10. Marxism and the Foundation of the CCP

Who was Karl Marx and what did he theorise?

• The German philosopher Karl Marx wrote about the theory of communism in the mid-19th century.

• Marx taught that history was a series of stages in which the proletariat struggled against the economic, political and social control of the higher classes.

• Eventually, through revolution, the higher classes would be overthrown and a state of equality would be achieved by the lower classes.

What were the stages of communism according to Marx?

• Stage 1, Primitive Communism: In the Stone Age, all people were equal and shared the work according to their talents. They had an equal share of everything that was produced.

• Stage 2, Feudalism: In the Middle Ages, all the land belonged to the King, who shared it with his lords. The majority of the people were peasants, who were exploited for their labour and owned by their lords.

• Stage 3, Capitalism: In the 18th and 19th centuries, the increase in mechanised forms of production allowed a rich class of business owners – or capitalists, as Marx called them – to develop. Capitalists drew huge profits from the labour of their workers, called the proletariat. They paid their workers only a small fraction ofthe money made from their labour.

• Stage 4, Communism: The exploitation of the workers under capitalism would lead them to rise up against the capitalists in a revolution. After the revolution, a state of equality would be achieved in which there were no classes and business, and all property was owned by the whole of society.

Why was communism gaining popularity in China?

One of the reasons why communism was gaining in support was because there had been a successful communist revolution in Russia in 1917. China was very similar to Russia in that both countries were politically and economically old-fashioned. Chinese Communists believed that they could achieve a successful revolution in China.

When ws the CCP founded and what are important facts about it?

• June 1921

• Founded in secret in a girls schoo, in Shanghai

• Chen Duxui was elected as the general secretary

What were major problems facing the CCP?

• The CCP only had 50 members (too small to revolt, especially in a country as large as China)

• Conditions in China were not considered ready for a “Marxist” revolution, with Karl Marx teaching the revolution would be led by workers (proletariat) but there were few workers in China

• Due to these aformentioned reasons, the CCP chose to work with the GMD to spread revolution through China, and regarded the CCP as an afterthought they only gave around $5000 (not nearly enough)

What other reasons did the Soviets have for working with the GMD?

• The Three Principles of the people were rooted in equality and were similar to communist ones

• The GMD was a much bigger party who could do a lot more

Why did the CCP end up joining the GMD?

• The Soviet governemnt in Russia encouraged the CCP to work with the GMD ot overthrow the warlords

• The CCP couldn’t refuse due to the fact they were funded by Russia, so the CCP not only agreed to work with the GMD but become a group within it

• this happened in 1923