Success, as defined by the Oxford English dictionary, is the prosperous achievement of an objective. (Oed.com 1968) Conferring to this definition, the 1949 Chinese revolution was certainly a successful revolution. The communist party of China (CCP) was incredibly successful in its attempt in replacing the bourgeoisie dominated nationalist government – The Kuomintang (KMT) - with a proletariat class lead communist government. However, whether the achievement of such objective proves to be prosperous for China and its peoples requires further analysis. Ever since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, the legitimacy of the revolution of which it was built upon has perennially been in question. For example, in a 1999 issue of the
Millions of peoples was falsely accused and persecuted during the political movements of the Mao period as the CCP focused on class struggle instead of economic development during the period and tens of Millions of peoples died due to starvation as there were widespread food shortages during the great leap forward movement. This raises the problem, does the cost of the revolution outweighs the benefit and if so, can the revolution still be considered a success. This is a very difficult question as the value of human lives cannot be quantified and therefore the comparison of cost and benefit automatically creates a very excruciating dilemma. However, one study done by Barrington Moore in his classic Social origins of Dictatorship and Democracy demonstrated the experience of India during the same period of time. India shares many similarities with China in terms of population, land size and geographic proximity and therefore the two countries’ economy is highly comparable. India, which did not go through a socialist reform, nor a land reform, thus a weak industrial base and low economic growth is currently in an economic situation where half of the country is ‘slowly starving to death’, that is, more than half a billion people are chronically malnourished and will die prematurely . Comparing China with India, it can be argued that the revolution brought more benefit than cost to China and its people and therefore is a success, although the misconducts and terrors created during the Mao era were indefensible and it can be contended that the socialist reform can still occur without the persecutions and famines, however, it should be kept in mind that history cannot be assumed and thus one may only analyze what has already
Mao Zedong will forever live on history as a revolutionary, not only in China but across the globe. There are very few communist nations today because of the many difficulties of having a homogenous population, which shares the same ideals. Mao was able to modernize and re-socialize his citizens in a short amount of time. He defined himself as the face of change in China. Mao’s vision of equality for all Chinese citizens has still not been achieved but it is well on its way. The only question lies in, does the end justify the means.
Following the Chinese Revolution of 1949, China’s economy was in ruin. The new leader, Mao Zedong, was responsible for pulling the economy out of the economic depression. The problems he faced included the low gross domestic product, high inflation, high unemployment, and high prices on goods. In order to solve these issues, Mao sought to follow a more Marxist model, similar to that of the Soviet Union. This was to use government intervention to develop industry in China. In Jan Wong’s Red China Blues, discusses Maoism and how Mao’s policies changed China’s economy for the worse. While some of Mao’s early domestic policies had some positive effects on China’s economy, many of his later policies caused China’s economy to regress.
Some may say Ukraine was still successful because they did end the Soviet Union gaining some independence for themselves. "The abruptness of the Soviet Union's collapse, as well as the strategic importance that the Ukraine continued to have for Moscow, stunted the Ukraine's democratic transformation"(Pg 142). Because the Union completely disappeared, Ukraine was not given the opportunity at that time to figure out what they can do to become a democracy. Unlike Ukraine, China was less fortunate with their revolution towards democracy. "The easy answer as to why things turned out differently could be that the Chinese dictatorship simply had more backbone"(Pg 157). With China being so much more strict, and the possibility that the students just didn't have enough power (because after all, they are still just looked at as kids), maybe there was just no possibility for reform at that
The Communist Party of China (CCP), in power since 1950, is not famous for its tolerance of those who do not agree with its ideology and opinion. People must adhere to the Party’s legislation, and face consequences (the severity of which is debated) if they resist or rebel. One way the CCP controls members is through religion. Although the government encourages almost cult-like devotion to the Party, it allows its constituents to participate in certain major international religions. One religion that is illegal to participate in under Chinese law is the spiritual practice of Falun Gong. A new movement, the Falun Gong grew quickly in China and globally, and was officially banned in 1999. The CCP claims the Falun Gong is evil, and should be destroyed humanely to save China. However, the Falun Gong is peaceful, and the Chinese government is the institution that tortures, jails, and abuses its citizens if they are practitioners of the religion. The international response calls for the halting of these immoral actions, but China still claims that it is destroying an evil institution. The simple fact China denies its members freedom of religion violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which China has signed, but the violence against its people if they adhere to Falun Gong beliefs is a gross abuse of its power. Although China bans many religions, there is special emphasis on the Falun Gong, and many wonder why. One highly possible reason is that the growth, international reach, and popularity of the Falun Gong threatens the universal power the CCP holds in China, weakening the government, and therefore leading to the destruction of the threat: the Falun Gong.
Mohandas Gandhi and Mao Zedong were two great leaders who succeeded in many ways by their actions and decisions. Gandhi was an Indian leader and Mao a Chinese leader. However, their approach to success, peace, and ultimately, a revolution, was very different. Mao favored peace through violence, and Gandhi favored peace through non-cooperation and standing up for what is right. He also believed that these changes will be accomplished by “conscious suffering”, was the way he put it. However, despite their differences, these two leaders were similar too. They were both very charismatic leaders who successfully made it through their revolutions. Mao’s revolution led to change in class structure while Gandhi’s revolution involved India as a country, and he wanted people to realize that working together is a great way to gain independence. While Mao and Gandhi both believed that each of their countries have the need of independence, their views differed when it came to the use of violence, development towards the revolution, and their thoughts on a caste system.
Immigration, the act of coming to live permanently in a foreign country. Throughout the United States’ history, immigrants faced various challenges and especially after 1880. Most immigrants moved to achieve the American dream of having a better life and pursuing their dreams. But, this experience as they moved, was different for every immigrant. Some lives improved while others did not. Immigrants such as Catholics, Italians, and the Chinese were not welcomed into America in the late 19th century and early 20th century because of their differences in beliefs and cultures.
China's Economy and Society in the Late 1940's and 1950's. In 1945, the war with Japan ended. It left China's economy and society in a ruins. The country is divided into two.
The Cultural Revolution was a revolution that had happened between 1966 and 1976 and had a great impact on China. The Cultural Revolution used to be known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution but was changed after many years. The main goal of this Revolution was to preserve true communist mainly in China by purging remnants of capitalist and traditional elements from Chinese society. It was also used to re-impose Maoist which was thought as the dominant ideology within the Party. The Cultural Revolution was basically a sociopolitical movement. But it was mainly for the return of the leader, Mao Zedong, who was the leader of the revolution on and off. Which had led him to a position of power after the Great Leap Forward which paralyzed
Mao's period of communal reform and the establishment of the Communist party from 1949-1976 was needed in order for Deng's individual oriented, capitalist society to thrive. Mao's period encompassed the structure of a true dictatorial communist government. It strove to concentrate on unifying communities to create a strong political backbone while being economically self-sufficient and socially literate and educated in Maoist propaganda. Under Mao's leadership individual wealth was seen as a hindrance to community goals in meeting production quotas and was crushed by such policies as collectivization, land reformation, and movements such as The Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution. Under his rule, modeled under the Stalinist USSR archetype, China raised its masses from poverty and starvation to a standard of living that was considered a substantial upgrade.
Rae Yang’s Memoir “Spider Eaters” is a poignant personal story of a girl growing up amidst the political upheaval during the establishment of People’s Republic of China under Mao Zedong’s Communist leadership. Yang describes the fascinating journey of her life from her early years as the daughter of Chinese diplomats in Switzerland to a student in an elite middle school then a fanatic Red-guard and eventually a laborer in a pig farm. Her experiences through the revolution serve as an eye-opener and lead to her eventual disillusionment of the Communist revolution in China. There are many factors that contributed to her growing discontent with communism such as the anti-rightist movement which was an effort to rule out any criticism against the government, corruption and violence of the party leaders who abused their power and continued to exploit the peasants, the false claim of proletariat dictatorship used merely to eradicate bourgeoisie and further the interests of party members.
This essay has critically analysed and examined the effect of Communism on the Chinese Society during the period of 1946-1964. The overall conclusion that can be drawn is that the Chinese Communist Party managed to defeat the Kuomintang (Nationalist) Party and achieve victory in the Civil War, in spite of alienation by the Soviet Union and opposition from the U.S. This was primarily because of the superior military strategy employed by the Communists and the economic and political reforms introduced by this party which brought more equality to the peasants in the form of land ownership and better public services. This increased China’s production and manufacturing which not only boosted the country’s economy but also provided a more sustainable supply of food, goods and services for the Chinese people.
The Effects of Changes from 1949 to the Beginning of the Great Leap Forward in 1958 on the Lives of the Chinese People China
Mao's Success with Domestic Policies After Mao had defeated the Nationalists he was aware of the instability of communism in china. He aimed of stabilizing china by dividing it into six main regions also called the Organic Law of 1949, each was governed by a Bureau including four major officials : Chairman, party secretary, military commander and political commissar. The last two officials were members of the PLA, which effectively left china under army control but also Mao hoped that through these actions he would be able to stabilize communist China. Nevertheless, Mao had to adopt force in order to control china.
people on to the side of the CCP. The CCP’s victory was also down to
The 1911 Revolution kicked out the Qing Dynasty and broke the barriers to different developments in China. However, the 1911 Revolution has only provided a framework of a republic and made changes in some particular aspects related to immediate problems and difficulties in society. Hence, the relationship between the revolution and the subsequent development of China was very weak. On one hand, I do not agree with the latter part of the statement that the 1911 Revolution brought new problems to China. The conflicts and problems that China suffered in the early/ mid 1910s were mainly due to the weakness of the military force, conflicting political organizations and disorder in society. On the other hand, I agree with the first part of the statement that the 1911 Revolution did not bring peace to China afterwards. In the following paragraphs, I am going to focus on explaining the reasons of emerging new problems in China and also illustrate my points on the factors of the 1911 Revolution which could not bring in peace to China related to the conditions of the country.