China (Franco-American War)

The Republic of China (中華民國) is a large nation in eastern Asia. It shares borders with Japan, Manchuria, Mongolia, Laos, Vietnam, Burma, India, Afghanistan, Alash, Kokand, Nepal, and Bhutan. It also is the owner and leader of the Union of Greater China, a collection of mostly autonomous states (excluding China who is fully independent), including Tibet, East Turkestan, and Inner Mongolia.

Early Dynastic rule
According to Chinese tradition, the first dynasty was the Xia, which emerged around 2100 BCE. The dynasty was considered mythical by most until scientific excavations found sits from the early Bronze Age in Henan. The succeeding Shang dynasty was the earliest to be confirmed by contemporary records. The Shang ruled the plains of the Yellow River from the 17th to 11th centuries BCE. The Shang were conquered by the Zhou, who ruled from the 11th to 5th centuries BCE, though feudal warlords slowly decentralized authority over time. Many states later emerged from this dynasty, resulting in the Warring States period in the 5th-3rd centuries BCE. This period ended when the state of Qin conquered the other six kingdoms, establishing the first unified Chinese state. The Qin fell only fifteen years later, however, directly after Emperor Qin Shi Huang's death. The Qin's successor, the Han dynasty, ruled between 206 BCE and 220 CE, and created a lasting cultural identity among the Chinese populace. The Han dynasty expanded the empire's territory considerably with military campaigns in Vietnam, Korea, and central Asia. The Han dynasty also accepted Confucianism as the official state ideology. The legacy of the Han lives on to this day. Afterwards, another period of disunion started; the period of the Three Kingdoms. The brief unification by the Jin was broken shortly after it happened, though in 581 CE, China was reunified under the Sui dynasty. Under the succeeding Tang and Song dynasties, Chinese economy, technology, and culture entered a golden age. Under these kingdoms, China regained control of their western portion from the Turks and reopened the Silk Road. In the 13th century, China was conquered by the Mongols.

Yuan Dynasty & Post-Mongol Era
Afterwards, Mongol leader Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty, which conquered the last remnant of the Song dynasty in 1279. During these conquests, China's population was reduced by half, going from 120 million people to 60 million. The Ming dynasty was founded in 1368, and entered China into another golden age. China developed a strong navy and a rich and prosperous economy. During this era, China's capital was moved from Nanjing to Beijing. During this era, Zheng He also led expeditions throughout the world, going as far as Africa. Neo-Confucianism was also founded during this dynasty's reign. Manchu invasions led to the decline of the Ming and the founding of the Qing Dynasty.

Qing Dynasty & Fall of the Monarchy
In 1644, Beijing was captured by a coalition of peasant forces led by Li Zicheng, leading to the suicide of the last Ming emperor. Li created the short-lived Shun Dynasty, however the Manchu Qing Dynasty and some ex-Ming military generals seized control of Beijing, leading to the rise of the Qing. This was the last imperial dynasty of China. It was a "conquest dynasty", which strengthened the feudal autocracy to crack down on rebels. In the 19th century, this dynasty experienced Western imperialism during the Opium Wars with the United Kingdom and France. They were also forced to cede Hong Kong to the British under the Treaty of Nanking. The first Sino-Japanese War also resulted in the loss of Chinese influence in Korea and Taiwan. The anti-western Boxer Rebellion further weakened the dynasty, as well as the wars against Russia which resulted in the loss of Chinese influence in the Qing homeland of Manchuria. The Xinhai Revolution was the final blow, disestablishing the Qing Dynasty and establishing the modern-day Republic.

Modern China
On the first of January, 1912, with Sun Yat-sen of the Kuomintang Party was proclaimed president; however this title was later given to Yuan Shikai, who proclaimed himself Emperor of China. He was forced to abdicate and reestablish the republic. After his death, China was politically fragmented; most of the nation was owned by warlords. Under the Kuomintang Chiang Kai-shek, China was unified using a series of deft military and political maneuvers, known collectively as the Northern Expedition. Civil war started in 1927, though the conflict against the Communists didn't change Chinese politics much. The Pacific War started in 1937, and it was a humiliating loss for China. The Japanese took all of China's Pacific coast, turning it into a landlocked nation and taking much of China's major cities. The war also resulted in an uneasy alliance between the Kuomintang and the Communists and the creation of Japanese puppets in Indochina and India. After a war in Tibet and looking back at former conflicts in East Turkestan, China proposed the creation of the Union of Greater China, a group of mostly independent states based on the USGA, and the Union of Greater England. The current members are China, Tibet, East Turkestan, and Inner Mongolia.