Mass Campaigns

Question 1

When were the Mass Campaigns?

Answer 1

1950s

Question 2

What was the purpose of the Mass Campaigns?

Answer 2

• Mass movements that addressed national, international, political, moral and social topics important in early PRC
• They were organised at both national and local levels in urban and rural areas
• Goal to strengthen support for CCP, eliminate enemies, deepen understanding of the new ideology and promote economic production

Question 3

Which campaign was linked to Land Reform and Collectivisation?

Answer 3

Speak Bitterness Campaign
- Peasants could air grievances against their landlords in denunciation meetings
- Meetings could be mild/ reluctant or fierce/ aggressive, resulting in murder of the landlords
- 100,000s (750,000 to 1 mil) killed
- Campaign was key part of land redistribution policy
- Helped spread communist word and spread fear/ obedience to the CCP

Question 4

Which campaign was linked to the Korean War?

Answer 4

Resist America - Aid Korea
- Zhou Enlai declared ‘North Korea’s defence is our defence’, instigating demonstrations in support of N.Korea
- Mao needed support for the campaign as he was struggling with the economy, unification and may not have been convinced China’s involvement in the war was sensible

Question 5

What were the Patriotic Health Campaigns for?

Answer 5

Linked to concern over US germ warfare
- Not entirely separate from Public Health Campaigns

Question 6

What was the mass terror campaign?

Answer 6

Suppression of Counter Revolutionaries Campaign 1950-53
- Attempt to wipe out opposition to CCP (in particular Nationalists) and consolidate CCP authority
- Start in South in Chongqing where the city was under control by end of 1950
- 7400 former Nationalists jailed
- Campaign started to be less brutal as Mao knew he needed the support of some Nationalists for their skills
- Religious groups banned (Christian Churches, Buddhists Temples)
- CCP turned on former gangsters in violent bloodletting
- The People’s Tribunals used to deal with anyone who ‘plot sabotage activities and undermine social security’

Question 7

How many people died due to the mass terror campaign?

Answer 7

700,000 counter revolutionaries or ‘class enemies’
Up to 500,000 suicides

Question 8

When was the Three Antis Campaign?

Answer 8

November 1951 to October 1952

Question 9

What evils in government did the Three Antis Campaign target?

Answer 9

• Corruption
• Waste
• Bureaucracy

Question 10

Who was targeted by the Three Antis Campaign?

Answer 10

Urban CCP officials with access to finances and business contracts
- called ‘tigers’
- cadres encouraged to identify and criticise officials that had links to business or who had taken bribes

Question 11

Who were key victims of the Three Antis Campaign?

Answer 11

Liu Qingshan and Zhang Zishan of Tianjin
- Accused of embezzling funds set for large scale civil construction works and for inflating costs of contracts
- Executed Feb 1952 (although their guilt uncertain)
- Used as an example to other party members

Question 12

When was the Five Antis Campaign?

Answer 12

1952

Question 13

What were the five antis?

Answer 13

• Bribery
• Tax evasion
• Theft of state property
• Cheating on government contracts
• Stealing economic information

Question 14

Who were the targets of the Five Antis Campaign?

Answer 14

Businessmen and Capitalists who were ‘suspected’
- Capitalism was said to spread greed and thus nurture corruption
- By 1953, 340,000 businesses found guilt of one of the Antis
- More were terrorised into handing over their businesses to the state
- public meetings used
- suicides common