9. The Three Gorges Dam – 1,200,000 People Displaced
The idea of building a massive dam on the Yangtze River in China dates back to the early twentieth century. In the early 1930s planning began for the construction of just such a dam at the Three Gorges, but the outbreak of war with Japan would interrupt the scheme.
During the Second World War Japan seized the site of the proposed dam and took on the project as their own, imagining that the dam might serve as a symbol of their victory. The Japanese never attained that victory, but the defeat of Japan did not bring peace to the Three Gorges.
After the end of the Second World War, some construction began on the dam itself, but the Chinese Civil War, which would sweep the Communist Party into power interrupted work once again. Mao Zedong was himself interested in the dam project, but the disruption caused by his disastrous economic policies made it impossible to go ahead with construction. It would not be until 1994 that a concerted effort to complete the dam began. It was a monumental undertaking. The structure, a mile and a half long and 600 feet tall, took eighteen years to complete.
One significant consequence of the construction of the Three Gorges Dam was that water backing up behind it would create a 370-mile long reservoir in what was a highly-populated area. As the reservoir filled up it flooded 13 cities, 140 towns, and 1,350 villages. Some 1,200,000 people who had lived in these population centers along the Yangtze River were forced to relocate as their homes disappeared under the waters. While these displaced people were promised compensation for their loss, many of them have still not received what they are owed.