This is the first of two volumes of this authoritative Cambridge history which review the Republican period, between the demise of imperial China and the establishment of the People's Republic. These years from 1912 to 1949 were marked by civil war, revolution and invasion; but also by change and growth in the economic, social, intellectual and cultural spheres. The chapters examine economic trends in the period and the rise of the new middle class. Intellectual trends are surveyed to show the changes in traditional Chinese values and the foreign influences which played a major role in Republican China. Although it is written by specialists, the goals and approach of this Cambridge history are to explain and discuss republican China for an audience which will include scholars, students and general readers who do not have special knowledge of Chinese history. It will be useful both as narrative history and as a reference source on the history and politics of China.
1. Introduction: Maritime and continental in China's history John K. Fairbank; 2. Economic trends, 1912-49 Albert Feuerwerker; 3. The foreign presence in China Albert Feuerwerker; 4. Politics in the aftermath of revolution: the era of Yuan Shih-k'ai, 1912-16 Ernest P. Young; 5. A constitutional republic: the Peking government, 1916-28 James E. Sheridan; 6. The warlord era: politics and militarism under the Peking governmnet, 1916-28 James E. Sheridan; 7. Intellectual change: from the Reform movement to the May fourth movement, 1895-1920 Charlotte Furth; 8. Themes in intellectual history: May fourth and after Benjamin I. Schwartz; 9. Literary trends I: the quest for modernity, 1895-1927 Leo Ou-Fan Lee; 10. The Chinese communist movement to 1927 Jerome Ch'en; 11. The nationalist revolution: from Canton to Nanking, 1923-28 C. Martin Wilbur; 12. The Chinese bourgeoisie, 1911-37 Marie-Claire Bergère.
