theme 1: Establishing communist rule 1949-57 Flashcards

1
Q

when was the Qing dynasty defeated and what was the situation afterwards

A

1911, after rival warlords threw china into chaos

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2
Q

who were the GMD and CCP?

A

GMD was the nationalist party of china

CCP was the communist party in china

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3
Q

why did GMD and CCP form a united front

A

Japan invaded in 1937

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4
Q

why did japan surrender

A

America dropped bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 (surrender that year)

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5
Q

when was there a civil war

A

1946-49 communist won

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6
Q

why was there goodwill towards communists after civil war

A

they had ended years of conflict

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7
Q

how did the civil war help maos position

A

civil war consolidated his power as he showed his ability as a military commander

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8
Q

how was the economy crippled after civil war?

A

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

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9
Q

inflation rate after civil war

A

1949 inflation rate at 1000%

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10
Q

population 1949 and 1953

A

540 million 1949

590 million 1953

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11
Q

cost of civil war in terms of lives

A

approx 20 million

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12
Q

in 1949 what did CPPCC do

A

appointed the Central Peoples government
drafted new constitution
passed laws
approved common programme

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13
Q

what was the common programme

A

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

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14
Q

what was the CPPCC?

A

Chinese people political consultative conference
passed laws, chose state symbols.
acted as prov gov until 1954

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15
Q

what was china split into?

A

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

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16
Q

what happened in new constitution 1954

A

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

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17
Q

relationship between PRC and communist party

A

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

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18
Q

what did every employed citizen have to be in

A

a work unit (danwei)

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19
Q

did the government encourage mass participation in party groups

A

yes, groups such as youth league and womens federation

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20
Q

PLA role

A

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

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21
Q

when was the new code of conduct and what did it say

A

1956 meant PLA helped peasants on farms

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22
Q

when did mao become party leader and how

A

1943 after rectification campaigns in 1941 that got rid of opposition

23
Q

when did mao become head of state

A

1949

24
Q

what were maos main ideas

A

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

25
Q

when and where the reunification campaigns?

A

1949-50 in Guangdong, xinjiang, Tibet

26
Q

how did the communists take control of Guangdong

A

previously GMD headquarters so had to deal with nationalist supporters. PRC had control 2 weeks after civil war

27
Q

how did the communists take control of xinjiang

A

80% Uyghurs (Asian ethnic group muslims).
became security buffer for PRC
large numbers of han bought in to work on construction projects

28
Q

how did the communists take control of Tibet

A

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

29
Q

how did communists use labelling

A

danwei gave every citizen label based off their family background,social status and occupation. labels determined the persons fate

30
Q

describe crackdown on crimes

A

police aimed to ‘clean up’ cities targeting beggars and prostitutes and other criminals. over 150,000 criminals arrested over half of which were executed

31
Q

when was the great terror and what happened?

A

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

32
Q

what were young party activists force to endure?

A

forced to watch mass executions to immerse them in revolutionary experience

33
Q

results o great terror

A

several million sent to labour camps or subject to surveillance
system of informers created atmosphere of mistrust and fear

34
Q

three antis campaign

A
1951 against 
Corruption
Obstructionist bureaucracy 
Waste
(COW)
caused arrest of two high ranking members of CCP charged of embezzling large amounts
35
Q

who was in charge of the 3 and 5 antis?

A

bo yibo

36
Q

what techniques used in 3 antis and 5 antis

A

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

37
Q

5 antis campaing

A
1952 (Bo Yibo)
Bribery
Evasion of tax
Economic info stealing
Corruption 
Theft of state property 
(BEECT)
introduced denunciation boxes
38
Q

what measures were taken to prevent suicide of the anti campaign victims

A

nets place under high buildings

high surveillance of victims

39
Q

describe laogai system

A
awful conditions
sleep deprivation used
hard labour
poor diet
though reform where inmates endured self-criticisms and indoctrination meetings
40
Q

how many more where added to camps because of re-education through labour?

A

1957

added 300,000 inmates

41
Q

prison numbers 1949-76

A

estimated 25 million died in these camps

42
Q

hundred flowers campaigns

A
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
43
Q

what did the Korean war (1950-53) give mao an excuse to do

A

promote nationality with “resist America, aid korea” campaign

44
Q

how did people have to contribute to Korean war (1950-53)

A

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

45
Q

what were the man power losses caused by the Korean war (1950-53)

A

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

46
Q

military spending in Korean war (1950-53)

A

annual military budget in 1951 was 1/2 government spending and 75% bigger than 1950

47
Q

how did Korean war put china in debt and what did that mean

A

whilst Russia provided military hardware china still had to pay for it
little to invest into education, healthcare, communications and economic infrastructure

48
Q

how did America worsen chinas debt

A

imposed a trade embargo on china in 1951, in the first 6 months foreign trade fell by 30%

49
Q

how did Korean war cause industry and agriculture to suffer

A
  • 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
50
Q

how did Korean war improve chinas international prestige and cause issues with foreign policy

A
  • 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
51
Q

what did America do to china following the civil war

A
  • 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
52
Q

when was the Korean War?

A

1950 - 1953

53
Q

when was the anti - rightist campaign

A

1957 - 59

54
Q

how many people labelled “rightists” in 1957

A

300,000