May Fourth and the Balance of Socialism in China
This essay examines the acceptance of communalism in China amidst all the challenges that contributed and moulded it. These challenges include anarchism, communism and New Village Movement. After the end of World War 1 and subsequent collapse of the Qing dynasty, the May fourth era was a time when China seemed intimidated by social war resulting from inequalities of modernization and imperialism from abroad. The Chinese intellectuals were opposed to the use of force to reject globalization but rather they wanted the Chinese society to embrace modernity and study foreign ideas, for example, foreign literature, western science, religion and democracy.
At the end of World War One there was an increased threat of a world wide revolution Vladimir Lenin who was the head of the Soviet Union prophesized “Only the ones who close their eyes to avoid seeing, and stuff their ear to avoid listening can fail to notice that there is a worldwide birth of pangs of the old capitalist mixed with socialism is spreading” people everywhere were waiting for a revolution that would once and for all end the capitalist system that had dominated the world. In the western nations tension was growing, for example, the strikes in Seattle and the political revolution that took place in Germany.
China also was not left out in this worldwide shift, and between the years of 1918 and 1922 the country saw the young and the educated publish numerous
The cultural revolution is a strange period in Chinese history laced with intense struggle and anguish. The cultural revolution mobilized the all of society to compete for all opposing factions that they belonged to (Ong, 2016). Mao mobilized the young people of society during a background of political turmoil, which helped Mao to mobilize the students in order to enforce his political legitimacy and ideas (Ong, 2016). Mao’s charismatic authority created his personality cult and most defiantly leant a helping hand in mobilizing the red guard movement (Ong, 2016) (Weber, 1946) (Andreas, 2007). No matter which faction of the red guard they belonged to, they all mobilized against their common enemy; the better off, upper class. (Ong, 2016). Multiple ideologies within the youth led red guard movement explain why the movement gained momentum and became incredibly powerful (Walder, 2009).
Quotes like Winston Churchill’s have become part of the political rhetoric when leaders discuss the idea of socialism. In current events you can see the exact same argumentation being used against legislation such as the Affordable Health Care Act. Conservative talking heads such as Bill O’Reilly equate it to socialism because, as Mr. O’Reilly says himself, “[i]n order to provide for the have nots, the far left wants the federal government to seize the assets of solvent Americans. That’s what ObamaCare [the Affordable Health Care Act] is all about — taking from those who can afford health care to provide for those who cannot” (O’Reilly). This simplification of socialism does not do justice to the actual paradigm itself. Instead, in this paper I will try to refute our current idea of socialism because of a lack of understanding. The explanations and descriptions by Michael W. Doyle in his chapters on Marxist and Leninist socialism paints a picture that allows one to see how socialism could be beneficial to the common man while also critiquing the negative myths held by modern society.
The Chinese communist party had a great influence on the peasants, this sparked a sense of nationalism between the two classes this is shown in documents 1 and 2. Mao Zedong stated in document 1 that “peasants will rise like a mighty storm” and that “they will smash all chains that bind them and rush forward along the road to liberation”. Here Zedong’s tone is intimidating and determined. Zedong shows confidence in the peasants and their abilities
Originally, Liang’s “parents were deeply involved in all the excitement of working to transform China into a great Socialist country” (4). Over a serious of unfortunate events, though, he became the child of a “Rightist’s cap” mother and a “Reactionary Capitalist stinking intellectuals” father (9, 51). Impacted by the shattering of his family and horrific bloodshed created by fighting, Liang Heng began to question the Cultural Revolution. He claimed that his “family had scarified so much… but it had given [them] nothing in return” (148). Liang Heng presents his shift in ideology to demonstrate that most Chinese were no longer in support of a Communist nation. His “troubles were common enough and anyone could see there was a discrepancy between the glorious words of the newspapers and [their] painful reality (232). Even Liang Heng’s father, after many years of devotion, found that he could no longer defend the Party’s policies after he experienced the ill-treatment of the peasants in the country
A conversation between a teenage peasant and his grandfather explained some of the goods that communism had brought to the Chinese. From the grandfather’s point of view, Communism had brought nothing but greatness to the Chinese state, but at the time period such claims would often be argued, thus building tension.(DOC 2). With the prevalent tension and the armed peasants it led to a mass reform during this period. An Addition document that may help in this would most definitely be a journal from a pro Communism and anti Communism to see the variety of views on the group.
Urban workers and peasants followed suit and complained about how they are poor and hungry for more land. The First World War played a crucial role in bringing down the Tsardom regime in February because of their military failures, failure to make political reforms and the role of the Tsarina and Rasputin. The Ideological appeal of Lenin and Bolshevism, and role of Lenin (appeal of radical alternative, charismatic and dynamic leader, taking advantage of crisis situation in Russia in 1917. Lenin's political ideas attracted widespread support among the Russian people. On 16th of April 1917, Lenin held a speech called the April Theses. The speech called for a World wide socialist revolution, land reform to peasants, the immediate end to WW1 and the immediate end to cooperation with Provisional Government and urged Soviets to take power. Lenin also revised Karl Marx ideas, which claimed that Russia was not ready for a revolution. The ideas in the speech were made into simple but effective and radical slogans such as "all power to the soviets" or "bread, peace and Land". These slogans attracted a lot of support for the Bolsheviks, as they appealed to the workers. They provided
In 1917 a great revolution would collapse Russia’s monarchy and extend the color of red throughout the world. During this time, Leon Trotsky and Vladimir Lenin were instrumental in causing the grand collapse of the Russian government and the reformation into a communist state. The Russian revolution changed the world when it happened and I believe it changed the people of Europe after it occurred.
As many other countries around the world China has its long history of a struggle for equality and prosperity against tyrants and dictatorships. The establishment of People’s Republic of China in 1949 seemed to have put an end to that struggle for a better life. “The Chinese people have stood up!” declared Mao Tse-tung, the chairman of China’s Communist Party (CPP) – a leading political force in the country for the time. The people were defined as a coalition of four social classes: the workers, the peasants, the petite bourgeoisie and the national-capitalists. The four classes were to be led buy the CPP, as the leader of the working class.
The outbreak of World War One changed the holy alliance. When these alliances were still intact, they had a common enemy of communism. When war erupted, the countries turned against each other, and that betrayal led to the rise of communism. Also, World War I left Europe in shambles which allowed communism to sink in. The working class expanded during the war which opened the door for reform. The war weakened most countries, in which many people saw the door open for control. The civilians became mad at their leaders and wanted reform because the best option they saw was Karl Marx’s idea of communism. The people began to see reason in Marx’s communist ideas because the war had devastated them.
The logistical system through which all goods and services are distributed and carried out is of concern to everyone within it. In the United States, through our esteemed representative democracy, we stifle this concern by giving the citizen a choice between two right-wing, capitalist parties. As a nation our propaganda attacks one-party states, but is this only to accentuate the difference between us and them? Is it truly better to be given the choice between two parties over just one to a citizen whose policies do not fall anywhere between, or is it an example of a failure of our education system to curtail the free thought of an individual to the extent where their political ideals cannot be labeled as “liberal” or “conservative?” Socialism
China has been in a state of revolution and reform since the Sino-Japanese war of 1895. As a result of Japan’s victory over Russia in 1905, China’s constitutional reform movement gathered momentum. This forced the Manchu government by public opinion to make gestures of preparation for a constitutional government, an act to which reformers in exile responded enthusiastically by establishing a Political Participation Society (Cheng-wen-she) (1, pg.84).
Furthermore, the Marxist revolutionary government of Communist China dealt with Confucianism negatively. “In the early 20th century, both before and after the fall of the Qing dynasty, Confucianism was harshly criticized by the New Culture Movement. (Adler 6)” The assumption of this movement was that “virtually everything about China’s traditional culture was holding it back from becoming a modern nation-state.” In fact, Confucianism was high on the list of culprits in this “blanket rejection” of traditional China. “The New Culture Movement criticized Confucianism for its age and gender-based hierarchies, which had become quite rigid during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Communist thinkers also joined this anti-Confucian trend, so by the time of the Communist victory in 1949 Confucianism in mainland China seemed virtually dead. (Adler 7)” “After the Communists took power their anti-Confucian rhetoric only increased. In addition to their professed opposition to social hierarchies, they viewed Confucianism as a feudal ideology. (Adler 8)”
Nationalism has become a major part of the Chinese Communist Party’s agenda to success and continued rule as it struggles to keep its legitimacy in China. Nationalism to an extent also shapes China’s international relations. This essay will first define what nationalism means for China by providing some background information to explain its rise, as well as the role that the ‘national humiliation’ narrative plays in it. It will also discuss the role of the patriotic education system and differentiate between state and popular
Socialism Socialism is a type of economic system, a political movement, and a social theory. Socialism is based on the idea that governments should own and control a nation's resources rather than individuals. Socialism was first used to describe opposition to the free enterprise and market economies. The Industrial Revolution was the cause of many social problems. Long work hours, low pay, and poor working conditions caused Americans to first consider socialism.
The Industrial Revolution was the quintessence of capitalistic ideals; it bred controversy that led to Karl Marx’s idea of communism as a massive grass roots reaction to the revolution’s social abuses. Firstly, the Industrial Revolution featured the construction of machines, systems and factories that allowed goods to be manufactured at a faster rate with a lower cost. The seed drill made it so there could be “a semi-automated, controlled distribution and plantation of wheat seed”(Jones 2013). Secondly, there was a great social and economic divide between the wealthy owners and the poor workers, which gave rise to the mass’s vulnerability to the advent of extreme socialism. Figures of authority severely oppressed their employees by giving them insufficient pay, a treacherous work environment, and even making some children work more than 12 hours per day (Cranny 150). Finally, far right capitalism created a brutal boom and bust cycle of economics that made, for the multitude at the bottom, a perpetual nightmare of poverty and death. People responded to this social situation by taking part in violent protests; oppression sires rebellion. The Industrial Revolution was the chassis of great imagination and progress of political, economic, and social force that still affects this world today.