Mao and Chinese Communism to 1934

Jesse, Alex and Rob

The CCP

• The Chinese Communist Party• Established in 1921, led by Chen Duxiu, but heavily advised by Russian

Comintern.• Mao was an early recruit of the party, attracting attention for building

party membership in his home area of Hunan• It grew rapidly, by 1926 it had 30,000 members, however still

comparably a minority party.• With the advice of the Russians, it worked closely with the Guomindang

(GMD).• Chen Duxiu (1879-1942) was a radical intellectual who was involved in the May 4th movement in 1919. He was the general secretary of the CCP (1921-27) until he broke away to join an opposition group.

Mao’s Early Life

Born 26th December 1893

The United Front with the GMD

• The USSR pressured the GMD and the CCP to align as they felt the communist party alone was not strong enough to complete a revolution

• In the 1922 congress of the CCP it was agreed to seek a temporary alliance to combat warlords

• In 1923 it was agreed the communists could not only cooperate with the GMD but actually join the party – this included Mao Zedong

• Goal of unifying the republic• Coalition only held together by common enemies• Alliance weakened after the death of Sun Yatsen in 1925• United front ended in 1927 after tensions reached breaking point

The Shanghai Massacre1927

• 12 April 1927 - sometimes referred to as ‘The April 27th Incident’• Violent suppression of communists party organisations in Shanghai• Chiang agreed to withdraw to Nanjing, leaving his army under the control of

Bai Chongxi• Du Yuesheng’s Green Gang attacked the union strongholds • Most important union leader had previously been invited for dinner and

invited to change sides, when refused he was beaten and subsequently buried alive

• Du’s men and nationalist troops killed, shot, beheaded and tortured many• Official death toll at 400 for the day• American journalist, Edgar Snow put it between 5,000 and 10,000 (regarded

as more accurate today)• Zhou Enlai escaped, allegedly Chiang ordered this to be allowed in order to

repay a favour

The Jiangxi Soviet Years(1927-1934)

• Largest territory of the Chinese Soviet Republic, established by Mao Zedong and Zhu De during Chinese civil war

• The alliance between the CCP and KMT (Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang) was broken by Chiang Kai-shek by 1927

• At this time Mao and Zhu De were at the head of a small band of communist soldiers, who retreated to the mountainous areas near Jiangxi and Hunan, founding their own peasant run government (independent from the Russian Advisors).

• This Became the Jiangxi Soviet(A.K.A Chinese Soviet Republic)

The Jiangxi Soviet Continued…

• Mao differed from the other communist leaders by advocating working alongside the peasant population, rather than working along side industrial workers in the cities (as was the usual for the communists), leading to the establishment of a peasant run government.

• Mao had become the CCP Party Secretary and head of government in the Jiangxi base area by 1931.

• By confiscating land from the landlords and redistributing it amongst the people, Mao was able to gain support and consolidate his communist control on the region.

• However, Chiang made many attempts to crush the communist stronghold at Jiangxi and, by 1934, the military situation was so dangerous the decision had to be made to move away to a more secure base of operation for the independent communist outpost.

Jiangxi Mountains