7. The consolidation of power 1949-52

Question 1

Why did Mao increase his efforts to irradiate opposition at the end of 1950?

Answer 1

After the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, China experienced growing national unity, but also a fear that
the revolution was under threat internally and externally. Mao used this as an excuse to justify extreme
measures of dealing with ‘counter-revolutionary elements’ within China.

Question 2

What were the 5 mass campaigns to irradicate opposition in the years 1950-52?

Answer 2

1) The Resist America and Aid Korea campaign (1950-51).
2) The Suppression of Counter-revolutionaries campaign (1950-51).
3) The Three-Antis campaign (1951-52).
4) The Five Antis campaign (1952).
5) Thought Reform campaign (1951-52).

Question 3

What was the Resist America and Aid Korea campaign (6)?

Answer 3

After the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, foreigners (especially Americans) became enemies of the
PRC.
1) Westerners became targets of persecution.
2) Many foreigners were arrested and charged with being spies.
3) Christian churches were closed, forcibly seized and priests/nuns expelled from China.
4) Any institution (businesses, universities, etc.) with western links came under close supervision.
5) Police searches confiscated radios and weapons.
6) Mass rallies were organised.

Question 4

What was the significance of the Resist America and Aid Korea campaign on China?

Answer 4

By 1951, there was a frenzy of suspicion within China, with most foreigners (except those from the USSR)
having left.

Question 5

When was the Resist America and Aid Korea campaign?

Answer 5

1950 - 1951.

Question 6

What was the Suppression of Counter-revolutionaries campaign (2)?

Answer 6

1)Targeting ‘bandits’, those with GMD links and members of religious sects, large numbers of the population
were denounced, investigated and punished.
2) Many were executed (28,332 in Guangdong alone in less than a year), whilst the public were forced to
watch to ‘educate’ them. Mao kept a close control over the levels of executions.

Question 7

What was the significance of the Suppression of Counter-revolutionaries campaign on the Chinese
population?

Answer 7

Many committed suicide due to fear and psychological pressures.
Targets cities with little communist experience:
Shanghai - held evidence against 40,000
Guangdong - 52, 620 ‘bandits’, 89,701 other criminals

Question 8

When was the Suppression of Counter-revolutionaries campaign?

Answer 8

1950 - 1951.

Question 9

What was the Three-Antis campaign (2)?

Answer 9

1) Targeting corruption, waste and obstructionist bureaucracy, managers, state officials and Party members
were subjected to mass meetings, humiliation and investigation.
2) Using the methods of the Yan’an Rectification Campaign, those ‘guilty’ were forced to ‘rectify’ their errors
of thought/deed and self-criticise.

Question 10

What was the significance of the Three-Antis campaign on China (2)?

Answer 10

1) Corruption, such as bribery and influence, were rooted out of businesses and administration.
2) Party members were reminded of the dangers of independent thought.

Question 11

When was the Three-Antis campaign?

Answer 11

1951 - 1952.

Question 12

What was the Five-Antis campaign (2)?

Answer 12

1) Targeting bribery, tax evasion, theft of state property, economic espionage and cheating on government
contracts, workers organisations were used to investigate their employers.
2) Employers were subjected to criticism sessions and mass meetings, where those found guilty were fined,
had their property confiscated, and sent to labour camps.

Question 13

What was the significance of the Five-Antis campaign?

Answer 13

2-3 million suicides committed rather than facing more humiliation.

Question 14

When was the Five-Antis campaign?

Answer 14

1952.

Question 15

What was the Thought Reform campaign (2)?

Answer 15

1) Mao was suspicious of intellectuals educated abroad or in western Chinese schools due to fears of
independent thought. Thought Reform forced intellectuals to study and adopt Mao Zedong Thought.
2) Professors were forced to make confessions in front of their students, attend study sessions and make self criticisms.

Question 16

When was the Thought Reform campaign?

Answer 16

1951 - 1952.

Question 17

What was the role of the PLA and cadres during the ‘war of liberation’?

Answer 17

The PLA would occupy new areas, whilst the following cadres would follow and prepare the area for civilian
rule.

Question 18

What was Mao’s 2 quotes in regards to the use of violence?

Answer 18

1) ‘Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun’.
2) ‘The Party commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the Party’.

Question 19

What was the size of the PLA in 1950?

Answer 19

5 million men - the largest army in the world.

Question 20

Why was the PLA partially demobilised in 1950?

Answer 20

Due to the enormous military size of the PLA, it took up over 41% of the State budget. At the time, China
needed to spend on economic development and also have more people participate in productive work.

Question 21

What was the size of the PLA in 1953?

Answer 21

3.5 million men - still the largest army in the world.

Question 22

How many conscripts did the PLA receive each year and how long did they serve for?

Answer 22

The PLA received 800,000 new conscripts a year, each serving for 3 years.

Question 23

What was the significance of conscription to the PLA?

Answer 23

It meant millions were trained in warfare and indoctrinated in the CCP ideology.

Question 24

What were Mao’s 4 revolutionary values, which were demonstrated by the PLA?

Answer 24

1) Self-sacrifice.
2) Discipline.
3) Perseverance against overwhelming odds.
4) Endurance.

Question 25

How were the PLA an important propaganda tool (2)

Answer 25

1)During the Sino-Japanese and the Chinese Civil War, the PLA represented the CCP and epitomised Mao’s revolutionary values, conveying and instilling them into liberated areas. 2)The PLA were celebrated in film, plays and works of literature, especially during the Korean War (1950- 1953).

Question 26

What was the propaganda slogan regarding the PLA in the early PRC years?

Answer 26

‘Learn from the PLA’.

Question 27

What was the PLA’s role in the countryside 1949-52 (3)?

Answer 27

1) Pass on the CCP ideology - Mao Zedong Thought - to the peasants. 2) They were tasked with public work projects, e.g. rebuilding infrastructure damaged in the war. 3) Demobilised PLA units were given new roles, such as developing agricultural land or accessing untapped mineral resources.

Question 28

How were Laogai/labour camps used to control the population (2)?

Answer 28

1) Chosen targets (often random) would be sent to labour camps, where they would perform hard physical work in mines or fields in gruelling conditions. This generated fear and suspicion in the population. 2) By the late 1960s, there were over 1000 camps, with 27 million being worked to death, executed, or committing suicide in them.

Question 29

Explain the quotas set by Mao for the numbers killed in an area.

Answer 29

Mao set quotas for people to be killed - with the target being around 1 in 1000 - with local officers expected to keep track of the killing rates in their areas.

Question 30

What was the significance of Mao’s quotas for the numbers killed in an area (5)?

Answer 30

1) Officers would be chastised if too many or too few were killed. 2) Pressure to meet the quotas meant victims were often random. 3) Many officers used their power to eliminate rivals or settle old scores. 4) Many committed suicide due to the unpredictability and the phycological pressure of the quotas. 5) The suspicion and fear created isolated and divided communities.

Question 31

How did the CCP stamp out prostitution?

Answer 31

In 1953, street committees were tasked with the surveillance of brothels. Pimps and prostitutes were sent to ‘re-education’ centres as punishment.

Question 32

How did the CCP stamp out drug dealing and addiction?

Answer 32

Drug dealers were shot, and addicts had their supply of drugs withdrawn and their family made responsible for their behaviour. The tobacco industry was made a state monopoly and smoking was encouraged.

Question 32

What 5 propaganda methods did the CCP use to increase support?

Answer 32

1) Newspaper. 2) Cinema. 3) Theatre. 4) Radio. 5) Posters.

Question 33

What was the significance of propaganda networks?

Answer 33

Led by Party cadres, propaganda networks worked through the media and non-Party organisations to mould public opinion in favour of the CCP’s policies and to create an atmosphere of suspicion and terror by demonising the targets of campaigns. This encouraged the public to join the campaigns.

Question 34

How did the CCP generate an atmosphere of suspicion and isolation?

Answer 34

Through propaganda, quotas, and labour camps, an atmosphere of suspicion and fear was generated, where neighbours/colleagues/friends were encouraged to inform on one another.

Question 35

What did land reform mean now that Mao had full control of China?

Answer 35

Land reform was now the confiscation of land from landlords, and the redistribution of it to poor peasants and landless labourers. Rent reductions were no longer a part of land reform.

Question 36

What was the Agrarian Reform Law of June 1950?

Answer 36

A law that laid out the methods and principles of how land reform was now to be implemented.

Question 37

Explain the effects of land reform campaign of 1950-1952 on landlords.

Answer 37

Teams of cadres, working with peasant associations, would parade landlords on stage, subject them to denunciations and beatings at ‘Speak Bitterness’ meetings, and execute them.

Question 38

When did the CCP’s land reform emphasis begin and end?

Answer 38

June 1950 - October 1952.

Question 39

How did the CCP use land reform to cement their relations with the peasants 1950-1952?

Answer 39

The CCP involved the peasants in land reform, with many participating in the violence/killing and most gaining from land redistribution.

Question 40

What replaced the now extinct landlord class in the countryside?

Answer 40

Traditional village society was now overseen by peasant associations and the political leadership of the CCP.

Question 41

What were the 3 key consequences of land reform?

Answer 41

1) 43% of land was redistributed to 60% of the rural population. 2) Between 1.5 and 2 million were killed due to land reform 1947-1952. 1 in 6 landlord families lost a family member 3) A decline in food production, as peasants were not incentivised to increase production or become wealthy.

Question 42

What was the slogan for the land reform campaign?

Answer 42

‘To be poor is glorious’. Land reform was "the mother of all other work"