emperor
- Japan's annexation of Taiwan and the Liaodong Peninsula
Correct answer: The abdication of Emperor Puyi and the founding of the Republic of China
The Xinhai Revolution, organized by Sun Yat-sen's Revolutionary Alliance (同盟会), overthrew the Qing dynasty. Emperor Puyi abdicated in February 1912, ending over 2,000 years of imperial rule and establishing the Republic of China with Sun Yat-sen as its provisional president.
Question 6: The Nanjing Massacre (南京大屠杀, December 1937 – January 1938) refers to:
- The Communist purge of Nationalist officials after the People's Liberation Army captured Nanjing in 1949
- The Allied aerial bombardment of Japanese-occupied Nanjing during World War II
- The systematic mass killing of an estimated 300,000 Chinese civilians and prisoners of war by Japanese forces after Nanjing fell (Correct answer)
- The Nationalist government's violent suppression of student-led protests in the capital
Correct answer: The systematic mass killing of an estimated 300,000 Chinese civilians and prisoners of war by Japanese forces after Nanjing fell
After Japanese forces captured the then-Chinese capital Nanjing in December 1937, they committed widespread atrocities over approximately six weeks — killing an estimated 300,000 civilians and POWs. Also known as the Rape of Nanjing, it remains a defining and deeply contested episode in Sino-Japanese history.
Gaokao Exam History: Modern Chinese History 1
The Long March (长征, 1934-1935) was undertaken by the Chinese Red Army primarily to: