The new government 1949

Question 1

What damaging legacy had the war against japanese occupation left on on the new government?

Answer 1

1. fall in agricultural production and food shortages- as peasants had taken away from their farms to fight in these wars
2. soaring inflation- due to the nationalist guomindang government and the financial situation was made worse by guomindang officials who took reserves when fleeing to taiwan
3. rift between chinese and western powers- the communist victory meant china was cut off from trade and contact with the west, Soviet Union only source of foreign assistance
4. government not in full control of all areas of china- outlying provincec and semi-autonomous regions, power of local warlords, deep social and ethnic divisions,

Question 2

How did the new government aim to stabilise the economic and political situation and extend its control?

Answer 2

1. Inflation brought under control- strict regulation of the economy, public expenditure cut, taxes raised, new currency ‘reminbi’
2. the property of guomindang supporters was confiscated by the state
3. all foreign assets - apart from those of the SOviet Union- were confiscated
4. nationalisation of banks, gas and electricity supply
5. three reunification campaigns in 1950 and 1951 to establish central government control in Tibet, Xinjiang and Guandong
6. a new system of the communist party was legitimised

Question 3

How was the tone of the new government’s aproach one of caution rather than radicalism?

Answer 3

• according to Marxist-Leninist theory China was not yet at the stage of development when communism was possible
• in order to develop agriculture and industry Mao recognised that the communist regime would need the support of the national bourgeoisie (factory owners, businessmen, intelligentsia)
• educated middle classes provided the personnel for government officials and factory owners
• mao pursued policies that would not alienate potential middle-class supporters

Question 4

What evidence is there to suggest that the new government’s tone of aproach was one of caution, not radicalism?

Answer 4

• shareholder and owner of entreprises that were nationalised were offered compensation if willing to cooperate with the regime
• mao was prepared to tolerate the existence of other political parties- 14 parties parties participated in the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in spetember 1949
• tolerated so long as they didnt threat the CPC’s grip on power

Question 5

What did Mao mean by a people’s ‘democratic dictatorship’?

Answer 5

• combination of democracy of the people and dictatorship over the reactionaries
• to deprive the reactionaries of the right to speak and let the people alone have that right
• the people at this stage are the working class, the peasantry, the urban petty bourgeoisie, and the national bourgeoisie
• the working class leads the classes in electing their wn government
• democracy practised among the ranks of the people (right of free speech, assembly, association
• the right to vote belongs only to the people, not reactionaries

Question 6

Why was communism not to be seen as the enemy of freedom?

Answer 6

• to many, 1949 represented the happy realisation of the hopes of the May 4th generation- mao one of that generation
• 1940 mao wrote an essay ‘on the new democracy’ which became the official description of the new regime and its policies in 1949
• private property and and entreprise would be encouraged
• only landlord and agents of the nationalist party were to be seen as enemies
• the Communist party convened a Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference to act as a provisional national assembly- promise of democracy
• the educated middle class didnt realise that the first Qin Emperor had returned. it soon became obvious Mao drew more inspiration from the Qin Emperor than the western concepts of democracy

Question 7

What were the three strands of government in the People’s Republic of China?

Answer 7

1. the state bureaucracy at national, regional and local levels
2. The Communist party at national, regional and local levels
3. The People’s Liberation Army

Question 8

To What extent was the CPC at the heart of the government structure in the new PRC?

Answer 8

• leading party members of the party held all the key posts in both the government and the PLA
• all important debates about policy and all key decisions were taken by the party’s standing committee
• below the level of central government the communist party dominated the government of the provinces and local administration in towns and villages
• entrenched itself as the governy party, all activity directed by CPC.
• permeated all levels of government and administation: the legal system, schools and PLA.

Question 9

What evidence is there to demonstrate to what extent the CPC controlled chinese society?

Answer 9

1. Branches in all aspects of national life: factories, shops, schools, offices, neighbourhoods, PLA units, trade unions (All-China Fedration of Women, All-China Federation Democratic Youth)
2. Roles at a local level: mass autonomous organisations, urban neighborhood committees, people’s mediation committees (public health, policing), street committees (1953 prostitution diminished by surveillance of brothels, pimps and prostitutes sent to ‘re-education centres’)
3. danwei/work units: led by Party cadres; controlled housing allocation, grain, cooking oil, cloth, permits to travel, marry, enter army, universit,y change employment of employed citizens living in urban areas. (1951 citizens over 15 had to acquire residence permits and obtain permission to move to another area)

Question 10

What was the signifcance of the mass autonomous organisations?

Answer 10

cpc sought to involve the masses in its efforts to transform society

they channelled the energies of the chinese people and encouraged a sense of participation in building a new and better society but their activities were closely scrutinised by the CPC

Question 11

Was the government structure of the new PRC democratic?

Answer 11

• ​Mao referred to the new system of government as the ‘new democracy’
• based on the belief that china was not ready for a fully fledged socialist system and that a transition stage was needed between the old-feudal system and the eventual establishment of a socialist system
• in theory there were representative assemblies within this structure that brought a democratic element to the constitution

Question 12

What evidence is there that the government structure of the new PRC was democratic?

Answer 12

• 1949 the Political Consultative Conference to formerly establish the new republic
• within the party structure there was the national party congress that brought together representatives from party branches from all over the country to debate policy issues and make decisions

Question 13

Was the government structure of the new PRC undemocratic?

Answer 13

• the party’s standing committee was itself a secret group taken from the larger politburo
• at the apex of the whole structure stood chairman Mao
• only the ‘people’ could participate in the poltical life of the PRCand be granted any poltical rights
• other classes, ‘five black categories’ , were classed as non-people, lacking any political rights but nevertheless subject to the laws of the state. they were to be repressed, punished or reformed

Question 14

What evidence is there that the government structure of the new PRC was undemocratic?

Answer 14

• the national party congress met infrequently- e.g. after 1949 the next congress was not called until 1956 and when they met they merely agreed policies already decided by the politburo

Question 15

Who constituted the ‘people’ in the new PRC?

Answer 15

• the four classes; the proletariat in coalition with the peasants the petty bourgeoisie and the national bourgeoisie constituted the people

Question 16

Who constituted the ‘Five black categories’ in the new PRC?

Answer 16

1. reactionary elements,
2. feudal elements,
3. lackeys of imperialism,
4. bureaucratic capitalists
5. enemies of the people

Question 17

What was the membership of the CPC in October 1949?

Answer 17

4,448,000

Question 18

What was the membership of the CPC in december 1950?

Answer 18

5,821,604

Question 19

What was the leninist concept of an elite vanguard party adopted by mao?

Answer 19

a communist party that restricted its mebership to those workers and intellectuals who had achieved a high level of revolutionary consciousness, commitment to the revolutionary cause, and it alone could provide the leadership needed to carry through a successful revolution and therefore would be in ‘vanguard’ of the revolutionary movement

Question 20

What were Party cadres?

Answer 20

even more selct group within the party

those who had been fully indoctrinated and given leading roles at local level in administration and poltical education

Question 21

What was the significance of the party cadres in the CPC’s consolidation of power?

Answer 21

• they permeated all levels of government and administration, the legal system, schools, colleges and the PLA
• through them the CPC was able to ensure that the governmental system and the armed forces were operating strictly in accordance with the poltical direction of the state.

Question 22

How did the CPC ensure continuing loyalty from its members?

Answer 22

Party cadres enjoyed a privileged lifestyle compared to that of ordinary chinese citizens. in return for absolute loyalty to the head of the ‘family’, the party provided for its members. Under a system known as the ‘iron rice-bowl’ party and government officials, employees of state-run entrprises and military personnel were guaranteed employment and an income for life

Question 23

What was the membership of the People Liberation Army by 1950?

Answer 23

5 million men

Question 24

How much spending did the PLA account for?

Answer 24

41% of total state budget

Question 25

What were the reasons for starting a process of demobilisation of the PLA?

Answer 25

1. to spend money on economic devleopment expenditure on the armed forces would need to be reduced
2. necessary to release men from military service so they could engage in productive work
3. strategically america had been a paper tiger but tactically they were a real tiger, they could bite and they had. Peng Dehuai. commander in the korean war and appointed minister of defence saw the need for modernisation - china needed a smaller and more technologically proficient force.

Question 26

What was the reduction in size of the PLA between 1950 to 1953 as part of the process of demobilisation?

Answer 26

reduction in size to 3.5 million men

Question 27

Despite the cuts, how many conscripts did the PLA still receive a year?

Answer 27

800,000 men a year serving for three years, largest army in the world

Question 28

What was the PLA’s place in the mythology of the Chinese communist revolution?

Answer 28

in the struggles against the japanese and against the guomindang the PLA’s soldier-heroes had come to epitomise the revolutionary virtues cultivated by Mao: dicsipline, self-sacrifice, edurance, perserverance which help to instil these virtues in chinese population

Question 29

What was the Propaganda value of the PLA?

Answer 29

the troops were held up as models for others to emulate, embodying the virtues the Mao wished to instill in the Chinese population at large

Question 30

What examples are there of the Propaganda value of the PLA?

Answer 30

during the Korean war volunteer units of the PLA fought against American, British, and other international forces. the endurance and heroism of chinese troops in korea was celebrated by a number of films, play and works of literature

Question 31

What was the role of the PLA?

Answer 31

1. PLA troops were thoroughly well indoctrinated in communist ideology because all military units had political commissars embedded within them
2. Part of their role in the countryside was to pass on that communist ideology to the peasants
3. they were to put to work on many public work projects such as rebuilding bridges, roads, and railways damaged in the war- some demobilised units were restructured for this purpose (e.g. the first field in army in Xinjiang became the Production and COnstruction Army to develop untapped mineral resources and agricultural land)

Question 32

What changes were made to the PLA as part of a process of modernisation?

Answer 32

• expenditure was not cut but allowed to stabilise falling as a percentage of government expenditure as national income rose
• money was spent on engineering and signalling corps were created
• an airforce was created which was equipped with Russian MIGs manufactured under licence in Manchuria
• Promising officers were sent to the Soviet Red Army’s staff college in Kiev
• new officer training academies were set up in Beijing and Nanjing
• 1955 China began to develop its own rockets and missiles
• A chinese nuclear programme

Question 33

To what extent was the PLA a democratic institution?

Answer 33

• the essential nature of the PLA changed
• much of its old egalitarianism began to disapear
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Question 34

What evidence is there to demonstrate to what extent the PLA was a democratic institution?

Answer 34

1. 1955 fourteen precise pranks were instigated with sharply differentiated pay scales
2. colonels received 30 times the pay of a private
3. the old links with the civilian population so carefully fostered during the civil war began to break down
4. the PLA began to resemble the army of Chiang Kaishek or even the older banner armies of the Qing with numerous examples of abuse of the civilian population particularly women

Question 35

What was Mao’s view on the modernisation of the PLA?

Answer 35

• anxious to have the great power status that only a modern army could bring
• determined to maintain control and prevent the emergence of rival power bases or a return to the original warlordism of the 20s
• Mao enunciated his famous doctrine on the role of the army in 1938 ‘political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. Our principle is that the Party commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the party

Question 36

What evidence is there to demonstrate to what extent the CPC controlled the PLA?

Answer 36

• 1954 13 regions established which are answerable to a military affairs commission chaired by Mao and Peng Dehuai (ministry of defence)
• conscripts were subjected to a barrage of propaganda from the party
• 1956 a new code of behaviour for the PLA was drawn up by its political department stressing the need for close cooperation with collective farms
• power may come out the barrel of a gun but the party would control it