MAO Politics part 1 Flashcards
1
Q
When was the PRC officially established?
A
1 October 1949
2
Q
How many supporters were at Tiananmen Square for the announcement of the PRC?
A
300,000
3
Q
When was the Qing dynasty overthrown?
A
1911
4
Q
Who defeated the warlords and brought China under greater central control?
A
Chiang Kai-Shek and the Nationalist Party
5
Q
What was the Chinese Nationalist Party called?
A
Guomindang (GMD)
6
Q
Why did the collaboration between the GMD and the newly formed Communist Party not last for very long?
A
Aims were so different
7
Q
When was the Nanking decade?
A
1927-37
8
Q
What was the Nanking decade?
A
Chiang established relative political stability and tried to destroy the Communists, driving them into the interior of China
9
Q
Where did the CCP regroup during the Nanking decade?
A
Set up the Jiangxi Soviet in 1928
10
Q
How did Chiang try to finish off the Communists in the Jiangxi Soviet?
A
Launched a series of encirclement campaigns aimed at denying resources to Jiangxi
11
Q
When was the Long March?
A
1934
12
Q
How many Communists embarked on the Long March?
A
100,000
13
Q
How many of the Long Marchers survived?
A
20,000
14
Q
Where did the Long Marchers travel to?
A
Yanan
15
Q
Where did Mao assert his leadership over the Communist Party?
A
Yanan
16
Q
What prepared the Communists to some extent to govern the country after 1949?
A
Vital experience of government in Yanan
17
Q
Why did the Communists begin the Long March?
A
Desperate bid to escape the Jiangxi Soviet before Chiang’s sieges were successful
18
Q
When did the Japanese invade China?
A
1931
19
Q
Where did the Japanese invade and occupy in China?
A
Rich north-eastern province of Manchuria
20
Q
When did the Sino-Japanese War begin?
A
1937
21
Q
Why did the Sino-Japanese War begin?
A
Japanese were ready to extend their control further
22
Q
Why did the CCP and GMD make a new United Front?
A
Sino-Japanese War- faced with a common enemy
23
Q
Where else in China did the Japanese gain control of during the Sino-Japanese War?
A
Steadily pushed south and occupied the eastern coastal zone
24
Q
When did the Japanese fail to destroy the US Navy in the attack on Pearl Harbour?
A
December 1941
25
Why was Pearl Harbour a turning point in the Sino-Japanese War?
Americans began helping the Chinese to fight back against the Japanese
26
Who did the Americans take more seriously as a potential leader of China during WW2?
Chiang
27
When did the Japanese surrender in WW2?
1945
28
When did the Chinese civil war break out?
1946
29
Why did the Communists win the Chinese civil war?
Although Chiang had overwhelming superiority in resources; he squandered his initial advantage by rushing into a full-scale attack on the Communist strongholds in Manchuria
30
When did Chiang leave the mainland and fly to join the remnants of his forces in Taiwan?
December 1949
31
Why was the situation in 1949 favourable to the Communists?
Ending the conflict generated goodwill towards the Communists; proved they were capable of more effective organisation than the Nationalists; many non-Communists imagined that life under Mao would at least be tolerable
32
How had the civil war greatly strengthened Mao's position at the top of the Party?
His reputation as a military commander had been elevated; his strength of will had allowed him to overcome the doubts of other military commanders
33
How had the Communists originally focused on cultivating peasant support?
PLA treated the peasants more fairly than the GMD forces; organised land redistribution from landowners to poor peasants in the areas under their control
34
What was the only city that the Reds controlled at the beginning of the civil war?
Harbin in northern Manchuria
35
When was China recovering well from the Great Depression?
By 1936
36
From when did the focus on war set the economy back?
1936
37
Why did China's industrial output drop during the Sino-Japanese War?
Japanese seized the most productive areas as they advanced southwards; Japanese bombing raids caused damage to Chinese industries; scorched-earth tactics of the retreating Nationalist forces
38
Why did the Japanese surrender in WW2?
America dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
39
What was China's industrial output in 1945?
Only 25% of its pre-war level
40
What was the food situation like in China in 1949?
Critical
41
What had made the food situation so dire in China in 1949?
Disruption to agriculture caused by conscription; displacement of thousands of people fleeing inland to escape the Japanese in the east
42
What was Chinese food production like by the end of WW2?
30% lower than it had been at the start
43
Which Chinese province had suffered a famine during WW2?
Henan
44
How many people were killed in the Henan province WW2 famine?
Between 2-3 million
45
Why was food still requisitioned after 1949?
Size of PLA; continued growth of the urban population
46
In 1949, how much of the urban population depended on surpluses from the countryside?
20%
47
How had the GMD paid for the war years?
By borrowing and printing money
48
When had hyperinflation become a problem in China?
1945
49
How did Chiang exacerbate financial matters for the PRC?
Took China's foreign currency reserves with him when he fled to Taiwan
50
What had given the Russians the opportunity to advance into Manchuria and seize many of its industrial assets?
Russians had declared war on Japan shortly before the Japanese surrendered
51
What type of country was China when the Communists came to power in 1949?
Still predominately agricultural
52
Which crops did China mainly produce in 1949?
Rice; wheat; oilseed
53
Why had the Chinese farmers been hit by the drop in food prices during the Great Depression?
Government normally exported food to earn foreign currency and world trade slumped for several years after 1931
54
How much of Chinese land was cultivable?
Only 15%
55
How many lives had the war years cost China?
20 million
56
How did the Chinese population grow between 1949 and 1953?
541 million to 587 million
57
When had Western Europe experienced an industrial revolution?
19th century
58
Where were the most advanced industrial areas in China in 1949?
Manchuria; Yangtze delta; along the eastern seaboard
59
Which industries had the Japanese further developed in Manchuria?
Iron and steel
60
When did Manchuria fall into Soviet hands?
1945
61
What had the loss of Manchuria prompted Chiang to set up?
National Resources Committee (NRC)
62
When did Chiang set up the NRC?
1932
63
Why did Chiang set up the NRC?
To channel investment into industries elsewhere
64
How much of industry was state-owned by 1945?
70%
65
How many technical experts did the NRC employ by 1945?
30,000
66
How many people did the NRC employ in 1945?
250,000
67
What was industrial investment in China hindered by in 1949?
Long-term underinvestment; an underskilled workforce
68
In 1949, which areas had transport and communication systems in place?
Manchuria; the population centres of the east coast and lower Yangtze
69
When did Beijing fall?
January 1949
70
When were the Communists able to adopt permanent political institutions?
1954
71
What was the government-controlled press agency called?
Xinhua
72
When did the Communists arrange a meeting of the CPPCC?
September 1949
73
What does CPPCC stand for?
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
74
What was the CPPCC?
A conference to which the Communists invited delegates of 14 other parties in a continuation of the old United Front approach- acted as the provisional Parliament until 1954
75
How many people attended the September CPPCC?
600 delegates
76
What's an example of a minority group which attended the CPPCC?
China Democratic League
77
What did the CPPCC do?
Appointed the new Central People's Government as the supreme state body; approved the Common Progam; decided the various state symbols that would be used
78
Central People's Government
Composed of the ministers and departmental heads; acted as the government of the new China
79
What was the Central People's Government known as from 1954?
State Council
80
Common Program
Temporary constitution- guaranteed gender equality; gave the army and the police the right to suppress all counter-revolutionary activity
81
How many regions was China divided into in 1949?
6
82
Why was China divided into regions in 1949?
Decisions taken at a local level could be imposed throughout the country
83
What did the creation of regional congresses in 1949 give the impression of?
That Beijing was listening to them
84
How many senior Communist officials were put in place over each region in 1949?
4
85
What were the senior Communist officials put in place over each region in 1949?
Military commander; army political commissar; government chairman; Party secretary
86
Who held all 4 regional posts in the north-eastern bureau of Manchuria?
Gao Gang
87
How many members were in the Chinese Politburo when it met for a plenary session?
14
88
How many members of the Politburo met regularly to make decisions between the plenary meetings?
5
89
Who were the key Politburo members in 1949?
Mao Zedong; Liu Shaoqi; Zhou Enlai; Chen Yun; Zhu De
90
What were the political commissars responsible for at a local level?
Monitoring people's loyalty to the Party
91
What was the 1954 constitution based on?
1936 Soviet Russian Constitution
92
What became the new legislature in 1954?
National People's Congress
93
How did the administrative composition of China change in 1954?
6 regions were now divided into 21 provinces, 5 autonomous border regions and 2 urban centres
94
What were the two urban centres post-1954?
Beijing; Shanghai
95
When was the 1954 constitution modified?
1975
96
How did the number of state officials employed to staff the PRC change between 1949-59?
Grew from 720,000 to nearly 8 million
97
What did Mao believe had gone wrong with Soviet Russia?
Bureaucratisation of the revolution
98
Which position did Zhou hold from the establishment of the PRC until his death?
Premier of the State Council
99
When did Mao stand down as head of state?
1958
100
Which position did Mao retain when he stepped down as head of state?
Chairman of the Party
101
How many CCP members were there in October 1949?
4.5 million
102
How many CCP members were there by the end of 1950?
5.8 million
103
What are some of the Party groups in which Mao encouraged mass participation?
Youth League; Women's Federation
104
Danwei
Work unit
105
What did the Danwei issue permits to do?
Travel; marry; change jobs
106
Who led the danwei?
Party cadre
