To some extent, a modern history of China is a humiliating history of China's backwardness and beatings. The reasons for this humiliating situation are, on the one hand, the invasion of China by western capitalist powers, on the other hand, the backwardness of China's social system. The invasion of China by western powers is an inevitable product of the development of world capitalism, and it is an important part of capitalist countries' colonization and struggle for world hegemony. The changes in the ways and characteristics of foreign powers invading China are closely related to the development process and contradictions of the whole capitalism. The invasion of western powers had a far-reaching impact on China society, which not only hindered the pace of China's modernization, but also objectively stimulated the rise of new relations of production in China. The content of this theme can be paid attention to from two aspects: on the one hand, the relationship between the development of western capitalism and the invasion of China by foreign powers; On the other hand, the relationship between the invasion of China by foreign powers and the exploration and struggle of various classes in China society and the social and economic development and changes in China.

The first stage: from the Opium War to the Sino-Japanese War (1840 ~ 1894). At present, the main means of western powers invading China is to wage war, and the main way is to export commodities. China was invaded mainly by western industrialized countries such as Britain, France and the United States, as well as Russia. During this period, in order to plunder raw materials and open up markets, countries such as Britain, France and Russia continued their consistent policy of aggression against China. They invaded China by sea and land, and successively launched two Opium Wars and Sino-French Wars, forcing China to sign a series of unequal treaties such as treaty of nanking, and China lost its territorial sovereignty. The invasion of foreign powers gradually reduced China to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, and became a place where foreign powers dumped goods and plundered raw materials.

The second stage: the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894 to the end of World War I (1918). During this period, when the western powers invaded China, they first set off a wave of political partition, and then gradually implemented the policy of "governing China with China"; Economically, it is a transition from commodity export to capital export. At that time, the main pattern of western countries' aggression against China was * * *, and the United States was dominant. Until World War I, the Japanese temporarily monopolized China. During this period, capitalism in Britain, France and the United States further developed, and Russia embarked on the capitalist road. Then, the major capitalist countries began to transition to imperialism. They began to expand further to the outside world. They colluded and competed with each other, causing crises in the vast border areas of China by force and war, and launched wars of aggression such as the Sino-Japanese War and Eight-Nation Alliance's invasion of China. They controlled the economic lifeline of China by exporting capital on a large scale, and seized the right to mine and build roads, provide political loans and build factories in China on a large scale. They seized the leased land and divided their spheres of influence in an attempt to carve up China and turn China into a colony. The "open door" policy of the United States shows that the United States has an independent policy of aggression against China, and to some extent, it has formed an alliance with China. Under the attack of the Boxer Rebellion, imperialism changed the policy of divide and rule and implemented the strategy of "controlling China with China", first supporting the Qing government, and then supporting Yuan Shikai after the Revolution of 1911. During this period, the contradiction between imperialism became increasingly acute, which was manifested in triple interference, the Russo-Japanese war, the court-to-court dispute, and Japan's declaration of war on Germany.

The third stage: from World War I to the end of World War II (19 19 ~ 1945). During this period, foreign powers invaded China mainly from "controlling China with China" to occupying China. At that time, the main countries that invaded China were dominated by foreign powers at first, and then monopolized by the Japanese. After World War I, Japan and the United States became China's main rivals. The Washington Conference broke the Japanese monopoly of China, and brought China back to the situation where the powers carved it up. In the early days of the national government's rule, the United States connived at Japan's invasion of China on the premise of safeguarding its own rights and adhering to the "open door" policy; Japan stepped up its "continental policy" and launched the "September 18th Incident" in 193 1, which formed the origin of the Asian war and launched a full-scale war of aggression against China in 1937, thus forming a situation in which Japan monopolized China.

The fourth stage: from World War II to Korean War (1945 ~ 1953). During this period, the imperialist aggression against China began with "controlling China with China" and later developed into isolation, blockade and encirclement. The main country that invaded China was the United States. After World War II, the United States established its hegemonic position in the world, controlled China and supported Chiang Kai-shek in the civil war. After the founding of New China, the United States adopted policies such as political isolation, economic blockade and military siege, launched the Korean War to threaten China's security, and sent the Seventh Fleet into the Taiwan Province Strait to prevent China from liberating Taiwan Province Province.