Ive never fully understood-what happened to Tibet? When was it absorbed into the rest of China? How long did it exist independently? What kind of state was it? What was its political system? I tried looking it up but I was unable to grasp the information in the way it was formatted. So can someone please explain to me the last 20-50 years of Tibets existence as a nation?
I recommend reading "The Story of Tibet" or "Secret Lives of the Dalai Lama" for a Tibetan view of their own history. While it's true that Tibet became a "part" of the Qing Dynasty, what that exactly meant is still disputed. Tibetans will say that Tibet as a traditional, religious-based society existed independently throughout history (except during the Yuan Dynasty) until the late 1700s when the Gurkha Wars began and Tibet was ill-prepared to defend itself. When it became obvious and apparent that Tibet would lose the war, they requested Manchu forces be brought to help. Somewhere in the early 1800s, after the second Gurkha Wars, Manchu forces ended up staying in Tibet. Tibet because suzerain under the Manchu Dynasty, but not strictly a province as Sichuan or Gansu were. The Manchu system (which tended to fluctuate) essentially held that Manchu troops would be stationed in Tibet and Manchu delegates would be present in the Tibetan government.
When the Qing were overthrown, their authority no longer reached Tibet and Tibet became de facto independent (It's been a while since I read either book, but I believe they had a document that essentially declared their independence from any foreign control, especially the Qing).
After the Chinese Civil War ended, Mao sent the PLA into Tibet to end the "feudal system" and bring it under the Chinese Communist Empire. Mao, who hated religion, sought to destroy Buddhism and Tibetan culture. He hoped to indoctrinate the young Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, by showing him the wonders of Communism. HHDL believes that Marxist theory could still provide for humanity's material needs, while Buddhism could provide for their spiritual needs. In 1959, Tibet revolted against Chinese rule which initiated a brutal crackdown and led to the Tibetan diaspora and HHDL's exile.
Obviously that's a rather simplified version of the story.