Lesson 3- What Was The Nature Of The Government Established By The CCP In 1949? Flashcards
Define constitution.
A set of laws or freedoms on which a country is founded.
Define class enemies
Reactionaries who refuse to accept Mao’s way of thinking.
Who were the Politburo?
Key decision making body of China.
How many members were there of the Politburo?
14
There were 14 members of the Politburo, with who holding overall authority?
Mao
Define democratic centralism.
Where, in a truly revolutionary party, members owed absolute obedience to leaders
Who was the principle of democratic centralism introduced by?
Lenin in Soviet Russia
What is a Revisionist?
Reactionary and anti-party thinking.
Used by Maoists.
Similar to ‘counter-revolutionary’ to describe party members regarded as not fully committed.
What did the Reunification Campaigns involve?
Forcibly bringing invaded and outlying provinces into line with the rest of the PRC.
Define public utilities.
Gas, electricity and the transport system
Who were Nationalist Capitalists?
Those who had run the China before 1949 during the GMD years
Who were the Middle Classes?
Small part of China’s population but important in their role running the country
Who were the expatriate Chinese?
Chinese nationals living abroad
What is revolutionary correctness?
The Ideas that Chinese Communist was a body of political, social and economic truth which all CCP members had to accept and live by
Who were the Intellectual Classes?
Those who according to Mao merely talked rather than acted
What is a Show Trial?
A public trial.
The accused is assumed as guilty and paraded as an enemy of the people
Define Authoritarian.
a form of government characterized by strong central power and limited political freedoms
Define Democratic.
a system of government where the citizens exercise power by voting.
When did the Communist Party set up a meeting of the CPPCC?
September 1949
How many delegates made up the meeting of the CPPCC in September 1949?
600
What did the delegates meet up to do in the meeting of the CPPCC in September 1949?
Met to discuss the new political system.
[NOT 100% SURE] Who was also known as the Preliminary Government set up in 1949?
CPPCC
What were the 5 roles of the CPPCC?
- Approved temporary constitution (common program)
- Drafted new constitution
- Appointed Central People’s Government
- Passed laws
- Chose state symbols
[NOT 100% SURE] What was the Central People’s Government the big version of?
Cabinet ministers and departmental heads
What did the CPPCC stand for?
Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference
When the CPPCC met in September 1949, what new things did they appoint?
Central People’s government
Common Program (temporary constitution)
Why was a temporary constitution introduced in the CPPCC meeting in 1949?
To steer China through the next years
Why was a temporary constitution introduced in the CPPCC meeting in September 1949?
Declared a new society based on co-operation between workers and peasants.
When was a new constitution published?
1954
Around which event and time was the new constitution of 1954 published?
By the which time China was officially declared as a Communist country.
Who did the CCP claim power rested with?
The people
Who exercised authority according to the CCP?
Workers and peasants
What was there little chance for under CCP rule?
Opposition
Who was at the top of the Chinese Communist Party rule from 1954 onwards, apart from Mao?
Politburo
What 3 groups were under the Politburo in the Chinese Communist Party rule from 1954 onwards?
Military Affairs Commission
CPPCC
National People’s Congress
Who was under the CPPCC in the CCP rule from 1954 onwards?
No-one
Which groups were under the Military Affairs Commission in the CCP rule from 1954 onwards in order?
Armed forces
National and local councils (under armed forces)
Which groups, in order, were under the National People’s Congress from 1954 onwards?
Local government
Local and regional branches of the CCP (under local government)
Workers and peasants (under local and regional branches of the CCP)
Which group branched off from the National People’s Congress in the CCP rule from 1954 onwards?
State Council
Name 5/14 members of the Politburo.
Mao Zedong
Liu Shaoqi
Zhou Enlai
Chen Yun
Zhu De
After what did decisions made become law in the Politburo?
After they were agreed by the National People’s Congress from 1954
What was the State Council also known as?
Central People’s Government
Essentially, what was the State Council?
Government of China
Who did the State Council compose of?
Ministers and departmental heads
Who was the State Council led by from 1949?
Zhou Enlai
What was the State Council supposedly and why wasn’t it this characteristic?
Democratic but it was dominated by the CCP
What did the National People’s Congress do?
Dealt with legislature (the law)
Rubber stamped and made into law decisions made by the Politburo
Who were the PLA?
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People’s Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Who was the PLA led by?
Peng Dehuai
What was the size of the army in 1952?
3.5 million
What was the size of the army reduced to by 1957?
2.5 million
What did the PLA act like after its reduction and from 1954 onwards?
More professional
What did the PLA act as a form of?
Indoctrination and control
What did the CPPCC remain as from 1954 onwards?
An advisory body to the government
Who did the CPPCC meet at the same time as?
National People’s Congress
What did China’s new constitution use towards its people despite not being that characteristic?
Used democratic language but in reality was not democratic
What was the democratic language in China’s new constitution based on despite not being democratic?
The theory of democratic centralism.
What was introduced to encourage the participation of people in elections and democratic centralism?
Youth League
Women’s Federations
Where were elections made for the people?
At village and town council levels.
Who was sent to represent the people for the elections?
Lower officials
Who were political decision made by despite the lower officials representing the people?
Top officials
What did top officials claim to be taking?
The best interest of the people into account
in 1942, what type of campaign did Mao begin on the Communist Party based at Yanan?
‘Thought reform’
What was the 1942 ‘thought reform’ campaign known as?
Rectification of conduct campaign
Between what years did the rectification of conduct campaign take place?
1942-44
What did Mao ask members of his party to engage in?
Self-criticism
Forced to read his writings
Which type of people did Mao attack?
Those he saw as with intellectual or revisionist elements within his party.
Due to what, did Mao become the leader of the party?
Rectification of conduct campaign
In the early years, what was the form of Communism like in Yanan?
Oppressive
What did Mao believe was key to his control over the party?
A revolutionary correctness.
What is one thing Mao wanted to prevent those within the party from becoming?
Bureaucratic
Self-justifying elite
When was the rectification of conduct campaign launched?
1942
Name 2 people who were victims of the rectification of conduct campaign.
Wang Shiwei
Ding Ling
Who was Wang Shiwei?
Brilliant, young Communist writer.
What did Wang Shiwei do in 1942?
Published an article heavily critical of members of the CCP.
What did Wang Shiwei write about in his article, in 1942?
Members of the CCP who lived comfortable lives in Yanan while the Red Army comrades were dying in the struggle against the Japanese and GMD.
What happened as a result of Wang Shiwei writing his heavily critical article of members of the CCP?
He was rounded on by those party officials who felt they had been implicitly accused.
Executed for his criticism of Mao following a public show trial.
When did 4 party members engage in a public process of self criticism?
1943
Following on from the rectification of conduct campaign, what had Mao now finally defeated?
The dominance of the pro-Moscow wing of the party.
What was Chinese Communism focused on the ideas of?
Mao Zedong
Who was put in charge the purge of some 1000 CCP members?
Kang Sheng
Who was Liu Shaoqi?
President of the PRC.
Second in command to Mao until removed during the Cultural Revolution.
What was Deng Xiaoping like?
An outstanding CCP figure.
Someone who Mao both admired as an ally and feared as a rival.
Destined to be leader after Mao’s death