The Fall and Rise of China

Overview

Course No. 8370

Witness China’s astonishing transformation from crumbling empire to global superpower through 48 revealing lectures by Professor Richard Baum.

This course explores:

• The collapse of imperial China (Opium Wars to 1911 Revolution)

• Chaos and civil war under warlords and nationalists

• Mao’s revolution and the turbulent Communist era

• Deng Xiaoping’s economic miracle and modern rise

Discover the human drama behind China’s rebirth through rare insights from a leading political scientist who witnessed key events firsthand.

Video Lessons

Imperial Collapse (1-7)

1. China’s Golden Age (30 min) – 600-1700 foundations

2. Manchu Decline (29 min) – 18th century crises

3. Opium Wars (31 min) – Foreign humiliation begins

4. Taiping Rebellion (28 min) – Bloody peasant revolt

5. Failed Reforms (28 min) – Self-Strengthening Movement

6. Boxer Uprising (27 min) – Anti-foreign backlash

• 1911 Revolution (32 min) – Last emperor falls

Republic & Revolution (8-14)

8. Warlord Era (31 min) – Chaos after empire

9. Communism Born (30 min) – Soviet influence grows

10. Chiang vs. Mao (29 min) – Civil war begins

11. Japanese Invasion (31 min) – WWII devastation

12. Communist Victory (29 min) – 1949 triumph

Mao’s China (15-28)

15. Korean War (29 min) – Cold War alignment

16. Collectivization (30 min) – Socialist transformation

18-19. Great Leap Forward (29/28 min) – Famine and failure

21-24. Cultural Revolution (28/31/31/30 min) – Red Guards and chaos

• Soviet Split (31 min) – Communist bloc fractures

27. Mao’s Death (31 min) – End of an era

Reform & Rise (29-48)

31. Deng Takes Power (30 min) – Economic turn begins

• Democracy Wall (30 min) – Brief openness

• Special Economic Zones (31 min) – Capitalism returns

37. “Get Rich” Reforms (32 min) – 1980s boom

39-40. Tiananmen Square (30/31 min) – 1989 massacre

42. 1990s Boom (32 min) – WTO entry

45. New Millennium (33 min) – Global emergence

48. Future Power (33 min) – China’s world role