theme 1: Establishing communist rule 1949-57 Flashcards
when was the Qing dynasty defeated and what was the situation afterwards
1911, after rival warlords threw china into chaos
who were the GMD and CCP?
GMD was the nationalist party of china
CCP was the communist party in china
why did GMD and CCP form a united front
Japan invaded in 1937
why did japan surrender
America dropped bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 (surrender that year)
when was there a civil war
1946-49 communist won
why was there goodwill towards communists after civil war
they had ended years of conflict
how did the civil war help maos position
civil war consolidated his power as he showed his ability as a military commander
how was the economy crippled after civil war?
nationalist scorched-earth tactics worsened situation
food supply critical due to requisitioning
agricultural methods were primitive and unproductive
industrial development hampered by underinvestment and non skilled workforce
inflation rate after civil war
1949 inflation rate at 1000%
population 1949 and 1953
540 million 1949
590 million 1953
cost of civil war in terms of lives
approx 20 million
in 1949 what did CPPCC do
appointed the Central Peoples government
drafted new constitution
passed laws
approved common programme
what was the common programme
1949 - 54
a temporary constitution to steer china through next 5 years. gave a wide range of personal freedoms such as gender equality but in reality gave police and army the right to supress any counter-revolutionary activity
what was the CPPCC?
Chinese people political consultative conference
passed laws, chose state symbols.
acted as prov gov until 1954
what was china split into?
6 regions with 4 communist officials in charge of each region 2 of which were military, sometimes 1 person held all posts such as Gao Gang in Manchuria
1954 new constitution subdivided them into 21 provinces
what happened in new constitution 1954
6 regions subdivided into 21 provinces with 2 urban centres shanghai and Beijing
china confirmed a communist country
National People’s congress became new legislature
despite democratic appearance communist party controlled elections
relationship between PRC and communist party
PRC run by com. membership of communist party reserved for those who could prove ideological commitment. out of 500 million population 4.5 million were members
what did every employed citizen have to be in
a work unit (danwei)
did the government encourage mass participation in party groups
yes, groups such as youth league and womens federation
PLA role
1950 largest army with 5 million men. consumed 40% state budget. reduced to 3.5 mill in 1953 and 2.7 million in 1957 under defence minister peng duhai
as it became smaller it was more technically advanced
when was the new code of conduct and what did it say
1956 meant PLA helped peasants on farms
when did mao become party leader and how
1943 after rectification campaigns in 1941 that got rid of opposition
when did mao become head of state
1949
what were maos main ideas
1 -Nationalism: wanted to free china from history of foreign exploitation. for this reason wanted Chinese communism to differ from soviet communism
2 -continuing revolution: thought everyone had responsibility to look out for enemies, resulting in periodic purges of CCP and struggle sessions
3 -listening to the people: debatable if he truly believed this
4- mass mobilisation: thought population was chinas greatest asset
when and where the reunification campaigns?
1949-50 in Guangdong, xinjiang, Tibet
how did the communists take control of Guangdong
previously GMD headquarters so had to deal with nationalist supporters. PRC had control 2 weeks after civil war
how did the communists take control of xinjiang
80% Uyghurs (Asian ethnic group muslims).
became security buffer for PRC
large numbers of han bought in to work on construction projects
how did the communists take control of Tibet
had announced resistance to communist conquest but british and UN to busy or not interested to protect Tibet so conquest was relatively straight forward. PRC launched campaign to destroy Tibetan identity
how did communists use labelling
danwei gave every citizen label based off their family background,social status and occupation. labels determined the persons fate
describe crackdown on crimes
police aimed to ‘clean up’ cities targeting beggars and prostitutes and other criminals. over 150,000 criminals arrested over half of which were executed
when was the great terror and what happened?
1950-51 designed to remove opponents and deter others, same time as korea war
killings threatened to get out of hand mao suggested as acceptable target, killing 1 in every thousand. (Actually what the fuck though is that not mad tallula?)
so many arrested in summer 1951 when Rao Shushi suggested extending killings to inside CCP that there was a bottleneck in prisons
what were young party activists force to endure?
forced to watch mass executions to immerse them in revolutionary experience
results o great terror
several million sent to labour camps or subject to surveillance
system of informers created atmosphere of mistrust and fear
three antis campaign
1951 against Corruption Obstructionist bureaucracy Waste (COW) caused arrest of two high ranking members of CCP charged of embezzling large amounts
who was in charge of the 3 and 5 antis?
bo yibo
what techniques used in 3 antis and 5 antis
mass meetings were colleagues denounced eachother
those accused endured humiliating confessions
under 5 antis denunciation boxes opened to speed up the process
many had to rewrite confessions until they were believable enough
5 antis campaing
1952 (Bo Yibo) Bribery Evasion of tax Economic info stealing Corruption Theft of state property (BEECT) introduced denunciation boxes
what measures were taken to prevent suicide of the anti campaign victims
nets place under high buildings
high surveillance of victims
describe laogai system
awful conditions sleep deprivation used hard labour poor diet though reform where inmates endured self-criticisms and indoctrination meetings
how many more where added to camps because of re-education through labour?
1957
added 300,000 inmates
prison numbers 1949-76
estimated 25 million died in these camps
hundred flowers campaigns
1957 mao wanted open discussion about first five year plan. initially no one said anything due to previous purge of intellectuals. eventually comments became floods of criticisms of policies and leaders Mao switched (June) labelled them rightist and launched anti-rightist campaign. lost good will of intellectuals forever
what did the Korean war (1950-53) give mao an excuse to do
promote nationality with “resist America, aid korea” campaign
how did people have to contribute to Korean war (1950-53)
people pressured into donating to war effort
conscripted men but formally called “volunteers” so America could not invade china with good reason if north korea lost
taxes raised and crops were requisitioned
what were the man power losses caused by the Korean war (1950-53)
killed 1 million. scale of loss similar to Britain and france in ww1 but in a shorter space of time. mao unfazed as population was so large.
maos own son was burnt to death in American air raid
military spending in Korean war (1950-53)
annual military budget in 1951 was 1/2 government spending and 75% bigger than 1950
how did Korean war put china in debt and what did that mean
whilst Russia provided military hardware china still had to pay for it
little to invest into education, healthcare, communications and economic infrastructure
how did America worsen chinas debt
imposed a trade embargo on china in 1951, in the first 6 months foreign trade fell by 30%
how did Korean war cause industry and agriculture to suffer
- concentration on military production slowed industrial development.
- vital resources given to war effort and not industry
- food requisitioning from countryside to feed soldiers caused severe deprivation and famine in some areas
how did Korean war improve chinas international prestige and cause issues with foreign policy
- bought prestige as china had kept USA at bay but meant USA was now an enemy
- worsened relations with ussr as mao resented stalin for not providing air cover for pla and not getting directly involved with fighting
- stalins death worsened relations and mao did not respect khrushchev
what did America do to china following the civil war
- CIA began plotting to undermine Chinese control of Tibet
- pledged to keep Taiwan out of Chinese hands
- prevented china from joining UN, allowed to join in 1972 when relations thawecd
when was the Korean War?
1950 - 1953
when was the anti - rightist campaign
1957 - 59
how many people labelled “rightists” in 1957
300,000
