1840, Britain, which became the first capitalist power, launched the Opium War to invade China, and the Qing government was forced to sign the treaty of nanking, the first unequal treaty in China's modern history.

Since then, China has been reduced to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, and the history of China has entered a modern history marked by the Opium War. This is a history of humiliation of the Chinese nation, an indomitable struggle of the Chinese nation, and an exploration history of generations of China people seeking ways to enrich the people and strengthen the country. To learn this history well, we must grasp three main lines.

First of all, a disastrous history of humiliation.

The modern history of China is a history of disaster and humiliation of the Chinese nation, and the people of China suffered from imperialist aggression and bullying. In the modern history of China, imperialist countries, big and small, rushed to invade us. China was forced to sign hundreds of unequal treaties, and the people of China were defeated again and again in the western wars of aggression.

1840, in order to open the door to China, Britain launched the Opium War flagrantly, and the ancient and backward China was defeated by western guns. 1842, treaty of nanking, the first unequal treaty in China's modern history, was signed. Since then, the first batch of unequal treaties in China's modern history, such as the Sino-British Charter on Trade with Five Ports, the Sino-British Humen Treaty, the Sino-American Wang Xia Treaty, and the Sino-French Huangpu Treaty, have been signed. They were forced to cede territory, pay reparations, open trading ports and negotiate tariffs with foreign countries, and foreign countries gained consular jurisdiction in China and the privilege of preaching at trading ports. These treaties have brought barbarism and humiliation to the people of China.

1856, Britain, France and other countries launched the Second Opium War in order to further open the door to China. After the failure of resistance, the Qing government was forced to sign the Tianjin Treaty with Britain, France, Russia and the United States, and the Beijing Treaty with Britain, France and Russia. China lost a large area of territory and sovereignty, especially the Russian plundered the territory of China10.5 million square kilometers. Foreign aggression extended to the interior of China, and China's semi-colonial and semi-feudal degree deepened.

1885, France launched the Sino-French war of aggression against China, the Qing government signed the Sino-French New Testament, and the great powers gained the right to build railways in China. 1894, China was defeated in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, and was forced to sign the treaty of shimonoseki with Japan, which greatly deepened the semi-colonial and semi-feudal degree of China, and the compensation reached 200 million taels of silver. The imperialist powers set off a frenzy to carve up China.

However, in order to suppress the resistance of China people and further control China, in 1900, Eight-Nation Alliance * * fought against China, and the Qing government was forced to sign the "Xin Chou Treaty", and the principal and interest of compensation exceeded 654,380 billion taels of silver. The Qing government became a tool for imperialism to rule China, and China's semi-colonial and semi-feudal society was formed.

A series of wars of aggression against China and a large number of unequal treaties pushed China into the abyss of disaster and humiliation, which caused poverty and backwardness in modern China, increased the burden on the people and seriously damaged China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Therefore, we should remember China's humiliating history since modern times, and remember the historical lesson that backwardness will lead to beatings.

Second, the indomitable struggle history.

While the western powers brutally invaded China, the great Chinese nation and unyielding Chinese descendants waged a series of struggles, some from the bottom of society, some from within the Qing government, some organized, and some spontaneous by the masses.

In the First Opium War, although there were some national scum, the Qing government and patriotic officers and soldiers also fought some heroic battles, and a large number of patriotic generals like Lin Zexu, Deng Tingzhen, Yu Qian, Hailing, Guan Tianpei and Chen Huacheng emerged. In the Second Opium War, there were also heroic scenes of successive struggles. In the Sino-French War, Feng Zicai was fearless, which led to a great victory in Zhennan. Liu Yongfu led the Black Flag Army to defeat the enemy, and the patriotic navy showed the spirit of fearlessness and bravery in the Mawei naval battle. In the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Zuo, Deng Shichang,, and others died in the line of duty, showing epic heroic deeds. The spontaneous resistance of people everywhere to Japan embodies the indomitable spirit of patriotic struggle of the Chinese nation.

Except for the struggle between the Qing government and patriotic officers and soldiers, the broad masses of the people never gave up their struggle. Where imperialism invaded, it met with resistance. Especially in the First Opium War, the spontaneous anti-British struggle of the people in Sanyuanli, Guangzhou, showed the rebellious spirit of the people in China. 1In the sixties and seventies of the 9th century, there were also a lot of anti-foreign religious struggles.

In the modern history of China, there were two large-scale peasant movements, which dealt a heavy blow to the imperialist forces. The first time was the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement: it was a large-scale peasant revolutionary movement against feudalism and aggression in China's modern history. While attacking China's feudal rule, it also gave it a new era significance, shouldered the task of opposing foreign aggression, dealt a heavy blow to foreign invaders, and quickly broke the western invaders' attempt to colonize China.

The second time was the Boxer Rebellion: 19. At the end of the year, the contradiction between China and foreign countries intensified, and the Boxer Rebellion of China people was finally detonated. They attacked foreign forces and reached their peak at 1900. Thousands of Boxers fought bravely against Eight-Nation Alliance with their flesh and blood. Although it failed under the suppression of reactionary forces at home and abroad, the fearless and heroic struggle of the Chinese nation made imperialism realize China.

Finally, after World War I, in order to safeguard national sovereignty, the May 4th patriotic movement broke out in 19 19, which spread all over the country and the working class stepped onto the political stage. The May 4th Movement was a thorough anti-imperialist and anti-feudal movement in China's modern history, which promoted the spread of Marxism and created conditions for the establishment of the * * * production party in China.

Third, the exploration history of China people.

In the special period of modern China, China's fundamental task was to safeguard national independence and sovereignty integrity, promote economic development and achieve political progress. In order to accomplish these tasks, in the difficult modernization process of China, advanced China people have made a series of explorations, including government movements, new class representatives, local dignitaries and ideological elites.

In the First Opium War, advanced China people initially realized the modernization of the West. Lin Zexu, Wei Yuan and others put forward the slogan of "learning from foreigners to control foreigners" with a pragmatic attitude, acknowledging backwardness and shortcomings, paying attention to the world, exploring new knowledge, and seeking ways to make the country strong and resist humiliation, resulting in a new idea of learning from the West.

As the legitimate government of China, the Qing government also made some explorations and reforms after the disaster. 19 During the suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement in the 1950s and 1960s, a group of pragmatic and politically experienced powerful ministers set off a westernization movement of "learning from foreigners and strengthening ourselves". On the premise of "taking middle school as the body and western learning as the application", they advocated the movement of enriching Qiang Bing, set up military and civilian industries, planned the navy, set up new schools and sent overseas students. The Westernization Movement was headed by the central government, with Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, Zuo and Zhang Zhidong as governors in local governments. Although the failure of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 declared the bankruptcy of the Westernization Movement, it promoted the development of China's national industry to a certain extent and accelerated the modernization process of China.

In the Westernization Movement, Feng Guifen, Zheng, Wang Tao and other early bourgeois reform intellectuals appeared, which created conditions for the later bourgeois reform movement. After the failure of the Sino-Japanese War, the Chinese nation experienced a serious national crisis. The bourgeois reformists represented by Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao set off the Reform Movement of 1898, also known as the Reform Movement of 1898.

The reformists spread their ideas of improvement by running newspapers, establishing societies and arguing with die-hards, which led the first ideological emancipation trend in modern China and promoted people's awakening. Although it lasted less than 100 days and ended in failure, it played an important role in the development history of China people's saving the country and strengthening the country. In addition, it should be pointed out that in the later period of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, Hong Rengan put forward a "new chapter of senior minister", and put forward the development of capitalism in China for the first time.

The failure of the Reform Movement of 1898 proved that it was not feasible to take the road of bourgeois reform in China. The bourgeois revolutionaries represented by Sun Yat-sen stepped onto the historical stage. After a series of armed uprisings and revolutionary struggles, the Revolution of 1911 was finally won at 19 1 1, which made China move towards democracy, cracked down on imperialist forces in China and overthrew the two countries.

However, the Revolution of 1911 did not accomplish the task of opposing imperialism and feudalism, and the social nature of China has not changed. 19 19, the patriotic may 4th movement broke out in the Chinese nation. Later, with the establishment of the China * * * Production Party, the China Revolution took on a new look, and the people of China found the right direction of exploration, and finally established the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, which was realized. History has proved and will always show that the Chinese nation is a great nation, and the people of China have the courage to explore and forge ahead. China will surely stand among the world's great powers in the 2 1 century.