Introduction
The Chinese Communist Party was formed in 1921. This formation was encouraged by the Soviet Union. The communist party joined Sun Yat-Sen’s Guomidang and the Russians to form an alliance. By the year 1927 the alliance controlled a huge part of China. During this period Guomidang turned against its communist alliance nearly destroying Chinese Communist Party. The communist party revived itself and eventually emerged as winners against the Nationalists.
The Cause of the rise of the Chinese Communist Party (Peasants)
The peasants were desperate and resented the intolerable oppression and exploitation they were experiencing. They realized that what they needed was a party that could mobilize them. In the absence of a powerful and revolutionary party to lead them, they put their faith in the CCP. The CCP relied on the strength of the peasant armed forces.
The peasants wanted to express their sense of nationalist identity. The Japanese had invaded China, peasants being patriotic and nationalistic were determined to expel the Japanese. They saw the CCP as the ideal organization with great military ability coupled with a great organizational ability to defeat the Japanese. The Japanese threat did not go well with the Chinese Communist Party. By the late 1920s they controlled Liaodong Peninsula on the South Coast of Manchuria. They also had the Southern Manchuria Railway running from Dalian through most of the major cities of Manchuria. The peasants resented threats to their independence because Japan’s intention was to conquer China.
Why the Chinese Communist Party emerged as winners and not the nationalists (1921-1941)
The Chinese Communist Party emerged as winners because they had the advantage of having a huge support of the people. The nationalist parties lacked a huge following because continual corruption and mismanagement of resources eroded their popular support. Those who had supported the nationalists were disappointed and deserted the party. Those who left the party felt that the incompetence of the party was wanting.
The mutual trust between the party leaders of the Chinese Communist Party was a huge asset for the party. This leaders included Lin Biao, Peng Dehui, Zhou Enlai and Zhu De, Mao’s partner since 1928. The leaders worked in harmony for many years. This trust disappeared in the 1950s and 60s. The leaders worked for common goals while the nationalists like Guomidang wasted a lot of energy on internal rivalries.
The Chinese Communist Party struggled for nationalist goals more vigorously and competently than the National Party and the Guomidang. The China Communist Party aimed at strengthening the nation as a whole and promoting interests of the poor against those of the rich. This was a more effective instrument compared to Guomidang which had tried to achieve nationalist goals without class struggle.
The China Communist Party made use of literature and art. In relation to the to the allies of China Communist Party literature and art provided a united front, attitude being both of alliance and criticism. Those opposing the communist party were criticized. Those supporting the party were praised through literature and art. Literature and art was also used to advance the thinking of the supporters so that they can advance with great strides Mao says writings develop what is revolutionary. What is in art and literature is the reflection of the people in the brain of the artist and the writer.
Competent leadership was also a contributing factor to the success of the Chinese Communist Party. Zhu de and Mao were very creative based on competent leadership. Promotion within the party was not only based on revolutionary attitudes but also on proven administrative ability. Guomidang forces suffered from incompetence, corruption and disunity. Rampant inflation was also in a state of decay in Guomidang. The corruption of the Guomidang administration weakened it.
Shortcomings of the nationalist parties boosted the Chinese Communist Party. Guomidang was not inclined to radical struggle. They had not been indoctrinated with radically egalitarian ideas and therefore did not seem to carry out revolutionary attack on their own class, a complete opposite of the CCP.
CCP was able to isolate Guomidang garrisons from one another making it easy to destroy. CCP affiliated itself with the famous Sun Yat-sen. Sun gained recruits from the communities, arms and funding from the Comintern and the invaluable services.
The Chinese Communist Party employed Guerilla warfare military strategy. This strategy connected well with the peasants. It derived support from the peasants. Guerilla warfare strategy helped the communists to trump their disadvantage of numbers. CCP used its reliable grassroots command system, this helped them coordinate the guerilla movements.
Strategies the Chinese Communist Party used to appeal to the majority of the Chinese people
The Chinese Communist Party appealed to the peasants through land reforms that were favorable to the peasants. The Chinese Communist Party started a Program to win peasants through land reforms. The party divided the rural population into classes. The basis was on who was exploiting who: Landlords, rich peasants, middle peasants, poor peasants and agricultural labourers. This helped the party win a huge part of the peasant population though not all of them. When the Land law of the Chinese Military Council became law in the year 1930 the agricultural land had to be divided equally among the agricultural population that participated in agriculture; except landlords, reactionaries etc., and their families would be left with less land than the peasants or no land at all. This redistribution of land by Chinese Communist Party enabled it to own a huge peasant following. The peasants started enlisting in Mao’s army. This was good because the party found new sources of recruits. Later on rich landlords and peasants joined the army to try to fit in the new structure.
Peasants were promoted to leadership positions in the villages, this weakened the traditional elites a lot. The peasants were promoted to the level of local cadres of the communist party. Local cadres were used to communicate party messages to the CCP supporters. The other strategy was through rent reduction and graduated taxation. These eased the sufferings of the peasants.
How do you view the success of the communist revolution?
The proletarian revolution played a very vital rule in the success of the communist revolution. The proletarian revolution was the leading force in the communist movement. It was led by the industrial proletariat. Semi-owner peasants were more revolutionary than the owner peasants but less revolutionary than the poor peasants. Poor peasants were highly receptive to revolutionary propaganda. They were very active in the revolutionary movement. They participated in strikes e.g. the seamen’s strikes, railway strikes, the strikes in the Kailan and Tsiaotso coal mines, the Shamean strikes and general strikes in Shanghai and Hong Kong. They were very concentrated. No other people were concentrated like them. They were good fighters because they had been subjected to ruthless treatment by imperialists, the war-loads and the bourgeoisies. Another category of the proletariat was lumper proletariat, a very difficult category who only became revolutionary force after being given proper guidance.
The International bourgeoisie existence was incompatible with the aims of the Chinese communist revolution and therefore not helpful in the success of the communist revolution. They sided with imperialists and consisted of an extreme counter-revolutionary group. They became suspicious of the revolution when they sensed the presence of the military. They hated the military participation. They instead supported the establishment of a state under the rule of one class. The petty bourgeoisie were afraid of the revolution and were suspicious of the revolution. They preferred to be neutral but never opposed the revolution when the tides became high.
The Maoist revolution contributed tremendously to the communist revolution. The Maoist revolution reigned with terror. Mao Zedong faced problems after the failure of his effort to take the city of Changsha. He lacked a base of political support in the villages. He forced people to join his army. Those who disobeyed were punished. This fear made his methods insufficient to win a war.
The gender revolution participated dismally in the communist revolution. The gender revolution that supported the other half of the sky. The Chinese marriage law of 1950 outlawed so many unfair practices directed at oppressing women, these include arranged marriages, child brides and concubinage. Most people did not support these new law. Before communism and the passing of the Chinese Marriage Law women were mistreated through their relationships with the other gender. Wives had no power over their own lives. Women were forced to be subservient to men.
Conclusion
The communist regime still survives in China because it manages the elites well. The current communist party in China pays attention to popular attitudes unlike the CPP. The state encourages everyone to pursue their wealth portofolio. The reason communism still stands in China is because the party has been able to deliver economic prosperity to all. In the long run China will become a capitalist society because China is becoming a commercialized country. The disadvantage of having a communist nation is the rigidity. Sometimes it is coupled with intolerance of dissent. It is therefore difficult to tell whether the success of CCP during the revolution was worth it.