The Chinese Communtist Party

Question 1

What year was the ccp founded ?

Answer 1

1921-at a meeting in Shanghai

Question 2

What year was the first United front created ?

Answer 2

1923

Question 3

What year was the purging of the communists in Shanghai

Answer 3

1927

Question 4

Where and when was the base area for the CCP ?

Answer 4

-Base area in Jiangxi
-1929

Question 5

What year was the base area (Jiangxi) declared to be Chinese soviet republic ?

Answer 5

1931

Question 6

What years did the GMD forces conduct series of encirclement campaigns to destroy CCP in Jiangxi

Answer 6

1931-34

Question 7

What year was the long march and what year did it happen ?

Answer 7

-1934-45
-CCP’s significant growth concerned Jiang jieshi, he launched military attacks throughout the years
The technique employed by the CCP was to embark on the long march. Trekking over 6000 miles in order to escape the capitalist regime.
They reached the area of Yan’an (North western shaangxi province)
80,000 embarked on the long march but only 5,000 made it .
SERIOUS DEFEAT FOR THE CCP.

Question 8

How was the CCP involved with the Soviet Union ?

Answer 8

Looked up to their policies as the communist revolution in Russia was a successful one.
Marxism and the Comintern helped them to achieve their goals.
The new CCP received money/training through comintern-hence why many were sent to Moscow.

Question 9

Why did the Russian government provide money to the GMD ?

Answer 9

Marxism stated that societies progress through different stages.
China was still in the feudal stage in the 1920s therefore they knew that it was unlikely a communist revolution would be successful
They saw the GMD as essential to leading china into the next stage (bourgeois capitalist society)
Limited industrial development/small industrial working class they believed that the CCP had to help the GMD bring about the bourgeois capitalist revolution.

Question 10

what year was Mao Zedong’s position secured in the CCP

Answer 10

1945-after the ww2 he had removed all his opposition

Question 11

how did mao zedong’s background influence his policies ?

Answer 11

-father was a grain merchant therefore he claimed he was a peasant helping him to legitimise himself to the people.
-Involved himself in a marxist study group and the may fourth movement against ww1 treaties .
-founding member of the CCP through first united front became head of the PEASANTS TRAINING INSTITUTE IN 1924
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Question 12

How did Mao’s position as head of the peasants training institute help his image with peasants

Answer 12

-improves peasants literacy rates
-organised Peasants association to challenge power of the landlords.
helped him to create his own (chinese) version of marxist theory.

Question 13

what was the autumn harvest uprising ?

Answer 13

after GMD assault in shanghai (1927) he led an uprising which was a complete failure and led to his arrest by GMD forces.

Question 14

power struggles of the CCP

Answer 14

-who controlled the CCP was divided into two, those who wanted to follow the comintern and those who wanted to establish a independent chinese communist party.
-ideological struggle divided into two, those who believed orthodox marxism should be blindly followed by every communist and those who believed they should be adapted to chinese circumstances.

Question 15

who were the Twenty eight Bolsheviks ?

Answer 15

-orthodox communists who were led by those which had been sent to Moscow (where whompao military training camp was in the 1920s)
-held the upper hand in ccp’s formative years.
-when the CCP was driven out of the cities by the GMD , it meant that they had to collect the support of local peasants
-

Question 16

what year was mao zedong chairmen of the ccps local military council and chairman of the politburo ?

Answer 16

1936
he built important alliances with other key communist leaders (eg Zhou Enlai)
Mao was well placed to assert his UNDISPUTED leadership of the party

Question 17

how mao’s position as leader of the CCP strengthened?

Answer 17

-Zang Guotao defected to GMD in 1938
-Wang Ming outvoted in in an important politburo meeting in September 1941 and 1942
-launched a purge of remaining critics/doubters within the party.(Yan’an rectification campaign)
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Question 18

what was involved in the Yan’an rectification campaign ?

Answer 18

-forcing party members to study prescribed texts written by Mao
-attend struggle meetings where they had to make humiliating self criticisms
-campaign enforced with torture and beatings by CCP secret police force ( Lead by Kang Sheng)

Question 19

when was the official ideology of the CCP founded ?

Answer 19

after the end of the rectification campaign in 1943.
official ideology was formalised in 1945 when a new party constitution was considered as a Guide to the entire work of the party.

Question 20

Formation of Mao’s personality cult

Answer 20

-rewriting the history of the ccp in his favour
-propaganda myth about the Long march emphasised his heroism
-1937 first official portrait was issued of Mao (showing him illuminated by the sun’s rays)
-increasingly referred to as “chairman mao”
-new song “THE EAST IS RED” which eulogised Mao was published .

Question 21

was were the key ideologies expressed in Mao Zedong thought

Answer 21

-importance of the peasants as a revolutionary class
-national self reliance
-continuing revolution
-class struggle
-learning from the people
-mass mobilisation
-a national revolution

Question 22

role of peasants as a revolutionary class

Answer 22

-he believed that they were poor and exploited by wealthy landlords
-had the potential to become a strong revolutionary force
-therefore he concentrated in rural areas in the 1930s/1940s as this would provide more support for the CCP and ensure the survival of the party.

Question 23

national self reliance

Answer 23

-shared with the GMD the desire for China to be restored as an independent nation ( he had witnessed the century of humiliation during his youth)
-revolution would be fought to free china from foreign influence AND free the peasants from feudal landlords
-believed that china should not be reliant on foreign powers (CCP did receive aid from soviet union however Mao was not comfortable with the unequal relationship since they created division within the CCP over the extent at which they should follow Joseph Stalin)

Question 24

continuing revolution

Answer 24

-when the CCP would take over the presence of wealthy landlords and the bourgeoisie would still remain (they largely controlled the economy)
-Mao believed it was essential for each new generation to be involved in revolutionary struggle to prevent counter revolution and continuing support for the regime
-some believed political stability was essential to achieve economic development—Mao thought maintaining revolutionary masses as a priority.

Question 25

class struggle

Answer 25

he believed that once the CCP was in power they would become a new ruling class that would exploit the people just like the old ruling class had. enjoying the benefits of rank and privilege would detach them from the people which they were supposed to serve.
-therefore he believed the CCP had to be periodically purged .

Question 26

learning from the people

Answer 26

-CCP should be embedded in the people .
-the party should listen to the concerns of the people and learn from them
-people should act as a check on the CCP to ensure they did not become a dictatorial and the unjust party
-they should NOT follow the soviet union who behaved in a commandist manner.

Question 27

mass mobilisation

Answer 27

-believed that the CCP main task was to mobilise people in mass campaigns to achieve certain policies
-he did not believe that managers and experts were the key to economic advance.
-believed that if he convinced the people that socialism was superior, people would willingly work harder .

Question 28

a national revolution

Answer 28

-accepted the marxist ideas of development through stages however applied it to Chinese circumstances
-viewed the coming revolution as a national revolution which would overthrow feudal landlords and free china from foreign imperialists
-NATIONAL REVOLUTION he meant that the CCP should lead a broad based coalition with the peasants and bourgeoisie to unite against the enemies of the nation.

Question 29

What were the polices of the CCP

Answer 29

• through struggles of 1920s - 30s mao learned the importance of THE NEED FOR TACTICAL FLEXIBILITY
• Mao recognised the weakness of CCP in many areas of China limited its freedom of action
• areas where CCP was firmly entrenched it could adopt more radical policies, than areas in need of support
• need for tactical flexibility was evident in the range of policies

Question 30

a united Front

Answer 30

-Mao recognised that the GMD was the main political force in china.
-regarded the fight against the Japanese as a main priority for China.
-since 1931 argued for a new united front with the GMD
-if he achieved this it would relieve the pressure on the CCP and would illustrate them as a truly national party
-argued that the CCP subscribed to GMD’s three principles and that they should co-operate in defence of the nation’s territory

Question 31

social reform

Answer 31

areas under the control of the CCP went through a few social changes such as
-in Yan’an they ended the practice of arranged marriages
-gave women more freedom of choice and economic opportunities
-steps taken to improve literacy rates amongst the peasants

Question 32

Land reform policy

Answer 32

• CCP’s long term aim was to confiscate land from the wealthy and richer peasants, for redistribution
• the policy risked alienation of potential allies in the struggle against Japanese
• 1930s, Jiangxi soviet, CCP followed land reform programme that involved killing wealthy landlords
• after 1937, ccp adopted more moderate land reforms focusing on rent reductions
  -after 1946, return to radical land reforms