The incompetence of the Provisional Government (PG) and the Guomindang (GMD) made a considerable contribution to the outbreak of revolution in Russia (Oct 1917) and China (1949). Both the PG and GMD were relatively new forms of government placed in power to resolve longstanding issues such as low standards of living and significant needs for reform. As a result, Russia had removed its Tsarist system in February earlier that year and China also expelled its dynastic system to become a Republic in 1911. However, Economic mismanagement and a nonexistent progression in reform made control by these governments questionable as their lack of action resurrected a desire for revolution for a second time. The shortcomings of the PG and GMD were …show more content…
Furthermore, other changes sought by Russians promised under the PG were not met such as food and supply shortages. In China, the situation was quite similar, after gaining power the primary goal of the government changed to maintaining it and “the comfortable and profitable positions that came with it.” (Grasso & Corrin) Land reform was also disregarded by the government in China, many new taxes were introduced such as kettle tax, grain transport tax, roof tax and road maintenance tax (Lynch). Furthermore, the same struggles for food were seen in China as some resorted to “eating the bark from trees.” Chinese peasants were also terrorised under ruthless warlords such as Zhang Zongzhang, whom “took a pathological delight in terrorising the population.” (Lynch) This was compounded in China by the fact that the GMD dissolved workers unions such as the Chinese League for the protection of Civil Rights and disallowed the formation of workers unions unless they were heavily controlled by the government, having the effect of creating mounting discontent towards the GMD. Despite these similarities the GMD went further than the PG by resorting to taking out loans in order to finance their party rather than industrial and economic growth. For that reason, “China remained [even more] hopelessly backward compared with modern industrial powers.” (Grasso & Corrin) Together discontent with government generated
The cause of the revolution begins during the first alliance between the CCP and the GMD in the Goumindang Congress. After the death of Sun Yat-sen, tensions steadily began rise between the CCP and the GMD for the direction of China. Mutual distrust would eventually lead to the 1927 Shanghai massacre and other massacres of communists by the GMD during the Northern expedition (Schoppa, pg.196-197). After their devastation, the CCP retreated to the rural villages of China to escape the GMD. At this point, the CCP began to recruit peasants with communist ideolog and encouraging them to attack the “local tyrants, the evil gentry and the lawless landlords” (Mao Zedong: “Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan”).
It couldn’t effectively deal with the tax collection, flood control, social welfare, and public security. (Original: p. 565; With Sources: p. 883)
This document shows how living conditions and independence did not improve for landowners. Landowners only lost their land and homes. It wasn’t fair how low classes were able to make more money when landowners couldn’t have better living conditions. Document 9 by an unknown person who was an economist made a line graph for people interested in China’s GDP to see how China’s GDP was at that time. This line graph shows how the quality of people’s life wasn’t improving because there wasn’t any jobs for them. The economy was very weak since there wasn’t enough jobs. Factories didn’t improve either they stayed the same because of the value of the materials. People couldn’t afford things because since there wasn’t jobs they didn’t have enough money to be able to buy things. The Communist China notes talks about the Great Leap Forward. The Great Leap Forward began from 1958 and ended in 1960. During 1959 through 1961 about 50 million people died of starvation. Mao forced people to work and it
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.
The Chinese just like the Russian revolution both became communist governments in the end. In the positions that
Many factors such as, growing liberalization, economic disparities, and inflations. led to the protests. During Mao Ze Dong's leadership, the Chinese government collectivized industries and agriculture. After his death, his successor Deng Xiao Ping implemented the Gai Ge Kai Fang policy, de-collectivizing industries and agriculture. (Huenemann 2017) This policy also allowed citizens greater freedom. Some academics even received encouragement from the government to take an active political stance. (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica) Following the privatization of agriculture and industries, China experienced great economic growth. Unfortunately, this also caused the rate of corruption, and economic disparities to surge. China also experienced price inflations as it
Mao Zedong, the leader of China during the third quarter of the 20th century, organized two movements in his country in an attempt to develop China 's economy through the establishment of communism. Through The Great Leap Forward, Mao planned to change the layout of the Chinese economy by forcing collectivism on his country and implementing other ways to speed up production. Since this movement failed, he then implemented The Cultural Revolution. It consisted of the same goals but was carried out through violence and was also an utter failure. These two movements failed because of the lack of organization with which they were performed. This lack of organization manifested itself in a number of different ways. The government did not care about their people, the reforms themselves were not planned out in detail, the government did not think about the spontaneity of young people, they did not consider the effect violence would have on their country, they did not realize the decline in education that would result from the participation of students in the revolution, they did not plan well economically, they did not examine the negative effects of communes, and they did not foresee the large number of deaths that would plague their country. Although designed to rapidly increase China 's economic growth through communism, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution had the opposite effects and significantly diminished China 's economy. The two direct causes of the failure
BIBLIOGRAPHYBarnett, A. (1965), 'Multiple factors', in Pichon Loh (ed.) 'The Kuomintang Debacle of 1949: Conquest or Collapse?' D.C. Heath & Company, BostonBianco, Lucien. (1971), 'Origins of the Chinese Revolution, 1915-1949' Stanford University Press, StanfordChang, Carsun. (1965), 'Chiang Kai-shek and Kuomintang dictatorship', in PichonLoh (ed.) 'The Kuomintang Debacle of 1949: Conquest or Collapse?' D.C. Heath& Company, BostonChang, Kia-Ngua. (1965) 'War and Inflation' in Pichon Loh (ed.) 'T
The Communist fervor that gripped mainland China under Mao Zedong’s rule had lasting effects on the economy and culture. In particular, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution devastated rural and peasant populations, leading to fatal consequences for a large portion of the chinese demographic. The Great Leap Forward was an attempt at socializing the chinese economy almost ten years after the People's Republic of China was established in 1949. Property and businesses were stripped from private owners by the government and given to community leaders to run with the help of community members. Unfortunately, revolutionary passion blinded community leaders and the government. The former over reported food production while the latter continued to support a failing economic structure and policy. This lead to the Great Chinese Famine, and a decline in economic productivity and revolutionary zeal. The Great Cultural Revolution was meant to reinvigorate the revolutionary spirit. Launched several years after the failure of the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution targeted the youth. A successful propaganda campaign mobilized groups of mostly disadvantaged youth (red guards) and the working class to purge those antithetical to the movement. Millions were killed in the resulting class warfare which targeted capitalists, rightists, and landlords. The effects of these influential events are still explored in modern chinese cinema many years after their occurrence. An
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
Mao’s strength and superior methods allowed to him to exploit the weaknesses of the GMD government. Mao believed that a permanent, two-stage revolution derived from the peasants was a key aspect. Thus the support of the peasants was crucial success to any political party and Mao’s strategy for winning their support was discipline and land reform. He believed rent reduction must be the result of mass struggle, not a favour from the government and the policy of
As public services such as health and education suffered under the GMD and living conditions in rural areas worsened, civilians rapidly joined the Communist party. Many soldiers who fought for the Nationals changed sides and began fighting for communism. The essential focus of Mao’s revolution revolved solely around the peasants who made up 85% of the population. His new land reforms meant taking land from rich landlords and dividing it amongst poorer peasants. Mao also introduced national health care as 95% of individuals in China had never seen a doctor
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).
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.
In 1949 a powerful communist leader by the name of Mao Zedong came to power based on his idea for a, “Great Leap Forward.” This idea was meant to bring China’s economy into the twentieth century. He had assembled a revolutionary government using traditional Chinese ideals of filial piety, harmony, and order. Mao's cult of personality, party purges, and political policies reflect Mao's esteem of these traditional Chinese ideals and history. However, the product of this revolution created a massive national shortage in vital materials and initiated a wide scale famine to China’s people (Gabriel).