China Under Mao: Emergence

Teacher Thiago Natário

Background
● The Xinhai Revolution (1911) marked the end of
nearly 2,000 years of imperial history;

● The removal of the last Emperor of China, Pu Yi,

left a fragmented and chaotic country;

● In the 18th century, China prospered under the

Qing dynasty: trade of tea and silk with the West brought prosperity;

● The 19th century saw popular rebellions (Taiping) and the Opium Wars;

● The defeat in the Sino-Japanese War (1894) was humiliating and devastating for China;

● The Empire was plagued by corruption and a harmful attachment to past traditions;

● This period was later called “The Century of Humiliation”;

Prince regent Chun with his youngest son (right) and
Pu Yi (1906 - 1967) on his lap.

Source: Illustrated London News, New York Tribune.

Unknown author, 1909.
"En Chine. Le gâteau des Rois et... des Empereurs".

Henri Mayer, January 16th 1898.

Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France

There Stands No Enemy Where We Go: Surrender of Pyongyang, a scene from the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95),
ink and colour on paper by Migita Toshihide, 1894; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
China in the 20th century
● There was increased resentment towards foreign
influence in China - Boxer Rebellion (1900);

● Boxers were a secret organization that practiced

martial arts - both anti-foreigners and anti-Qing;

● The Xinhai Revolution (1911) of October 10th led to

the overthrow of the Qing and the establishment of a Republic under Sun Yixian;

● Seen as ʻFather of the Nationʼ in the ROC and as ʻforerunner of the revolutionʼ in the PRC;

● Sun Yixian was the first president of China and in 1915 created the Guomindang (GMD);

● Only remained president for a year - General Yuan Shikai had the military power;

● 1916: Shikai proclaims himself emperor for 100 years - dies after 3 months;
 Meeting of the 2nd Central Committee in Wuhan,
1927. Source:
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comit%C3%A9_centra
l#/media/Fichier:KMT_3rd_Plenary_Session_of_2nd
_Central_Committee.jpg

Sun Yixian in 1900. He was a Christian who had lived in Hawaii.

Source: "Sun Yat Sen 1900" Edited by Shanghai Museum of Sun
Yat-Sen's Former Residence. Public domain.
Warlord Period (1916 - 1928)
● After the death of Yuan Shikai, the Republic
survived under Duan Qirui, but with little authority;

● Warlords had military power to control the provinces;

● Wanted to gain power and wealth - Chinese population,

especially peasants, faced exploitation, corruption, unemployment, inflation and famine;

● Blatant differences: Yan Xishan (ʻModel Governorʼ) ruled Shanxi with welfare programs and
agricultural reforms | Feng Yuxiang (ʻChristian Generalʼ) converted his troops to Christianity
using a fire hose and condemned foot binding (Chinese tradition);

● May Fourth Movement: China sent over 150,000 volunteers against Germany in WWI;

● At the end of the war, the province of Shandong went from German to Japanese control;

● 1919: over 3,000 students marched against Japanese and West. imperialism - radicalization;
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_warlords_1925.jpg
To learn more about Chinese
participation in WWI, read the full
article at the Smithsonian
Maganize website:
https://www.smithsonianmag.co
m/history/surprisingly-important
-role-china-played-world-war-i-1
80964532/
Refugees From The Fighting Between GMD Forces And Warlords In Northern China Photographed On A Railroad Platform In Zhengzhou, Henan
Province, January 1927. Poster Print by Granger Collection.
Source:https://www.posterazzi.com/china-refugees-1927-nrefugees-from-the-fighting-between-kuomintang-forces-and-warlords-in-northern-c
hina-photographed-on-a-railroad-platform-in-zhengzhou-henan-province-january-1927-poster-print-by-granger-collection-item-vargrc0121284/
 Tiananmen Square on 4 May 1919. Around 3,000 students from 13 universities in Beijing
gathered there to oppose Article 156 of the Treaty of Versailles. Unknown author. Exhibition
in April 2019 for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of May Fourth Mov.
Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Fourth_Movement#/media/File:Chinese_protes
tors_march_against_the_Treaty_of_Versailles_(May_4,_1919).jpg

"Female students participate in demonstration as part of the May Fourth Movement, in 1919".
Author Unknown, public domain.
Source:https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Female_students_participate_in_demonstr
ation_as_part_of_the_May_Fourth_Movement,_in_1919.jpg
First United Front (1924 - 27)
● With support from the Comintern (Communist Intl.), the
two main Chinese revolutionary parties, GMD and CCP,
formed a coalition to defeat the warlords and unify China;

● Northern Expedition: in 1926, the United Front launched a large military campaign against
the three main Warlords - it took one year to recapture most key cities;

● Counting on Soviet support, expertise, weapons, as well as some support from the local
population, the revolutionaries took central China and established a government in Nanjing;

● Jiang Jieshi became president and military commander - some warlords remained;

● White Terror: once in power, Jieshi ordered the GMD army to massacre the communists;

● On April 12th 1927, between 3,000 to 10,000 communists were murdered in Shanghai;

● The move almost exterminated the CCP, but some leaders fled to Jiangxi province;
 Flag of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (1928 - 1934).
The CCP was founded on July 1st 1921 with support from the
USSR. The party had only 50 founding members (including Mao
Zedong) and its first leader was Chen Duxiu.
Source:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%E4%B8%AD%E5%9C
%8B%E5%B7%A5%E8%BE%B2%E7%B4%85%E8%BB%8D%E8%
BB%8D%E6%97%97.svg

Delegates of the Communist International (Comintern) Second World Congress, Petrograd, 1920. The group
was created by Lenin in 1919 with the objective of promoting Communism abroad.
Source: https://jacobin.com.br/2022/04/quando-a-internacional-comunista-e-seu-chefe/
 Map of the Northern Expedition
(1926 - 28)
Source:
Jiang Jieshi and Sun Yixian in 1924, unknown photographer.
https://commons.wikimedia.or
Source:https://pt.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficheiro:Sun_Yat-sen_ g/wiki/File:Map_of_Northern_E
and_Chiang_Kai-shek.jpg xpedition.png
 Communists being rounded up in one of the purges, April 1927
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Communist_purge.jpg
The Jiangxi Soviet (1927 - 34)
● In Jiangxi, the communists organized the first
Chinese Soviet - regrouped and regained strength;

● Mao Zedong became the CCPʼs Secretary - clashes

with the ʻ28 Bolsheviksʼ regarding a peasant x
proletariat-led communist revolution;

● Shapes Marxist ideology to Chinese context - Maoism;

● In Jiangxi, land was taken from the landlords and

given to poorer peasants - fixed grain tax and literacy;

● Foot binding and arranged marriages were illegal; Zhou Enlai (second from left), Zhu De and Mao Zedong in Jiangxi.

● Mao and Zhu De worked together to build a stronger Red Army and resist the GMD Army;

● Propaganda: in their free time, communist soldiers helped Chinese peasants;

Top: A communist flag used in the Jiangxi soviet republic in the 1930s.

Left: The formation of the Chinese Soviet Republic in Jiangxi, November

1931

Source: https://alphahistory.com/chineserevolution/jiangxi-soviet/
The Long March (1934 - 35)
● Communists were forced to abandon Jiangxi by
the Nationalist Revolutionary Army (NRA) - GMD;

● They walked 13,000 km through 11 provinces, and

only 5,000 out of 80,000 members survived;

● The survival against the much stronger GMD Army was later idealized by CCP propaganda;

● The victory strengthened Maoʼs position and the idea of a peasant-led revolution - the
CCP was able to conquer 62 towns and successfully spread communist ideology;

● CCP settled in Yanʼan (Northern Shaanxi) and made it their headquarters until 1949;

● Continuing policies of land reform, literacy and healthcare - membership increased from
40,000 (1937) to 80,000 (1941) reaching one million by the end of WWII;

● Persuasion and coercion: Red Army had a role in confiscating land and redistributing it;
● Mao also used fear to control the
population;

● Strict rules and regulations were

implemented and peasants who
did not follow were punished;

● Enforcement of “correct ideas”

and following of the party line;

● In 1942 Mao launched the

“Rectification Campaign” against
Party members of all levels;

● People were encouraged to confess their past mistakes in front of everyone as “self-criticism”;

● The Campaign crushed Maoʼs opposition and secured his position: over 1,000 members were
tortured, 20% of the Secretariat were dismissed and over 40,000 officials were dismissed;

● Conformity to Maoism and “self-criticism” became integral to disciplinarization of the party;

The start of the Long March. Detail from An arduous journey scroll (one). Ruijin, 1961
Source: https://chineseposters.net/themes/long-march

Designer: Ying Yeping, December 1961. The fast flowing Jinsha River,
was crossed in small boats by the Communists in April-May 1935.
Nr. 3 and 4 of the poster set An arduous journey.
Source: https://chineseposters.net/posters/pc-1961-008
 “There is no end to the road of revolution, render new services
in the struggle against arrogance and complacency”.
Designer: Shang Shijue, December 1971.

“Swiftly taking Luding Bridge”, by Lei Tan, date unknown.

Source: https://chineseposters.net/posters/e15-467
The main forces of the three great red armies gather
forces -- PLA calendar 1985, by Cai Lang.
Source: https://chineseposters.net/posters/e13-107

“We are determined to become strong revolutionary successors”.

Designer: Sun Zhongxiang, July 1965.
Sino-Japanese War (1937 - 1945)
● Japanese Empire had already taken Manchuria in 1931;

● In September 1937 they easily defeat the Nationalists

in Shanghai, and continued their full invasion of China;

● Nanjing Massacre (37) - between 20 and 80 thousand

women raped and 200 to 300 thousand people killed;

● By 1939, most of eastern China was taken - the 2nd United

Front (37 - 45) was formed, but the Japanese army was more organized and better equipped;

● The CCP was more successful than the GMD employing guerrilla tactics - sabotage;

● Fundamental victory for the CCP: captured Japanese equipment and recruited population;

● August 1940: Peng Dehuai leads the Red Army in a 400,000 men offensive - retaliation;

● 1945: most of the countryside was liberated w/ promise of land reform, peace and stability;
Japanese soldiers with a broken statue of Dr. Sun Yat Sen,
the revolutionist of modern China.
Picture taken in 1937, Shanghai, unknown author.
Source:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%E6%97%A5%E
8%BB%8D%E6%8B%86%E4%B8%8B%E5%AD%AB%E4%
B8%AD%E5%B1%B1%E9%8A%85%E5%83%8F.jpg
Site of 1937 Japanese atrocities known as the Rape of Nanjing. Picture taken on June 17, 2009.
Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/101561334@N08/10151784366/
The Civil War (1945 - 1949)
● GMD had an army about 4 times larger, stronger
resources and more international support;

● In 1948, the CCP started to gain momentum

due to guerrilla warfare and recruitment;

● High military cohesion and control: Maoʼs ʻThree

Main Rules and Eight Points of Behaviorʼ (1947);

● Emphasis on respecting civilians greatly increased the CCPʼs popularity in contrast w/ GMD;

● NRAʼs scorched earth tactic was extremely harmful and unpopular - Yellow River flood (38);

● Jiang Jieshi aligned with Chinese elites, failing to gain support from the masses;

● By October 1949, the Peopleʼs Liberation Army (PLA) was able to take large territories,
including Beijing - Jiang Jieshi resigned and moved his government to Taiwan;
Shaanxi province (China), Chinese Red Army soldier with communist The Red Army and the CCP leadership. July 8th 1938, author unknown.
flag during The Long March (1935 - 36). Source:
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_Communist_Party_
https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/agsphoto/id/13505/ Army_Leaders_at_Xiaoyi_County.jpg
Chinese Civil War 1946-1949. Volunteers From The Communist Chinese Army Constructing A Road.
Source: https://bit.ly/42l74f7
Source:
https://disasterhistory.org/yell
ow-river-flood-1938-47