CONSOLIDATION AND MAINTENANCE OF POWER Flashcards
How was the use of legal methods used to consolidate power and maintain it in China utilised?
Through:
1. The new democracy
2. Reunification Campaigns
3. The Danwei
4. The Hokou
5. The Dangan
How was the new democracy used to consolidate power in China?
- After the establishment of the PRC, the Chinese Political Consultative Conference (PCC) was held in Beijing 1949
- Mao Zedong was elected as Chairman (Head of State)
- This event helped him consolidate power
How the reunification campaigns used to consolidate power in China?
- The Peaceful Liberation of Xinjiang that happened in 1951 is an example of legal methods used to consolidate power
- Xinjiang a province in the North-west of China made the CCP fear that the region would start a separatist movement or become part of the Soviet Union
- In 1951, it proclaimed allegiance to the CCP and this event highlights the diplomatic means used by Mao in order to obtain control
How was the Danwei used to maintain power in China?
- After obtaining power, during the 1950s, Mao introduced the Danwei (work unit) which was a system that maintained that everyone in China had to belong to a work unit called a Danwei
- Mao used this to implement party policy and ensure social control and surveillance
- One could be punished for not obeying party policies and needed permission to have children or marry
How was the Hokou used to maintain power
in China?
- This happened in 1955, and was used to monitor movement from rural areas to urban areas
- Migrants required a certificate to move
How was the Dangan used to maintain power in China?
- It was a record of each person and their education, family background, job history, achievements, mistakes and self-criticism
- It instilled a culture of fear among the population for its intrusiveness
How was force used in the consolidation and maintenance of power in China?
- Hundred Flowers Campaign and Anti-rightist movement
- The cultural Revolution
- Tibet
- Purge at Guangdong
- The Three Antis and the Five Antis Campaign
How was force used in the Hundred Flowers campaign and anti-rightist movement to maintain power?
- The Hundred Flowers Campaign was launched in 1957 in order to encourage positive criticism
- it was abandoned resulting into the Anti-rightist movement with 500, 000 people declared rightist and sent for re-education
- This events helped with the suppression of opposition
How was force used int the cultural revolution to maintain power in China?
- There was the denouncement of landlords, rich peasants, rightists and capitalists
- People were denounced for offences like forgetting a quote in the Little Red Book, or for owning a western instrument
- This created an atmosphere of fear because anyone could be reported and seen as an enemy
Provide an example of how in the cultural revolution, denouncement of enemies of the state took place.
- During the cultural revolution a 16 year old child, Zhang Hongbing, denounced his mother in partnership with his father
- This resulted in the woman being shot in the outskirts of town
How was the use of force ensure the consolidation of power in the achieving of sovereignty over Tibet?
- in 1950, the PLA invaded the Eastern part of Tibet with the pretext of liberating it from foreigners.
- This use of force helped achieve sovereignty in Tibet as in 1951, the Chinese government imposed the 17 Point Agreement for The Peaceful Liberation of Tibet
How was force used in the Purge at Guangdong in the consolidation of power?
- During the Reunification campaign launched in 1949, Guangdong was purged of the nationalist forces who were forced to flee to Formosa
- An estimated 28 000 people were executed during this campaign
How was the Three Antis movements utilising force to maintain power?
- The campaign was focused on eradicating waste, corruption and bureaucratic inefficiency, Targets were the CCP members, government officials and business managers
- It was launched in 1951, and 1000 officers were denounced for offences such as the use of an American car or use of government money for luxury
What does Po Ipo, a historian, note about the Three Antis Campaign?
- He notes that over 5% of government officials were purged during this campaign
How was the Five Antis Campaign (Wu Fan) utilised to maintain power through the use of Force?
- it was launched in 1952 and the focus was now on bribery, tax evasion, theft of state property, cheating on government contracts and stealing economic information
- An estimated 450 000 private businesses were found guilty
