Authoritarian states: Mao's rise to power 1949

The First United Front

- 1924 CCP & GMD formed alliance - ideologies different but both wanted to defeat the warlords, impossible alone -> CCP gained thousands of members - 1925 Chiang Kaishek leader of GMD after Sun Yatsen's death, suspicious of CCP - Mao increasingly active, seen as peasant leader against warlords & landlords by peasants

Japanese full scale invasion of China

- 1937, set up government in Nanjing -> China in very bad state - 1941 GMD ending United Front + GMD weakend by corruption - Helped CCP gain power, controlling most of countryside when war over as GMD forces spread too thinly

The weakening of GMD

- 1941 GMD ending United Front + GMD weakend by corruption - Chiang increasingly dictatorial, use of secret police and torture - Economy declining -> hyperinflation & raised taxes -> Mao more moral credibility

Repression during Yanan period

- 1942 Rectification campaigns - removal of potential opposition - Strict censorship -> Yanan isolated - Self-criticism sessions, encouraging ppl to critic but punished if said too much - 1943 leadership cult emerging

Chinese Civil War

- 1945-1946 - Beginning CCP outnumbered by GMD, GMD better equipped + US & USSR support - 1948 shift due to CCP guerilla tactics + foreign weaponry - CCP popular support: troops disciplined & propaganda effective - Forceful control of peasantry - Chiang Kaishek strategic mistakes

Mao Zedong gained power

- 1949 - Chiang Kaishek fled to Taiwan

Mao's Ideology

- Mao argued, in contrary to Marx, peasant's able to overthrow feudalism & create socialist society - 2-stage revolution vs Marx 1-stage - 1940: "On New Democracy" published - Chinese communist movement national, not class -> United fight against Japanese

Conditions in China before 1911

- conservative nation, emperor supreme ruler - Confucian values: accept social order without complaint - feudal, majority peasants + wealthy landlords, ruling class and aristocracy - presence of foreign imperialists -> resentment against Qing dynasty -> rebellions e.g Boxer Rebellion 1898-1900 -> revolutionary uprising

How did Mao win the peasants' support?

- land distribution & rent controls - campaigns to remove corruption & improve literacy -> Support from national buorgeoisie, petite buorgeoisie & industrial workers

Japanese invasion effect on support for Mao

- nationalist stance wanting to get rid off intruders -> popular support 1937 CCP 40 000 -> 1945 1.2 million

1911 Revolution

- revolutionary conspiracy -> Oct 1911 Qing dynasty fell -> Feb 1912 Republic of China - weak and divided

Establishment of the People's Republic of China

1 October 1949

The warlord period

1916-1927 - Republic collapses as no effective central government present, power in hands of warlords - war between warlords -> tough condition for peasants: high taxes, looting - anarchy -> easy for outsiders to interfere

Emergence of Mao and CCP

1921 Chinese Community Party (CCP) formed - Mao Zedong one of its delegates

Northern Expedition

1926-28 - led by Chian Kaishek - rapid advances against warlords, success also through brokered deals - communist activism played crucial role -> tensions in alliance, also power struggle within GMD

The White Terror

1927 - Kaishek reassert his authority by using military force to purge communist organizations in Shanghai, followed with violence in Wuhan & Hunan - union members & communists killed - End of United Front - Established government in Nanjing 1928

The Jiangxi Soviet

1927-1934 - Mao survived White Terror, retreated with CCP forces to Jiangxi mountains - established Jiangxi Soviet territory - Red Army developed strong guerilla force - Mao dedicated to peasant revolution, contrary to Comintern & CCP, often defying their orders

The Futian Incident

1930 - 4000 Red Army troops tortured & executed on Mao's order, seen as rebels plotting against him - treatment of opposition shown

Japanese invasion of Manchuria

1931 - Consolidated power through puppet ruler Puyi - Chiang Kaishek busy fighting communists -> CCP Second United front 1937, Chiang forced to agree after being put house arrest

The Long March

1934-35 - GMD weakened by Japanese invasion in Manchuria, however persistent on exterminating communists - 1934 GMD forces encircled Jiangxi Soviet, aiming to starve CCP into defeat - CCP defeat, Mao relegated from leadership -> CCP troops fled to Yanan, 11 000km away -> inspiring legend, showing CCP resilience

Yanan period

1935-45 - Mao imposing authority through political & military skills + violent repression -> survived internal power struggle & need of rebuilding CCP support & military - template for success against Japanese & GMD

May Fourth Movement

A 1919 protest in China against the Treaty of Versailles and foreign influence, as Shandong wasn't given back even though help in WWI - paved way for emergence of CCP

Mass line

Economic policy of Mao Zedong; led to formation of agricultural cooperatives in 1955; cooperatives became farming collectives in 1956. - CCP cadres live with peasants -> relation + show strong role of party -> gained support