AQA A-level History · 2P

The Transformation of China, 1936–1997

50 exam-style questions with answers for 2P The Transformation of China, 1936–1997 in AQA A-level History (spec 7042). Practise with flashcards, a topic quiz, a random quiz across the course, 5 crosswords, or read every question and answer below. Not official AQA material.

All 50 questions and answers

Question 1 · Spec 2P, Part one
Who was Jiang Jieshi? [1 mark]
Answer:
The leader of the Guomindang (Nationalist) government.
Question 2 · Spec 2P, Part one
What was the Long March (1934–1935)? [1 mark]
Answer:
The Communist retreat to Yan’an, which established Mao’s leadership.
Question 3 · Spec 2P, Part one
What was the Xi’an Incident (1936)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Jiang was kidnapped and forced to form a United Front with the Communists.
Question 4 · Spec 2P, Part one
When did full Sino-Japanese war begin? [1 mark]
Answer:
1937.
Question 5 · Spec 2P, Part one
What was the Yan’an Rectification Movement (1942–1944)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A campaign to impose Mao’s ideas on the CCP.
Question 6 · Spec 2P, Part one
State two reasons for Communist victory in the Civil War. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: GMD corruption and inflation (1); Communist land reform won peasant support (1); effective PLA tactics (1); GMD military mistakes (1).
Question 7 · Spec 2P, Part one
When was the PRC proclaimed? [1 mark]
Answer:
1 October 1949.
Question 8 · Spec 2P, Part one
What was the Agrarian Reform Law (1950)? [1 mark]
Answer:
It redistributed land from landlords to peasants.
Question 9 · Spec 2P, Part one
What were the Three Antis and Five Antis campaigns? [1 mark]
Answer:
Campaigns against corruption, waste and bureaucracy, and against the business class.
Question 10 · Spec 2P, Part one
What happened in Tibet in 1950? [1 mark]
Answer:
The PLA invaded and took control.
Question 11 · Spec 2P, Part one
What was the Sino-Soviet Treaty (1950)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A treaty of friendship and alliance with Soviet aid.
Question 12 · Spec 2P, Part one
What was the First Five Year Plan (1953–1957)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A Soviet-style plan for heavy industry.
Question 13 · Spec 2P, Part one
What was the Hundred Flowers Campaign (1956–1957)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Mao invited criticism, then purged critics in the Anti-Rightist Campaign.
Question 14 · Spec 2P, Part one
What was the Great Leap Forward (1958–1962)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A campaign for rapid industrial and agricultural growth through communes.
Question 15 · Spec 2P, Part one
What were people’s communes? [1 mark]
Answer:
Large collective units combining farming, industry and local government.
Question 16 · Spec 2P, Part one
What was the Great Famine (1959–1961)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A famine caused by the Great Leap Forward that killed tens of millions.
Question 17 · Spec 2P, Part one
What happened at the Lushan Conference (1959)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Peng Dehuai criticised the Great Leap and was purged.
Question 18 · Spec 2P, Part one
Why did the Sino-Soviet split happen? [2 marks]
Answer:
Mao rejected Khrushchev’s de-Stalinisation and peaceful coexistence (1); the USSR withdrew advisers in 1960 (1).
Question 19 · Spec 2P, Part one
What was the Guomindang? [1 mark]
Answer:
The Chinese Nationalist Party led by Jiang Jieshi.
Question 20 · Spec 2P, Part one
What was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident (1937)? [1 mark]
Answer:
The clash that began full-scale war between China and Japan.
Question 21 · Spec 2P, Part one
What was the Nanjing Massacre (1937)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Japanese troops killed huge numbers of civilians.
Question 22 · Spec 2P, Part one
Why did the United Front break down? [1 mark]
Answer:
Clashes between Communists and Nationalists, eg the New Fourth Army Incident (1941).
Question 23 · Spec 2P, Part one
What was the role of the USA in the Civil War? [1 mark]
Answer:
It supported Jiang with aid, and Marshall failed to broker a settlement in 1946.
Question 24 · Spec 2P, Part one
Where did Jiang retreat in 1949? [1 mark]
Answer:
Taiwan.
Question 25 · Spec 2P, Part one
What was the role of the PLA after 1949? [1 mark]
Answer:
It enforced Communist control and fought in Korea.
Question 26 · Spec 2P, Part two
Who were Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping? [1 mark]
Answer:
Pragmatic leaders who restored the economy after the Great Leap.
Question 27 · Spec 2P, Part two
What was the Socialist Education Movement (1963)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Mao’s campaign against revisionism in the countryside.
Question 28 · Spec 2P, Part two
What was the Little Red Book? [1 mark]
Answer:
Quotations from Mao, published by Lin Biao for the PLA.
Question 29 · Spec 2P, Part two
What were the aims of the Cultural Revolution? [2 marks]
Answer:
To remove Mao’s rivals (1); to renew revolutionary spirit among the young (1).
Question 30 · Spec 2P, Part two
Who were the Red Guards? [1 mark]
Answer:
Students mobilised to attack ‘the four olds’ and party officials.
Question 31 · Spec 2P, Part two
What were the ‘four olds’? [1 mark]
Answer:
Old customs, culture, habits and ideas.
Question 32 · Spec 2P, Part two
Who was Lin Biao? [1 mark]
Answer:
Mao’s designated successor who died in a plane crash in 1971 after an alleged coup plot.
Question 33 · Spec 2P, Part two
What was the Up to the Mountains and Down to the Villages campaign? [1 mark]
Answer:
Sending millions of urban youths to the countryside.
Question 34 · Spec 2P, Part two
What were the Sino-Soviet border clashes of 1969? [1 mark]
Answer:
Fighting on the Ussuri River.
Question 35 · Spec 2P, Part two
What happened in 1972? [1 mark]
Answer:
Nixon visited China, beginning improved relations with the USA.
Question 36 · Spec 2P, Part two
Who were the Gang of Four? [1 mark]
Answer:
Radicals including Jiang Qing, arrested in 1976.
Question 37 · Spec 2P, Part two
Who was Hua Guofeng? [1 mark]
Answer:
Mao’s successor, sidelined by Deng.
Question 38 · Spec 2P, Part two
What were the Four Modernisations? [1 mark]
Answer:
Agriculture, industry, defence and science and technology.
Question 39 · Spec 2P, Part two
What were Special Economic Zones? [1 mark]
Answer:
Areas such as Shenzhen open to foreign investment.
Question 40 · Spec 2P, Part two
What was the household responsibility system? [1 mark]
Answer:
Peasant families farmed land and sold surplus for profit.
Question 41 · Spec 2P, Part two
What was the one-child policy (1979)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A policy limiting most urban families to one child.
Question 42 · Spec 2P, Part two
What happened at Tiananmen Square (1989)? [1 mark]
Answer:
The army crushed pro-democracy protests, killing hundreds or more.
Question 43 · Spec 2P, Part two
When was Hong Kong returned to China? [1 mark]
Answer:
1997.
Question 44 · Spec 2P, Part two
What were backyard furnaces? [1 mark]
Answer:
Small furnaces used in the Great Leap Forward, producing poor-quality steel.
Question 45 · Spec 2P, Part two
What was the Shanghai People’s Commune (1967)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A radical attempt at a commune government in Shanghai.
Question 46 · Spec 2P, Part two
What was the Ninth Party Congress (1969)? [1 mark]
Answer:
It named Lin Biao as Mao’s successor.
Question 47 · Spec 2P, Part two
What was the ‘Criticise Lin, Criticise Confucius’ campaign (1973–1974)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A radical campaign used by the Gang of Four to attack Zhou Enlai.
Question 48 · Spec 2P, Part two
What was the Democracy Wall (1978–1979)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A Beijing wall where people posted demands for reform.
Question 49 · Spec 2P, Part two
When did China join the UN Security Council? [1 mark]
Answer:
1971.
Question 50 · Spec 2P, Part two
What was the Four Cardinal Principles? [1 mark]
Answer:
Deng’s insistence on socialism, dictatorship of the proletariat, party leadership and Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought.

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The Transformation of China, 1936–1997

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