Topic 1 - Establishing Communist Rule - Defeating the CCP's Opponents

Question 1

When was the Three Antis Campaign launched and what did Mao call for?

Answer 1

August 1951 - Mao called for a ‘big cleanup of the party’

Question 2

What were the Three Antis?

Answer 2

1) Corruption
2) Waste
3) Obstructionist bureaucracy in gov

Question 3

Did the Chinese people support the Three Antis campaign?

Answer 3

Yes - Chinese people including the middle classes supported the campaign believe that the CCP would discipline those who had taken advantage of their new power for their own benefit

Question 4

What did the CCP do with the civil service originally?

Answer 4

Originally needed civil service employees to set up their new regime - EG collecting taxes, organising schools, coordinating transport

Question 5

What did the CCP do with the civil service after 1951?

Answer 5

By late 1951 the CCP had trained enough loyal party cadres to do these jobs so the former employees were imprisoned or executed

Question 6

What was the focus of the 5 antis campaign?

Answer 6

Focused on removing possible opponents of the CCP and seizing control of economic assets

Question 7

What were the 5 antis?

Answer 7

1) Bribery
2) Tax evasion
3) Theft of state property
4) Cheating on gov contracts
5) Stealing state economic info

Question 8

What was the target of the 5 antis campaign?

Answer 8

Middle class and private businessmen

Question 9

What methods were used for rounding up businessmen?

Answer 9

Rounded up through encouraging those who confessed that they would be treated more leniently if they helped identify others, and telling the businessman’s family that he was guilty

Question 10

What happened to the businessmen after they were captured?

Answer 10

‘Capitalist tigers’ usually tortured before being dragged in front of a mass struggle meeting and forced to confess their crimes - after they had served their purpose they were executed – only means of defiance was suicide

Question 11

What were the four types of terror used against opponents in Mao’s China?

Answer 11

1) Purges and executions - used to eliminate political opponents – people accused or being counter-revolutionaries or capitalist roadsters and were often tortured or executed without trial

2) Re-education camps - used to “re-educate political dissidents and opponents” – camps used to punish and indoctrinate people who were deemed to be enemies of the state

3) Denunciation campaigns where people were encouraged to report neighbours, family, friends who were suspected of being political opponents – this created an atmosphere of fear and suspicion

4) Forced labour – Mao’s gov used forced labour as a tool of political repression – people who were deemed to be enemies of the state were often sent to labour camps and forced to work long hours in harsh conditions

Question 12

When did Mao invade Tibet and what for?

Answer 12

Mao invaded Tibet in October 1950 to “liberate it from imperialist opposition”

Question 13

What was the real reason Tibet was invaded?

Answer 13

To remove a rival belief system, Buddhism, and to control the loyalties to an alternative leadership, the Dalai Lama

Question 14

What did PLA troops set up once they took Tibet and what did they force the Dalai Lama to sign?

Answer 14

Set up a pro-China government and forced the Dalai Lama to sign a 17-Point ‘Agreement on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet’

Question 15

What were Chinese policies aiming to do in Tibet? (3 EGs)

Answer 15

Aimed at wiping out all traces of separate Tibetan identity - EG banning of traditional religious practice and banning of Tibetan language and history in schools

Question 16

What did Mao encourage after the PLA invaded Tibet?

Answer 16

Mao also encouraged the migration of ethnic Han Chinese into Tibet in order to replace the traditional Tibetan culture and way of life with a Chinese one

Question 17

How did the PLA use propaganda in the invasion of Tibet?

Answer 17

PLA also used extensive propaganda unites to try to convince the Tibetans they were in need of liberalisation and show the benefits of communism

Question 18

Did the Tibetans ever fight back against Chinese occupation?

Answer 18

Yes, when the Tibetans finally rebelled in 1959, they were brutally crushed by the PLA, and the Dalai Lama fled to India

Question 19

Background of Xinjiang (pop, differences to the rest of China, border)

Answer 19

• Large Muslim pop in Xinjiang with close ties to Muslims in the USSR
• Different language, culture, and a strong sense of ethnic identity
• Xinjiang bordered Soviet-controlled outer Mongolia

Question 20

What did the CCP fear in Xinjiang?

Answer 20

CCP feared the growth of separatist sentiment or Russian influence in the region

Question 21

How many Uighurs were in Xinjiang?

Answer 21

Uighurs accounted for 3 million out of the 4 million people in Xinjiang

Question 22

What was the history of Xinjiang with regards to central rule?

Answer 22

Had a long history of opposing central rule

Question 23

What did the CCP attempt to use to get Xinjiang onside?

Answer 23

CCP attempted to use military force and negotiation to get them onside

Question 24

What happened to Uighur nationalist leaders?

Answer 24

Nationalist Uighur leaders killed in plane crash and their successors agreed to cooperate with the CCP in exchange for key posts in the new gov

Question 25

What did the PLA do after the Uighurs were killed?

Answer 25

After the death of nationalist Uighurs, PLA then sets about clearing all resistance in Xinjiang

Question 26

What happened in Xinjiang by 1950?

Answer 26

By 1950 secures enough territory for the safe migration of Han Chinese into Xinjiang to root out culture – similar to Tibet

Question 27

What was Guangdong known for?

Answer 27

Guangdong was a Southern province that was typically seen as a pro-Nationalist stronghold

Question 28

What did the CCP fear in Guangdong?

Answer 28

CCP feared enemy spies and saboteurs remained in Guangdong - also feared anti-communist sentiment remained in the area

Question 29

How many people were killed in Guangdong as part of what campaign?

Answer 29

28,000 killed as part of the ‘Suppress the Counter-Revolutionaries’ campaign

Question 30

What was the Laogai system?

Answer 30

A system of forced-labour camps used to punish a wide range of political dissidents during the Maoist years, including intellectuals, students, religious figures, and members of ethnic minorities

Question 31

How many people passed through the Laogai system? (estimate)

Answer 31

Estimated 50 million people passed through the Laogai system during its history

Question 32

What were conditions like in the Laogai?

Answer 32

Conditions in the Laogai camps were harsh, and prisoners were subject to brutal treatment, including torture, beatings, and malnutrition - many prisoners died from overwork, disease, or mistreatment

Question 33

What happened to intellectuals during the Antis campaigns?

Answer 33

Intellectuals targeted during the Antis campaign - stayed silent during the early years of Mao’s rule

Question 34

What was the economic production situation by 1956?

Answer 34

By 1956, after the success of the Antis campaigns and the reunification campaigns, economic production, particularly in agriculture, had stalled

Question 35

What did Mao believe had to happen if the Chinese economy was to catch up to the Western economy?

Answer 35

Mao believed if Chinese economy was to catch up to the West the support of intellectuals and scientists required to help run the economy

Question 36

What did Mao believe was happening to the CCP?

Answer 36

Mao believed CCP was becoming less revolutionary - ‘the revolutionaries had become rulers’ and therefore more self-serving

Question 37

What did Mao think about some members of the party?

Answer 37

Believed some members of the Party not radical enough in introducing communist policies, particularly relating to the economy

Question 38

What did Mao hope intellectuals would do?

Answer 38

Mao hoped intellectuals would criticise these more conservative communists, giving him the chance to remove them

Question 39

What did Mao decree in May 1956 and what did he want to do?

Answer 39

‘Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend’ - wanted to expose the CCP to the criticisms of the people

Question 40

What impact did Mao’s May 1956 decree have and why?

Answer 40

Decree had little impact as intellectuals remembered persecution during the Antis campaigns so stayed silent

Question 41

Did party officials support the campaign?

Answer 41

Party officials feared they would be targeted for criticism so didn’t support the campaign either

Question 42

What did Mao do in Feb 1957 and what happened after this?

Answer 42

Feb 1957 - Mao tries again and admits that over 800,000 Chinese were killed - implied that the time for violent class struggle was over - after this intellectuals began speaking up and criticising the party

Question 43

What did people to to voice their dissatisfaction with the party?

Answer 43

Posters were put up on office and factory walls criticising the Party’s failure to provide rights or freedoms of expression - opponents compared the Party’s use of violent methods to the Nazis at Auschwitz

Question 44

Were there complaints about the economy?

Answer 44

Yes - many complained about economic inequalities - criticised low wages and compared to privileged lifestyle of the Party elites

Question 45

What was the last straw for Mao?

Answer 45

Personal criticism a step too far for Mao - ‘dissatisfied peasants can throw Chairman Mao’s portrait into the toilet’

Question 46

What did Mao do in June 1957?

Answer 46

June 1957 - Mao makes a speech published in the People’s Daily declaring that ‘poisonous weeds had grown up amongst the fragrant flowers’

Question 47

What did Mao demand in June 1957?

Answer 47

These ‘right-wingers’ had abused their freedoms - Mao demanded a campaign of class-struggle against them

Question 48

What campaign did the class struggle result in?

Answer 48

The resulting ‘Anti-Rightist’ campaign defined these ‘poisonous weeds’ very broadly so the CCP could get rid of anyone it liked

Question 49

What was the situation with arrests and party officials during the anti-rightist campaign?

Answer 49

Simply ‘denying the achievements of the revolution’ could lead to arrest - many officials would accuse innocent people of being ‘anti-rightist’ so as to fill specific quotas and targets and impress their bosses - very common trend under Mao

Question 50

Purging stats for the anti-rightist campaign

Answer 50

More people purged in this campaign than any other previous campaign - anywhere between 400,000 and 700,000 intellectuals were purged and sent to the countryside or the laogai for ‘labour reform’ as many more took their own lives