China textbook

Question 1

Conditions before

Answer 1

• incompetent Qing dynasty, unequal treaties, backward economy, defeat by Japan 1895, regular famines
• Sun Yatsen formed GMD to remove Qings and modernise
• Yuanshikai president of new republic 1912, also incapable
• warlord era 1915

Question 2

Demonstrations in anger at Paris Peace COnference and government

Answer 2

May 4th 1919

Question 3

Mao founding member of CCP

Answer 3

1921

Question 4

Survived Chiang Kaishek’s betrayal of the united front by exacping to Jiangxi

Answer 4

1927

Question 5

Jiangxi era

Answer 5

1927-34 developed communism

Question 6

Futian incident

Answer 6

1930 4,000 troops purged and executed

Question 7

Long march

Answer 7

1934-5 6,000 mile journey. Enhanced Mao’s reputation and authority and won peasant support on the way

Question 8

Yanan era

Answer 8

1935-45 Mao claimed leadership of CCP, developed communist soviet. Occupied surroundings with Red Army

Question 9

Red Army ‘Code of Conduct’

Answer 9

win over peasants, end usury, medical services and educational programs initiated

Question 10

CCP growth 1937-45

Answer 10

40,000 to 1million

Question 11

Mao’s adaptation of ideology

Answer 11

adapted Marxist-Leninism for China, the peasants were the source of revolution

Question 12

Opposed by marxists eg Wang Ming. Survived criticism because

Answer 12

long march, unrivalled knowledge of peasantry, intense self-belief and determination, indispensable military planner

Question 13

‘Rectification of Conduct campaign’

Answer 13

1942-44, 1,000 party members imprisoned and tortured

Question 14

Mao’s early Cult status

Answer 14

Maoism, elected chairman 1943, by 1945 the ‘Great Helmsman’. By now he had consolidated authority but not a SPS

Question 15

Japanese invasion of Manchuria and lose

Answer 15

1931-45 CCP the defenders of China

Question 16

Civil War, nationalist weakness and communist strength

Answer 16

1945-49: poor commanders, bad training, low morale, ineffective use of american weapons. Mao’s leadership, red army’s survival skills and support of peasantry, resisted Russian interference

Question 17

PRC declared

Answer 17

October 1st 1949: China under military control

Question 18

reality of the running of the country

Answer 18

not the will of the people but the government and CCP. Nothing could be done of which Mao disapproved.

Question 19

Reunification Campaigns

Answer 19

1950 further imposed military control. Tibet, Xinjiang, Guandong. Martial law

Question 20

anti movements

Answer 20

1950 deliberately created atmosphere of fear and uncertainty. Encouraged informants, Dangan dossier etc.

Question 21

Korean War

Answer 21

1950, more solidarity and further control

Question 22

anti landlord campaign

Answer 22

1950s land confiscated and redistributed, public trial and denunciation, up to 1 million landlords killed

Question 23

100 flowers campaign

Answer 23

1957 debate encouraged, criticism mounted, then criticisers condemned, arrested and imprisoned. Affected by de-stalinisation? still crushed opposition.

Question 24

‘100 flowers was to deliberately expose critics and remove opposition’

Answer 24

Jung Chang

Question 25

'Seeking genuine criticism to silence the bureaucrats'

Answer 25

Lee Feignon

Question 26

economic goals

Answer 26

to develop industrially and surpass the world. Also to break the soviet grip (loans and materials)

Question 27

Great Leap Forward

Answer 27

1957-62. Peasants provide food surplus to sell abroad to fund expansion. Workers create an industrial economy. 40 million died due to ineffective collectives.

Question 28

opposition to Mao from GLF

Answer 28

1959 Peng Dehuai recounted horrors of famines at Lushan party gathering. No one backed him up

Question 29

Solution to GLF problems

Answer 29

appoint Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shaoqi to tackle famines and abandon collectives. Retreat into background

Question 30

Motives for return in cultural revolution

Answer 30

fear of losing control, age, paranoia, resentment over damaged reputation, international rivalry (felt the USSR were betraying communism)

Question 31

the Cult of Mao enabled CR

Answer 31

Lin Biao, little red book 750 million sold in first 4 years, saturated everything

Question 32

attack on revisionism

Answer 32

August Rally 1966- 1 million young people, four olds declared. Young were the power of Mao, attacked willfully. Red guards 'it is right to rebel'.

Question 33

removed Deng and Liu for

Answer 33

'taking a bourgeois, reactionary line' after GLF

Question 34

Up to the mountains, down to the villages

Answer 34

1970-72 a bit too manic so Red guards sent to learn manual labour, replaced by PLA

Question 35

cleansing of the class ranks

Answer 35

1968-71 GO4 eradicating all signs of capitalism, widespread killing and destruction, terror campaign

Question 36

Final phase of CR

Answer 36

momentum was lost, doubt sown over Lin Biao affair in 1971. Laogai further enforced

Question 37

Effects of Laogai

Answer 37

10 million prisoners a year. 27 million died. By 1976 over 1,000 camps across China

Question 38

mao's view of Culture

Answer 38

the product of the ruling class, artist' first duty was to serve the revolution

Question 39

Jiang Qing

Answer 39

Cultural purifier of the nation. rigid censorship only directly 'relevant' themes allowed. Commissioned works replaced opera, undermined all tradition all about revolution and triumph of proletariat

Question 40

Poet Yan Yen's comment on culture

Answer 40

'the cultural trademark of my generation is that we have no culture' old culture simply paralysed rather than creating a new one

Question 41

Religion seen as

Answer 41

'superstitions cultivated to exploit and suppress the people'

Question 42

anti religion campaign

Answer 42

1950 land and property seized, clergy abused

Question 43

condemnation of religion

Answer 43

posters and loudspeakers, slogan-ridden society

Question 44

eradication?

Answer 44

unable to as so deeply ingrained. During CR attacks intensified 'confucius and co' as denunciation. difficult to control outlying areas and borders eg Tibet

Question 45

Women's traditional role before

Answer 45

subordinate, shoes etc.

Question 46

new marriage law

Answer 46

1950: concubinage forbidden, arranged marriages ended, divorce entitled. Actually threatened to prove so disruptive that PLA had legal right to overrule a divorce

Question 47

Women in collectives

Answer 47

no longer the burden of feeding a family. But lost their previous right to own land from the land redistribution. Equal to men, same workload

Question 48

Workforce of women increase from 1949-76

Answer 48

8% to 32%

Question 49

Better conditions for women?

Answer 49

female babies still rendered inferior, advocacy of women's rights but in reality still male dominated, over worked.

Question 50

Women in politics

Answer 50

only 13% of CCP members women. National People's congress 14% to 23% 1954-75, not a priority obviously.