Part 3: Transition to Socialism

When did the CCP announce they were transitioning to socialism, and how would they do it?

1953, CCP announced that they were entering a new phase towards socialism.

Involved industrialisation, agricultural development, and more collective ownership of land and industry.

Estimated 15 years

What was the ‘general line’ and how would this affect socialist developments?

The ‘general line’ was political, leadership, and organisational methodology, which Mao followed.

The general line stated that the United Front was NOT abandoned, the bourgeoisie would still have key roles, and transition would be slow…reassuring.

Detail the structure of leadership, and how this affected socialist development

Leadership supported general line.

→ “democratic centralism”= allowed to debate to an extent

→ Politburo makes decision. All party members must follow.

→ After the policy is set, people can still debate about implementation

Who was Gao Gang?

Gao Gang was a leading CCP official in Manchuria in 1949, who supported Mao in criticising Zhou Enlai and Liu Shaoqi.

Detail the purge against Gao Gang and Rao Shushi

1953, this was Mao’s first major purge since CCP leadership.

Shushi and Gang believed they had Mao’s backing, so tried to usurp Enlai from his position. BUT, Mao then used the Dec 1935 meeting to accuse them of ‘building independent kingdoms’

What was the aftermath of the 1953 purge against Gao Gang?

Gao Gang killed himself, and Shushi died in prison.

It is a SIGN. event: it showed that democracy is not really established at all, and no debating was encouraged. The CCP members were expendable and Mao had the upperhand always.

Why did CCP not like intellectuals?

Access to higher education was expensive, so usually came from landlords or bourgeoisie families. They were often educated in foreign universities, or Chinese unis with western foundations, so were treated with SUSPICION

But they were needed to help with economic growth

Why did intellectuals stay in Maoist China?

Intellectuals stayed in China for work, but did not expect how open criticism and free expression were seen as ‘self indulgence’ of the bourgeoisie, and even ‘counter revolutionary thought’

Who was Hu Feng?

Hu Feng was a writer in 1955, writing about how CCP stifled creativity and art.

He was dismissed from writers’ union, charged as a GMD agent, and imprisoned

What was the Anti-Hu Feng campaign?

CCP eradicated ‘Hu Feng’ elements from the intellectual world, proving that the price for debate was too high to pay. 2000 of Feng’s supporters were criticised

What was the Hundred Flowers campaign, and when was it?

The Hundred Flowers campaign (1956-7) supposedly allowed intellectuals to openly voice criticism against the CCP.

Why did Mao launch the Hundred Flowers campaign?

• Mao wanted support from public to speed up econ. changes and deter peasant resistance

• growing ‘bureaucratism’ becoming an issue→ party officials being alienated from ppl

• Following de-Stalination, Mao was under fire, so used HFC to ‘rectify’ the Party and make its own brand of socialism

What did Mao say would happen to his opponents?

Only ‘a gentle breeze and mild rain’ would be directed at them. Vs. “a desperate attempt to stir up a typhoon” from Rightists.

Why was the launching of the Hundreds Flower campaign not successful initially?

Worried that encouraging criticism from non-Party intellectuals would undermine the Party.

1956, w/o full support, couldn’t launch HFC. 1957, took a 3 week journey to convince local Party officials and finally, Politburo sanctioned the campaign.

What went wrong following the Hundred Flowers campaign?

A HUGE amount of criticism for the regime. Mao had expected criticism of the system and methodology, not HIM

What was the anti-Rightist campaign?

He shifted from ‘flowers to bloom’ to removing ‘poisonous weeds’. Defensive. Started attacking anti-Party ‘rightists’ (500k intellectuals branded rightists).

There were even quotas put into place for a set number of Rightists that had to be killed

What is the controversy over the Hundred Flowers campaign?

It is unknown whether Mao planned for this to happen, and used it to root out ‘undercover’ Rightists to further cleanse his Party, or if he in fact genuinely believed the Chinese people would have no criticism towards him and his ideals. Thus, had to cover up this mistake

‘after the anti-Rightist campaign, no one opens their mouth’

What are some reasons to why Mao launched the Great Leap Forward (his second Five Year Plan?)

• Revigorate peasant support following the first

• Wanted to continue revolutionary through mass mobilisation - get everyone involved

• Extending military discipline to every day life

What was Mao’s ideals for the Great Leap Forward?

Mao made a motto of ‘greater, faster, better, cheaper’

He wanted to grow the two legs together without practicing consumptionism, as well as defeating the west.

HOWEVER, China was not ready to adapt to mass production

What was the issue of sparrowcide?

It was an obviously not thought out part of Mao’s Four Noes Campaign. It damaged fragile food webs, which meant sparrows’ actual prey- caterpillars- ate the harvest instead

Highlighted disproportionate relationship between Mao’s call for action and consequences

What were communes?

Collective farming communities; the developed version of APCs

What were some issues of communes?

All items were ceased and collectives, and family ties were seen as ‘bourgeois emotional attachments’

Only the Party cadres benefitted - officers of the Peoples’ Communes

How did China’s debts worsen the Great Leap Forward?

The 1959 spring harvest was disastrous. The little successfully cultivated wheat was immediately sent to the USSR to pay off debts.

Mao wanted to pay off these debts as soon as possible, even at the cost of thousands’ lives

What was the Eight Point Agricultural constitution?

A more ‘scientific’ approach to improve crop yield; terrible advice from the USSR Lysenko: i.e plant crops closer to eachother

That, and the claim for everyone to plant ONE type of wheat, was spread throughout the WHOLE country; huge disaster

What were Party cadres?

They were the leaders of the Peoples’ Communes, and were the ones responsible for planning, as professionals had been fired

They often just played to Mao’s opinions and views, and neglected reality, as they didn’t want to be rid of. INEFFECTIVE

Why did the GLF fail?

• 1959, China’s weather conditions also worsened yield.

• Anti- Hu Feng Campaign purged many valuable experts who had made the First plan succeed

• Wasted a huge amount of labour and materials resources

• Mistake of not prioritising active peasant co-operation..not as enthusiastic.

A quote from Mao in his secret meeting in 1959

Mao is fully aware of how bad the famine is, and still orders the party to procure 1/3 of all grain

“It is better to let half of the people die so that the other half can eat their fill”- encouraging selectivism?

Stats for GLF

• In Suzhou, only half of a bag of rice ever reached its final destination; this led to an underground black market, which often benefitted people who could already feed themselves

• 50k died from workplace accidents in 1959. Ppl not taught properly, bc they’re so urgent for econ. development. So hungry their cognitive capabilities are lacking

What was the incident of white clay?

A quarter of a million tonnes of mud were dug out and eaten by more than 10 000 people. Although it was filling, once dried, the mud acted like cement and absorbed all the moisture within the body, leading to a painful death,.

What were the cases of cannibalism within Mao’s Great Famine?

There were many cases of cannibalism, i.e a woman dug out her son and husband’s corpses from the grave and ate them

The officials had an apathetic tone, claiming it was a result of ‘livelihood issues’; disregarding their own part within the famine.

What were the backyard furnaces?

As part of a plan to beat the west’s steel production, Mao ordered peasants to make their own backyard furnaces, and melt down their own farming equipment and pots etc.

Most of this steel was unusable, and it was conclusively a waste of labour efforts

What were the issues with the quotas?

Mao made unrealistic quotas for agricultural and economic development; cadres were awarded for their success, and so many lied about reaching their absurdly high quotas.

In response, Mao would rise them, again, and so the figures collected were actually MASSIVELY inflated.

Detail Mao’s resignation from his role as Chairman of the CCP

1958, the gov claim that Mao’s “wish” was to no longer be the Chairman, but still Chairman of the Central Committee (which still pretty much bled into every aspect of the CCP)

Mao is still very much in control, BUT it still is a setback in his career

What letter did Peng Dehuai send Mao?

1959, before the Lushuan Conference, Dehuai sends Mao a private letter; “we forgot the mass line and the style of seeking the truth from the facts”

Very kind, but Mao prints it out for everyone to see

What happened in the Lushan Conference?

1959.. Following Dehuai’s letter, he is labelled as an ‘anti-Party clique’, and is then imprisoned a few years later, after the Cultural Revolution.

In private, many conference attendees agreed with Peng!

What are some key take-aways from Mao’s speech at the Lushan Conference?

• whole speech is contradictory; he likes criticism but not at him

• he is callous, and talks about the Great Famine with apathy. “too few vegetables, too few hair-grips”, isolating him from the people even more

• “Should Marx also have been killed?” associating with USSR, and also asking for endurance

• “overthrow the government. I will go and find a Red Army and organise another Liberation Army”

Describe Mao’s apology in the 7000 Cadre Conference in 1962

Essentially did acknowledge his own blame but immediately tries to diffuse it and spread it to everybody else too; it’s not just his fault.

Was Mao right to join the Korean War 1950? (yes)

• USA was actively obstructing China’s attempt to take Taiwan. Defeating USA would give them the opportunity to take it + protect national interest

• Act of defiance at US. Making themselves a threat

• International recognition

• Modernise their army

Was Mao right to join the Korean War 1950? (no)

• Diverting militaristic efforts into fighting SK instead of focusing USA. Could’ve waited till USA was busy

• Lost 1 mil ppl- people are not ready for war when still rebuilding

• Mao wasn’t planning to get involved but influenced by USSR- still not independent

Detail China’s relationship with Tibet

• China built a road to link Tibet w/ rest of China

• Han Chinese encouraged to attack Buddhist monasteries. Tibet’s resistance supported by American CIA- open revolt

• Good physical relation, poor symbolic relation

Detail China’s relationship with Taiwan

• USA declared their intention to portect Taiwan, further clashing

Detail China’s relationship with USA

• China producing nuclear weapons in response to USA. Better tech, defense?

• USA imposed a ban on trade w/ China and other countries. Already bad economy

• US funding GMD regime which provides a threat to the PLA

• Humiliated Zhou Enlai at a conference in Geneva, 1945

Detail China’s relationship with Vietnam

• Hiatus in colonial rule allowed development of an independence movement- Vietminh

• PRC provided military aid to Vietminh

• 1962, when Americans get involved, China gives weapons to Vietnam

• China’s drafted peace agreement rejected by Viet Gov, risks another war.

Detail China’s relationship with India

• Friendly relations in 1950, India didn’t oppose TIbet invasion

• BUT border clashes w/ new road in 1956.

• India gave asylum to Dalai Lama, TIbet’s leader. Strains relations

• 1962, PLA launches attack. Chinese establish new frontier line

Detail China’s relationship with USSR

The Great Breakup

• breaking free from USSR a bit, more independence

• Soviet aid came at a high cost. High interest.

• 1950 treaty gave USSR right to exploit Chinese mineral reserves

• STalin treated Mao as a junior partner

• Khrushchev’s new doctrine of peaceful coexistence vs Mao still believing they should destroy imperialists.

What ideology does Mao have?

Teleological= the belief that history has set patterns and that the momentum of history can’t be changed

He has complete confidence in this belief, really is rattling US.

Who are the Pragmatists?

After the GLF failed, there is now the job to fix the economy. Chen Yu, Liu Shaoqui and Deng Xiaopeng take on this role.

Why is Mao resistant to the Pragmatists ?

Mao believes in ideology and politics as the main push to success. The Pragmatists reverse Mao’s entire movement, kind of trashing his policies, and suddenly the country is healing.

“It doesn’t matter if the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice”

Mao vs Pragmatists: communes

Mao: prioritises too much on political purity. Thinks people will behave accordingly with enough freedom. He never blames communes, just people and the weather

Pragmatists: broke them up into smaller production brigades and increased autonomy.

Mao vs Pragmatists: peasants

Mao: under him, peasants fled to the city in search for work and food. Unified in GLf but not exactly productive.

Pragmatists: under them, allowed to eat at home, and have private land. Non agricultural activities also restricted.

Mao vs Pragmatists: experts

Under Mao, weren’t allowed to use expert, and Lysenko flopped

Pragmatists: scientific research prioritised to supplement lack of USSR. Brings back arrested intellectuals during Anti Rightist (HUGE point for Mao to be upset at)

Mao vs Pragmatists: industry

Mao: made unrealistic targets and kept increasing them. Mao prioritised industry over agriculture.

Pragmatists: 25k inefficient enterprises shut down. Coal and steel targets more realistic, and provided financial incentives. Sent young urban unemployed to work in the countryside. Agirculture over industrial Mao vs Pragmatists: communes

Mao vs Pragmatists: economic planning

Mao: prioritised politics and communism

Pragmatists: thinking more about stabilising economy than political.

Agriculture under the Pragmatists

PROS

• ineffective practices scrutinised and fixed

• Financial incentives and return of migrants to rural boosted agriculture

• Production grew in Dazhai led by Yonggul

CONS

• removing a lot of unification schemes

• food production still 14% below 1958

INdustrial under the Pragmatists

PROS

• production increased due to financial incentives and dedicated work force

• targets more consistently reached

• large oil refinery and new city at Daqing

CONS

• industrial enterprises from GLD shut down, waste of materials

• threat of war in the background

• Third Line: waste of money. Mao wanted better national defense, but they were outdated. Due to lack of coordination, many of it was abandoned asw.

Politics under the Pragmatists.

PROS:

• Daqing was relabelled as successful due to the Dawing Spirit, instead of Pragmatists investing in it.

• Success and recovery of Dazhai (after their natural disaster) was praised and used as an example. Mao believed it was a sign of mass mobilisation and self reliance.

CONS:

• Dazhai was a LIE. It had received state aids and PLA support. Grain production didn’t even rise.

• Mao let Chen stay, despite investigations showing his dishonesty.

What was the Socialist Education Movement?

Designed to reintroduce basic socialist values in society

1964-65

What were the ‘four clean ups’ within the Socialist Education Movement?

Class struggle reintroduce. Remove corruption in: 

1. countryside accounting

2. grains

3. property 

4. work points

What was the case of relocating urban cadres?

Urban cadres were relocated to countryside to learn from peasants and propaganda the countryside. Meant to purify understanding of ‘mass line’

How did Mao and Pragmatists conflict in the Socialist Education Movement?

• Mao wanted poor and middle peasants’ associations to be mobilised. Grassroots level. Could use it to counter USSR’s ‘revisionist’ ideas (USSR switching up and trying to ally w West)

• Prag thought peasants’ associations too damaged by GLF. Wanted to send work teams.

• Mao wanted HIS ideas to be listened. Recaled.

What was the ultimate goal for the Socialist-Educ Movement

Public weakness would lead to wrong. Used this campaign to break down bourgeoisie while Liu and others followed on four clean ups

“Learn from” campaigns along with Third Line.

Who were Mao’s four candidates to become his ‘partner’?

1. Lin Biao. Long March member, academy trained, lots of military experience. Cons: depressive, opium-addicted. Pros: vice chairman of CCP, Head of Army

2. Chen Boda. Northern Expedition, Moscow education. Cons: suicidal, ‘moon faced’. Pros: Mao’s political secretary. Full hearted supporter of Mao

3. Kang Sheng. Gao Gang invest. Oversaw purges, deep knowledge of Chinese classics. Cons: HARSH, stone-hearted. Pros: told Mao what Deng was doing. Helped push ideology

4. Jiang Qing. Progressive politics but just shut in really. Cons: not allowed to participate in politics. Mao’s 3rd wife’s replacement. Pros: commented on documents, useful ally.

Lin Biao reforms

• abolished signs of rank

• purged army of supposed USSR sympathisers

• made soldiers part-time industrial/agricultural workers

• made MZD Thought a compulsory part of daily routine of every soldier.

What was Lin Biao’s strategy? 

To appease Mao as much as possible. 

In fact, he actually believed in what Peng had thought, but kept it undercover. 

Holy glazer. 

What was the Little Red Book?

A pocket sized book all about Mao. Almost like a Bible, ‘praying’ and worshipping Mao- it was used to loudly declare your love for him, almost cult like.

Launch of the Cultural Revolution

Mao’s growing unease from being ignored, threat of socialism, USSR’s fall, Khrushchev’s downfall…Mao felt he needed to preserve his legacy

Some causes: genuine cultural reformation, regain control of CCP, reform CCP 

The case of Hai Rui

The play had been a subtly criticism of the Dehuai incident (Lushan Conference), Mao now criticises it. JQ finds Yao Wenyuan to write scathing critic. 

Peng Zhen (part of Cultural Revolution Group 1) defends it, and so Mao waits for Shaoqui to leave China for a bit before denouncing him. 

Launch of the new Cultural Revolution Group

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution Group. Supposed to back the standing committee of the Politburo but was really more of an alt power

Members were all radical Mao supporters (Kang Sheng, Chen Boda, Jiang Qing,)

In the early stages, they were in charge of attacking the cultural policies of the Party, while Mao bid for time, and made sure he could acc purge the Party leadership and remould Chinese culture 

Case study of Nie Yuanzi

Attacked university president (Kang Sheng sent his wife to support). Writing wall posters to delivery message + Mao radio → encourage street protests

Shaoqui asks for help, and Mao tells them to do what they think is right, so they send work units - FAIL, and Mao uses this as evidence to prove their incompetence. Liu self criticises.

Mao changing ranks

Official plenum releases, ranking of Shaoqi had fallen to 11. 16 points (document of Cultural Rev plans) approved

• the movement would target the authority figures. 

• There were some moderate points (i.e restrict violence) but often ignored. 

• There is a diff between anti party, anti socialist, and people who just simply made a mistake 

What is Red Guard Movement.

Propelling the youth to work out Mao’s desires. Raided priv houses, confiscated and destroyed property,-public appearances of Mao encouraged them.

Red Guards received free railway passage so can travel all other the country for rallies.

Within Red Guards, there is conflict between ‘good backgrounds’ and ‘bad backgrounds’→ often, bad backgrounds were more radical, bc they wanted to prove they were more than stereotypes.

Mao usually hid his hand and encourages their initiative, and they acted like local gangs.

Fast development of Little Red Book and propaganda

Between 1966-68, 740 million copies of the Little Red Book were printed. They had to be careful of disrespecting Mao’s image (even old newspapers)