the ccp 1951 - 52

• After the Civil War ended, the CCP gave everyone in China a 'class label', with red being 'friends of the revolution' and black being 'enemies of the revolution'.
• Enemies of the revolution:

  • landlords
  • richer peasants
  • counter-revolutionaries
  • criminals
  • supporters of capitalism ('rightists')
• Friends of the revolution:

  • poorer peasants
  • workers
  • soldiers of the PLA
  • families of the PLA soldiers
  • revolutionary activists
• Attacks on landlords, 1950

  • The CCP sped up land reforms by attacking landlords who refused to give their land to the peasants
  • whole villages were encouraged by the PLA to turn against their landlords
  • landlords were fined and had belongings confiscated
  • at least 1 million landlords were killed
• Campaign to suppress 'counter-revolutionaries', 1951

  • targeted opponents in the cities
  • people were accused of being counter-revolutionaries at mass public meetings, and many of them were sentenced to death
  • around 2% of the urban population was targeted, with thousands killed
  • the CCP banned groups which might challenge them, and attacked religious leaders
• Punishments for offenders:

  • tortured to get people to confess
  • large meetings were held where people were accused and publicly humiliated
  • if someone was sentenced to death, the executions were often carried out at the same meeting, in front of a crowd
  • many were sentenced to hard labour in prison camps
  • others lost their property or were fined
• Role of the Chinese people:

  • mao wanted his terror campaigns to be mass movements, meaning public trials and executions were advertised in newspapers and on the radio
  • ordinary people played a role in accusing landlords
  • there were thousands of suicides by people who were worried they might be accused of something
• The Three Anti's Movement (Sanfan), 1951

  • targeted CCP officials who had links to the old GMD government
  • three main problems targeted:
  • corruption
  • waste
  • government inefficiency
  • consequences of the movement:
  • 4 million people were investigated; 1 million were punished
  • caused major problems for government, such as tax not being collected in some areas
  • due to these problems, Mao was forced to end the movement after one month
• The Five Anti's Movement (Wufan), 1952

  • targeted wealthy Chinese capitalists who ran industry
  • businesses were raided and investigated by the CCP
  • aimed to get rid of capitalist thinking in China
  • five main problems targeted:
  • bribery, theft of government property, fraud, theft of government information, tax evasion
• Consequences of the Five Anti's Movement:

  • almost all of China's major companies were investigated
  • only 1% of those put on trial were sent to prison, many were fined
  • the fines caused many businesses to go bankrupt
  • business leaders became frightened by the campaign, and were more likely to listen to the government
  • the government gained more control over the economy