The University of Nottingham's Taiwan Studies Programme presents an online book Launch by Graham Hutchings, Honorary Professor in the University's School of Politics and International Relations.
China 1949 Year of Revolution
1949 was a critical year in the history of China, the growth of international communism and the evolution of the Cold War. It also divided the Chinese nation, creating 'two Chinas' - and leaving a legacy with which Chinese leaders and people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, as well as those in the US, Japan and other parts of Asia must contend with today.
But China's year of revolution was about more than a shift in national and geopolitics. It affected millions of lives of Chinese people, whether they were 'winners' or 'losers', influential political or military leaders on either side or merely ordinary citizens. It was above all a human story, one of tragedy for some, of triumph for others.
In this talk, Graham Hutchings, Honorary Professor in the University's School of Politics and International Relations, will explore something of the human drama at the heart of the 1949 story, and show how the communist conquest of mainland China in that year provides a key to understanding the behaviour of the Chinese state under Xi Jinping, more than 70 years later.
Talk Reflection by Stephen Sigsworth MSci International Relations and Global Issues, School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham.
Professor Graham Hutchings recently joined with the Taiwan Studies Programme for a Thursday afternoon to deliver a seminar on the subject matter of his new book ‘China 1949 Year of Revolution’. Hutchings provided a rich account and analysis of the violent year in Chinese history that saw the birth of the People’s Republic of China under Mao Zedong’s communist rule. After elucidating a tale filled with crucial characters and military maelstroms, Hutchings provided detailed answers to the questions of the attendees – granting yet further insight into the developments of 1949 and the long shadows they have cast into the modern world. Few walked away having not learned a substantial amount. '