Chinese Military History (A quick summary)

ME ^ | 2/15/2003 | ME

[NP-INCOMPLETE]

Posted on 02/14/2003 10:18 PM PST by NP-INCOMPLETE

The following is a general listing of wars fought by China in the last 22 hundred years. I will compile a list for Russia and Britain soon. I think I'll leave France alone for now.

200 BC War of Unification-won Chinese beat themselves

100 BC War against the Hakka-won Slaughtered the natives of central china

50 BC War against the Min, Miao, Tocharian-won took over southern China

50 AD War against Central Asian Tribes, Sassinid Dynasty in Persia Won, took over most of central Asia

65 AD War against Korea-won took over Korean Peninsula

70 AD War against Vietnam-won took over Vietnam

75 AD War against the Huns-won, took over inner mongolia, drove the Huns out of East Asia and into Western Europe

210 AD Three Kindoms, Han Dynasty collapsed, civil war for the next 500 years-stalemate for most of the time.

700 AD First Sino-Japanese War Sui Dynasty established, new Emporer launches naval invasion of Japan-stalemate leaning towards defeat

800 AD Tang Dynasty resumes war to the south and west-won reconquored Vietnam, took Laos and colonized Hainan. Wiped out persia to the west(Persia was being attacked by the Arabs at the same time)

950 AD Sino-Arab war- lost at the battle of Talas gunpowder and magnetic compass technology taken by the Arabs.

970 AD Tang Government Collapses Song Dynasty emerges just as Ganghis Kahn attacks-Lost, all of Northern China taken over including Beijing.

1050 Sino-Tibetan war-lost, chinese troops can't stand the high altitude

1100 AD Mongol Conquest-Lost Song Dynasty was destroyed by Kublai Kahn ~40 million Chinese killed.

1250 AD Second Sino-Japanese war-lost 3 separate naval invasions failed due to Kamikazees

1300 AD Moonlight Rebellion-won Mongols driven out, China regains original territories.

1500 AD Third Sino-Japanese war-won, Japanese fleet destroyed in Korea.

1570 AD Manchu-war-Lost country taken over by Manchu's, the invaders where subsequently assimilated into Chinese culture.

1640 AD Sino-Dutch war-won Dutch colonists driven out of Taiwan by Chinese colonists.

1720 AD Sino-Mongolian War-won destroyed the home Kahnate of the Mongols, takes over outer mongolia

1740 AD Invasion of Siberia-won destroyed last holdouts of the Mongol golden horde.

1780 AD Sino-Urghar war-won Took over East Turkistan

1842 AD First Opium War-Lost Chinese military no match for British firepower, entire eastern sea fleet destroyed, Britain takes Hong Kong from China

1853 AD Taiping Rebellion-won against themselves(barely) 20 million chinese dead and the most productive part of the country was ruined.

1864 AD Second Opium War-Lost British fleets sail up the Yangtze and Huang He rivers, Britain takes over portions of Shangai and 10 other coastal cities.

1872 AD Sino-French War-Lost one of the few victories of the french, South Sea fleet destroyed, Fance takes Vietnam from China

1887 AD Sino-Russian War-Lost Russia took most of Siberia , established puppet state in Mongolia, and sets up sphere of influence in Manchuria

1896 AD Fourth Sino-Japanese War-Lost Japan crushed China's north sea fleet and took over Korea.

1900 AD Boxer Rebellion-Lost , Japan takes Taiwan, Britain, France, Belgium, Spain divides Shanghai and the eastern coast, Germany takes Dalian, Russia takes portions of Manchuria.

1938 AD World War II-Won(Barely) 15 million dead Chinese vs 2 million dead Japanese but defeats Japan's army in Mainland East Asia, and regains Eastern coast, Manchuria, Hainan, and Taiwan.

1946 AD Chinese Civil war-won(but might as well be a loss), 5 million Chinese dead, communists drives Nationalists to Taiwan.

1950 AD Korean War-Stalemate 500 thousand Chinese dead and a de-populated Korea as a result of the war.

1951 AD Invasion of Tibet-Won Tibetan military was no match for the PLA(1 million Tibetans brutally murdered, but hey, china got some high quality Uranium ore out of it)

1962 AD Sino-Indian War- Won Chinese troops outnumbered the indians 3 to 1, takes over Askin Chin plateau, and parts of Kashmir

1981 AD Sino-Vietnamese War-Won(barely) Bad logistics, crappy weapons, low morale, and a battle-hardened enemy made the initial invasion untenable. But ten years of border skirmishes collapsed the Vietnamese economy and ceded entire border to china

That is it folks, a list of wars that China has fought in its long history

[Republican Party Reptile]

Not a bad high level overview, I'd add the on-going war the Tang had with the Turfan (Tibet).

The Battle of Talas between the Tang and the Arabs is one of the forgetten significant turning point in world history - Central Asia was largely Buddhist at the time, the destruction of the Chinese army by the Arabs at Talas also pushed Chinese and Buddhist influence out of Central Asia forever and turned the region into the sphere of Islam.

[Republican Party Reptile]

Also, arguably, paper making was the most important Chinese technology to fall into Arab hands at the Battle of Talas. From Arabia it made its way to Europe.

[2timothy3.16]

Thanks, bookmarked, please ping me when you get the others, we can use this stuff in homeschools.

[fooman]

Execellent

[yankeedame]

Very interesting! And if I may be permitted...

500 B.C. Fall of the Chou Dynasty
After nearly 900 year rule the Chou Dynasty collaspes, giving rise to feudalistic "The Era of Warring States", lasting 200 years. The state of Ch'in emerges victorious, and from Ch'in comes the iron fisted unifier of China, the First Emperor Ch'in Shih Huang Ti

1350 A.D. The White Lotus Rebellion
Open revolt of native Chinese against Mongol overlords. After 12 years of fighting, the last Mongol emperor and his entourage are driven out of China. South China rebel leader Chu Yung-chang is declared emperor and the Ming Dynasty, which rules for 300 years, comes into being.

[dufekin]

Because of China's historic isolation from other civilizations and limited contact with (Asian) Indians, Arabians, and Europeans, one should judge China not by its military history but by its cultural achievements. Although it isn't the superpower it once was, for many centuries, Chinese culture flourished, giving us the printing press, paper, gunpowder, and numerous other inventions. The Chinese contributions to civilized engineering, agriculture, and philosophy should not be underestimeted, despite the nation's misguided venture into Communism. French civilization gave us almost nothing, especially by comparison.