Mao’s Rise to Power

Revolutionary China

China in late 1800s early 1900s facing huge problems
- Ruled by corrupt and incompetent imperial Qing Dynasty
- Since 1840s European nations forcing ‘unequal treaties’ requiring china to surrender
- Defeated militarily in 1895 by Asian rival Japan
- Economy under-developed, industry and commerce under foreign control, high debt to foreign banks
- Widespread famine dues to doubling population in 1800s and inefficient agriculture

Republican China

Revolutionary movement led by Sun Yatsen, leader of new party Guomindang (GMD)
- China had to develop along same lines as Japan
  - Adopt Western economic and military ways
- Had to remove Qing imperial system

1911, Qing dynasty abdicated in face of growing unrest and hostility
- Sun Yatsen outmaneuvered by conservative military leader Yuan Shikai
  - Yuan elected president of the new republic, sought to maintain power
    - Borrowed heavily from foreign banks
    - Surrendered territory to Japan

Weakness of central government Republican govt equal to that of Qing dynasty
- Provincial military leaders setting up as rulers of own areas
- Became warlords with private armies, imposing own laws and taxes
- Defied efforts of govt to control them

Resentment of Chinese over warlords and failures of Republic exacerbated by Paris Peace Conference, 1919
- German controlled parts of China handed to Japan, not back to China
  - Caused massive anti-govt, anti-foreigner protests
    - May 4th Movement

Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong arrived in Beijing during May 4th movement
- Intensely patriotic by disillusioned with weakness of China
- Initially inspired by Sun Yatsen’s revolutionary ideas
- Experiences under warlords taught him only path to success was through total commitment to a cause and willingness to use extreme methods
  - ‘All power grows out of a gun’

Attracted to Marxist ideas while in Beijing
- Believed Chinese revival required profound social and political revolution
- May 1921, became founding member of Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
- Organized alliance between GMD (Nationalists) and CCP to successfully overcome warlords
  - 1924-27
- Alliance ended when nationalist leader Chiang Kaishek turned on CCP
  - Saw them as rivals
  - Tried to destroy them via military means
- Mao fled with CCP to remote mountains in Jiangxi province 1927-34
  - Set up guerrilla resistance
  - Began to build Chinese soviet under his control
    - Executed 4000 Red Army troops accused of plotting against him

Under constant attack my Nationalists, Communists forced to abandon Jiangxi 1934
- Long March
- Year long journey to escape Natiolist forces
- Mao forced them to head north to Yanan Province rather than westward toward USSR
  - Successful arrival in 1935 enhanced his reputation and authority

2. Yanan 1935-45

Mao claimed leadership of the CCP
- Over next year turned base into Communist Soviet
- Communist sympathizers fled to Yanan
Cave dwelling became standard practice
- Protected from GMT air raids
- Large enough to host hospitals

Mao’s Peasant Policy

Mao started acting on what he had started
- Sent out Red Army units to occupy neighboring regions
  - Once Reds had infiltrated a region landowners shot/driven out
  - Declared ‘liberated’
  - Reallocated to peasants

Urged soldiers to think of themselves as ambassadors carrying the communist message
- Instructed to aid and comfort people
- Instructed to follow a code of conduct
  - Won the support of Peasants
- To win further support
  - Relocate seized land from landowners to peasants
  - Creation of local peasants associations
    - Invited to work with CCP
  - Program for ending usury
  - Literacy and education programs
  - Provided basic medical services
- CCP party went from 40,00 in 1937 to 1 million in 1945

Repression On the Land

All moves he made had the underlying tone of strengthening the CCP

Landowners treated brutally
Any villages who didn’t conform to the CCP faced harsh penalties
- Having crops and livestock stolen
- Steep taxes imposed

Idea of communities handling its own affairs undermined by CCP
- Every village council had to have a CCP member with power to veto decisions

3. Mao’s Ideology

Interpreted Marxist-Lenisnt ideology in the context of China’s needs
Believed that revolution had to come from the peasants
- The Comintern stated that Mao was

CCP opposition to Mao
Mao’s interpretation of Marxism resisted by Moscow-trained communists
- Insisted CCP concentrate efforts in urban areas, as stated by Comintern
- Criticised by segments of leadership (28 Bolsheviks) for acting independently, trying to change Marxist theory
- Mao able to resist criticism due to
  - Authority/ popularity earned through success of Long March destination
  - Background as a peasant gave him expert knowledge of rural concerns
  - Determination + self-belief

Rectification of Conduct Campaign 1942 – 44
Ideological victory over opponents allowed Mao to tighten control of CCP
- Mao’s communism stressed discipline + obedience
- Created principle of revolutionary correctness
  - To avoid betrayal from within, Party must maintain constant struggle against wrong thinking
  - Party members required to engage in public self-criticism
    - Targeted rivals, other popular leaders
    - Had to study assigned texts, mostly Mao’s writings, to find truth
    - 1000 guilty of revisionist (anti – Party) ideas
      - Imprisoned + tortured to gain confessions
- 60 Party officials committed suicide rather than participate in campaign
Mao ‘s authority enhanced by rectification campaigns
- Removed opposition, consolidated his position as leader
- Triumphed over pro-Moscow elements in CCP
- Moved closer to cult status within CCP
- Communism in China heavily influenced by him, now called Maoism
- 1943 election as Chairman of Central Committee of CCP recognition of his dominance over Party
- By end of Japanese war in 1945, Mao referred to as “the great
- helmsman”

E, Japanese Occupation 31-45

Manchurian Occupation
- Communists and Nationalists joined forces to protect
- Nationalists more interested in knocking out Communist

4. The Chinese Civil War 1945-49 pg 129 – 131

Communist vs Nationalists
Communist victory
- Chiang Kai Shek Moved to Taiwan

Nationalist Weaknesses

Lack of skill and judgment with military officers
Lack of training with soldiers
Low Nationlist Morale
Lacked effective propaganda
Failure to use arms prov. By USA effectively

Communist Strengths

Increased morale due to Mao’s determination
Effective military leadership
Mao’s self confidence
Red Army’s scout skills
Successfully resisted pressure from USSR

Consolidation of Power

After 1949 Mao had to act with speed and efficiency
- Had to establish a stable government.
- Restore unified control
- Fulfill promises of social reform and economic recovery

Government

Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (中國人民政治協商會議) met September 1949
- Brung together communist and non-communist parties
- Established a temporary constitution
  - Allowed participation of other parties

Five black categories
- Reactionary elements
- Feudal elements
- Lackeys of imperialism
- Bureaucratic capitalists
- Enemies of the people
Considered ‘non-people’
- Had no political rights
- country landlords, big business owners, and prominent ex-GMD members
- Nat and petty bourgeois, peasants, workers all given civil rights

Country divided into 6 regions, each controlled by
- Chairman
- Party Secretary
- Military commander – Member of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)
- Political commissar – Member of the PLA
  - China essentially under military control
  - Best way to consolidate control of CCP

Govt. had both theoretical and actual structure
- In theory
  - All power rested with ppl
  - Govt. + party acted as servants of ppl
  - Workers + peasants elected local officials who elected provincial who elected national officials
- In reality
  - All other parties outlawed, only CCP could run for election
  - Decisions made by politburo, controlled by Mao
    - Had ultimate authority, all decisions needed his approval

Mao’s Rise to Power II

Yanan 1933 – 45 cont…

Mao’s ideology

Mao attracted to communism due to nationalist beliefs
- Developed own theories in face of opposition from Comintern + within CCP
- Saw set of principles he could adapt to Chinese conditions
  - NOT a true Marxist
  - Prepared to interpret theory to suit his purposes, not follow it blindly
- Claimed Chinese considerations more important that ideology

Central belief was China’s revolution must come from peasants
- Seen as sacrilege by pure Marxists
  - Peasant revolution not goal, just stage on path to proletarian revolution
  - As China lacked urban proletariat, any revolution doomed to failure

Rejected by Mao, who claimed Marxism had to adapt to Chinese situation
- Dismissed idea that revolution restricted to urban workers
  - As peasants made up 80% popn, workers 4%, any revolution had to be by peasants
  - Redefined proletarian to mean attitude, NOT social class
    - Anyone genuinely committed to revolution was proletarian
    - Anyone who had been oppressed by higher class was proletarian
  - No need to wait for development of industrial proletariat in China
    - Peasants would achieve genuine revolution

CCP opposition to Mao

Mao’s interpretation of Marxism resisted by Moscow-trained communists
- Insisted CCP concentrate efforts in urban areas, as stated by Comintern
- Criticised by segments of leadership (28 Bolsheviks) for acting independently, trying to change Marxist theory
- Mao able to resist criticism due to
  - Authority/ popularity earned through success of Long March destination
  - Background as a peasant gave him expert knowledge of rural concerns
  - Determination + self-belief

Rectification of Conduct Campaign 1942 – 44

Ideological victory over opponents allowed Mao to tighten control of CCP
- Mao’s communism stressed discipline + obedience
- Created principle of revolutionary correctness
  - To avoid betrayal from within, Party must maintain constant struggle against wrong thinking
  - Party members required to engage in public self-criticism
    - Targeted rivals, other popular leaders
    - Had to study assigned texts, mostly Mao’s writings, to find truth
    - 1000 guilty of revisionist (anti – Party) ideas
      - Imprisoned + tortured to gain confessions
- 60 Party officials committed suicide rather than participate in campaign

Mao ‘s authority enhanced by rectification campaigns
- Removed opposition, consolidated his position as leader
- Triumphed over pro-Moscow elements in CCP
- Moved closer to cult status within CCP
- Communism in China heavily influenced by him, now called Maoism
- 1943 election as Chairman of Central Committee of CCP recognition of his dominance over Party
- By end of Japanese war in 1945, Mao referred to as “the great helmsman”

Early Years of the PRC

Early Reforms

Cautious actions by Mao initially
- Country divided into 6 regions, each controlled by
  - Chairman
  - Party Secretary
  - Military commander – Member of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)
  - Political commissar – Member of the PLA
    - China essentially under military control
    - Best way to consolidate control of CCP

Govt. had both theoretical and actual structure
- In theory
  - All power rested with ppl
  - Govt. + party acted as servants of ppl
  - Workers + peasants elected local officials who elected provincial who elected national officials
- In reality
  - All other parties outlawed, only CCP could run for election
  - Decisions made by politburo, controlled by Mao
    - Had ultimate authority, all decisions needed his approval

1950s, Mao launched ‘reunification’ campaigns to enforce of remote regions
- PLA armies sent across China
  - Official goal was to help improve local conditions, build roads
  - Real motive was to impose martial law, suppress opposition
    - 2 armies went to Tibet + Xinjiang (Uygur Muslims)

War and the ‘Antis’ movements

China’s involvement in Korean War gave Mao several advantages
- Unify ppl against threat of foreign invasion
- Success against UN/US troops enhanced reputation of Mao + China
- Prov. opportunity for more Rectification campaigns against ‘counter-revolutionaries’

1951 ‘Three Antis’ movements
- Against corruption, waste and inefficiency
- Aimed at party members, govt. Officials, business owners

1952 ‘Five Anti’ movement against
- Cheating on the government. Contracts
- Stealing state econ information
- Tax Evasion
- Theft of state property
- Bribery
- Employees in private businesses encouraged to denounce their bosses
  - Employers had to undertake thought reform program to eliminate ‘wrong thinking’
    - Focused in capitalists and bourgeoisie
    - Similar methods as those used against landlords in rural areas
      - Struggle meetings and self confessions
    - Bought another section of society under control of CCP

Intellectuals also targeted bought under CCP domination
- Educated members of society
  - Teachers. lawyers, journalists, writers, artists ect.
- Knowledge from books, not manual labour like peasants
  - Not true revolutionaries
- Struggle meeting used to help them see error of their ways

Govt. also introduced Pary rego. Programme to further society
- Created secret personnel files about each citizen
  - Central register of family details
  - Used to determine who would be issued residence permits + work permits
    - Could control movement around country

Mao’s Political Control

500,000 arrested + imprisoned

Political control centred around CCP

Members of CCP found all through administration + bureaucracy

Ministers + provincial officials

Army officials

Heads of villages + factories

Heads of universities + schools

All assisted by political commissars (advisors)

1954 constitution provided legal system modelled on USSR

Committee from National People’s Congress (parliament) appointed/ dismissed judges, enacted legal codes

In theory citizens had right to public trial + defence from public lawyer

Not in practice till after Mao’s death

In reality, belief in difft legal standards for class enemies destroyed any true justice

Party leadership could override judges

Judicial functions carried out by cadres

Court system only used for show trials in 1960s

The Hundred Flowers Campaign

1956 Mao lifted censorship restrictions, allowed criticism of party policies + govt

Criticism had to be constructive

Slow participation initially, mild criticism

By June 1957 criticism widespread + bitter

Generated magazines + posters + street rallies protesting CCP rule

Attacked party members, including Mao, for privileged lifestyles

Complained about corruption, poor living standards, censorship

1957 Mao ordered end to campaign, reinstated censorship with anti-rightist campaign

Critics condemned as ‘rightists’, ‘anti-socialists’

Forced to retract criticisms