attacked on several fronts. When organized resistance ceased soon afterward, foreign invaders controlled the whole of China for the only time in history. The Mongols occupied China for a century, but ineptitude on the throne, factionalism at court, and rivalries among generals weakened their rule. Out of this turmoil emerged a new native dynasty, the Ming (1368-1644), known for patronage of the arts. The Ming were followed by the Manchus (1644-1911), the last imperial dynasty of China, marked by continuous warfare, Western imperialism, rampant corruption and bureaucratic ineptitude. In the wake of the disastrous Boxer Rebellion, the imperial court could no longer maintain support among the peasantry and army; revolution (1911-1912) followed. The first half of the 20th century saw the disintegration of the old order in China and the foundations of a new society, begun by the short-lived democratic Republic (1912-1920), which quickly degenerated into the dictatorship of Yuan Shih-k'ai. A new revolution, led by the Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), erupted. Although united against the Japanese invasion, by the end of World War II civil war raged in China. Nationalists and Communists raced to take over Japanese-held territories, built up their forces, and fought limited engagements while still conducting negotiations; during 1947-1948, after initial Nationalist victories, the strategic balance shifted in favor of the Communists. Four years after Japan's surrender, a profound and popularly based revolution had swept China, and, in October 1949 Mao Tse-tung proclaimed the People's Republic of China. In 1966, the Communists launched the disastrous "Cultural Revolution," a ten-year assault on "traditional values" and "bourgeois thinking" which ultimately left the country in disarray. After Mao's death in 1976, his rival Deng Xiaopeng assumed power and began social and economic reforms that would see China return to world prominence.