mao china

• Establishing communist rule 1949-57
• Aftermath of the civil war 1946-1949
• Situation in 1949


  • Favourable to communists
  • Bringing to an end the years of conflict generated goodwill towards the communists
  • Proven capable of a more effective organisation than nationalists which gave a cause for optimism in october 1949
• Mao


  • Made it clear that creating a communist society would be a long-term project
  • Worked with all people in society as it represented the middle class interest as well as the workers and peasants
• Mao


  • Civil war had greatly strengthened his position at the top of the party
  • His reputation as a military commander had been elevated by the way he supervised the successful transition from guerrilla tactics to open warfare
  • He was regarded as the new architect of china
  • He had devoted loyalty to the chinese army (PLA)
• Mao intended to use his power to restore stability in china and to make political opposition impossible
• Mao understood the value of broadening his support system by cultivating public support amongst the peasants
• State of china's industry, agriculture and national infrastructure
• Immediate impact of the war
• Chinese economy


  • Had been crippled by 12 years of war
  • By 1936 china was recovering well from the great depression but the focus on the war from 1937 onwards set the economy back
• Industrial output


  • Dropped because the Japanese seized the most productive areas
  • Japanese bombing raids caused serious damage to chinese industries
  • Production fell further due to scorched-earth tactics
  • In 1945 china's industrial output stood at only 25% of its pre war level
• Agriculture


  • Disruption caused by conscription of peasants to fight in the rival armies
  • Displacement of thousands of people fleeing to escape the japanese
  • Food production was 30% lower than the start of the war in 1937
  • Wartime food requisitioning was necessary to feed both the army and the city
  • 20% of the population lived in the cities and relied on surpluses from the countryside but even they struggled to feed themselves
• GMD


  • Paid for the war by borrowing money and printing money
  • Hyperinflation stood at 1000% which made matters worse for the CCP
• Long term situation
• China in 1949


  • Predominantly an agricultural country producing mainly rice, wheat and oilseed crops
  • Farming methods were labour-intensive and were only using basic levels of mechanisation relying on horse and man-power
  • Only 15% of chinese land was cultivable meaning agricultural increase was limited
  • Modernisation became increasingly necessary by 1949
  • More people were moving to the cities and therefore increasing the demand for food
  • Total population was increasing vastly even with 20 million deaths from the war growing annually (541 million in 1949 -> 563 million in 1951 -> 587 million in 1953)
• Lack of industrial development in china was a pressing problem as china had not yet experienced an industrial revolution despite having the right factors to do so such as plentiful raw materials, a huge labour force and a source of power
• Economic infrastructures were seriously under developed and was reduced further by bombing raids and lack of maintenance between 1937 and 1949
• 1954 Constitution and increasing bureaucracy
• 1954 new constitution


  • China confirmed communist country
  • Based on 1936 soviet constitution
  • The National People's Congress created a new legislator and the state council took over the function of the central people's government
  • Although heavy referencing of democratic terms and promising elections the Communist party retained control of the electoral process
  • Real power remained in the highest party bodies where decisions were taken before being endorsed by the state bodies
• China's administrative divisions


  • 6 regions now divided into 21 provinces, five autonomous border regions and two urban centres
• Growth of bureaucracy


  • From 720,000 in 1949 to nearly 8 million ten years later
  • Growth of bureaucrats scared Moa as he saw the bureaucratisation of Russia, which he saw as bureaucrats more concerned with preserving the status quo to maintain careers slowing down the revolution
• The role of the communist party
• CCP officials


  • Always held the key posts in both the state and the army
  • The collective leadership of the Party was in theory meant to decide on new policies in the Politburo, but Mao soon became too powerful to oppose
  • When Mao stood down as head of state in 1958, he kept his position as Chairman of the Party because he knew that was where the real power lay
• Party membership


  • Restricted to those who could prove their commitment
  • Out of a population of about 500 million, there were around 4.5 million Party members in October 1949, and by the end of 1950, there were 5.8 million members
• Party cadres


  • Played key roles in making sure that the civil service, schools, legal system and army at local level were being performed to Mao's standard
  • Mass participation in Party groups was encouraged so that ordinary people played a positive role and could identify the Party's causes and aims
  • Every employed citizen belonged to a work unit called a 'danwei' that was led by a Party cadre. The danwei issued permits to travel, marry and change jobs
• The role of the PLA
• PLA


  • Joined a special place in communist mythology, epitomising revolutionary values of discipline, self-sacrifice and perseverance against the odds
  • World's largest army of 5 million men in 1950 -> consumed over 40% of the states budget -> reduced to 3.5 million by 1953 and 2.5 million in 1957
  • Became more professional, more technically advanced and less egalitarian with different pay scales between defined ranks
  • Drew up a new code of conduct in 1956 stressing the idea of helping peasants on collective farms
  • After 1949 the PLA remained important to the PCR and acted as a means of indoctrination supervising 800,000 young conscripts who were recruited each year for three-year terms
• Mao's dominant position within government
• Mao


  • Became party leader in 1943 as a result of the Rectification Campaign
  • In October 1949, Mao was made head of the state, as well as the Party, by his appointment as chair of the Central People's Government
  • Although these posts gave him significant power, due to collective leadership, the Party was responsible for policy
  • There were occasions when he had difficulties with his colleagues and he had frequent disputes over agricultural change
• Mao's main ideas


  • Nationalism
  • Continuing Revolution
  • Listening to the people
  • Mass mobilisation
• The growth of democratic centralism
• Democratic centralism


  • At the lowest level, there were elections to village and town councils and these continued up through the system, as delegates from the lower bodies were sent to represent people higher up
  • The entire process was controlled by the CCP so the democratic element was only theoretical
  • Political decisions were made at the top level by senior officials who claimed to take into account the best intentions of the people
  • Mao's power became greater but he also became more insecure as the more power claim he was able to grasp the more he feared of losing it
• The reunification campaign 1949-1950
• Campaigns


  • Guangdong - GMD heartland during the last months of the Civil War -> no efforts to defend it -> capitulated to the PLA
  • Xinjiang - The westernmost province of china, which Russians developed as a potential buffer zone against Japan's expansion in WW2 -> 80% of the population were Uyghurs (Most of whom were Sunni Muslim), through conquest and negotiations the nationalist opposition in this area was subdued by the Communist Party
  • Tibet - The PLA invaded in October 1950, it took 6 months but was very easy for China to take over -> In May 1951 the PRC began a prolonged campaign to destroy Tibetan culture by bringing in large numbers of Han settlers to promote a Chinese lifestyle
• Use of terror against opponents
• Labelling


  • Every individual was given a 'class label' that specified their family background, status and occupation
  • Good Classes - Revolutionary cadres, revolutionary soldiers, revolutionary martyrs, industrial workers and poor and lower- middle peasants
  • Middle Classes - Petty bourgeoisie, middle peasants and intellectuals/professionals
  • Bad Classes - Landlords, rich peasants and Capitalists
• Crackdown on crime


  • The police were ordered to remove a whole range of petty criminals and nuisances by relocating them to the countryside or locking them away
  • Beggars and prostitutes were particularly targeted
• Suppression of counter revolutionaries

  • Severe measures against disloyal elements were seen as justifiable and necessary to establish full control
  • Tao Zhu (The Tank) was dispatched to Guangxi on the Vietnam border in order to clampdown all communist opponents
  • Luo Ruiqing, the head of security in Beijing pressured the leader of Hubei to step up the killing
  • Mao suggested that the killing roughly one every 1000 of the local population in each area was an accessible target
  • There were so many arrests that there was a bottleneck in the prisons, and arrests had to stop until sufficient numbers had been executed to create more place inside them
  • Terror claimed a fewer lives in the cities because urban professionals were still needed
• The 'three antis' and 'five antis movements 1951-52
• Three antis movement


  • Launched at the end of the year targeting corruption, waste and delay in the government and party
  • This was a catalyst for the arrest in november of Zhang Zishan and Liu Qingshan which were two leading members of the CCP hierarchy and were charged with embezzling sums of money from the party
  • Bo-Yibo was the coordinator of the clean up campaign using methods such as mass meetings were held at which the managers and officials were denounced by their work colleagues
  • Those found guilty were forced to issue humiliating confessions