The First United Front Flashcards
Why did Comintern push for the First United Front?
Since the CCP was a very small party with only 50 members in 1921, although it could organise some strikes and boycotts in Shanghai and Hong Kong, it was unable to stand up to Warlord power, such as the disastrous attempt to stop the railway in Beijing under the control of Zhang Zuolin. Comintern thus saw the CCP as unable to be a genuine revolutionary force by itself, and pushed for an alliance with Sun Yat Sen’s GMD, whose brand of socialism Comintern saw as compatible with Marxism.
Why was Sun Yatsen so receptive to Moscow?
The GMD found it difficult to confront the warlords, and thought the USSR could help. He also admired Soviet structure and discipline, and saw that the USSR’s revolutionary programme lined up with his own “Three principles of the people”. This resulted in a pact of friendship between the GMD and Moscow in 1923, Comintern drafting a new GMD constitution in 1924 along Leninist lines, and CCP members were also allowed to join the GMD.
What were the CCP’s reasons to trust and doubt the first united front?
+The goals of expelling the imperialists and destroying the warlords were common to all revolutionaries, and the GMD was initially a revolutionary party.
+Moscow trusted the GMD as a revolutionary force, acknowledging that a Soviet system was not necessary at this stage in China, with national unity as the priority.
-Chen Duxiu believed that the Russians did not fully understand the Chinese situation, and that the GMD’s revolutionary aims were too vague.
-Many of the GMD’s members came from bourgeois elements such as bankers and businessmen from China’s east coast cities. 90% of the GMD’s funding came from Shanghai alone.
What was the 30 May incident 1925?
In Shanghai a large crowd marched in protest to the shooting of Chinese workers by Japanese factory workers. Due to the scale of the protests, the British commander of the international settlement in the city ordered his troops to shoot upon the crowd, resulting in 12 deaths. This led to further strikes and riots, showing the extent of anti-foreigner sentiments, and also how China’s problems could only be overcome with force.
When did Sun Yatsen die and what did his death result in?
In 1925, and his death resulted in the anti-communist groups in the GMD that he had kept in check being unleashed. This culminated in Chiang Kaishek’s victory in the power struggle and the domination of the NRA, which had links to the middle classes and opposed the CCP’s social revolutionary policies.
How did the united front bring about the Northern Expedition?
They targeted main warlords Wu Peifu, ruler of the central plains, Sun Chuanfang, ruler of eastern China, and Zhang Zuolin, who controlled Northern China and Beijing. They surrounded the warlord forces and cut off their supply lines, slowly crushing their armies. From 1926-1928 this strategy was employed and the main force of Warlord power was destroyed, and the GMD could announce itself as the legitimate government of China.
How had the CCP contributed to the Northern Expedition, and how did Chiang view them?
The CCP had provided troops, and had also organised many disruptive strikes and boycotts in Warlord areas. Mao was initially enthusiastic about the alliance, but in reality Chiang was using the Communists as a tool to defeat the Warlords, and would later turn on them. In 1926 he had already dismissed a number of CCP officials and his greatest leftist opponent Wang Jingwei, along with arresting some Comintern advisors.
What were the results of the Northern Expedition?
Chiang announced the defeat of the Warlords and the completion of the expedition in July 1928. However, warlordism had not been completely destroyed: not all warlords had been crushed, many of them accepted the GMD’s authority only if they could keep their own private armies, and more were simply offered positions in the GMD party.
In this way warlords remained influential in Chinese politics, and this prevented Chiang from ever fully controlling China.
