topic 1- consolidating control

Question 1

why did the communists have cause for optimism?

Answer 1

Mao declared willingness to work with other social groups(united front)transition from guerrilla to open warfare strengthened Mao’s military position,The PLA was now loyal.Mao intended to stabilise China by suppressing opposition and by broadening his support base.

Question 2

problems facing the PRC in 1949

Answer 2

econmoic, agricultural and industrial

Question 3

agricultural problems in 1949

Answer 3

food production 30% lower than 1937, henan province famine-3 mill.food requistioning, wartime fleeing inland,conscription disrupted Agriculture.farmers were hit with steep drops in food prices, food was exported to gain
Foreign currency.only 15% of land in china was cultivable..

Question 4

economic problems 1949

Answer 4

decrease in industrial output-bombing,japanese seizing productive areas,scorched earth.25% of pre war level Sources of revenue reduced, money borrowed by the GMD caused hyperinflation1000%, china’s foreign currency reserves were taken to Taiwan with Chiang kai Shek.

Question 5

v

problems with industry

Answer 5

infrastructure underdeveloped, workers underskilled.only manchuria and yangtze had teletphone and rail.

Question 6

start of communism in china

how was the government organised in 1950?

Answer 6

• the communits ran govt with the PLA, in 1949 ‘united front’
• CPPCC created a new political system:The central people’s govt was the supreme state body.Legislation from the politburo was rubber stamped by the government.
• GMD law was abolished
• China was divided into six regions to impose national decisions

Question 7

what was democratic centralism?

Answer 7

a principle of the PRC,democratic centralism means that political decisions reached by voting processes are binding upon all members of the political party-theoretical as there was no choice of party and the PRC controlled the process.capitalist elements+socialism.

Question 8

what did the central peoples government do as supreme state body?

Answer 8

decided state symbols,passed law,approved the common program+new constitution and appointed the CPG -police suppression

Question 9

bureaucracy and new constitution

how did control of power in the PRC change in 1954?

Answer 9

• the national people’s congress was created as a new Legislature.
• the comms retained power over the electoral process.
• divided into 21 provinces.
• The CPPCC was an advisory body -lost power
• the NPC rubber stamped politburo decisions
• The party grew,720,000 in 1949 to 8mil in 1959.
• the growth of administrators slowed down revolution

Question 10

Maos main ideas

Answer 10

• nationalism
• continuing revolution
• listening to the people
• mass mobilisation

Question 11

nationalism

(maos main idea)

Answer 11

free china from foreign exploitation, determination not to follow the russian model slavishly

Question 12

mass mobilisation

Answer 12

mass campaigns directed at achieving specific targets were China’s greatest asset , revolutionary enthusiasm mattered more than experts in developing the economy.

Question 13

role of the communist party

Answer 13

to run the PRC,and synchronise the state and army .Cadres monitored the civil service,legal system and schools at a local level insuring mao’s line was being adhered to.to encourage mass participation (like in youth leagues) so that ordinary people could identify with the parties causes.

Question 14

role of mao

Answer 14

• leading party theorist ,
• party leader as of 1943,
• head of state(significant constitutional power)
• set up the pace and direction of policy- not absolute control as the collective was theoretically responsible for policy.

Question 15

role of PLA

Answer 15

a means for indoctrination ;supervising 800,000 young conscripts to rebuild infrastructure;enforced central government control.- 5 million men in 1950.

Question 16

where were they aswell?

what were the reunification campaigns?

Answer 16

forcibly bringing into line invaded territories.

Question 17

Guangdong

Answer 17

GMD heartland during the civil war,the province capitulated to the PLA( bc it wasn’t defended)after the PRC’s declaration,war ended in 1950.Nationalist forces still needed to be dealt with in the west.

Question 18

Xinjiang

Answer 18

used by Russians as a buffer state ag japanese expansion,80% Uyghurs,conquest+negotiation the nationalist opposition were subdued,became a buffer state for the PRC.

Question 19

Tibet

Answer 19

PLA invaded in 1950,six month conquest,Tibet came under Chinese sovereignty and the Chinese campaigned against the Tibetan identity by introducing their lifestyle and identity, resistance backed by CIA, uprising in 1959.

Question 20

labelling use for terror

Answer 20

• workers assigned to danweis(work units)
• the denail food ration cards used for conformity and registration itself allowed prying into people’s lives
• class labels given +loyalty to revolution labels-red or black.children inherited this status
• Reeducation classes and libraries
• everything noted down in a (dossier)dagnan

Question 21

crackdown on crime

Answer 21

• relocated petty criminals to countryside- beggars and prostitutes
• reeducation camps full quickly.
• tackle triads (gangs)underworld crime
• 150,000 criminals arrested.

Question 22

supression of counter revolutionaries

Answer 22

• Tao Zhu targeted the Guangxi province nationalists ,killing 46,000 bandits = 2.5% of population
• Mao = killing 1 in every thousand of the locals
• Rao Shushi proposed that killings be extended to enemies in the CCP
• 1951-bottleneck in prisons.terror claimed fewer lives in cities-adverse publicity
• high level military officer shot- 28th april 1951
• police swept through 16 cities in coordinated raid,figure of death could be as high as 2 mil.

Question 23

three antis

Answer 23

• targeted corruption,waste and delay.
• the arrest of CCP members for embezzlement caused it
• Bo Yibo= denouncement,confessions.
• small scale embezzlers were called flies,large scale-tigers.tiger hunting teams competed; 100,000 caught by Yibo

Question 24

5 antis

Answer 24

• bribery, tax evasion,theft of state ,fraud and economic espionage
• targeted bourgeoisie, report employers, denunciation boxes made this easier.
• victims had negligible chances of acquittal-
• 1%shot ,1% camps.,3%jail,rest fined.

Question 25

result of 5 antis

Answer 25

Fines destroyed the old business class +helped finance the Korean war,can be argued that chaos caused to normal economic activity was harmful to the economy.1953 Gao Gang and Sushi purged for infringing the ban on factions

Question 26

laogai camps

Answer 26

• 1953-2 mill prisoners mostly political
• .forced labourers ,
• camps produced 700 million yuan in industrial products+350,000 tonnes of grain
• prisoners were used for hazardous jobs,clearing malaria swamps.
• use of sleep deprivation and torture, psychological thought reform, indoctrination meetings to lose identity.the new reducation through labour system bypassed the judicial system,indefinite imprisonment

Question 27

100 flowers campaign

Answer 27

• called for an open debate about the pace of change in china;
• in april 1956,continued to promote at the CCP congress,
• the media campaign against hu feng had led to the arrest of intellectuals in 1954-discouraged critics.
• mao embarked on a stage managed railway tour to engage with peasants.
• critics were branded as rightists,½ a million new inmates for re education camps during anti rightist campaign.

Question 28

how did the korean war support the development of the prc?

Answer 28

suppressing opposition,control, national unity

Question 29

tightening control

Answer 29

• the power of the party increased
• local leader given roles in terror,workers could denounce exploitative leaders/colleagues
• villification of missionaries -hostility towards religious people, forced to flee.

Question 30

suppresing opposition

Answer 30

• methods justified by the threat to national security-
• mao was able to destroy lingering nationalist support and future opposition
• foreigners had to register w local public security bureau

Question 31

Mao used the war to promote national unity

Answer 31

• propaganda against USA
• zhou enlai lead patriotic campaigns - participants did not know about the evils of capitalism or the reasons for the war, but feared persecution for not taking part
• the rallies created a sense of unity,against the rest of the world
• Used the rallies to apply pressure to volunteer for the PLA +donate 3 months salary,
• feb 1952, beijing germ warfare scare, building on fears of aerial bombardism, said that americans were dropping germ infested insects on north korea ,in 1953 its credibility was undermined as the russians said it was false

Question 32

human cost of war

Answer 32

• 1 million lives, most conscripts.
• including mao’s son who burned to death-mao became distant from the people’s suffering
• scale of losses high in a short time.not important to mao as losses could be made up

Question 33

finacial cost of war

Answer 33

• v damaging. Entirely refocused to to military for 3 years.
• over ½ govt spending in 1951 went too military, annual budget was 75% higher than 1950.
• Military hardware+ expertise given to china from russia-they had to pay back
• .military equipment had been produced in manchuria = no food + requistioning
• high levels of coercion used to get food, famine, trade embargo imposed on china by us
• 30% fall in foreign trade.

Question 34

indirect economic consequences

Answer 34

• industrial resources that were needed by china were being diverted to korea
• restricted success of the 1st 5YP+delayed growth
• Debts meant there was no money for ed, health, communications-needed for economic infrastructure.

Question 35

china’s enhanced international prestige

Answer 35

• Made the PRC the most powerful comm nation-made sacrifices+ held back the US
• preservation of korea gave china greater security and friendship-no longer the weak point where enemies attack.

Question 36

the downisde in terms of international relations.

Answer 36

• usa is now the enemy,american resolve to prevent domino effect strengthened, CIA plotting to undermine control in tibet,keep taiwan out chinese hands and stop from joining UN.
• relations w ussr suffered, mao thought stalin could have supplied air cover to the PLA+ contributed in war.