1 - Establishing Communist Control
Inherited Problems:
The aftermath of the civil war was a lot of success for Mao and the
Communists:
the success of the military was due to the tactics and loyalty of the
Chinese Army, as well as Mao’s reputation as a leader elevating.
Mao’s personal success was that he managed to get rid of all opposition,
as well gaining support from non-communists. Was pragmatic.
Short-term impacts included:
effects of the scorched-earth tactics, which meant the industrial output
fell.
output level at 25% pre-war and production fell by 30% due to peasants
fighting in the war.
Henan suffered a famine with 2-3 million dead.
Long-term impacts included:
no industrial revolution meant farming methods was very intensive.
agricultural output limited as only 15% of land was useable.
Manchuria was under Russian control.
Creation of new political leadership:
Mao controlled China using different methods, such as setting up a temporary
constitution, collaborating with non-GMD groups to destroy nationalist power,
and controlling all newspapers/press.
Pre-constitution of 1949 included:
the Common Program was the temporary constitution, as well as an
alliance between the peasants and workers.
CPPCC- made up of communist supporters, and had members from
minority groups.
Central People’s government was the new supreme date of body,
appointed by members of the CPPCC.
New constitution of 1954:
confirmed China as a communist country.
the new government was the National People’s Congress.
bureaucrats grew to 8 million.
repression against the 5 black categories continued.
The Communist Party was very important as part of the new leadership.
there was 5.8 million members by 1950.
Zhou Enlai was premier of the State council.
cadres were important, as they monitored the civil service, legal system,
schools and army at local level.
, the danwei was a work unit, led by a cadre. They issued permission to
travel, marry and change jobs.
The role of the PLA was very significant during the creation of leadership:
made up of 5 million men.
originally had 40% of state budget, but Mao decreased it so the PLA
wouldn’t be too powerful.
helped spreading propaganda and achieving Great Power status for
China.
Mao’s Role:
In 1943, he became party leader due to the rectification campaign.
Made head of the state and Party in 1949.
Collective leadership was used to create policies in theory – made Mao
pragmatic.
Was very good at debating, so he used this to exert power by winning them in
the Politburo.
The Mao Zedong Thought became the official party doctrine:
Nationalism: includes ideas of having national interest over ideology,
and not following the Russian system. Mao also didn’t want foreign
intervention.
Continuing Revolution: the belief that everyone should be part of the
revolution, and to look out and examine people’s and your own way of
thinking – led the 100 Flowers Campaign.
Listening to the People: Mao believed that Russia went wrong by not
listening to its people – also led to 100 Flowers Campaign.
Mass Mobilisation: large campaigns with specific targets was the new
way forward, and the enthusiasm of the people was more important than
the economy.
Mao also claimed to be democratic, but this can be easily argued otherwise:
Mao was democratic, as he did allow elections in towns and villages,
and there were the 4 classes who had freedom. Also followed the French
democracy system, which appealed to the West.
however, all elections were controlled by the CCP and political
decisions were made by the Politburo. The 5 black categories also
remained repressed.
Dealing with Opposition:
There were 3 reunification campaigns between 1949-50:
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