Political

• Chinese Communist Party (CCP)


  Won the Civil War and gained control of China in 1949
• Issues faced by CCP in 1949

  • Continued Nationalist threat
  • Administrative & economic chaos
  • Lawlessness
  • Lack of infrastructure, transport & expertise
• CPPCC (Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference)


  1. Set up

  2. Common Program agreed until formal constitution in 1954

  3. Democratic Centralism - political freedom until decision made
• 3 inter-woven strands to Communist Government in China

  • PLA (People's Liberation Army)
  • CCP (Chinese Communist Party)
  • State
• PLA


  • Mao-headed Military Affairs Commission
  • Role in reunification campaigns, Korean War, regional bureaux, suppression of opponents, economy
  • Conscription law 1955
• CCP


  • Mao Chairman
  • Standing Committee (5)
  • Politburo (25)
  • Central Committee (49)
  • National People's Congress
• State


  • Mao Head of State (President)
  • Zhou Premier
  • 24 Ministries
  • Large bureaucracy (8 million by 1959)
• Defeating opponents


  1. Suppressing 'counter-revolutionaries' - March 1950

  2. Three Antis campaign - 1951, targeted corruption, waste, inefficient bureaucracy by imprison or executed

  3. Five Antis campaign - 1952, targeted bribery, tax evasion, theft of property and economic info, middle classes by struggle meetings, tiger beaters, denunciation boxes, suicides
• Reunification campaigns


  1. Tibet - Dalai Lama threat, Tibetan language & culture attacked, Han migration

  2. Taiwan - Nationalists (GMD) fled, set up ROC

  3. Xinjiang - Uighurs targeted, resistance crushed by PLA

  4. Guangdong - 28,000 nationalist executed, southern province
• Laogai


  • Prison/labour camps
  • 1.3 million inmates by 1955
  • Poor conditions, used as slave labour
• Hundred Flowers Campaignreasons


  1. Desire for intellectual support with economic policies

  2. Remove bureaucrats

  3. Distance from Stalin

  4. Mao invited criticisms
• Korean War


  • Increased CCP control
  • Resist America, Aid Korea
  • Opponents targeted, rumours of biological warfare
  • Patriotism - not defeated by UN troops, PLA heroes, patriotic efforts
  • International prestige - West seen as 'Paper Tigers'
  • Relations with West soured, need to contain communism
  • Relations with USSR reliant for aid and advice
  • Loss of 400,000 men (including Mao's son)
• Class enemies


  • Christian
  • Western businessman
  • Missionaries
  • National sympathisers
  • Academics (foreign)
• Hundred flower campaign events

  2 May 1956 - 'let a 100 flowers bloom, let 100 schools contend' -No response because people feared being counter revolutionary and cadres feared being targeted -Editor of the People's Daily didn't support + 'shit or get off the pot' -Feb 1957 - try again, speech played and told cadres to encourage intellectuals -Response = compared Auschwitz to laogai, economic inequality and elitist class still existed, posters of failure of freedom of art and expression, "throw chairman Mao's portrait in the toilet"
• Counter revolutionary

  Counter revolutionary - March 1950 Attacked class enemies: nationalists and academics accused of espionage, Christian missionaries arrested for being imperial agents, western businessmen had their property taken.

  Self registration was created

  Decree Feb 1951 - 'regulation regarding punishment of counter revolutionary'
• Hundred flowers campaign consequences

  • Students storm party HQ and tie up officials
  • June 1957 - "weeds amongst fragrant flowers" and Hu Feng criticising CCP
  • Anti rightist campaign - 5% of Danweis must be purged, 400,000-700,000 intellectuals sent to laogai and loyal communist Ding Ling denounced