In the modern century, Britain, France, Japan, the United States, Russia and other powers launched hundreds of wars of aggression against China, which led to the fall of the capital for three times. Among them, the larger wars are: 1840- 1842 Opium War, 1856- 1860 Second Opium War, 1883- 1885 Sino-French War,/kloc. Eight-Nation Alliance's war of aggression against China 1900- 190 1, Japanese war of aggression against China 193 1- 1945. The number of countries participating in the war of aggression against China, its long duration, high frequency and heavy harm are rare in the world. Through the threat of war and force, the powers cut off Hongkong and Taiwan Province Province, "leased" Macao and occupied a large area of land. In just a hundred years, it occupied the territory of 18 1000 square kilometers, which is equivalent to the area of three France, five Germany and seven Britain. In the meantime, China has successively signed more than 1 100 treaties and regulations with foreign countries, most of which are unequal treaties forced by imperialism to China, involving politics, military affairs, economy, justice, culture, education and other aspects. As Elgin, the British plenipotentiary during the Second Opium War, said when talking about the Tianjin Treaty, these treaties were "made with a pistol at the throat". After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Japan extorted compensation of 230 million taels of silver, equivalent to three times the annual income of the Qing court and 4.5 times that of Japan. According to the "Xin Chou Treaty" signed in 190 1, China will pay 450 million taels of compensation, plus interest and local compensation from various provinces, totaling 654.38 billion taels of silver, which is at least equivalent to the total fiscal revenue of the Qing government in 12. What other country in the world has suffered such frequent and heavy war injuries as China? Which country can expect to develop after paying compensation of 3 times or even 12 times its annual income? "Desperately read" History of zhina ",how many men are not cattle and horses!" (Zou Rong: Feeling) Once a country loses its sovereignty, people's lives and dignity cannot be guaranteed.

The British massacre in Dinghai and Zhenjiang, the Japanese massacre in Lushun, the Russian extinction in Hailanpao and Jiangdong 64 Tun, the Shaji massacre, the May 30th massacre, the Jinan massacre and the terrible Nanjing massacre ... It can be said that in order to destroy the rebellious will of the people of China, the invaders carried out the most cruel and sustained killing. "Sick man of East Asia" is the image of China people in the eyes of foreigners; "Little pig" is a derogatory term for overseas Chinese who have been cheated and sold overseas! Qiu Zeng, a patriotic poet, angrily pointed out: "Britain is in Hong Kong, and dogs are better than China people;" If Russia is big, people will tax on cattle and horses. " In the old Shanghai Bund Park, a sign "Chinese and dogs are not allowed in" was set up. In the eyes of the colonists, China people are nothing but cows, horses, pigs, dogs, or even worse. Otherwise, how could they use 170 kinds of cruel methods to kill people? The danger of national extinction is imminent, and the ancient Chinese civilization is on the verge of extinction. The British and French allied forces burned the Yuanmingyuan, Eight-Nation Alliance looted Beijing, the imperial capital of the Five Dynasties, and the "explorers" on the ancient quicksand road in the northwest stole cultural relics ... According to incomplete statistics, there are more than/kloc-0.0 million pieces of China's precious cultural relics in more than 200 museums in 47 countries and regions around the world. Open robbery is accompanied by invisible destruction. Colonists spread the idea of slavery and dispelled the national spirit by preaching, running schools and publishing. Francis Liszt Hawkes Porter, president of St. John's University, declared that "our school is China's West Point Military Academy" and it is necessary to train China's "future leaders and commanders". Members of the Japanese "Pen Force" even publicly shouted: "Soldiers stab China people with swords, and we intellectuals just want to dig out their souls with pens." It was under the threat of the sword that the people in the occupied areas were deprived of the right to learn their mother tongue and forced to receive "imperial education".

At the same time of bloody conquest, the invaders also dressed up as the embodiment of civilization and progress. Here I would like to mention Fukuzawa Yukichi, the first militarist theorist in modern Japan, whose portrait was printed on the largest ten thousand-dollar bill in Japan. During the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, he published the article "The Japanese-Qing War was a War of Civilization and Barbarism", claiming that the Japanese army was a "war of civilization" for China and "ushered in the dawn of new civilization" for more than 400 states in China. The Japanese "should pay tribute to China, the leader of civilization, and thank them for their kindness." Later, he published an article advocating that the Japanese army must step up its attack on China, "ravaging more than 400 States (the word ravaged is a Chinese word directly used by Fukuzawa in the original text) to speed up its chances of national subjugation."

"Civilization", "ravage" and "national subjugation" should be "thanked" by Fukuzawa Yukichi for making the issue so straightforward. In the process of aggression, the colonialists did build railways, mine, run enterprises and schools in China, and carried out many seemingly "civilized" "constructions"; Out of the need to save the nation from extinction and the expectation of civilization, China people have long taken the West as their teacher and started and worked hard to promote the modernization process of China. However, both of them are "constructions", but they are fundamentally different in nature, function and historical destiny. When talking about British colonial rule in India, Marx pointed out: "Indians will not reap the fruits of new social factors sown among them by the British bourgeoisie until they are strong enough to completely get rid of the shackles of Britain"; "What the British bourgeoisie will be forced to implement in India can neither liberate the people nor fundamentally improve their social conditions, because both depend not only on the development of productive forces, but also on whether they are owned by the people." (Selected Works of Marx and Engels, 2nd edition, vol. 1, pp. 77 1-772)

This is the key. The people of China are so eager for civilization and progress. However, our pursuit of civilization and progress is always in sharp conflict with the so-called expansion of western civilization in China, that is, the deepening of colonization. When the bourgeoisie in China consciously struggles for modernization, the capitalist world system dominated by western powers has basically taken shape. The development of this system is based on the colonization of vast areas of the world, and its price is the stagnant or distorted development of these areas. Once semi-colonial and semi-feudal China becomes an independent modern capitalist country, the great powers will not only lose a place to provide cheap raw materials and labor, but also face a strong competitor. This is something they can't tolerate. At the beginning of the 20th century, henry adams, adviser to the President of the United States, said in the tone of western civilization that in order to ensure the domestic economic order and security of big countries, "Asia must be conquered", "China and Asia must never be allowed to achieve industrialization and political independence", "if China and Asia are allowed to independently develop their own resources" and "if the national industrial system on the other side of the Pacific Ocean is successfully organized by the endless supply of means of production in the Yellow River basin, (Qing Simei: A Preliminary Study of the Foreign Powers' China Policies during the Revolution of 1911, Proceedings of the Academic Seminar to Commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Revolution of 1911, p. 1336, Zhonghua Book Company, p. 1983) Later, Japan attempted to monopolize China and publicly put forward the "ideal" arrangement of "industrial Japan" and "agricultural China". Facts clearly show that colonization did not bring the gospel of civilization, but pushed China into the abyss of extinction. As far as economy is concerned, the development of China's national capitalism is so difficult and slow compared with the foreign capital that has always occupied an absolute advantage and controlled the financial and economic lifeline of China. From the Opium War to 1949, China only accumulated 17% of modern industry. (See Huang Yifeng et al.: The National Bourgeois in Old China, p. 632, Jiangsu Ancient Books Publishing House,1990) In the 1930s, the capitalists of Shanghai Cotton Mill began to cry: "The only fatal wound of China Cotton Mill lies in the oppression of China by imperialism." Politically, all the political forces that resisted democracy in modern China, whether it was the ruling clique in the late Qing Dynasty, the northern warlords or the major factions during the Kuomintang rule, had the support of one or even several countries. Those who sincerely pursue western democracy have never received sincere and effective help from the West. On the contrary, they were forced to face the joint repression of the great powers and the ruling class again and again. As a result, Sun Yat-sen sprouted the idea of "overthrowing the hegemonic culture in Europe and America" and finally formed a clear anti-imperialist proposition. It is the crazy aggression of western powers that forces people to fully understand western civilization and further see its essence. At the beginning of the 20th century, China intellectuals began to put forward and apply the concept of "imperialism" more generally, and realized that it was "the face of false civilization and the barbaric reality". By the 1930s and 1940s, anti-imperialism had become the common knowledge of China people, including education, science and technology, industry, political parties and even the general public. This is by no means because of the influence of an ideology, but because of the harsh reality. For all China people who care about the survival and development of the motherland and long for civilization and progress, anti-imperialism has become the primary historical task.

Lenin pointed out that when capitalism awakened Asia and aroused national movements everywhere, the so-called civilized and progressive European bourgeoisie formed an alliance with backward and reactionary medieval forces for its own interests, and did not hesitate to use all brutal and cruel means to stifle the efforts of backward countries to get rid of backwardness and pursue civilization. From this, he put forward a dialectical proposition that seems unreasonable, but actually contains "spicy truth"-backward Europe and advanced Asia!

two

"If you fall behind, you will be beaten" is a proposition put forward by Stalin in a speech in 193 1. He pointed out: "Beat the laggards and beat the weak-this has become the law of exploiters. This is the jungle law of capitalism. " (The Complete Works of Stalin, Vol. 13, p. 37, People's Publishing House, 1956) Accordingly, Stalin demanded to speed up development and get the Soviet Union out of the backward and beaten state as soon as possible.

Emphasizing backwardness will lead to beatings, which can not only alert the laggards and make them bravely catch up with the advanced ones, but also make the advanced ones never satisfied and always maintain a sense of urgency. However, if this proposition is simplified and absolutized, and it is extended to being beaten only for backwardness and denying the anti-aggression struggle of the people of modern China, it will be a small loss and a thousand miles away. Modern pacifists, such as Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, always excused their passive avoidance of war with their inferior strength, regarded strict compliance with treaties as a talisman for maintaining peace, and accused the war factions of resisting aggression, which led to the outbreak of war and serious consequences of defeat. As a matter of fact, the repeated wars waged by the great powers against China are fundamentally determined by their colonial expansion policies, not caused by China's resistance, and it is not inevitable to make peace blindly. Different from the "public law" and the "loyalty" of the peace faction, the war faction has a clear understanding of the greedy nature of the powers' treachery and pushing their luck, and points out that if they do not take loyal opposition, even if they live in peace for a while, they will certainly have endless future troubles. During the Sino-French War, they pointed out that the purpose of French colonists was to invade China according to Vietnam. Before the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 broke out, they exposed Japan's plot to occupy Korea and seek China again. In response to the argument that the peace faction criticized the war faction for "being angry and wanting to fight", they retorted: "Whether he is angry or not does not depend on whether I was excited at first; Whether he fights or not doesn't depend on whether I am happy or not ... I am wholeheartedly and sincerely, and he will be conscientious, neither light nor heavy. Otherwise, although I am conscientious, I am afraid of trouble. He will arouse my anger and make me enjoy fighting with him. Why should I force him? " (Ceng Guoquan: Fu, The Complete Works of Zeng Zhongxiang and His Letters, Vol. 16, p. 23, in the twenty-ninth year of Guangxu)

That's what happened. Although the peaceful diplomacy represented by Li Hongzhang was pursued in the late Qing Dynasty, and although the foreign policy was soft, forbearing and yielding, as the Prime Minister's yamen said in his note to American envoys, "China has signed treaties with other countries for many years, and there is nothing not to keep them." However, all compromises and concessions never stopped the aggression of big powers and never brought the necessary peaceful environment. Take the Japanese invasion of China as an example. From planning and launching the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 to the September 18th Incident, the December 28th Incident and the July 7th Incident, it was not because of China's troubles, but because of the inevitability of Japanese imperialism's China policy. The China authorities, who have repeatedly made concessions, are always forced to resist after being forced to no way back; Peace-loving people in China always rise up when they can't stand being bullied. It is entirely the logic of the aggressor to blame aggression and expansion on resistance to aggression. Realistically speaking, although modern China was backward, it was not only a way of compromise, but also a way of confrontation, and there was no chance of winning. The United States defeated Britain, the most advanced country in the world, Haiti, a small backward country, drove away the French colonists and won independence. The people of China fought bloody battles and won the great victory of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. These are all examples in the history of the world where the weak win over the strong. The fundamental reason for the failure of China's modern anti-aggression struggle lies in the corruption of the ruling class. In order to maintain the decadent feudal rule, they could not persist in resisting to the end. Fujian Navy was completely annihilated and beiyang fleet was destroyed, which was directly related to the defeatism of avoiding war and seeking peace.

In sharp contrast to the decadent feudal class, the people of China fought against foreign enemies without compromise, including the great Boxer Movement. The boxer movement, which fought for the survival and dignity of the nation, has unquestionable justice. At that time, it was supported by the international proletariat and the world progressives. In response to the statement that the Boxer Rebellion was hostile to white people and rejected European civilization, Lenin pointed out in the article "War against China": "What China people hate is not the European people, because there is no conflict between them. What they hate is European capitalists and European governments that are obedient to capitalists. Can the people of China not hate those who came to China just to get rich, those who used their touted civilization to cheat, plunder and suppress, those who fought China (1856-France war against China) in order to gain the right to sell opium that poisoned the people, and those who used the hypocrisy of missionaries to cover up the predatory policy? " (Selected Works of Lenin, 3rd edition, p. 279 1 Volume) Mark Twain, a famous American writer, also publicly declared in his speech: "I stand with the Boxer at any time" and "I am also the Boxer". (Zhang: "Mark Twain and China", see Foreign Literature Studies No.4, pp. 299 and 298)

The direct causal relationship between imperialist aggression and the rise of the Boxer Rebellion has been elaborated in a large number of serious works. Only one fact is emphasized here: Buddhism, Islam and Christianity, the three major religions in the world, have been introduced to China for a long time, but they have not triggered a large-scale anti-religious movement. It was not until modern times that there was a continuous struggle against foreign religions. Why? The reason is not the unprovoked provocation of the Boxer Rebellion, but the evil deeds of some foreign religious forces. Yuan Shikai, then the governor of Shandong Province, always hated the Boxer Rebellion and sheltered foreign churches, but he also admitted: "The origin was actually held hostage by local state and county officials, who usually acted as missionaries for foreigners ... but the parishioners had to take advantage of the official position to bully, and it was difficult for the good people to sue, and the grievances became enemies." Chai Wulang was the military attache of the Japanese Embassy in Beijing, and was in charge of directing Japanese actions during the siege of the Embassy. His analysis is: "In recent years, zhina's national strength has collapsed, foreigners have leased or plundered some of its land, and a large number of missionaries have flooded into the hinterland to protect parishioners outside the law, while parishioners have relied on foreign forces to do whatever they want. For this reason, the originally harmless Boxer Rebellion has become a radical xenophobic group. "

Although the Boxer Rebellion failed, it curbed the trend of the great powers to carve up China with great sacrifices, inspired the national spirit and inspired the latecomers. The commander of the Coalition forces, Wadesi, admitted: "It is indeed the worst policy to split up." British Deputy Foreign Secretary Bruderick warned when discussing China policy in Parliament: "We should be careful, we can learn from robbers. I can't treat Indians like China. Hurd, a long-term director of the General Administration of Customs and Taxation of China, also made a sober estimate of the Boxer Rebellion and its future prospects. He admitted that the Boxer Movement was a purely patriotic movement to make China strong. " Today's episode is not meaningless. This is a prelude to a century that will change, and it is also the main theme of the future history of the Far East: China in 2000 will be very different from China in 1900 ... In any case, foreigners can never expect to maintain their extraterritorial status and various trade conditions that China was forced to give up forever ... Although Hurd spoke from the standpoint of imperialism, he had to admit that he was insightful, but the estimated time was greatly advanced. It is precisely because the boxer movement promoted the awakening of the people that Sun Yat-sen, who struggled for the revolution, felt that the domestic atmosphere had changed. "The dream of knowing the people of China has gradually awakened." He saw the hope of the country from the fierce resistance of the people. He asserted that the dream of the great powers to carve up China will never come true, because "on the day of partition, unless the people of China are slaughtered more than half, the great powers will have no peace." Since then, the producers in China have clearly regarded the heroic struggle of the Boxer Rebellion as "one of the cornerstones of the great victory of the people of China after 50 years" (in Zhou Enlai).

In modern times, China was beaten for being backward, and was even more backward because of being beaten. If we want to get rid of the strange circle, we must carry out thorough changes at home, realize the widest social mobilization, and create conditions for the change of loyal opposition. In such a long and arduous struggle, are we on the side of the invaders or patriotic? If it is the former, it will inevitably find fault with the mass struggle and then completely deny it. On the contrary, on the premise of fully affirming the people's struggle, we should make a realistic analysis of its inevitable shortcomings and learn from them. In this regard, the attitude towards the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Boxer Rebellion has become a watershed or touchstone. The producer of China made the right choice. Therefore, we can lead the people to carry out a thorough anti-imperialist and anti-feudal revolution, sweep away the wind of cowardice of the ruling class for more than 100 years, and say "no" in the face of power!

On June 1949 and 15, at the opening meeting of the preparatory meeting for the new CPPCC, Mao Zedong declared in iron language: "China must be independent, China must be liberated, and the affairs of China must be handled by the people of China themselves, and no imperialist countries will be allowed to interfere again." It is precisely because this new regime truly belongs to the people and is supported by the people. Therefore, although the country was devastated and everything was in ruins at that time, in the face of the threat of imperialism, our answer was still so tough: "The people of China have never considered the will of all imperialists in the position of safeguarding their own interests and defending the sovereignty of their own people's motherland. All unequal treaties and privileges of aggression created by imperialism in China must be abolished. No matter whether the imperialists retreat, don't retreat, shout or threaten, they can't affect this just position of the people of China. " (Xinhua News Agency comments: "the State Council's sophistry, false accusation and threats", Xinhua Monthly 1950 No.4) Only the producers of * * * who represent the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people in China can so confidently and categorically declare that an era of humiliation is over!

three

After too many wars, I am more and more eager for peace and development; Seeing too much blood, I look forward to "making the world full of love". However, the end of the "cold war" did not achieve the expected peace, and the wave of economic globalization did not bring all the benefits. Those countries and nations that have been bullied in history gradually find that their development is still hindered by the unequal world political and economic order with historical origins. Some politicians in the west made it clear: "We prefer to rely on diplomacy rather than force, but we are always willing to use force when it is necessary to defend our national interests." Their strategists also publicly claimed: "The three major tasks of imperial geostrategy are: to prevent collusion between vassal countries and maintain their dependence on the empire in security; Maintain the obedience of the client country and the protection provided to it; Prevent the unity of barbaric peoples "(in brzezinski).

From the so-called "modernization theory" to the popular neo-liberalism, "historical conclusion" and neo-imperialism, mainstream western theories consciously seek historical and realistic basis for the capitalist world system. In their theoretical framework, bloody colonial aggression and bitter anti-aggression struggle were filtered, diluted or even disappeared without a trace. All that remains is a series of beautiful lies such as "freedom", "friendship" and "development", and a development path that must follow the footsteps of the West. Therefore, whether we can correctly understand the modern history of China from the viewpoint of historical materialism is not only related to the present of our nation, but also related to the future of our nation.

The basic contradiction in modern China is the contradiction between imperialism and the Chinese nation, feudalism and the masses of the people. China faces two major tasks: national independence, people's liberation and modernization to make the country prosperous and the people happy. However, without national independence, there will be no real modernization, no overthrow of the semi-colonial and semi-feudal ruling order, no smashing of the old relations of production, no liberation of the people of China from the oppression of imperialism and feudalism, and it will be difficult to develop new productive forces, let alone carry out all-round construction. The land is destroyed, the war is endless, and the survival of the nation is not guaranteed, let alone developed! Therefore, only by first striving for national independence and people's liberation through the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal revolution can we clear the obstacles for modernization and usher in the great rejuvenation of the nation. We should cherish this basic experience of China's modern history, which embodies countless lives and blood, and do not allow anyone to dispel and trample on it in any way. On the road to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, we should be good at identifying and resisting historical nihilism, and prevent them from confusing our thoughts, blurring the people's horizons and deviating from the socialist direction.