The Black Death in Europe

The Black death or the Bubonic plague was the greatest epidemic which hit Europe in the Middle Ages. It was a pandemic that killed up to 30% to 60% of the population of Europe. It started in 1347 and continued till 1351 in the 14^th century. The Black death originated in Central or East Asia. It travelled along the Silk Road from China to the Middle East, West Asia and the rest of Europe via the Italian peninsula.

The cause of the disease was most likely fleas which lived on the black rats and which got transmitted through merchant ships eventually spreading the disease throughout Europe. It affected the demographics of Europe and estimates place the population of Europe declined from 475 million to 350-375 million in the 14^th century.

The 13^th century Mongol conquest of China led to a decline in farming and combined with natural disasters and epidemics contributed to widespread famine in 1331 in Europe. In the Middle East the Muslim religious scholars believed that the disease was a martyrdom and mercy for believers, and it was a punishment for non-believers.

The main cause for the transmission of Bubonic plague was rodents which carried a strain of the bacterium Yersinia pestis.Plague was carried to Europe by the Genoese merchants of Italy in 1347.The Mongol army catapulted the infected corpses during the siege of Genoa in 1345-46.From Genoa the disease was carried by merchants to Sicily in Italy in 1347.From Italy the disease spread to France,Spain.In 1348 the disease was carried to Portugal,England,Germany,Scotland,Denmark and Netherlands. Eventually it spread to Russia.The disease also spread to West Asia and North Africa which led to population decline and a change in the economic and social structures. It spread by sea to Constantinople (Istanbul). By the summer of 1348 it reached Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine. It also spread to Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Morocco.

The symptoms of the disease were a fever of 38-41-degree Celsius, aching joints, headaches, nausea and vomiting. Left untreated, the persons who contracted the bubonic plague died with in a span of 8 days. In acute conditions the fever became severe accompanied by vomiting of blood. Spots and rashes caused by flea bites were the other symptoms of plague.

The death toll caused by plague varied greatly. In cities with greater population there was a greater mortality rate and it killed 75 to 200 million people in Europe and Asia. There was also an economic and religious impact of the disease. The population decline caused by the disease led to a shortage of labour and an increase in wages. For example, due to the Black death in England labourers, craftsmen and artisans suffered a reduction in their real incomes due to rampant inflation.

The plague also had a religious impact as various groups were persecuted such as Jews, foreigners, beggars, lepers and pilgrims. Europeans also came to believe astrological forces and the poisoning of wells by Jews as the causes for the outbreak of the disease. There were attacks against the Jewish communities and in 1349 the Jewish communities in Mainz and Cologne cities of Germany were killed. Because of this many Jews fled to Poland. Many Europeans also believed that the epidemic was a punishment from God for their sins and could be eradicated by asking for God’s forgiveness. The demographic change caused by the disease 

The Communist Revolution in China (1911-1949)

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The declaration of the People’s Republic of China by Mao Zedong on 1^st October 1949 brought to an end the conflict between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Nationalist Party or Kuomintang (KMT). Historians trace the origins of the 1949 revolution in China to sharp inequalities in Chinese society. The rule of the Qing dynasty or the Manchu dynasty (1644-1911) was characterized by high rates of rent, usury and concentration of wealth in the hands of village chiefs and landlords. Also China was under the pressure of Western powers leading to the opium wars, unequal treaties and the Boxer Rebellion. Extreme internal inequality combined with external aggression was the factors which led to the rise of nationalism, class consciousness and leftism among the Chinese population.

The Xinhai revolution of 1911 brought to an end the Qing dynasty and established the Republic of China. The people of China came in to contact with the western ideas. Dr Sun Yat Sen (1866-1925) advocated a modern state in China based up on the Western ideals. He formed the Kuomintang or the Nationalist Party in China in 1921. He was instrumental in the overthrow of the Qing dynasty in 1911 and the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC). He was the first provisional president of the Republic of China. After the death of Sun Yat Sen in 1925 Chiang Kai Shek became the head of the Kuomintang or the Nationalist party. Meanwhile Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao had formed the Chinese Communist party in 1921. They believed in the ideology of the dictatorship of the proletariat through revolutionary means. Inspired by the Russian revolution they formed small Marxist groups throughout China and wanted to gain power through revolutionary means. At the third congress of the Communist party in Shanghai in June 1923 the delegates reaffirmed their commitment to working with the KMT. They agreed on a common plan to work for the rural peasants in China. But their relations strained in 1926 and in May 1926 Chiang Kai Shek expelled the communists from responsible posts with the exception of Mao Zedong.

In July 1926 Chiang Kai Shek aimed to unify the country in the Northern Expedition and overthrow the conservative government in Beijing. Mao quit the Kuomintang after fallout with Chiang Kai Shek and established bases for guerilla warfare in China. This was the beginning of Chinese Civil War. With the beginning of the Second World War and the Sino Japanese war the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) and the Chinese Communist PARTY (CCP) of Mao Zedong decided to briefly cease all hostilities. The Kuomintang and the CCP decided to form a united front against Japan. After the end of the Second World War in 1945 hostilities resumed again. In the countryside and in the cities the CCP gained the upper hand. Mao formally assumed the role of the chairman of the CCP IN 1946. The Communists gained control of mainland China and established the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 while the nationalists retreated to the island of Taiwan. No armistice or peace treaty has ever been signed and the debate continues whether the civil war has officially ended.