VCE Revolutions - China

quote on may 30th incident

“the May 30th Incident and its aftermath helped usher in a new hope for social mobilisation and revolutionary upsurge” Rebecca Karl

mao zedong on peasants

a force so swift and violent that no power, however great, will be able to hold it back

edgar snow on jiangxi soviet

“the biggest army propaganda tour in history”

economic reforms yanan soviet

“The economic reforms of the border regions laid the foundations for Communist political power” Mark Seldon

mao zedong gun quote

“political power grows from the barrel of a gun”

most effective way of conquering …..

“Mao had learnt…that the most effective way of conquering the people was to conquer their hearts and minds.” Jung Chang

twin pillars of maoism

“the heart of the yanan way was the perfection of the mass line and the sharpening of revolutionary nationalism in the countryside which became the twin pillaws of maoism” Immanuel Hsu

Jiangxi soviet Delia Dalvin quote

‘a social laboratory’ for the trying out of new ideas

1930-34 red army growth

10,000 - 86,000 soldiers

red army guidelines called?

three rules of discipline and eight points for attention

three principles of the people

nationalism, people’s livelihood, democracy

wuhan uprising date

10th oct 1911

may fourth movement publications

400 new political publications were created, spread new ideas across China

may fourth movement events

1919, students protested government for giving germany concessions. 3000 students gathered outside forbidden city

30th may incident

1925, workers protest shooting of chinese workers by japanese factory owners. 11 killed by british troops

30th may incident significance

inflamed anti-imperialist movement; built support of CCP (membership rose to 57,000 by 1927); illuminated to CCP and GMD that internal + external enemies can only be overcome by force

reasons for GMD failure quote

“The reason the GMD lost were both stupidity on the battlefield and incompetence behind the lines” John King Fairbank

new life movement

disliked due to hypocrisy; pushed people away from nationalism due to repression

cultural revolution

1966-1971

how many red GUARDS by end of jul 1966

1 million in beijing alone

what are the four olds

old ideas, old culture, old customs, old habits

four olds cause

rally in aug 1966, including speeches by lin biao, chen boda, and mao

non-communist politicians called

“flower vases”

thought reform quote auschwitz

Thought Reform was a “carefully cultivated Auschwitz of the mind” — Frank Dikotter

five year plan good but quote

“Although the First Five-Year Plan had met its quotas well enough, it had also revealed disturbing imbalances in the Chinese economic system.” - Jonathan Spence

farmers (lysenkoism quote)

“Farmers found themselves under bosses ignorant of agricultural methods” – Jonathan Fenby

famine catastrophe quote

a “mao-made catastrophe” john king fairbank

GLF bad primary source quote

“Not only has there been no Great Leap Forward, there has been a great deal of falling backwards” liu shaoqi

little red book on maoism

“Study Chairman Mao’s writings, follow his teachings and act according to his instructions and be his good fighters” – Lin Biao

little red book personality cult quote

“Mao steadily fueled his personality cult” - Chang and Halliday

the little red book was a … quote?

a “weapon of mass destruction” alexander cook

great leap forward showed what about mao quote

“The Great Leap showed Mao more and more divorced from any true reality check…Mao knowingly starved and worked tens of millions to death” - Jonathan Fenby

cult.rev mao immortality quote

“Mao was seeking immortality by identifying himself with symbols that would live on forever” – Jonathan Fenby

jiang jieshi resignation and proclamation of PRC dates

jan, oct 1949

electoral law

1953, people over 18 could vote/stand for election if “of the people”

inflation 1949-1951

85,000% to 15%

wages

decided based on price of essential items

impact of korean war on CCP

seen as successfully surviving attack of US

agrarian land reform date

june 1950

thought reform campaign date

sept 1951

three-antis campaign

date

against?

involved

1951, simultaneous with thought reform

corruption, waste, bureaucraticism

people encouraged to turn on each other

three-antis significance

eliminated internal CCP threats, ensuring loyalty and unity, projected image of honest government

five antis campaign

date

targeted

1952

tax evasion, fraud, bribery, theft of govt. property, excessive profiting from govt. contracts

impact of five antis

450,000 businesses investigated, resulting in fines and imprisonment

all major businesses nationalised by 1957

created much needed revenue while crushing bourgeois capitalists

percentage of govt. funding in heavy industry during FFYP, + result

88%, resulting in 10% growth in industry by 1957, urban workforce doubling in size

steel production increase in FFYP

from 1.3 million tonnes to 5.2 million 1952-1957

food prod. vs population growth FFYP

1% versus 1.5% during 1950s, slowly caused famine

manufacturing received percentage of capital FFYP

11%

cause of hundred flowers campaign

death of stalin 1953, krushchev criticised his cult of personality, mao feared for own democratic dictatorship

great leap forward date

1958-1961

objectives of GLF

• to create industrialised economy to ‘catch up’ with west

• to transform china into collectivised, socialist society

people’s communes

25,000 established, 100,000 per commune

abusive cadres stat

2.5 million tortured to death, 1-3 million committed suicide (frank dikotter)

backyard steel production furnaces

750,000 backyard furnaces established

backyard steel prod consequences

scrap metal ran out so farmers melted down their own tools, which were not quality and did not sell for much, 9% decrease in crops grown as peasants became consumed by steel production

false surplus

250 million tonne difference between reported and real production

lushan conference

jul-aug 1959

wuhan plenum

dec 1958

wuhan plenum outcomes

reduced grain prod target from 450 million tons to 370 million, some private markets, mao would not stand for re-election as head of CCP

lushan conference outcomes

peng dehuai purged from CCP, as well as 350,000 other ‘rightists’

famine causes

food production decreased 25% 1958-1961

droughts, floods, locust plagues 1959-1960

how many people died in famine

estimated 30 million

famine can be attributed to :

“30% to natural calamities, 70% to human failings” liu shaoqi

liu-deng reforms

communes reduced to half size

up to 12% collectivised land given to peasant families

prod targets halved

areas worst off from famine, PLA mobilised to distribute food

success of liu-deng reforms

heavy industry prod increased by 17%

light industry prod by 27% 1963-65

grain prod increased from 193 mil tons to 340 mil tons 1961-65

model works cult.rev

18 by 1976

learn from lei feng quote editorial

Lei Feng’s great image has left an indelible imprint in the mind of millions upon millions of youths.

march 1964

When YSK declared himself emperor, and when he was ceremonially enthroned

Late 1915; Jan 1 1916

When were the 21 demands

15th Jan 1915

What did the 21 demands include

• Extensive economic development rights in Manchuria + inner Mongolia

• control over mining in central china

• right to appoint japanese advisors to chinese government

foreign loan what happened

april 1913, YSK secures $100 mil loan from foreign banks w/o parliament approval

consequence of foreign loan

• seen to be making a mockery of republican democracy, GMD tried to impeach him. in response, YSk surrounds parliament in armed troops

• demonstrating willingness to use force to maintain absolute power

warlord decade

1916 (death of YSK) - 1926 (GMD takeover)

First United Front date

Aug 1922, Sun Yat-sen meets with Comintern to creat Sun-Joffe declaration

Left and right GMD leaders

RIGHT - Jiang Jieshi

LEFT - Wang Jingwei

Hu Shi

• Promoted a simpler, more modern language and writing system to make formal texts more accessible

• normalised ‘baihua’ (everyday writing) that was previously considered vulgar

significance of new culture movement

• shaped the beliefs of revolutions who would participate in the 1949 revolution

• sparked may fourth movement

• contributed to creation of the CCP

causes of may fourth movement

government of beijing had made a secret deal in 1918 with germany, giving them concessions in Shandong in exchange for loans

effect leading up to may fourth movement

protests brought up to 4th may 1919. 3000 beijing students gather outside forbidden city, then protests spread across china

may fourth movement significance

popularised marxism (many turned to more radical solutions to political crisis), and helped develop CCP by 1921.

400 new publications created and spread across china

WHen CCP formed

July 1921

challenge in early CCP

small membership - rose from 59 to only 300 by 1922

no military training or backing to overthrow warlords

first national congress of new GMD date

january 1924

jiang jieshi was

leader of GMD, national revolutionary army, and chinese republic between 1926 and 1949. was part of right GMD, did not support CCP)

may 30th incident

1925 shanghai, chinese workers marched in protest of shooting of chinese workers by japanese factory owners. british commander ordered troops to open fire on protest, killing eleven “may 30th” martyrs

may 30th incident consequences

• inflamed anti-imperialist sentiment

• built support for CCP - membership rose to 57,000 by 1927

northern expedition start date

27th july, 85,000 soldiers of huangpu academy march north

jiang jieshi appointed chairman of GMD

6th july, gave him full military control

aims of northern expedition

to suppress warlords in northern china and achieve sun yatsen’s dream of reunification.

shanghai massacre cause

growing influence of CCP. jiang jieshi sought to eliminate them before they became a threat to the GMD

CCP had peacefully taken control of shanghai in march before northern army arrived, attacked them led by zhou enlai

historian quote on how the end of long march was seen by GMD

jonathan fenby, it was seen as “a bid to set up a soviet”

effect of shanghai massacre

5000 - 10,000 communists rounded up and killed by GMD and green gang

CCP membership dropped from 60,000 to 10,000

shanghai massacre date

april 1927

what happened after shanghai massacre

members like mao fled to jinggingshan to establish red army. paved way to long march 1934

jiangxi soviet key facts

established november 1931 “a state within a state”

• mao experiments with key theories that become CCP ideas under his leadership e.g highly disciplined red army, use of guerilla tactics, land reform, education, womens rights

• 15 controlled settlements in jiangxi province

red army growth

grew from 10,000 to 86,000 soldiers 1930 - 34

CCP size by mid 1930s

500,000 by 1934

grain tax in jiangxi soviet

fixed at 15-20%

futian purge key facts

oct 30 mao writes to 28 bolsheviks “the entire party is under the leadership of rich peasants”

very angry. apparently failed on lang reform and working with nationalists? suspected treason.

arrested 4000 soldiers and executed 1000 as members of an ‘anti -bolshevik clique’

use of violence continued throughout 1931

cause of long march

fifth encirclement campaign (1933) saw 1 mil nationalist troops 200 airplanes invade jiangxi soviet