Paper 2 - Mao Zedong

Explain the events of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

- 1936, with the approach of the Japanese imminent, Jiang was held under house arrest by Zhang Xueliang his second in command until he agreed to form a Second United Front against the Japanese. - On the 7th of December 1937 the Japanese attacked, bringing the Nanjing decade to an end. - The formation of a Second United Front allowed the CCP to expand their army and develop their guerrilla tactics as they fought Japanese forces in the North. - In response to this rapid invasion, Jiang moved the GMD government initially to Wuhan and then to Chongqing in Sichuan province in 1938. The entire eastern seaboard of China was soon under Japanese control, yet despite frequent air attacks Chongqing did not fall. - By 1939, Jiang had decided to break the alliance with the CCP and he ordered his troops to attack their forces and withdrew all of their financial support, leading to widespread criticism of Jiang both from China and abroad. However, there is disagreement as to whether the Red Army was also attacking Jiang's army at the time. Despite this the CCP were painted as the heroes. - In 1941, the fighting between the CCP and the GMD developed to the point where the Second United Front has collapsed completely, which was evident in the New Fourth Army Incident. Where the CCP attacked the GMD, it was unclear whether it was a counter attack, and the incident was portrayed as the fault of Jiang, leading to an increase in popularity for Mao. - Furthermore Jiang's army was riddled with corruption, as army officers were selling food on the black market, meaning that there was not enough food for the soldiers. The conditions they were kept in were so appalling that men would be tied up at night to prevent deserting. In order to have enough troops, Jiang had to introduce a conscription policy, by which the peasantry was most hit. It proved ineffective as although he enlisted over 1.4 million per year, the unfortunate conditions meant that by the end of 1944, he still only had 4 million soldiers. What's more, his failures turned many towards the CPC. - Jiang's leadership was becoming more dictatorial. He ordered contradictory orders, interfered with the work of others and ignored reports of army corruption. Inflation spiralled out of control, and his government simply printed more money, leading to a bizarre situation where different cities had different exchange rates. This had a devastating effect on the GMD's main supporters; the middle classes. To fight the lack of money he raised taxes, which mostly affected the peasants. Society was extremely discontented, and this was only met with repression from the government. The press became censored, the secret police were everywhere and arrest, torture and execution became the norm. Much of China began to turn away from Jiang to support the communists, and even in cities Jiang began to lose support. - Then, after the attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941, the US and Britain entered the war, and Jiang was accused of dependence on foreign powers. - It is estimated that over the course of the entire war $500 million of military aid was sent to China by the US. General Joseph Stilwell was also sent to China by Roosevelt to make a military assessment, yet Jiang and Stilwell did not get on, both due to Stilwell's personality and his 1943 proposition that Jiang lift the blockade around the communist forces in the north, and let Stilwell take control of the GMD forces. - After Stilwell was met with little success, General Albert Wedemeyer himself and a team if military advisors were sent on the 'Dixie mission' to Yan'an to evaluate the military capabilities of the Second United Front. This resulted in a proposal to arm the communists, which of course was immediately rejected by Jiang. - August 1945 the war came to a rather abrupt end after the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. - Due to emerging as victor of the war, Jiang even managed to regain some credibility, yet for the duration of most of the war, the communists had been focused internally. Mao had instituted a series of rectification campaigns that eliminated many divisions within the party and revised Maoist thought. Mao further gained support with the principle of mass line, and organised study sessions amongst the communists. It also helped that the Red Army had remained successful in use of guerrilla tactics, and the CPC were, by the end of the Sino-Japanese war, seen by many as the true nationalists.

Explain the role of labour camps in Mao's China.

- A network of labour camps known as laogai or 're-education through labour' were created soon after Mao came to power in 1949. - Initially Soviet advisors were helped establish the camps and, as in the Gulags, prisoners were used as slave labour. - On average there were 10 million prisoners per year held in the camps under Mao and by 1976 there were more than 10,000 labour camps across China. - Many of the worst caps were deliberately built in the most inhospitable regions. - Food rations were dependent on confessions and refusal could lead to solitary confinement, beatings or sleep deprivation. Threats to their families or signed 'confessions' from their colleagues could increase the pressure. - Many prisoners died from hunger, ill-treatment or suicide. - The camps also helped terrify others into obedience. - If a prisoner was executed, the family could be sent the bullet and a bill for the cost. - Released prisoners faced a constant threat of re-arrest and the families of those imprisoned were deemed guilty by association and shunned by their neighbours. - Ex-prisoners would have difficulty finding housing and jobs, as well as shops that would sell to them and schools to which they could take their children.

Explain the Anti-Rightist Movement.

- After the 100 Flowers Campaign in 1957 there was a crackdown that ended any criticism of Mao from the intellectuals. - Roughly half a million people were branded as 'Rightists' and subjected to persecution ranging from imprisonment, time in labour camps, re-education in the countryside and public shootings. Many committed suicide.

Explain the living standards in China in the years 1949 - 1954.

- After the creation of the People's Republic of China there was a huge improvement in living standards as inflation was curbed and crime and corruption were checked, with criminal gangs outlawed. - Most people in China gained a stable job with a stable income. Each employee was required to belong to a Danwei (work unit) and those unemployed were supervised by a residents committee. - These units controlled food, housing allocation and permits for travel, marriage, jobs, military service and university, and were complemented by several other mass organisations such as the National Women's Association, the New Democratic Youth League and the Children's Pioneer Corps. - Residents communities controlled public health, policing and the resolution of disputes. Water supplies and sanitation were improved in cities and the countryside and mass 'patriotic health campaigns' were used to focus attention on improving hygiene and reducing disease. Teams also went into rural areas to educate people about healthy living, and death rates fell steadily. - Doctors and nurses were trained, although there was some conflict with Maoist ideology, which regarded them as 'bourgeois intellectuals' and expected them to subordinate medical duties to factory work. In these situations they were replaced by barefoot doctors who underwent short practical training sessions and worked among the peasants giving inoculations and basic treatments.

Explain collectivisation and its role in the Great Leap Forward.

- Agricultural output grew 5% in 1957 yet Mao believed that this was not enough and in 1958 toured China visiting the more enterprising APCs before concluding that efficiency could be best achieved by amalgamating co-operatives into much larger communes. - This was launched in 1958 in the Great Leap Forward and involved the setting up of 70,000 communes, each divided into roughly 750,000 brigades which contained roughly 200 families each. - Co-operative projects for irrigation, flood control, electricity schemes and road building were encouraged as each commune was to contain a number of small factories, providing work for women and children. - Mao endorsed campaigns followed this, such as the 'four pests campaign' which 'outlawed' flies, mosquitos, rats and sparrows, and 'Lysenkoism' which was an agricultural method based on the beliefs of Russian agronomist. Following these ideas, China attempted to produce 'super-crops' by deep ploughing fields in the hope of having extremely high production yields. These would sometimes work, but often it exhausted the soil, producing lower crop yields. - Communal farming failed to work. Most peasants in China were subsistence farmers and neither they nor the officials trying to lead them had the knowledge to farm on a large scale. - Some peasants became too involved in industrial enterprises and neglected agriculture and others, influenced by propaganda, left the fields fallow because they thought that grain was plentiful, or neglected pig breeding and poultry raising because emphasis was placed on production of grain. - Furthermore it was reported that more grain was produced than had been, leading to the government selling large amounts to Korea and starvation in China.

Explain how Mao reinforced control over the army.

- Around this same time, Mao consolidated his control over the army. Lin Biao was at the time rising in rank within the party, and was appointed minister of defence before long, replacing Peng Dehuai. - In 1963, he gave his full support for Mao and with Chen Boda helped compile Mao's 'Little Red Book', which served as a form of propaganda for Maoist ideas. - By 1965 the army also became a central part of Mao's propaganda by extolling his virtues and helping create the cult of Mao. - The army also politically shifted further to the left by Mao in an attempt to once more bring Socialism to China. - It was evident that Mao was beginning to gain back some of the power he had, especially when he once more took over control in public security.

Explain the events that happened at the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War that led to civil war in China.

- As Jiang moved back into areas of northern China and Manchuria that had been liberated by the Soviet Red Army the communists resisted and reinforced their soldiers with weapons captured from the Japanese and handed to them by former Russian forces. - Neither Russia or the US wanted civil war in China. In August 1945 the USA organised a meeting between Mao and Jiang where it was agreed that they would work together. - Immediately after this meeting fighting broke out over the nationalists' attempt to reclaim Manchuria. - A ceasefire was agreed under US auspices in January 1946 and a document outlining a constitution for China was drawn up. When the GMD attempted to change this document, the CCP withdrew. - In July 1946 the GMD launched a major offensive against the communist forces in Manchuria while the communists seized the industrial city of Harbin in northern Manchuria and consolidated their hold on rural areas. - From July 1946 a full scale civil war broke out.

Explain the role of industry in the years 1949 - 1953.

- As the GMD had control of a large amount of industry before 1949 there was minimal disruption in the period of National Capitalism 1949 - 1953. - The state used this time to take over heavy industry and the banking system. - Wages and prices were regulated but members of the 'national bourgeoisie' were still able to make profits. - In 1953, 20% of heavy industry and 60% of light industry was still privately owned. - During this time China turned to the Soviet Union for support. The Sino-Soviet friendship treaty of February 1950 provided $300 million in Russian loans which were repayable at a low interest rate by food exports. - During the 1950's 11,000 Soviet experts arrived in China, while 28,000 Chinese received training in the Soviet Union. - Between 1949 and 1952 the value of industrial output more than doubled and between 300 modern industrial plants were planned, including factories for iron, steel, motor vehicles and aircraft.

Explain how Mao's background influenced his ideology.

- Born in 1893 in a small farming village in Hunan province, his parents were farmers who had just enough land for a good standard of living. This peasant background allowed Mao to later see the disillusionment with the government. Mao studied at the local school and was strongly influenced by a pamphlet he read called the 'Dismemberment of China'. The opening line read 'Alas, China will never be subjugated' (by foreign powers) which inspired Mao, and he became avidly aware of the humiliation brought to China by foreign powers. - He was also influenced by the anti-western attitude that pervaded the Manchu court and the peasants. This was in response to the US Open Doors policy in 1998 which meant the US would not accept preferential agreements, but demanded the right to trade freely within China's borders as well as the German acquisition of railroad building and mining rights, which led to the boxer rebellion in 1900. - As a teenager Mao experienced life as a volunteer soldier in the 1911 revolution and was bitterly disappointed when the warlords took over. - He was an intelligent boy who loved reading and in 1913 he decided to train as a teacher, which brought him into contact with Yang Changji who spent six years in Japan and four in Britain and rejected Confucianism, in which Mao was steeped as a boy. Yang Changji was a contributor to the periodical Hsin Ch'ing-nien (new youth) which spread 'western ' ideas. He introduced Mao to the work of Yan Fu, a scholar who stressed the need for strong leadership to bring change to China, and of Wang Fuzhi, who believed that 'there is not a single part of human nature already shaped that cannot be modified'. - Mao became deeply concerned about the future of his country and read many Western works, including those of Montesquieu, Adam Smith, Charles Darwin, J. S. Mill and Herbert Spencer. He was convinced that the future of China would need to be a military one. However before 1918 he lacked a mature political philosophy, and later said "My mind was a curious mixture of ideas of liberalism, democratic reformism and Utopian socialism.' - He graduated from Changsha middle school in 1918, Mao moved to Beijing, working as a clerical assistant at the university there, which had become a focus for Marxist studies. Over the years he held several jobs here, continuing to read widely. Just before he moved, Li Dazhou had written an article on the 'Victory of Bolshevism' in 'New Youth' and encouraged Marxist discussion in his room, known as the 'Red Chamber'. Mao then slowly began to write for newspapers, becoming more politically active, developing his belief in the masses as a source of energy that could transform China. - After Beijing he continued to pursue his Marxist studies in Shanghai where he worked as a laundryman, read 'The Communist Manifesto' and took part in discussions with the prominent communist Chen Duxiu. He formed a communist group in Changsha in 1920, attended the first CPC Congress in July 1921 and joined the Central Committee in 1923. However, he remained detached from the mainstream communist group who attributed little importance to the Chinese peasantry. In 1923 Chen Duxui wrote 'The peasants are widely scattered, therefore it is not easy to organise them effective force.' While the party concentrated on the cities, Mao saw the numerically strong peasants as the leaders of revolution, and from 1924 he worked in the newly created GMD Peasant Movement Training Institute. - Mao increasingly formulated his own ideology, believing a vigorous organisation of the peasantry under communist leadership and a radical land policy were needed. He thought that 'revolutionary impetuosity' had to be avoided, and developed tactical ideas about the need for a base area, organised military forces and guerrilla tactics - 'encircling the city with the country'. He also practised the 'ruthlessness and determination' that was to characterise his career. Torture and execution were justified if they were in the name of the masses. - By the time of the Long March (1934-1935) Mao's ideology was clear. His adaptation of Marxist-Leninist thought for a peasant mass base won support, as it was seen to work. In Yan'an he also encouraged voluntaryism, mass mobilisation and self-criticism.

Explain the negative outcomes of the Great Leap Forward.

- By October 1958 it had become apparent that the targets of the Great Leap Forward's targets were unrealistic, and in November 1958 the issue was finally raised at the Wuhan Conference by those including Mao himself. - In response to this, the government reduced the steel and grain targets for 1959, which, unfortunately was too late. Situations became desperate, and China suffered all manner of drought, floods and famine, the peasants starving. - Some villagers in Hunan and Anhui were even forced into cannibalism in 1960, one family resorting to strangling and eating their eight year old daughter. - It is estimated that in Gansu one third of people died, and over the course of the Great Leap Forwards it is likely that more than 50 million people died. - As a result of this struggle, a split was beginning to take place within the CPC. This began when Peng Dehuai, one of Mao's most long standing supporters explained what he had seen when he visited the province of Hunan and complained about the shortcomings of the Great Leap Forward at the Lushan Conference. - He further expressed his concerns in a private letter to Mao, yet Mao chose to take these comments as a personal attack, distributing copies of Peng's letter to all the members of the conference and removing Peng from his post as Minister of Defence. - This internal conflict within the CPC, resulted in Mao being forced to step down as head of state in 1959.

Explain China's distrust of foreign powers in the early 20th century.

- China had endured '100 years of humiliation' following a defeat in the 'Opium Wars' (1839 - 1842 and 1856 - 1860). - They suffered a defeat in the first Sino-Japanese War. - Industrialising nations, led by Britain, sought to make profits in China and divided the country into 'spheres of influence'. - This eventually sparked the Boxer Rebellion of 1898 - 1902.

Explain the factors which limited the degree of education advances.

- Education was neither compulsory nor free and was never a budget priority. - The quality of education varied and provision in villages was often rudimentary. - The emphasis on practical education, the anti-intellectualism of the regime and the politically oriented criteria for admission to better schools and universities held back some of the able individuals China needed. - Despite lip service to equality, the children of the party cadres were advantaged. - Schools became centres for indoctrination, encouraging the cult of Mao. - During the Cultural Revolution most schools and universities were closed down. - Universities reopened in the early 1970's but here and in the higher schools the decline in educational quality was evident. - Exams were abolished and Deng Xiaoping wrote in 1975 that the university graduates were 'not even capable of reading a book'.

Explain how Mao created unified control in the years 1949 - 1954.

- Fighting continued after the war, when the GMD still controlled much of northern China until 1950 when only British Hong Kong, Portuguese Macao, Outer Mongolia, Taiwan and a few small GMD controlled islands lay outside of communist control. - Mao planned to invade Taiwan but the Korean War broke out in 1950, which pressured Mao to establish internal control. - In 1950 he called on ethnic minorities to identify themselves and promised them a degree of autonomy. Four hundred ethnic groups did so, from which the officials created 50 groups which were placed under military supervision and forced to accept communist rule. - Strong resistance in Tibet then took six months to crush. The nation was renamed Xizang and its peoples subjected to severe repression in an attempt to eradicate the Tibetan language and culture. Tibetans were also moved into other parts of China and the Han Chinese (92% of the population of China) were brought in.

Explain how Mao responded to Jiang breaking the First United Front.

- He began to develop his own brand of communism in the rural areas, deciding against Comintern advice that communism had to be established among Chinese peasants if it was to succeed. - In 1927 he attempted a revolt in his native Hunan yet this was bloodily suppressed. - In 1927 he led his followers to a more secure base in the remote mountains of Jinggangshan where he formed the Red Army. - The Red Army was treated equally and although there was rank it was not enforced by beating. Furthermore it was instructed to help the peasants, unlike the army of the GMD. It was, however, badly equipped which led to a development of guerrilla tactics. Using these tactics small groups of disguised soldiers merged with the civilian population or retreated into underground tunnels linking villages to attack the larger forces when it was least expected. - In 1928 he created his Land Law. - In 1929 he moved to more fertile land in the south of Jiangxi province. - He became the secretary of the CCP and encouraged poorer peasant to kill their richer peasant neighbours and landlords, as well as those who disagreed with Mao's line. - In 1930, Mao ordered 2000 Red Army soldiers to be shot for staging a revolt at Futian. - In 1931 he set up the Jiangxi Soviet which had a population of roughly 1 million people.

Explain how Mao's ideology influenced his rule between 1949 and 1976.

- His ideology 'the Yan'an Spirit' allowed him to gain power in 1949, yet its role was more controversial once he had gained power. - He clashed with other party leaders including Liu Shaoqi over planning the communist state. This was largely due to adopting the same ideology to running the state as he did to winning it. - He was convinced China had to be transformed by the mobilisation of the masses and he stressed the importance of determination and the will to achieve. He believed that sheer commitment was enough to drive the country forward and make up for China's lack of technology. This was proved insufficient with the disaster of the Great Leap Forward, in which despite efforts a lack of proper industrial development meant that the attempt ultimately failed. - This lack of proper industrial planning left Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shaoqi to attempt to restrict Maoist collectivisation and address real problems. - Another damaging aspect of Mao's ideology was his belief in himself as he could never accept that manpower and ambition were insufficient, blaming 'bourgeois elements', 'capitalist roaders' and 'backsliders' for the failures of his policies. It also meant that he ignored the advice of others, demonstrating the same disregard for life that he had shown during his years in Jiangxi and Yan'an. Although his ideology rested on criticism he was unable to apply that to himself. - In 1959, despite stepping down, he retained his commitment to continuing revolution and launched the Socialist Education Movement in 1962. This attempted to cleanse politics, economy, organisation and ideology, and also forced universal participation in manual labour to remove bourgeois influences. This therefore intensified the class struggle. The effect of this was largely nullified by Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shaoqi who believed that China needed stability to allow for economic growth. - In 1966 Mao believed China had fallen into corruption, bureaucratism and elitism and decided it was time to come back. He inspired the 'Red Guards' to join him in challenging this, believing the youth to be able to regenerate the nation. In July 1966 he appeared in Wuhan for his Yangtze River swim to indicate that he was ready to return and it was claimed that he had swum nearly 15km in 65 minutes. This was a further reassertion of his ideology. - The Cultural Revolution however highlighted a paradox as it proved impossible to reconcile voluntaryism, whereby people would participate willingly in the 'mass struggle', with Mao's determination to stamp out bourgeois thinking. Mao was therefore forced to resort to repression and violence. Early revolutionaries became the regime's victims and, in an attempt to prove their socialist credentials, the persecutors became ever more extreme. - It is therefore safe to say that Mao's ideologies led to great destruction of his people.

Explain the struggle for power during the warlord era.

- In 1919 Sun Yat Sen returned to form a GMD government. - In 1919, to gain international support, the Russian Comintern was formed, which encouraged the formation of a communist party in China. - In 1921 the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was formed with Chen Duxiu as secretary general, 12 delegates (one of which was Mao Zedong who had become interested in communism during his years as a student) and 57 members. - In 1924 the First United Front was proclaimed which sought to remove warlords from power and form a stable government. - In 1925 the CCP became more popular and its membership rose to 980. - In 1925 Sun Yat Sen died and was succeeded by Jiang Jieshi, who strongly opposed communism, stating that the Japanese were 'a disease of the skin' while the communists were 'a disease of the heart'. - In 1926 the First United Front began the Northern Expedition with 100,000 men; a campaign to remove the warlords from power. It was run by Jiang Jieshi, and supported by many including Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai. - In December 1926 the success of the Northern Expedition could be seen and the cities of Fuzhou, Wuhan and Hangzhou had been captured. - In 1927 Zhou Enlai organised a strike in Shanghai which allowed them to take the city. - In 1927 the CCP popularity rose further giving them a membership of 58,000. - After taking Shanghai, Jiang turned against the communists in the White Terror, killing communists, union members and peasant associations. He also expelled the GMD's Russian advisers, a move which was popular with the Chinese business class who provided the GMD with financial support. Western powers also supported this in an attempt to keep communism out of China. - In 1928 the GMD seized Beijing and established a central government in Nanjing, bringing China some stability with a more stable currency and some industrial growth.

Explain the attitude of the CCP towards youth.

- In 1949 only 1 in 10 could read and many could not write because there was no standardised form of written Mandarin. - Only 20% of children went to primary school and roughly 1% went to secondary school, with barely any female students. - The CCP was determined to increase literacy rates and expand educational provision for both practical and ideological reasons, although there was some conflict between their drive for education and disdain for intellectualism. - Schools were set up for children except for those in 'black' categories - such as bourgeois and rightist individuals - and study groups and night schools were set up. - The 'little teacher' scheme was established, whereby school children visited adult peasants and workers and shared their learning. - Chinese characters were simplified for quick learning and Pinyin was approved by the National People's Congress. In 1964 the Committee for Reforming the Chinese Written Language released an official list of the 2238 simplified characters. - Secondary school expanded, helped initially by teachers and textbooks from the Soviet Union, yet this ceased after the Sino-Soviet split in the late 1950's. After this new Chinese textbooks were carefully vetted and foreign languages studied only in Maoist translations of literature. - There was an emphasis on practical work experience and students were required to spend part of their days in the fields and factories. - 'Key schools' were given priority in the assignment of teachers, equipment and funds and provided for the children of the party cadres. They monopolised places at top universities, although in theory peasant and workers' children were given preferential admission.

Explain the 100 Flowers Campaign.

- In 1956 Mao lifted censorship and encouraged open criticism of the party. - In February 1957 he announced that 'Letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend it the policy for promoting progress in the arts and the sciences and a flourishing, socialist culture in our land'. - Participation began slow and in February 1957 he announced that people could vent their criticisms as long as they were constructive. - In May and June 1957 the central government received a large deluge of letters. Magazine articles and posters appeared and there were rallies in the streets. - Students at Beijing University created a 'Democratic Wall' and complained of corruption, Russian influence, poor living standards, party privilege and the leadership of the CCP. - Mao claimed this went beyond healthy criticism. In early July 1957 he called off the campaign and imposed censorship. - He had either achieved his aim of entrapment or misjudged the scale of criticism.

Explain Mao's disappearance from public life.

- In 1959 after the failure of the Great Leap Forward he gave up his position as chairman and the mass mobilisations ceased for a while. - Mao claimed that time away from public life gave him the opportunity to think and plan rather than worry about administration. - In July 1959 Peng Dehuai told Mao at the Lushan Conference that the Great Leap Forward was a grave mistake and hinted that he did not approve of Mao's decision to break with the Soviet Union. - Peng was removed from the Politburo and his position as minister of defence set an example to others. - From 1962 Mao became obsessed by a fear that the party was becoming capitalist due to the more moderate policies pursued by Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping. - He tried to mobilise the masses in the Socialist Education Movement of 1962 yet did not launch the Cultural Revolution until 1966.

Explain political control during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.

- In 1966 Mao ordered the Red Guards (radical student bands) and ordered them to attack the 'four olds' (thought, culture, practices and customs) and remove bad elements among the party such as teachers, intellectuals and former bourgeoisie. - Assaults were permitted and there were public denunciations, struggle sessions and mass mobilisation. - Tens of thousands died in prison. - Mao removed many of his opponents in the party and took absolute control of the party hierarchy and his 'cult' rose to new extremes, with Mao Zedong thought written on every Chinese constitution in 1969. - Jiang Qing was at the forefront of the targeting of the CPC itself, and soon Liu was dismissed from office and placed under house arrest (dying in prison in 1969, labelled a counter-revolutionary revolutionist and a reactionary bourgeois element), Zhu De and Deng Xiaoping were labelled reactionaries and sent to work camps. - By the end of 1966 Mao had begun to lose control, with the Red Guards splitting into factions and fighting each other. In January 1967 the workers in Shanghai overthrew the city government and foreign embassies were attacked (much like they had been in the boxer revolution). - Finally, in September 1967, after a year of unrest, Mao told the PLA to restore order using lethal force if necessary as China was on the verge of a civil war. In December 1968 he ordered the Red Guards to leave the cities and go to the countryside. - Mao was concerned about rivals and in 1969 put Lin Biao as his successor. Lin Biao was concerned that Mao was becoming disenchanted with him, and Mao was concerned about the power Lin Biao had gained during the GPCR, and it appears that in 1971, Lin, along with some members of the army, attempted a coup d'etat, disagreeing with Mao's co-operation with the USA. - Mao had however been alerted of this, and Lin fled for his life, before dying of suspicious circumstances in a plane that was supposedly headed towards the Soviet crashed. - The people were beginning to lose faith in the CPC, asking themselves how someone who had previously been seen as Mao's successor could now be seen as a 'capitalist-roader' reactionary himself. - Another consequence was the rehabilitation of Deng Xiaoping who had been dismissed during the initial years of the GPRC. He was recalled by Mao in 1973, which then created a split between Mao and Jiang Qing, who then, along with the Gang of Four, began a campaign to radicalise China, eventually leading to their arrest after Mao's death. - When Deng's colleague, Zhou Enlai, was diagnosed with cancer and looked close to death, the radicals turned on Deng who was asked to draw up a series of self-criticisms. - Following Zhou's death in January 1976 the Gang of Four launched the 'criticise Deng and oppose the rehabilitation of right-leaning elements campaign'. Mao therefore selected the relatively obscure Hua Guofeng as the new prime minister. - When mass mourning for Zhou Enlai sparked disturbances in Tiananmen Square, Deng was held responsible and demoted from all leadership positions, although he was saved from further disgrace by Mao's death later that year.

Explain Mao's land reform programme.

- In June 1950 a land reform programme was launched, although Mao wanted the peasants to lead the charge themselves. - Party cadres stirred up hostilities in 'speak bitterness' campaigns which encouraged peasants to turn on their landlords, executing them on the spot or subjecting them to a 'trial' following which they lost their civil rights, land, animals and household goods which were distributed among the poor. - Ownership of land remained private, but landlords held only as much as the poorest peasant. - Up to 2 million people were killed, including victimised members of landlords' families, although Mao claimed that it was only 800,000. - Following redistribution the average farm was too small so from 1951 the cadres encouraged the peasants to farm land cooperatively with profits distributed with regards to contribution of tools, animals, work and land. - Although not compulsory most peasants favoured co-operation and by 1952, grain production was 10% higher than in 1936 and by 1953 almost 40% of peasant households belonged to 'mutual aid teams'. - Official policy was not entirely consistent. At first Mao condemned what he referred to as 'rash advance' but when an increase in the number of co-operatives threatened to fall as wealthier peasants began buying up land, he railed against the 'rash retreat' and ordered the cadres to quicken the pace towards co-operation. - From 1954 the cadres tried to encourage peasants to create higher level Agricultural Producers' Co-operatives (APCs) yet this scheme proved impossible to implement because of the turmoil and food riots, which followed a poor harvest that year. - The APC plan was suspended for 18 months but in the summer of 1955 the first ones were established with rich peasants excluded and profits distributed according to levels of work. - There was limited opposition because there was already less difference in wealth among the peasants than there had been in Stalinist Russia and because propaganda successfully persuaded peasants of the benefits of APCs. - Individual proprietors soon found themselves unable to obtain bank loans, buy seed and fertiliser or get neighbours' help at harvest time. - By the end of 1956 most villages had formed collectives and by 1957 90% of peasant families were incorporated into APCs. - From 1953 onwards the state had become the sole purchaser of grain which gave the CCP greater control over the countryside than any previous regime.

Explain the events that led up to the Cultural Revolution.

- In May 1966 Mao moved towards his cultural revolution, and with the support of Lin Bao and the PLA, students at Beijing University began to rebel against university administration, putting up wall posters which attacked the Chinese educational system. - Mao gained support from the students by in turn supporting them and promising them wide-ranging changes in the educational system to ensure that it carried out Maoist revolution. - Liu and Deng attempted to combat this by sending work teams into schools and universities which kept the students under control. - Throughout this revolutionary action Mao remained in the background, emerging only in July 1966 to send a message to the masses in a carefully staged event; his Yangtze river swim, in which he swam in the Yangtze river for over an hour. - Not much later, on the 5th of August 1966, did the GPCR finally begin properly, after Mao's poster which called on students to 'Bombard the Headquarters', followed by another on the 8th of August which called on students to attack the CPC, along with Lin Bao's speech to attack the four olds.

Explain the purges of Gao Gang and Rae Shushi.

- In early 1954 Mao began his first major purge of leading members of the CCP following a debate about his launching of the five year plan. - Gao Gang held several senior government posts had backed Mao against Zhou Enlai and Liu Shaoqi, before putting himself forward to replace Zhou as vice chairman of the CCP. - In December 1953, both were accused of 'underground activities'. Gao Gang committed suicide rather than face disgrace in 1954 and Rae Shushi was arrested and imprisoned until his death in 1974.

Outline how Mao prevented challenges posed by counter-revolutionaries.

- Initially he retained the 'national' and 'petty bourgeoisie' whose business skills were needed, although taxes were used to limit private profit. - He also used propaganda, self-criticism and rectification campaigns to stamp out 'bourgeois individualism'. - Citizens were encouraged to inform on others and in the autumn of 1951 6,500 intellectuals and university professors were obliged to undertake courses in communist thinking, while artists and writers who refused to support the CCP were imprisoned. - In the countryside, following the introduction of the land reform programme in 1950, party cadres roused peasants to denounce local landlords and remove them after struggle sessions (sessions in which the accused were taken before a panel in public to listen to a catalogue of their crimes and moral failings, before being humiliated and beaten). As part of this, around 2 million landlords lost their lives by being beaten to death by peasants.

Explain how the Cultural Revolution affected the economy.

- It did not officially change economic policies although it caused chaos which in turn affected economic growth. - The requisitioning of trains and trucks to carry Red Guards created shortages of raw materials, slowing factory production with even the Anshan blast furnace (a steel complex with over 35,000 workers) having to be stopped. - As part of the Cultural Revolution almost all engineers, managers, scientists, technicians and other personnel were 'criticised', demotes, sent to the countryside or jailed, meaning that their skills and knowledge were lost. - Imports of foreign equipment ceased and the closure of the universities created problems for the future. - In 1967, one year after the Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution was launched, there was a 14% decline in industrial production. - After this, towards the end of Mao's rule, the economically progressive Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping were attacked in the press as 'poisonous weeds' by supporters of the Gang of Four. - Only after the fall of the Gang of Four in October 1976 did China begin to develop its economy and potential as a world power.

Explain the events of the Long March.

- Jiang Jieshi began his five extermination campaigns in 1930, four of which failed. - Despite the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, Jiang maintained that communism was the enemy. - The GMD then surrounded the communist forces, and at risk of starvation Mao realised he needed to move elsewhere or surrender. - In 1934 Li De, otherwise known as Otto Braun, overthrew Mao and assumed the position of leader of the CCP. - In October 1934, Mao and the main body of the Red Army broke through where Jiang's forces were at their weakest and began their Long March. - On the 20th of October 1935, the marchers arrived at Shaanxi, and only around 5,000 of the original 100,000 marchers survived the 12,000 km ordeal.

Explain the results of the PLA's policies towards education.

- Literacy rates increased, reaching 50% of the population in 1960, 66% in 1964 and 70% in 1976. - By 1957, most of the village children had some primary education and the number in secondary education had almost tripled. - By 1976, 96% of children aged 7 - 16 were in schools.

Explain how Maoism affected the arts and culutural life.

- Mao associated China's rich traditional culture with feudalism and believed it needed to be swept away and replaced by communist culture in which writers and artists were expected to educate the masses not create artistic works. - In the 1950's traditional Chinese art was allowed to continue alongside modern Soviet-inspired art that imparted propaganda messages. - Old-style poetry also continued, although younger poets were encouraged to write about new agricultural and industrial achievements. - Plays were overtly propagandist. - Literary works were carefully censored and news media centralised. - The sale of foreign literature became punishable and libraries and museums closed. - Western music was banned and traditional Chinese opera was replaced by a repertoire of specially commissioned contemporary opera-ballets which depicted the triumph of the proletariat over its class enemies. - For two years nothing new was printed but Mao's 'Little Red Book'. - The 100 flowers campaign brought a burst of freedom yet repression followed in the anti-rightist campaign and the persecution of the Cultural Revolution when Jiang Qing was made the 'cultural purifier of the nation'. - Mao declared that 'if the proletariat does not occupy the positions in literature and art, the bourgeoisie certainly will'.

Explain the role of Mao's wife shortly before the Cultural Revolution.

- Mao faced an attack from the relatively unknown writer Yao Wenyuan, who wrote an article criticising a play called the 'Dismissal of Hai Rui from Office', which had been written by the Deputy Major of Beijing. - This play was an obvious attack on Mao, and Yao's article accused the Deputy Major of Beijing of ignoring the masses and attempting to subvert the socialist revolution, bringing to light the divisions within the CPC. - As a result of this, Mao's wife, Jiang Qing entered the conflict. She was a traditionalist and became important among the communists who represented the hard-line group within the CPC. - It was her along with Lin Bao who helped launch the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (GPCR) in 1966.

Explain the role of industrialisation in the Great Leap Forward.

- Mao first indicated his wish to abandon the centralised, industry based Soviet model in favour of a mass campaign combining agricultural and industrial growth in a speech in May 1956 called 'On the Ten Commandments'. - He described this idea as a 'great leap' in 1957 and predicted that China would become a new world superpower that would challenge the USA and overtake Britain in 15 years. - Mao favoured the Great Leap Forward for several reasons: 1) He wanted to reassert China's independence from the Soviet Union 2) He wanted the Chinese people to take responsibility for their own future and believed in successes that came from determination rather than money and expert advice 3) He was 64 and believed the change of pace had been too slow and that he needed to prove himself after the failures of the 100 flowers campaign 4) He wanted China to 'walk on two legs' and develop both industry and agriculture 5) The slow rise in agricultural productivity had meant a shortage of capital 6) Pay differentials between skilled and unskilled workers had reappeared in 1956 which clashed with Mao's ideology 7) He was worried that the CCP was becoming bureaucratic and wanted to reduce the influence of central planning ministries and revive the Yan'an spirit. - The leap involved improving infrastructure with party cadres in expected to increase output more than possible. Party branches took over factories. - Even children were expected to contribute, and in Shanghai as part of their school day children were set to make bricks from earth and water or smash earth and stones to make concrete. - State Owned Enterprises increased in number and managers no longer received a share of the profits with any surplus going to the state. These enterprises were organised in a similar way to countryside communes with accommodation, hospitals and other facilities. - There was a particular focus on the production of steel, with a target of 10.7 million tonnes a year by 1959 and 60 million tonnes by 1960. Quality had been sacrificed for quantity. This meant that what little progress had been made would be unsustainable, as standards were not maintained, and targets were not set with an overview of the needs of the country, leading to severe shortages of certain products. - The unforgiving and impersonal nature of the communes along with the increasingly demanding targets, the workers were becoming disaffected.

List the main influences on economic policy in Mao's China.

- Mao's belief in the 'collective ownership of the means of production'. - The desire to make China a great world power, to equal and surpass the Soviet Union's economic achievement and avoid dependency on an outside power. - The immediate need for recovery after the damage done by the war.

Explain the Double Ten Revolution and its effects.

- On the 10th of October 1911 a military rebellion which became the Revolutionary Alliance's Double Ten Revolution brought together peasants, townspeople and students under the leadership of Sun Yat Sen (who had formed a revolutionary league in 1905). - On the 29th December 1911 Sun Yat Sen was declared provisional president. - Most of southern China was swept up in the movement and on the 1st of January 1912 a republic was declared. - The Qing dynasty, which had ruled since 1644 collapsed, and the last emperor, six year old Puyyi, abdicated in February 1912. - Sun Yat Sen then stepped down and on the 10th of March 1912 Yuan Shikai, a military general, became the new provisional president. - In August 1912 the Revolutionary Alliance became known as the Guomingdang (GMD) and was led by Sun Yat Sen. - In 1915 Yuan attempted to declare himself Emperor. - In 1916 Yuan died and the Warlord era began.

Explain the Socialist Education Movement.

- One way that Mao attempted to once more implement his ideology, was in the Socialist Education Movement between 1962 and 1964 that was aimed at fostering the three 'isms' of collectivism, patriotism and socialism. - Mao led these ideas mainly in the countryside, and once more he sent members to learn from the peasants and reinforce their understanding of the mass line.

Explain the role of prpaganda in Mao's China.

- Propaganda was used to bring about 'thought reform' so that mass campaigns such as the 'Great Leap Forward' and the Cultural Revolution would be supported. - The PLA, which remained the largest army helped indoctrinate and reinforce messages. - One example of propaganda was Lei Feng, a possibly fictitious soldier of the civil war years, whose overwhelming sense of duty embodied the desired image of self-sacrifice. - Highlights of the communist past were also spread with propaganda including stories of the Long March or the struggles of Mao at Jiangxi and Yan'an. - Revolutionaries in the developing world were also praised, including Albania and North Korea, while imperialists of the USA and the revisionists of the Soviet Union, who had 'betrayed communism' were attacked. - Propaganda was spread through posters, the media, the education system, literature, films, theatre, music, radio and television (with China central television set up in 1958), as well as through the work of local groups, committees and propaganda teams. There was a particular emphasis on political study groups, led by party cadres, where everyone would be persuaded of the value of particular policies through the study of political articles. - Loudspeakers were installed in every village and reading newspapers was regarded as a political obligation. Political campaigns were launched through leading articles in the People's Daily and reports criticised political adversaries while controversial news stories were censored. - Mao was made a figure of reverence, events such as the Yangtze River Swim showing his strength. His portrait appeared on public hoardings and in the newspapers. Everyone was expected to learn Mao's quotations by heart and study the 'Little Red Book'. They were persuaded that a careful study of Mao could solve all of their problems.

Explain the role of repression in Mao's China.

- Repression was used to complement propaganda, creating an atmosphere of vigilance, fear and uncertainty. - From 1949 onwards there was a central investigation department within the CCP and a military intelligence wing of the PLA. During the Cultural Revolution the 'Central Case Examination Group' headed by Kang Sheng was also set up. - From 1951, anyone over the age of 15 needed a residence permit. - However, unlike the Soviet Union the PRC never had highly centralised security apparatus partly because of Mao's reliance on mass campaigns and his belief that people would inform on others due to the strength of his propaganda. - Those who became repressed by mass campaigns were usually referred to as rightist, those who had bourgeois, intellectual or foreign connections and eventually even members of the party became victims. - These repressive methods used were similar to those at Yan'an, including group struggle sessions which were organised daily or weekly by work units, neighbourhood and street committees. - There were also larger mass meeting in which individuals admitted crimes or publically denounced colleagues. - Admissions of guilt led to rectification ranging from humiliation, fines, loss of job, property and housing, a period in the countryside undertaking strenuous tasks or a prison sentences. Although executions were uncommon many committed suicide rather than be ashamed. - Meetings left people with little free time for private thoughts and Mao increased the number of persecutors by having his victims tormented by their own associates and used party members to terrorise their own party.

Explain the position of women in Mao's China.

- The CCP had advocated female equality, with Mao proclaiming that 'Women hold up half the sky'. This contrasted with traditional views of women in the home with the practices of concubinage, foot binding and arranged marriages still common. - In 1950 the tradition of killing unwanted baby girls was officially abolished (although not always enforced), foot binding was outlawed, girls were expected to go to school and women were expected to work. In the 1950's women were also given the right to own property and granted land in redistributions. - The 1950 Marriage Law forbade arranged marriages and child betrothals, the payment of dowries and concubinage. - Official registration of marriage was introduced and new laws made divorce permissible by mutual consent or on the complaint of either the husband or wife. - The 1953 Election Law gave women the right to vote and some joined the PLA. - In the communes women were released from traditional household chores with shared cleaning tasks and in the larger factories and towns communal nurseries allowed them to return to work and escape childminding. - Initially the communists valued large families yet with the coming of the famine it was recommended that women had just two children. Late marriage was also encouraged.

Explain how Mao used governmental structure to establish communist control in the years 1949 - 1954.

- The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference met in September 1949 to bring non-communist groups under communist leadership, focusing on those who had opposed Jiang. This produced a temporary constitution that allowed for some level of democracy. - Many people were not allowed to vote including reactionary elements, feudal elements, lackeys of imperialism, bureaucratic capitalists and enemies of the people, although the national bourgeoisie and petty bourgeoisie were given civil rights along peasants and workers. - The country was divided into 6 regions and most of the 2 million officials who had served the GMD government were retained as there were few communist officials to take their place. As communist membership rose and administrative competence increased the GMD officials were slowly replaced. - This process was encouraged by the Korean war in 1950 which encouraged fears about non-communists. - In 1954 a formal constitution labelled China as a single-party state with Mao as head of government served by two vice chairmen and a council of ministers. Zhou Enlai was prime minister until his death in 1976. - Most ministers and army officials were members of the CCP, and when they were not they were assisted by a communist advisor. - Another important feature of the state was the organisation of the population into groups. Everyone in a village, street, office, factory or school was required to meet regularly to discuss policies, with the local party cadres expected to educate their groups and pass views to branch secretaries and up to the Politburo in Beijing. This meant that peasants had some influence on official decisions.

Explain the effects of the First World War in China.

- The Treaty of Versailles in 1919 increased China's humiliation as it gave former German concessions in China (Shandong) to the Japanese. China had been led to believe in the war that it would be returned to them. - The Japanese also came to China with the 21 demands whilst other countries were preoccupied. - The May the 4th movement in 1919 protested both of these things (Mao Zedong took part), and was followed by nationwide demonstrations.

Explain the positive / neutral oucomes of the Great Leap Forward.

- The communes were reorganised in 1961 to become more effective. They were less regimented, pay rates were changed to take work and output into account, backyard steel furnaces were abandoned and peasants time was no longer wasted on unnecessary industrial work or military marches around fields. - Small private plots reappeared and some families reclaimed farmland to cultivate independently which was justified by Deng in 1962 who believed that it didn't matter who farmed the land as long as it was farmed. - It took at least five years for agriculture to recover yet fewer for industry which was aided by the discovery of oil and gas fields in Daqing which doubled output by 1965 (although factories continued to be run inefficiently with technical skills lacking, outdated equipment and an eventual overall decline in production in the 1960's).

Explain the role of communist youth associations.

- The communists had a Youth League for people aged 14 - 28 run by Lu Hao, and a subsection, the Youth Pioneers for children aged 6 - 14. - Schools and villages ran units and children wore red scarves. - Despite these attempts at indoctrination students were at the forefront of those who criticised the regime during the 100 Flowers Campaign, which is why the Cultural Revolution attempted to reinvigorate the youth and the Red Guards were formed. - After being encouraged by Mao to destroy the four olds the youths took over the streets, enjoying special priority on public transport they spread revolution and destroyed old culture. - They invaded people's houses, smashed 'antique' possessions and forced those wearing Western clothing or hairstyles into the grey Maoist baggy tunics. They even forced teachers to wear tall dunces' capes and paraded them through the streets to be spat at and insulted. - When matters got out of hand, Mao used the PLA to break up the Red Guards after which schools began to function and students were ordered to the countryside for re-education.

Outline some specific elements of Chinese communism.

- The importance of the peasants - The peasant masses could overthrow capitalism and create a socialist society. - A two-stage revolution - The first revolution could incorporate elements of the bourgeoisie. During this stage private ownership could continue. A second revolution would bring about the collectivisation and nationalisation of property and economic resources and remove the remaining elements of the bourgeoisie. - Mass mobilisation and voluntarism - The party should 'learn from the people'. Campaigns should be people's campaigns and not be imposed from above. Properly guided, the people would support campaigns voluntarily and work in the best interests of all. - Continuous revolution - Revolution should not cease once a party achieved power but should be a constant process of renewal to avoid complacency and corruption. - Self-criticism and rectification - Officials should undergo regular criticism to prevent them from becoming self-satisfied and elitist and regular purges of the party would keep it pure. Only through self-criticism would individuals see the wisdom of mass campaigns and 'rectify' false thoughts. - Ruthless determination - Will-power and determination would be sufficient to bring about change, provided everyone showed total commitment. Violence was a necessary element of revolution. - The primacy of 'Mao Zedong Thought' - Mao Zedong was always right and people could find a solution to any problem if they studied his thought sufficiently.

Explain the first Five Year Plan.

- The launch of the first Five Year Plan ended the period of National Capitalism. It was intended to speed up China's industrial growth, with all private industries and businesses nationalised (although many former owners were still kept on as managers and given an annual share of the profits). - Sectors such as iron, steel, energy, transport, communications, machinery and chemicals were prioritised with targets at the expense of consumer industries. - Soviet loans were used which represented 3% of total investment and capital was raised by setting low prices to be paid to peasants for grain to produce a larger surplus for investment. - New industrial schemes were planned for areas of the north-east and north-west, far from old centres of development such as Shanghai. - Iron and steel mills were set up in market towns. - Roads and railways were built, including a spectacular rail link between Lanzhou across the Gobi Desert to Urumqi, where coil, oil, iron ore and other minerals were to be found. - In the north-east, factories and mines formerly operated by Japanese were developed. - According to official statistics, heavy industrial output nearly tripled and light industry rose 70%, with overall targets being exceeded by 20%. However, these figures are not trustworthy. - One achievement was China's first ever production of cars, tractors, aeroplanes, cargo ships, machine tools and penicillin. - The urban population grew from 57 million in 1949 to 100 million in 1957.

Explain the relationship between the communists and the churches within China.

- The official communist view was the religion was a capitalist invention used to keep the lower classes in their place with the promise of a better afterlife. - Confucianism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity were condemned as superstitions and churches, temples, shrines and monasteries were closed. Foreign priests were expelled and Chinese ones forbidden to wear distinctive dress. - Religious tolerance was guaranteed by the Chinese constitution but the government had its own definition of religion and a campaign against 'superstition' began in 1950. - Ancestor worship was condemned and traditional religious rituals banned although religious establishments could become 'patriotic churches' and operate under government control as long as they broke all links with overseas churches. - Clergy had to profess support for the communist regime and allow the government to vet applicants. - Some Buddhist temples, Muslim mosques and, less often, Christian churches, were given state money. - During the cultural revolution religion was denounced as one of the four olds. - The first monument to be wrecked in August 1966 was a Buddha in the summer palace of Beijing. - No public worship was allowed and the remaining clergy was rounded up and imprisoned. - Confucianism was denounced as representing the worst part of China's past. - Tibet was renamed Xizang in 1950 and the outlawing of the Lama Faith (a form of Buddhism) sparked a national uprising in 1959 which was brutally crushed. Even speaking of the Dalai Lama was an arrestable offence. - The communists imposed extreme policies on the Tibetans who were forced to grow wheat and maize, although these proved indigestible, and herders were made to farm high ground and not allow their yaks to roam. This severely cut supplies of milk, cheese, meat and yak hair, which caused a famine in which a quarter of the Tibetan population died. - The Panchen Lama (second to the Dalai Lama) sent Mao a letter detailing the suffering and accusing Mao of genocide. - Despite Mao's attempts, loyalty to religion remained strong for many.

Explain the role of the legal system in Mao's China.

- The state constitution of 1954 provided a framework for the legal system, modelled on that of the Soviet Union. - A committee of the National People's Congress was given the power to appoint and dismiss judges and enact legal codes. - Each citizen was given the right to a public trial and defence by a 'people's lawyer' and there was, in theory, equality before the law (although none of this was practiced until after Mao's death. - During the Maoist era, party committees replaced courts and, despite some effort to make the legal system work between 1954 and 1957, the belief that different standards should be applied to class enemies destroyed any real sense of justice. - When Mao launched the 100 Flowers Campaign in 1956, legal specialists were among his most vociferous critics, and consequently found themselves among the first victims of the anti-rightist campaign. - The party leadership declared itself to have absolute power and gave an increasing amount of judicial authority to the masses, with many judicial functions passed to local cadres and by the 1960's the court system existed only for public 'show trials' during the Cultural Revolution.

State when the war ended and explain what Mao and Jiang did.

- The war ended on the 1st of October 1949 when Mao gave a victory speech at the Gate of Heavenly Peace. - The communist forces were, at this time, still sweeping west and south almost unopposed. - Jiang with the remaining members of his army and government fled to Taiwan and declared it to be the seat of the legitimate Chinese government.

Explain the effects from the change in policy towards women.

- There was a huge increase in divorce numbers with 1.3 million divorce petitions filed in 1953, many from ill-treated wives. This meant that a drive against hasty action had to be launched. - Although the number of women in work increased from 8% to 32%, jobs could be physically demanding and many women had to act as both workers and mothers. - In rural and Muslim areas, government interference was resented and arranged marriages continued. - Women provided only 13% of the party membership and 14 - 23% of the deputies in the National People's Congress between 1954 and 1975. - Communes and schools, where children were taught that love for Mao was more important than love for their family, undermined the family unit. Young people were encouraged to speak against their parents in the 'four olds' campaign and many youngsters were sent far from home to experience rural work. - The Chinese population grew more slowly than had been expected, although between 1953 and 1964 it increased 112 million, as death rates fell and birth rates remained high.

Explain how life was for peasants and townspeople in China in the early 20th century.

- They were struggling to survive. - They resented heavy taxes. - They were under pressure from inflation. - They resented government corruption. - They were resentful of foreign influence. - They despaired at the failure of the Qing dynasty to bring about effective reforms, including Empress Cixi's rejection of Kang Youwei's Hundred Days of Reform proposed in 1898.

Explain what the Yan'an Soviet was.

- This was a place where the remaining marchers settled at the end of the Long March. - In 1936 Zhou Enlai joined forces with Mao against Li De at the Zunyi Conference, and Mao once more became leader of the CCP, and reverted back to guerrilla tactics. - Peasants were won over by land distribution and rent control, which was a milder method to the previous encouraged killings of richer peasants. - Campaigns were undertaken to improve literacy and stamp out corruption. - Homes, schools and factories were created in cliff caves and huts. - Mao and the communist leadership undertook political decision making but peasants were encouraged to participate in 'revolutionary committees. - Mass meetings were held to increase the number of military recruits for the anti-Japanese struggle. - Mao spent this time writing several political and philosophical works. - In 1942 he held a series of rectification campaigns that encouraged people to confess 'crimes' that went against Mao's orders and beliefs. There were also regular self-criticism sessions at which people were encouraged to admit their doubts and secrets. Not speaking brought suspicion yet speaking too much could lead to demotion and punishment. - There was no outside press or radio communication and no letters were permitted to enter and exit the Yan'an Soviet.

Explain the strenghts and weaknesses of the GMD and the CCP in the civil war.

GMD Troops: The GMD army was larger and better equipped. They began the war with 2,800,000 troops, they had an air force, they were experienced in conventional fighting and were able to take initiative in the early stages. However, the troops were largely conscripts with low morale and poor training. CCP Troops: The communist military forces were reorganised to form one 'People's Liberation Army' (PLA). They had fewer troops than the nationalist (no more than 800,000 at the start of the war) were poorly equipped and had no aircraft. However, by 1948 the armies were roughly equal in size, they had soldiers trained as pilots, they were experienced in guerrilla warfare and had good morale and discipline. GMD Territory: They controlled most of the territory and population, including most large cities, most of the railway network and the main waterways at the outbreak of war. However, their control could depend on local warlords and the behaviour of some soldiers lost them support from local populations. CCP Territory: They had 19 base areas with their main base at Yan'an, yet from 1948 onwards they took cities, a key railway junction (Jinzhou) which gave them control of Manchuria, they controlled the whole of northern China including Beijing by January 1949 and most of the south and west during 1949. GMD Foreign Powers: They were recognised by other powers including the USSR as the legitimate government, they were given almost 3 billion US dollars in aid by the USA, they had military equipment and assistance provided and the Soviet Union signed a treaty of alliance and tried to curb Mao. However, the USA was critical of Jiang's style of rule and the Russian Red Army aided the PLA in the early stages. CCP Foreign Powers: The Soviet troops in Manchuria gave the PLA forces training to develop pilots etc and equipment at the outset. However, Stalin ordered that cities be given to the nationalists in November 1945 (although the PLA retained Harbin). Stalin also urged Mao not to send forces across the Yangtze River to the south in 1949 but Mao ignored him. GMD Popular Support: They had 10 years of experience running a one-party state, they used the police, the army and harsh reprisals to keep peasants in check. However, they were noted for their corruption, inefficiency, minimal reform, inflation and rationing. They also had a poor reputation in the struggle against the Japanese, they were reliant on wealthy businessmen and landlords and did not try to build up mass support. CCP Popular Support: They were supported by the peasantry who feared revenge if an area was recaptured by the GMD, had a good reputation from the struggle against the Japanese, kept troops restrained, took steps to control prices, used propaganda to win support. However, they only controlled Harbin and a few cities at the outset and dealt harshly with those who did not conform. GMD Leadership: Jian was experiences, hard-working, confident, ruthless and controlled military strategy. However he could be stubborn, inflexible, not good at delegation, a poor judge of character and relied on corrupt advisors. CCP Leadership: Mao inspired a personality cult, he inspired confidence and allowed field commanders to fight without interference. However he insisted on defending a pass between China and Manchuria in November 1945 which failed and was not good in dealings with foreign powers. GMD Military Factors: The GMD had early advantages and they took Yan'an in 1947 however they sent their best troops to Manchuria before establishing control of northern and central China, they lost Manchuria in early 1948, they did not allow retreats, generals were corrupt and incompetent, communication lines were long, the troops in cities had to be supplied by air and there were increased surrenders without fighting such as in Beijing in January 1949. CCP Military Factors: Guerrilla warfare maintained pressure and once men were trained in 1948 they began conventional warfare. In spring 1948 they retook Yan'an which was a psychological boost. Lin Biao organised the army, capturing transport links to isolate GMD forces in cities. However they initially had inferior equipment and numbers.

Outline some orthodox Marxist beliefs.

Progress would come through class struggle in which the landowners and bourgeoisie had to be overthrown. This would lead to the 'dictatorship of the proletariat' (or masses). There should be collective ownership of the means of production. Socialist states should promote worldwide communist revolution.

Explain the four mass mobilisation campaigns 1950 - 1952.

The resist America and aid Korea campaign 1950. Rallies were held to increase Chinese suspicion of foreigners, particularly westerners. People from the USA were singled out due to their involvement in Korea. Many foreigners, including missionaries, were arrested. Christian churches were closed and priests and nuns expelled. By the end of 1950 the country was closed to all foreigners except Russians, and institutions with links to the West were watched or closed down. The suppression of counter-revolutionaries campaign 1950 - 1951. This focused on links to the GMD, criminal gangs and religious sects. There were numbers of denunciations and public executions. The three antis campaign 1951. This was a campaign against corruption, waste and obstruction, and was directed against communists and non-communists. Managers, state officials, police and cadres were obliged to take part in struggle sessions. Humiliation and group pressure were employed to bring them in line. The five antis campaign 1952. This was a campaign against bribery, tax evasion, theft of state property, cheating in government contracts and economic espionage. Workers' organisations were invited to investigate employers' business affairs, forcing employers to provide self-criticisms and undergo 'thought reform'. The accused faced fines, property confiscations and periods in labour camps. If they confessed they were usually allowed to return to their work. Few were executed although around 2 to 3 million committed suicide due to the shame.