Rise of Communism in China

Economic Causes of the Rise of Communism

1. Rural Poverty and Land Inequality

2. Economic Collapse Under the Nationalists

3. Impact of Japanese Invasion (1937–1945)

Rural Poverty and Land Inequality

• By the early 20th century, over 80% of Chinese people were peasants, and land ownership was deeply unequal.

• Wealthy landlords owned most of the arable land and charged high rents, leaving tenant farmers in chronic debt and poverty.

• In Jiangxi and Henan, some landlords controlled over 70% of the land, while peasants barely survived.

• Communist response:

• Mao Zedong promised land redistribution, which gained massive rural support.

Economic Collapse Under the Nationalists

Especially after WWII (1945–1949):

• Hyperinflation made the currency almost worthless.

• Wages didn’t keep up, destroying savings and bankrupting businesses.

📊 Data:

• In Shanghai (1948), the price of rice rose by 10,000% in one year.

• A kilo of flour that cost 10 yuan in 1945 cost over 2 million yuan by 1948.

🎯 Impact:

• Urban workers and middle-class citizens turned against the GMD (Kuomintang).

• CCP gained traction in cities for the first time through underground organizing and promises of reform.

Impact of Japanese Invasion (1937–1945)

• The Second Sino-Japanese War devastated China’s economy.

• Millions of peasants lost their homes, crops, and livelihoods.

💥 Result:

• While the GMD focused on defending cities, the CCP protected and organized peasants in rural areas.

• CCP controlled base areas (like Yan’an) where they taxed fairly and distributed land.

Political Cause of the Rise of Communism

1. Corruption and Weakness of the GMD

2. Failure of Democratic Reform

3. Foreign Influence and Nationalism

Corruption and Weakness of the GMD

• GMD officials were seen as corrupt, elitist, and indifferent to the people.

• Chiang Kai-shek’s regime was authoritarian and suppressed dissent.

💥 Key Example:

• Shanghai Massacre (April 1927): Chiang ordered the massacre of Communists and trade unionists, ending the First United Front.

• Led to a civil war between GMD and CCP.

Failure of Democratic Reform

• The GMD failed to introduce meaningful land reform or political participation.

• Elections were either rigged or postponed; most Chinese felt politically powerless.

🔺 Contrast:

• In CCP-held areas like Yan’an, there were local elections, public education campaigns, and efforts to mobilize the masses.

Foreign Influence and Nationalism

U.S. Aid to GMD:

• U.S. gave $2 billion in aid to Chiang’s regime after WWII.

• Many Chinese saw this as foreign imperialism propping up a failed regime.

🇷🇺 Soviet Influence:

• USSR gave the CCP access to Japanese weapons in Manchuria after 1945.

• However, CCP emphasized their “self-reliant” struggle, gaining nationalist credibility.

Social Causes of the Rise of Communism

1. Illiteracy and Lack of Services

2. Gender Inequality and Women’s Liberation

Illiteracy and Lack of Services

• In 1930s–40s China, over 80% of the population was illiterate.

• Health care, education, and social services were practically nonexistent in the countryside.

✊ CCP Actions:

• In base areas like Yan’an, the Communists started literacy classes, basic healthcare, and mass education programs.

• They trained “barefoot doctors” and used simplified characters to teach peasants to read.

Gender Inequality and Women’s Liberation

• In traditional Chinese society, women had few rights.

• Early 20th-century China still practiced arranged marriages, foot-binding (in some regions), and patriarchy.

👩‍🌾 CCP Reform:

• CCP advocated equality for women.

• In the Jiangxi Soviet (1931–1934) and later in Yan’an, women were allowed to divorce, own land, and go to school.

📜 Law:

• The CCP promoted the Marriage Law of 1950 later, but early support already began in the 1930s in their territories.

Cultural and Ideological Causes of the Rise of Communism

1. Influence of Marxism-Leninism and Maoism

2. Education and Propaganda

3. The Myth of the CCP as Moral Leaders

Influence of Marxism-Leninism and Maoism

• After the 1917 Russian Revolution, Communism gained global prestige.

• Chinese intellectuals like Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao brought Marxist thought into China via the May Fourth Movement (1919).

💡 CCP Vision:

• Promised class struggle, end to exploitation, and national revival.

• Adapted Marxism to rural China (via Maoism) — focusing on peasants, not just industrial workers.

Education and Propaganda

• the CCP built an image of being for the people: honest, self-sacrificing, nationalist.

• Created the “Mass Line”: the idea that the Party should listen to and serve the people.

🗣 Example:

• In Yan’an (1936–47), Mao launched Rectification Campaigns to educate and unify Party members ideologically.

The Myth of the CCP as Moral Leaders

• CCP leaders like Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong were portrayed as modest, honest, and connected to the people.

• In contrast to Chiang Kai-shek’s corrupt generals, CCP leaders lived simply and shared peasants’ lives.

White Terror (1927)

The White Terror was a violent purge of Communists by the Kuomintang (KMT), led by Chiang Kai-shek, starting on April 12, 1927, in Shanghai. Thousands of CCP members, workers, and leftists were killed or arrested, ending the First United Front and marking the start of the Chinese Civil War.

Orthodox communist

• orthodox communists supported the policies of the comintern

• revolution should be based on the proletariat in the cities

• they accepted leaderships of Chinese communists trained in Moscow and/or non Chinese agents from Moscow

• Accepted policies dictated by Comintern

National Communists

• national communists believed conditions in China are very different from pre-revolutionary Russia

• they believed that revolution should be based on the peasants

• promoted policies that addressed the specific situation in China

First United Front (January 26, 1923–April 12, 1927)

The First United Front, also known as the KMT–CCP Alliance, of the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), was formed in 1924 as an alliance to end warlordism in China. Together they formed the National Revolutionary Army and set out in 1926 on the Northern Expedition.

Role of the Soviet Union and the Comintern

• The Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin did not believe that China was ready for a communist revolution.  He ordered the Comintern to facilitate an alliance between the middle class nationalist GMD and the CCP.  CCP members were permitted to join the GMD but there was no merger of the two parties. 

• Lenin’s plan was that the CCP would help the GMD to take power but would at the same time infiltrate senior positions in the GMD.  The CCP would then be in a position to finally seize power from the GMD.  Moscow had attempted to establish diplomatic relations with the Beijing government; however when this failed the Soviet decided to work with the GMD and CCP. 

• The intention was to gain influence in China by removing the pro-western government.  The Comintern provided the GMD and CCP with political and military advisers and some economic assistance. 

• CCP and GMD power sharing

The GMD and CCP set up the military training academy at Whampoa.

• The leader of the GMD, Sun Yixian, died in 1925 whilst planning the Northern Expedition in which the forces of the First United Front would defeat the warlords.  The commandant of the Whampoa Academy took over as leader of the GMD, General Jiang Jieshi.  Jiang was further to the political right than Sun and was also deeply suspicious and hostile towards the communists. 

• Jiang’s main rival for the leadership of the GMD was Wang Jingwei, a more politically left-wing member of the GMD who may have maintained the United Front if he had emerged as leader.

• The CCP formed a close working relationship with the ‘left’ Wang Jingwei, who was political leader of the GMD after Sun’s death.

• In the Wuhan government in 1926 communists controlled the ministries for worker and peasant affairs. 

• Mao was in charge of the Agitprop department which managed propaganda for the First United Front.

• The communists had around 50% share of the membership of the main committees, including the Central Committee. In Shanghai, the key activist was Zhou Enlai.

• The First United Front set out to unify China by force in the Northern Expedition in 1926.

causes of the first united front

1. Warlordism and National Disunity

2. Failure of Western Support for China

3. Comintern (Soviet) Strategy

4. Mutual Need: CCP and KMT

Warlordism and National Disunity

• After the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, China was politically fragmented.

• From 1916, regional warlords controlled most of China, creating chaos, taxation, and exploitation.

• Both the CCP and KMT saw the need to unify the country.

Failure of Western Support for China

• After World War I, the Treaty of Versailles (1919) gave Shandong to Japan instead of returning it to China.

• This triggered the May Fourth Movement and a surge in anti-imperialism.

• The KMT realized Western democracies wouldn't help them, so they turned to the USSR.

Comintern (Soviet) Strategy

• The Soviet Union wanted to spread global revolution.

• The Comintern (Communist International) pushed for a united front strategy: Communists should ally with nationalists in semi-colonial countries.

• In 1923, the USSR offered military and financial support to the KMT on the condition they ally with the CCP.

📝 Key Document:

• Sun-Joffe Manifesto (January 1923): Agreement between Sun Yat-sen and Adolf Joffe (Soviet envoy) pledging cooperation.

Mutual Need: CCP and KMT

CCP: Was small (just ~300 members in 1922), needed access to KMT's broader nationalist platform.

KMT: Lacked Soviet-style organization and ideology, needed Soviet military aid and CCP’s organizational skills

Key Events of the First United Front

1. Formation and Soviet Support (1923–24)

2. Northern Expedition (1926–27)

3. Shanghai Massacre (April 12, 1927)

Formation and Soviet Support (1923–24)

• USSR provided training, arms, and advisors.

• In 1924, the Whampoa Military Academy was founded with Chiang Kai-shek as its head and Soviet advisors like Borodin.

• KMT adopted some Leninist principles: centralism, mass mobilization.

Northern Expedition (1926–27)

• A joint CCP-KMT military campaign to defeat warlords and unify China.

• Led by Chiang Kai-shek, it began in June 1926 from Canton (Guangzhou).

• Aimed to take back key cities like Wuhan, Nanjing, and Shanghai.

📊 Successes:

• By early 1927, much of southern and central China was under United Front control.

• The warlords Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang were defeated.

• The KMT-CCP coalition gained mass support from workers, peasants, and students.

Shanghai Massacre (April 12, 1927)

• Growing CCP influence worried Chiang.

• On April 12, 1927, Chiang ordered a violent purge of Communists in Shanghai — known as the White Terror.

• Thousands of Communists and leftists were arrested, tortured, or killed.

📍 Data:

• An estimated 5,000–10,000 Communists were killed in the purge across cities like Shanghai, Nanjing, and Guangzhou.

• This ended the First United Front and launched the Chinese Civil War.

Impact and Significance

1. Collapse of the Alliance → Civil War

2. Rise of Chiang Kai-shek

3. Growth and Experience for the CCP

4. Soviet Influence in Chinese Politics

5. Mobilization of the Masses

Collapse of the Alliance → Civil War

• The alliance's violent end sparked over 20 years of civil conflict between the KMT and CCP (1927–1949).

• The CCP went underground or fled to rural base areas, like the Jinggang Mountains and later Jiangxi Soviet.

Rise of Chiang Kai-shek

• Chiang used the Northern Expedition and anti-Communism to consolidate leadership of the KMT.

• By 1928, he controlled Nanjing and established a new Nationalist Government.

Growth and Experience for the CCP

• Though purged, the CCP gained critical organizational, military, and mass mobilization experience.

• It learned to work with workers and peasants in cities like Shanghai and Wuhan.

Soviet Influence in Chinese Politics

• The alliance brought Marxist-Leninist structures into the KMT (e.g., party cells, political training).

• The USSR gained initial influence but later backed the CCP when the KMT turned anti-communist.

Mobilization of the Masses

• The United Front showed how workers and peasants could be mobilized through nationalism, class issues, and party organization.

• The CCP would later replicate this on a larger scale during the Long March and Yan’an period.

Tensions During Northern Expedition

During the Northern Expedition, Jiang became increasingly concerned with the growing strength of the CCP; it had 50,000 members by 1927.  Not only could the CCP pose a threat to his own position and party but the CCP’s fostering of strikes in the cities could scare the middle class GMD supporters.  In 1926 Stalin ordered the CCP to increase its revolutionary activities.  This provoked a response by Jiang. From 1926 restrictions were placed on the role of the CCP in the coalition.  The CCP could only have a third of seats on committees and were not permitted to lead any department in the coalition.  This meant Mao lost his position.

Across southern and central China workers were being organized into unions coordinated by the General Labour Union.  In February 1927, a general strike was organized in Shanghai. This demonstrated workers' ability to paralyze China’s largest city.  Jiang understood that to control China he had to have control of Shanghai and it could not be in the hands of the CCP.

Shanghai Massacre (19th May 1927)

warlord troops massacred union members and communists in Changsha and began attacks on peasant associations throughout the rest of Hunan. This led to the collapse in CCP membership in Hunan from 20,000 to 5,000. However, the Comintern told the CCP to ignore these attacks and maintain the United Front. In June the CCP was ordered to set up an army of 50,000 workers led by 20,000 communists.

Tensions in Wuhan (June 1927)

• In June the CCP was ordered to set up an army of 50,000 workers led by 20,000 communists.

• Wang Jingwei had realized that this was a move for the CCP to seize power. In mid-June Wang removed the communists in his Wuhan government.

Qu Qiubai (1927)

In August the Comintern blamed Chen Duxiu for the failure of the United Front and removed him as leader of the CCP. Qu Qiubai became the effective leader.

Qu Qiubai then launched a series of assaults intending to inspire a workers uprising. The Comintern were hesitant about the policy and cautioned not to proceed unless sure of success. All of these attacks were costly defeats.

United fronT CCP (1926 - 1927)

The CCP’s attempt to gain power between 1926 and 1927 had been a disaster. The CCP was not strong enough at this time, it had launched its bid for power too early and the had been crushed by the ‘right wing’ of the GMD. In addition, the National communist bloc had been weakened. Orthodox communists had demonstrated loyalty to Moscow but were unable to attain power in China. As Stalin eliminated his rivals and assumed control in the USSR the old Comintern leadership of the CCP was purged and replaced by those obedient to Stalin. Chen Duxiu was replaced by Li Lisan.

 CCP in Disordered

Its urban power base and role in the coalition united front was destroyed. Li Dazhao had been captured and executed in Beijing. The leaders that had survived Jiang’s assault had been forced underground. The CCP’s working relationship with the ‘left wing’ of the GMD also ended as Stalin’s policy was for communist parties internationally to destroy socialists in their countries. This policy further undermined the CCP and strengthened Jiang’s hand against them.

Encirclement Campaigns

Chaing Kai-Shek launched his first ‘encirclement’ campaign against the CCP in the rural Soviets in 1930. There would be five campaigns on the communist base in increasingly intense extermination operations. Jiang’s focus was in the south at Jiangxi and Hunan. When the situation deteriorated for the CCP in Shanghai, the 28 Bolsheviks fled to Mao’s Soviet in Jiangxi. There ensued a power struggle. The orthodox leaders, Bo Gu and Wang Ming challenged Mao’s leadership. By 1933 the entire leadership of the CCP had taken refuge in Jiangxi. Gradually the orthodox group imposed their control. By 1934 Mao had lost authority and he was arrested. The Comintern sent a German communist - Otto Braun - to help direct the CCP in the rural Soviets and he took the Chinese name Li De. Li De, Wang Ming and Bo Gu led the CCP in to a catastrophic defeat which nearly led to the annihilation of the party and Chiang’s final victory.

Immanuel Hsü The Rise of Modern China, pg 573, 4th Ed.

'On balance, at the end of its first decade the National government appeared stronger than it really was. On the surface, it looked as though it were forging a new order out of chaos...Yet beneath the veneer of progress lay the serious fundamental problems of social and economic injustices and the chronic ill of deficit spending....'

Jack Grey, Rebellions and Revolutions, OUP, 1990, pg 247

'..there was in almost every aspect of Chinese life a slow but certain movement until war broke out in 1937....Bureaucratic inertia, arbitrary imposition of taxes, indifference of poverty, nepotism, disruptive unpredictable corruption...all these evils were beginning to give way. Many branches of the public service were by 1937 capable of providing competent, honest and just administration...The whole vast, unwieldy bureaucratic mass was beginning to move'.

James E. Sheridan, China in Disintegration, Free Press, 1977, pg 220

Not only did the [GMD] prove unable to liquidate the vestiges of independent military power in the provinces, but in political, economic, and intellectual terms as well, the Kuomintang (Guomindang) failed to create the new unity that the nation so desperately required.....Some growth in the modern sector of the economy did occur and it did contribute slightly to territorial integration, but the traditional rural economy continued unchanged and Chinese society remained divided between a vast traditionalistic peasantry and a small Westernized urban elite, itself fragmented by philosophical and political difference'.

Richard Louis Edmonds, Reappraising Republican China, OUP, 1999

The Republican years are seen by researchers increasingly as part of a continuous transition during which China modified its traditional society and adapted to new roles in world affairs - sometimes with considerable success.

Jiang-Xi Soviet Land Reform and Economic Policies

One of the most important aspects of life in the Jiangxi Soviet was the land reform program, which aimed to win the support of the peasantry, the majority of China's population. The CCP pursued a policy of redistribution of land from landlords to poor peasants, seeking to create a social order based on equality.

• Land Confiscation and Redistribution: Land was taken from landlords and wealthy peasants and redistributed to poor and landless peasants. This land redistribution was intended to give the peasants a stake in the success of the Communist regime. In some areas, it was done on a family basis, depending on the size of the family.

• Abolition of Rent and Interest: The CCP abolished high rents and interest rates that had previously been imposed on poor peasants by landlords, improving their economic conditions significantly.

• Impact: This policy won the CCP widespread support among the peasantry, which became the foundation of the CCP's future revolutionary base. Over 1 million peasants benefited from land reform by 1934, significantly increasing the party's popularity in the countryside.

Economy and Self-Sufficiency in Jiangxi-Soviet

The Jiangxi Soviet aimed to create an economically self-sufficient system due to the blockade imposed by the KMT, which cut off external trade and supplies.

• Local Currency: The CCP introduced its own currency to replace the traditional Chinese currency, which helped to manage economic affairs within the Soviet. This currency was not entirely stable, but it allowed the government to fund military and public services.

• Small Industries: The Jiangxi Soviet promoted small-scale industries such as textile mills, weapon workshops, and agriculture-based industries to maintain self-sufficiency. Despite its limited resources, the Soviet was able to provide for its population to a significant degree.

• Agriculture: The Soviet was largely dependent on agriculture for sustenance, producing rice, tea, and other crops. Farming was collectivized to some extent, although it still relied heavily on individual farm production.

Education and Ideological Training iangxi-Soviet

The CCP used education as a tool for spreading Communist ideology and increasing literacy among the population. As part of the Socialist Education Campaign, the Communist government established thousands of schools and training centers for both children and adults.

• Literacy Programs: Over 2,000 schools were established in the Jiangxi Soviet, and a significant number of peasants were taught to read and write. The Communist ideology was incorporated into education, and Maoist thought was emphasized in the curriculum.

• Propaganda: Posters, songs, and newspapers were used as tools of ideological indoctrination. Propaganda was vital for fostering loyalty to the CCP and for mobilizing the masses to support Communist goals.

Women’s Rights and Social Reforms

The Jiangxi Soviet introduced several progressive policies aimed at improving the status of women and challenging traditional gender roles.

• Abolition of Arranged Marriages: The Communist government banned arranged marriages, forced marriages, and child marriages, which were widespread in traditional Chinese society.

• Women in the Workforce: Women were encouraged to work in factories, participate in the military, and join militias. Many women also became involved in the Red Army.

• Divorce Laws: Women were granted the right to divorce their husbands, particularly in cases of abuse or neglect. This policy was revolutionary in a deeply conservative society.

The treatment of women was one of the more radical aspects of the Soviet’s social reforms and played a role in securing support from women in rural areas.

The Red Army and Guerrilla Warfare

• Guerrilla Tactics: The Red Army employed guerrilla warfare techniques, focusing on mobility, surprise attacks, and sabotaging enemy supply lines.

• Discipline and Morale: The army was taught to respect the peasants, pay for goods when purchasing supplies, and follow strict codes of conduct. This helped to maintain the support of the local population and kept the army from alienating the very people they sought to liberate.

• Military Growth: By 1934, the Red Army had grown to over 100,000 soldiers, a formidable force for defending the Soviet and spreading Communist influence.

Social Control and Mobilization

• Mass Mobilization: The CCP organized peasants into collective units such as farmers’ associations and militias, which not only helped with defense but also with organizing the economy and spreading Communist ideals.

• Surveillance and Enforcement: The government maintained a tight grip on the population. Disloyalty was met with harsh punishment, and the secret police kept a watchful eye on potential enemies of the state.

Key Events and Military Campaigns

The Jiangxi Soviet was surrounded by KMT forces for most of its existence, and Chiang Kai-shek launched a series of Encirclement Campaigns (five in total) to wipe out the Communist base. The first four campaigns failed to fully destroy the Soviet, primarily due to the CCP’s guerrilla tactics, but by 1934, the Fifth Encirclement Campaign succeeded in forcing the CCP to abandon the Jiangxi Soviet.

• The Long March (1934–1935) began as a retreat from Jiangxi to Shanxi Province, and only about 8,000 survivors made it to the new base area in Yan’an. The retreat became a symbol of Communist perseverance and was vital for the future of the CCP.

Impact on the Rise of Communism in China

Despite its short-lived existence, the Jiangxi Soviet was a crucial period in the rise of the CCP. Several key outcomes included:

• Peasant Support: The policies of land reform, education, and social justice won the support of the rural population, which formed the backbone of CCP support for decades to come.

• Mao's Ideology: The experience in Jiangxi helped solidify Mao Zedong’s ideas, particularly the belief that the peasants, not the urban proletariat, were the driving force behind the revolution.

• Military Experience: The Red Army gained valuable experience in guerrilla warfare, and the CCP’s ability to survive encirclement campaigns proved that it could withstand adversity.

• Political Legitimacy: The Jiangxi Soviet allowed the CCP to demonstrate its ability to govern, develop policies, and build a functioning state, which bolstered its legitimacy among the Chinese people.