The Communist Revolution in China - Term Paper Example

? The Communist Revolution in China The Communist Revolution in China had its roots in the historical circumstances of the early twentieth century. The political fragmentation, foreign domination, need for social reform, and the intellectual movements led to the birth of Sun Yat-Sen’s Kuomintang in 1912, followed by the emergence of the Chinese Communist Party in July 1921. Mao Zedong was the leading light of the CPP. The CPP went on to consolidate mass support, mainly among the peasants, through a policy of socio-economic reforms. The KMT’s dominance was broken by the CPP during the Sino-Japanese War. The CPP emerged victorious in the Civil War which followed, and the People’s Republic of China was established in October 1949. The Communist Revolution in China. The Communist Revolution in China, which culminated in the establishment of the Peoples’ Republic of China in 1949, was the result of several historical developments of the preceding decades. At the start of the twentieth century, China’s last imperial dynasty, the Qing, was in deep decline. The moribund feudal Confucian system, massive increase in population, failure to modernize, and the proliferation of warring war-lords, made China a fragmented nation. This fragmentation was further compounded by the establishment of foreign enclaves, or concessions, in important port cities by the colonial powers, each enjoying substantial extra-territorial autonomy and significant economic and political rights. In the aftermath of World War I, in which the Chinese contributed laborers to the Allies, Japan was granted the former German concession in Shantung and expanded control of Manchuria. This was widely resented by the Chinese. The social fabric of the country was in tatters: the peasants, who constituted the largest proportion of the population, were mired in abysmal poverty; the unskilled urban workers were also poor; the landlords and officials blocked any progress; the merchants were constrained by the foreign concessions. In this climate of political fragmentation and social stagnation, an intellectual movement for change took shape and consolidated its hold over the educated Chinese. The intellectual ferment of the late nineteenth to early twentieth century may be considered the precursor of the birth of Communism in China. A growing section of the educated Chinese actively agitated for modernization, social change, elimination of foreign concessions and national unity. The earliest attempt for reformation was spearheaded by SunYat-sen, who formed the Revolutionary Alliance in about 1905, and then the Kuomintang (KMT), or National Party, in 1912. Sun Yat-Sen was a medical doctor who entered politics with the goal of building “a strong, unified, modern Chinese Republic” (Cienciala, 1999). He had a strong backer in the wealthy businessman, Charlie Soong, whose two daughters married Sun Yat-Sen and Chiang Kai-Shek. In 1906, the publication of the Chinese translation of Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto attracted adherents to Marxism. A short-lived Republic was established in the aftermath of a military revolt in 1912, followed by a changing Central Government, challenged by other regimes and warlords. Thus, the reformists were divided into several factions: constitutional monarchists, anarchists, nationalists, and Marxists. The student-led May 4th Movement of 1919, largely inspired by socialism, expressed the growing intellectual movement for change. The climate was now ripe for the birth of Chinese Communism. The Chinese Communist Party (CPP) took root in the Marxist study groups established at Beijing University in June 1918, under the initiative of Li Dazhao, the chief librarian. Mao Zedong joined the Marxist study group in 1919. At this juncture, in accordance with its objective of establishing socialist allies in other nations, and striking a blow against international imperialism, the Soviet Government adopted friendly relations with China, particularly through the Comintern: the international arm of the Communist Party. Grigorii Voytinskii, a Comintern agent, arrived in China in 1920, and actively facilitated the transformation of the Marxist study groups into communist groups and finally into the Chinese Communist Party. In July 1921, the CPP was formally constituted at Shanghai, with Chen Duxiu as the General Secretary, Zhang Guotao as head of the organization section, and Li Dazhao as head of propaganda.  Party branches were established all over the country. Mao Zedong was appointed the local secretary of the Hunan branch. Voytinskii was succeeded by a progression of Comintern agents who served as advisors to the fledgling Party and liaisons with the Soviet Government. The Comintern also extended aid to the KMT, facilitating its adoption of a Bolshevik party structure, and providing military advice for the formation of a military force. Sun Yat-Sen welcomed Comintern aid and advice. Chiang Kai-shek, who started his political career as the Commander of the Whampoa Military Academy,  emerged as the leading star of the KMT’s military force in 1924, with the communist Zhou Enlai as his lieutenant. A period of CPP-KMT cooperation now followed. By Soviet order, many members of the fledgling CPP joined the KMT and consolidated support for the KMT among the laborers of the port cities. However, although the KMT retained its anti-imperialist stand, it did not adopt Communism as its leading philosophy.With Communist support, the KMT staged the Nationalist Revolution of 1925-1927, culminating in Chiang Kai-shek’s victory in the Northern Expedition. This unification campaign against the Chinese warlords successfully brought about half of China under KMT control. Fissures now appeared in the CPP- KMT alliance. Despite its Bolshevist facade, the KMT was essentially not a Communist organization. The KMT rejected the CPP stand of opposition to the wealthy Chinese industrialists of Shanghai. The latter offered Chiang Kai-shek financial aid in return for the severance of KMT ties with Moscow. In accordance with this agreement, Chiang arrested his political commissars and Soviet advisors and ordered the April 1925 ‘Shanghai Massacre,’ or the ‘White Terror’: the massacre of the revolting communists in Shanghai by the victorious KMT forces. Chiang went on to establish the National Government in Nanjing and ban the CPP, purging the Communists from the KMT. In 1927, Communist uprisings in Nanchang and Guangzhou were brutally suppressed. The KMT gained the support of Great Britain and Germany. However, the Japanese invasion of the Chinese heartland compelled Chiang to retreat to Chungking. Meanwhile, the CPP under Mao and Zhu-De established the Jiangxi Soviet. The Jiangxi period (1928-1935) witnessed the crucial makeover of the CPP. Mao Zedong emerged as the undisputed spokesman of the CPP and the decisive leader of policy. Mao shifted the support base of the CPP from the workers to the peasants, making a peasant revolution the goal of the CPP. This concentration on the peasants was a major step towards the success of the Chinese Revolution. Mao successfully adopted guerilla warfare tactics against the KMT, under Zhu De. The communists instituted land reforms in Jiangxi, ensuring a fairly equitable system of land allocation. Land was distributed to the landless peasants; at the same time, the rich landlords were also permitted to retain land in return for their support of the CPP. These economic policies were formalized in the Jiangxi Soviet, or Chinese Soviet Republic, and became the model for future CPP policy. These land reforms ensured the consolidation of peasant support for the CPP, particularly in contrast to the KMT’s failure to introduce either land or democratic reforms. This was compounded by Chiang’s dictatorial leaning towards fascism. The CPP gathered increasing support from all sections of Chinese society, which was increasingly alienated by Chiang. In 1933, a short-lived Bolshevik regime, supported by Moscow, failed, and Mao again assumed control of the CPP. In 1935, the KMT imposed military blockade forced the Communists to evacuate Jiangxi. The evacuation of Jiangxi is enshrined in CPP history as ‘The Long March.’ The march from Jiangxi commenced in October 1934 with about 100,000 people. Breaking through the KMT cordon in South Jiangxi, the 6,000 mile route traversed rough terrain, including the suspension bridge across the deep gorge at Luting, the Tahsueh Shan Mountains and the swamps of Sikang. The marchers covered fifty miles a day (Simkin, n.d.).  Only a group of about 20,000 survivors reached Shensi in 1935. This episode in CPP history was essentially a defeat in military terms. However, the Long March translated into a victory for the Communists by taking on the connotation of heroism, and was the crucible which produced the future leaders of the CPP. Zhou Enlai, Lin Biao and Zhe De were a part of the March. It is remarkable to note that fully ninety percent of the top leaders of the new People’s Republic of China was constituted by participants of the Long March. It became synonymous with “Mao’s brand of Commuism” (Cienciala, 1999). Mao established the CPP base at Yenan and built up his forces for the coming war. The Sino-Japanese war of 1937-1945 was instrumental in the emergence of the CPP as the dominant force in Chinese polity. The Sino-Japanese war broke out in July 1937, with the Japanese rapidly gaining control of most of eastern China. Chiang was pressurized by General Zhang Xueliang into making common cause with the communists against the Japanese. The CPP unleashed ‘The People’s War of Resistance’ against the Japanese: guerilla warfare under ‘The 8th Route Army.’ The Communist guerillas used this opportunity to achieve a permanent penetration of the villages, as opposed to the KMT in distant Chungking, which did not actively participate in the war against the Japanese. The CPP established a strong system of contact and influence over the country, which would serve it well in later years. By following the earlier Jiangxi policy, the CPP effected rent and interest controls, ended abuse in tax collections, and took basic literacy to the peasants. These socio-economic reforms resulted in the CPP consolidating an impressive mass base among the peasants. Membership numbered about one million, and the army had half a million recruits. The CPP “evolved a self-image stressing egalitarianism, self-sufficiency, and dedication” (Cienciala, 1999). In line with Soviet Communism, Mao censored literature and art, repressing dissent. ‘Systemic thought control,’ or rectification, was also practiced in order to ensure compliance with the Party line. However, Mao also asserted his independent stance on many issues. Mao was the architect of the Yenan model, which was uniquely Chinese in character, and became “the embodiment of Chinese nationalism” (Cienciala, 1999). The CPP’s goals were crystallized as national unity, freedom from foreign domination and socio-economic reforms, particularly the end of feudalism in the country. At the end of the war, the CPP was the predominant national party of China, and was ready to decisively challenge the KMT. The KMT was backed by the US. Although Chiang’s US military advisor, General Stilwell, was openly critical of the KMT’s perfunctory war against the Japanese, popular support and media backing compelled the US to continue its aid. Media support was strengthened by the visit of the charismatic Madame Chiang to the US. President Roosevelt dispatched ‘The US Observer Mission’ to China in July 1944. Based on its very favorable reports on Mao, the US even considered providing aid to the CPP. With the Japanese surrender, the US attempted to negotiate an agreement between the CPP and the KMT, under General Marshall. In practical terms, both the US and the Soviet Union sought to prevent Civil War in China although each continued to tacitly support the KMT and the CPP respectively. Despite US efforts to broker peace between the CPP and the KMT, and the signing of a truce in Chungking in January 1946, civil war broke out in China in the summer of 1946. In spite of its vast superiority in terms of numbers and weapons, the KMT army lacked morale and effective leadership. The peasants deserted in droves, in order to join the CPP’s People’s Liberation Army, attracted by the Communists’ land reforms. The merchants and bureaucrats were also disillusioned with Chiang’s economic and political policies. The PLA’s guerilla warfare was much more effective than the traditional techniques adopted by the KMT. The PLA rapidly gained control of the country. Chiang Kai-Shek fled to Taiwan, where he formed the ‘Free China’ government in exile. On 1 October, 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing. The Chinese Revolution was over. The CPP’s rule commenced and it retains its stranglehold over the PRC under a succession of party leaders. References. Cienciala, Anna M. 1999. The Chinese Revolution and Chinese Communism to 1949. History 557 Lecture Notes, Chapter 9. The University of Kansas. Retrieved from http://web.ku.edu/~eceurope/communistnationssince1917/ch9.html Simkin, John. N.d. Chinese Communist Party. Spartacus Educational . Retrieved from http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/CHINAcommunist.htm Read More