Mao Zedong within the Communist Party in China - Essay Example

The Rise of Mao Zedong within the Communist Party in China, Culminating in the Proclamation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 Mao Zedong was born in December 1893 as the son of a rich peasant. He was attracted to the radical political ideas of 1911 which overthrew the imperial system. He started his career as a teacher. In 1918 he left for Beijing and worked as assistant librarian at the Beijing University. There he became member of Marxist study group. In 1919, he returned to Changsha and became more attracted to the message of Russian revolution and Leninist version of Marxism. Mao was one of the thirteen delegates who attended the Chinese communist partys founding congress which was secretly convened in Shanghai in July 1921 (Mao, 2011). Mao was more attracted to countryside and peasants than cities and proletariats. He spent more time on studying the rural socio economic conditions and focused on organising the peasants. In fact, he discovered the great revolutionary potential of peasants. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has merged with the nationalist party of Kuomintang in 1923. However, this partnership did not last long. By 1927, it became clear that Mao and Chiang had different perceptions on Soviet interests in China. Mao supported Soviet Union while Chiang opposed it. As a result, the CCP- Kuomintang alliance broke. Both the leaders competed for domination of China. While Mao focused on rural areas, Chiang focused on urban areas. In 1927, Mao published the Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan. It contained the important ideas of Mao. He believed in the power of the peasants and described it as a tornado. In his opinion it is "so extraordinarily swift and violent that no power, however great, will be able to suppress it." (2011). He believed in the revolutionary creativity of peasants which Marxist-Leninists reserved for the Communist Party. According to Mao, it is not the party which has to determine the revolutionary capabilities of the peasants, but the peasants who has to judge the capability of the party for revolution. From April, 1927 onwards, Chiang Kai-shek focused on destroying communists and their organisational base in urban areas. Rise of Mao Mao had great admiration for sun Tzu and gave priority to maintaining an army. So he formed the Red Army. He knew that war against the powerful state will take years to win. He worked for gaining support for the red army among the peasants. He followed the tactic of sun Tzu, attack when stronger and retreat when weak (Seize the Night, 2010). Mao applied this strategy four times when confronted with the strong forces of Chiang. In 1930, a notable incident called the Futien incident occurred. That is, Mao suspected that a red army unit in Jiangxi is not supporting him and so ordered execution of 3000 officers and men. This shows Mao’s strict nature. Between December 1930 and September 1931, there were three guerrilla campaigns under the leadership of Mao, but failed. The fourth guerrilla campaign in 1932-33 was also a failure. But, the fifth one succeeded. In 1934, after series of defeats, the communists and three red armies were pinned down in the mountains of Jiangxi Province in southern China. The communist army became exhausted as a result of harassment form the Kuomintang. As a result of the nationalist offensive, the communists and the red armies decided to flee their southern bases and retreat to meet Communist forces in Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia in northern China (Hays, 2011). This retreat is known as the long march. It was a six thousand mile march. The long march began in Jiangxi on October 16, 1934 and crossed 24 rivers, 18 mountain ranges (5 covered with snow) and 11 provinces before it ended after 368 days at the caves of Yenan on the edge of the Gobi desert in northern China (Hays, 2011). On January 8, 1935, they met in Zunyi in Guizhou province. There, they discussed the future leadership of the communist party. The old leadership and generals of the red army supported Mao. He was made the party secretary. He was also made member of the Politburo. As a result, the power and influence of Mao increased within the communist party (CCP). He was also made the director of military affairs replacing Zhou Enlai. Also, during this meeting, the predominating pro-Moscow element was removed from CCP. The urban communists were out of touch with the real needs of the CCP. The removal of such opponents helped in consolidating Mao’s power in the party. By the time they left Zunyi on January 19, 1935, Mao became the most influential person in the communist party. The importance of Zunyi conference according to Yang (1986) is that it changed the CCP leadership making Mao the leader of the whole party’s political and military line (Yang, 1986). When the red army resumed the march, they were blockaded by Chiang’s forces. Then, Mao began travelling north to join Zhang Guotaos Fourth Front Army. Chiang’s forces stopped him there also. But, through some of tactical manoeuvres in Ghuizou, Mao was able to reach the north and on May 8, crossed the Yangtze. There were 25,000 men with him that time. The communists then marched to Shaanxi Province. Though some leaders like Zhang Guotao wanted to settle near Soviet border, Mao’s decision prevailed because he had the power and authority to decide the route. Zhang Guoto had moved in a different direction. But, several months later, he rejoined Mao and admitted that the route chosen by him was wrong and impossible to cross the rivers on the way. This increased the standing and prestige of Mao among the marchers. The communist army, led by Mao then entered into areas populated by non Chinese. The local population got angry with Chinese encroachment. As a result, the communist army faced threat from Kuomintang as well as local warlords. They have to pass mountains and cross rivers. It was a great struggle. Mao’s army finally reached Shaanxi after overcoming several ambushes from Tibetans and the Hui in October. During the march, the communist army recruited peasants and the poor and confiscated weapons and property of local warlords and landlords. They redistributed land to the peasants, organized guerrilla groups and armed the peasants with captured Kuomintang weapons. (Hays, 2011) Out of the 90000 soldiers who started, only 20000 made it to the final destination of Yanan in 1935. (Long11). The communists faced several setbacks including fatigue, hunger, coldness, sickness, desertion, and military losses. High officials of the communist party like Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Lin Biao and Deng Xiaoping survived the long march. In December, 1936, party headquarters was moved to Yanan. There he began rebuilding the party. Mao and Chiang united again in 1937 to fight against the invasion of Japan. Mao conducted guerrilla warfare against the Japanese in the northern rural provinces. He protected the peasants and stockpiled arms from the soviets and allies. As a result, his reputation increased among the peasants. But in urban areas, Chiang faced strong Japanese forces and his army weakened. (Seize the Night, 2010) Within the communist party, mao consolodated his power further in 1942 by launching the Cheng Feng, or "Rectification" campaign against rival CCP members (Mao’s Rise). The disciplining of the party that began in 1941 carried on through until 1945 (Saich). In 1943, Mao became the chairman of CCP. This position was created in that year only. The defeat of Japanese in 1945 also increased the credibility of Mao. The partnership between communists and the nationalists broke up again after the second world war. There became severe internal fighting for domiation of China. With a stronger force, Mao began an offensive agianst the nationalists and successfully pushed them into other areas. In 1949, Chian and his followes withdrew to Formosa and formed the nationalist China (Seize the Night, 2010). Consequently, Mao formed the Peoples Republicof China on October 20, 1949. He was elected as the chairman.He suppressed land owners and others who opposed him. It was a totalitarian rule. He executed or starved to death 20 million Chinese citizens in the next twenty years in order to bring them the joy and advantages of communism (Seize the Night, 2010). He ruled China from 1949 to until his death on september 9, 1976 at the age of eighty-three. Before the rise of Mao, no marxist could have thought of socialist revolution relying entirely on the support of peasants (Meisner, 2007). Works Cited Mao Zedong [Online] // Oxford Reference Online. - Oxford University Press, 2011. - March 5, 2011. - http://www.oxfordreference.com/pages/samplep-02.html. Hays Jeffrey, Long March [Online] // Facts and Details. - February 2011. - March 7, 2011. - http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=60&catid=2#04. Long March- the rise of Mao [Online] // Global Oneness. - March 7, 2011. - http://www.experiencefestival.com/long_march_-_the_rise_of_mao. Maos Rise [Online]. - March 8, 2011. - seahawksbears.wikispaces.com/file/view/Maos+Rise.doc. Meisner Maurice J. Mao Zedong: a political and intellectual portrait [Online] // Google Books. - 2007. - March 8, 2011. - http://books.google.co.in/books?id=IaPPLi-vhQAC&dq=assess+mao%27s+rise+to+power+in+communist+party&source=gbs_navlinks_s. Saich Tony, The Chinsese Communist Party during the Era of Comintern (1919-1943) [Online] // International Institute of Social History,. - March 8, 2011. - http://www.hks.harvard.edu/fs/asaich/chinese-communisty-party-during-comintern.pdf. Seize the Night [Online]. - Carpenoctem, 2010. - March 8, 2011. - http://www.carpenoctem.tv/military/mao.html. Yang Benjamin. The zunyi Conference as One Step in Maos Rise to Power: Asurvey of Historical Studies of the Chinese Communist Party [Online] // Justor. - The China Quarterly No. 106 pp. 235-271, June 1986. - March 8, 2011. - http://www.jstor.org/pss/653430. Read More