The Coming to Power of the Communists in China in 1949
The leadership of China at the beginning of the 20th Century was very different to how it is today. The Communists did not come to power without a long and bitter struggle against the many foes that came across their path between the time of their creation, in 1921, and their eventual success in 1949.
The Double Tenth Revolution of 1911 overthrew the emperor of China, as he was only a child and could not contain the ever-depleting condition of the nation. This happened before the creation of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but if it had not occurred then the CCP may not have achieved ultimate victory. If it had happened later in the
…show more content…
Both parties, although worlds apart, had a common foe that diminished the power the central government had; these enemies were the warlords. The warlords were powerful men who ran regions of China like independent nations. Each party on its own could not have defeated the warlords, who had their own armies and vigilante police forces, therefore the two parties had to team up and out their political views aside to defeat their adversaries.
After the success of the march north (1926), which saw all the warlords either defeated or surrendering, the CCP and the Nationalists parting company in the bloodiest of fashions. The Nationalists saw the return march through Shanghai as an opportunity to exterminate the ever-growing CCP army. The Nationalist army was ordered by leader Chiang Kai-shek to kill as many CCP soldiers as possible.
On face-value this may not seem like a reason for the eventual success of the CCP but the remaining Communists – and vitally leader Mao Zedong – fled to the countryside regions and formed their own state; the Jiangxi Soviet. The Communists in the Jiangxi area won the support of the peasants by their many changes and vast improvements to the region. Peasants were all given an equal share of land, and taxes on this land were lowered significantly. Other improvements to the public
Between the years of 1927 and 1949 in China two warring sides, China’s Communist Party and China’s Nationalist Party, clashed. Although the two parties had previously worked together in the United Front against Japan when Japan tried to invade, their temporary alliance was dropped as soon as the invasion was over. Halting only for a brief period when Japan attempted to invade a second time in 1936 to form the Second United Front, the two parties resumed fighting after the invasion was over in 1945, and only stopped hostilities when the Communist party drove out the Nationalist party to Taiwan and other islands. This war brought China into a new era under a communist government, the People’s Republic of China. Massive reform and change would
A communist leader, Mao Zedong led the Chinese Communist party while, Jiang Jieshi was the leader of a Nationalist Party. Also, Mao believed in Marx’s policy of Socialism. Communists won control of China; won the loyalty and support of the peasants by using propaganda. He led the Long March, where the communists ran away from the Nationalists for 6,000 miles across the
There can be no denying that the first half of the 20th century was such an important period in Chinese history. Within the span of 38 years, China overthrew two different national governments. In 1911, the Qing Dynasty was overthrown, and the Republic of China (ROC) took its place. In 1949, the People’s Republic of China would replace the ROC. Though both were revolutions, there were significant factors that differentiated the two.
The Chinese just like the Russian revolution both became communist governments in the end. In the positions that
At first these plans along with an extremely ingenious propaganda campaign stirred great optimism and productivity within the Chinese people, but as years went by the initial flare and excitement went out and few of these promises, reforms and goals had been reached. In some cases the promises were lies. The real actions of the Communist party showed quite a different picture than the lie of democracy that it was feeding the people. The new government never was a democratic one. As a matter of fact it was a dictatorship controlled by the China’s Communist Party (CCP). Throughout the years the communist government consistently and cruelly suppressed any attempts for the country’s democratization.
“The Party: The Secret World Of China’s Communist Rulers,” by Richard McGregor is a book which provides detailed insight into the Communist Party of China, revealing many of the secret underpinnings of how the party is run, and explores the question of how they have continued to stay in power for so long. While other strong socialist powers, such as the Soviet Union and Eastern Germany, fell at the end of the 20th century, the CPC was able to stay in control and ultimately come out of that period even stronger. In McGregor’s own words “the party picked itself up off the ground, reconstituted its armor and reinforced its flank. Somehow, it has outlasted, outsmarted, outperformed, or simply outlawed its critics, flummoxing the pundits who have predicted its demise at numerous junctures.” Instead of letting its own ideologies weaken its power, the CPC has continually adapted and transformed its policies and goals in order to maintain their stronghold over the nation. Through his impressive list of Chinese scholars and political contacts, McGregor is able to lay out the fundamental workings inside the Chinese government and the impressive actions they’ve taken to remain such a powerful organization.
Their Tactics. The Nationalist tactics played into the hands of the Communists who were able to make the most of the position they found themselves in at the end of the Second World War.
China has been a communist country since the communist revolution took place in 1949, since then China has been ruled by the dictator Mao Tse-Tung. However the Chinese dictator died in September 1976, he was hailed abroad as one of the worlds’ great leaders. Certainly one of the more impressive aspects of the Chinese communist government, has been the willingness of the people to protest against it (3, pg. 4).
On 1 October 1949, Mao Zedong, leader of the Chinese Communist Party declared victory over the Nationalist Party (Guomindang) and brought an end to four brutally long years of Civil War. The Communist victory in the Civil War has however, created significant debate among historians, namely: was a Communist victory inevitable and if so is it more sensible to see the Chinese Civil War as a Communist victory or as a Nationalist defeat?When researching these questions it becomes blatantly obvious that the Guomindang government led by Chiang Kai-Shek was riddled with problems and they are very much the cause of their own downfall. Widespread government corruption, spiraling inflation, loss of public confidence and intractable poverty are just a
It is clear that Mao’s initial goal was to gain power in China, which is demonstrated by his determination to overthrow Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang (KMT) via his idiosyncratic version of communist revolution. In order to do so, Mao utilised methods he deemed most suitable for the communists and, more broadly, Chinese society. For example, unlike his Marxist predecessors, Mao believed that peasants, not urban workers, were the key to rebellion in China. Subsequently, in 1926, he organised peasant unions
In 1949, after a long lasting contest for leadership, the Communists were able to gain power. In 1900, China was ruled by the Manchu dynasty, however less than in half a century a completely new government came into power. The Qing government had already been weak due to European countries because they gained great influence in China’s affair by using forces. They became so unpopular that people plotted to overthrow them. Despite the fact that the revolution of 1911 failed to overthrow them, it made the government collapse. People needed changes. But none of the leadership or the Party government could achieve what they promised in order to make the lives of people better in China. The Communist
Mao Zedong’s rise to political power as chairmen of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), was made possible by the failings of the GouMinDan (GMD). After the fall of the Qing dynasty, in 1911, China fell into disarray where warlords had power, rather than a national government. Sun Yat-sen began a nationalist group whose militaristic tacts allowed them to unite china under a singular party, the GMD. Despite many revolutionary promises very little positive changes were made by Chiang Kai-shek, who became leader of the GMD in 1925.However because of the party’s lack of political knowledge and poor socio-economic abilities the GMD’s rule was a failure. Mao used this to project his own ideology on China in the form of Maoism. Mao’s ability to take advantage of China’s bad situation allowed him to receive the support he required in order to rise to power.
Throughout the history of China, the civil strife in China had marked a significant event. With two parties established; the Nationalist known as Kuomintang (KMT) and the Communist known as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), conflicts between them began to erupt due to their difference in beliefs when CCP began to question to morality of democracy and capitalism. This led to the Chinese Civil War (1945-1949). Although many see that, “early in the civil war it looked as though the Nationalists might prevail. They controlled key cities, their well-equipped troops far outnumbered Communist troops, and they had support from the United States,” (Tamura 180) the outcome of the war was not what everyone thought to be due to many
Communism is a system of government, a political ideology that rejects private ownership and promotes a classless, stateless society based on common ownership of all property and the means of production, where by all work is shared and all proceeds are commonly owned. Communism is practised in China, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos and Cuba. However most of the world’s communist governments have been disbanded since the end of World War II. Soon after the Japanese surrendered at the end of World War II, Communist forces began a war against the Kuomintang in China. The Communists gradually gained control of the country and on the 1st October, 1949, Mao Zedong announced the victory of the Communist party and the establishment of the People's
In the current anarchic world, The United States acts as the global hegemon. However, China’s recent rise to power has lead international relations experts, Ikenberry, Mearsheimer, Subramanian, and Friedberg, to predict an upcoming power shift in the international system. China’s increasing control over the Asia-Pacific region has threatened U.S. power. According to Waltz, the realism paradigm interprets the anarchic structure of the international community, as a constant power struggle. Although each country may be different, to survive, they must all strive for power. Under the liberalism paradigm, the system is still anarchical but cooperation may be achieved by shared norms, and aligned political and economical interests.