The birth of the early 20th century gave way to many political changes around the world such as the emergence of communism as a new way to govern countries. The Soviet Union was the first country to convert to this way of governing through the Russian Revolution in 1917. With the rise of the Bolsheviks party, a small socialist party who supported the working class more than the upper class, as an outcome to this revolution many countries were inspired to follow their footsteps. One such country was China. As China fell imperially in 1911, the Chinese Communist party emerged, reflecting the same values as its inspiration by organizing the country’s urban-working class. With the invasion of Japan, China’s enemy, in 1937 the CCP’s internal opposition,
Communism impacted the countries of Russia and China in both strikingly similar and different ways, for the better, or for the worse. During the time period of 1900 to 1945, communism in China and Russia were developed both differently and similarly by the audience to whom they appealed, the programs they sponsored, how they incorporated nationalism into those programs, how effectively they were resisted, and in how the Communist rules were structured. They both appealed to the peasantry, sponsored programs that would call for equal opportunity given to the people, and were resisted ineffectively but the Chinese altered their programs, due to the difference in politics, geographic location, and social problems. The audience in which they appealed to were similar, for they both appealed to the peasantry due to harsh times. They both rose to power due to the fact that the country wanted to end war but their opposing political party did not meet these needs. Nationalism was an important feature of both as China needed nationalism to fight the Japanese while Russia needed nationalism to pull out of the war. The programs they sponsored essentially were similar in many aspects although they did not match up perfectly because of the geological, social, and political differences of China. Communism affected both countries in a variety of different ways.
The theories of Communism which were developed through a collaboration of Marx and Engels began to penetrate China through the Soviet influence. The sweeping changes that were introduced by Mao Zedong and his party would influence China in every aspect, and attempt to eradicate the old ways, which were consider to be corrupted and no longer represented what was right for the country as a whole.
The Nationalist Party primarily competed against the Chinese Communist party starting in the early 20th century. Leader of said party was Sun Yatsen, he is described as “a patriot whose sincerity permitted him to be startlingly nonideological and opportunistic....”1 While he did not initially adopt the ideals of communism (class battles) he knew it would be necessary to spread a nationalist theory throughout China. In theory they [the communists] violated his Three Principles of the People -- “Nationalism, People's Rights or Democracy, and People's Livelihood...”2 Eventually becoming overwhelmed with warlordism and misfortune, Sun would retreat to Shanghai and begin reorganizing the Guomindang (or Chinese Nationalist Party). This would reveal that early efforts were futile for a strong nationalist party in China. Sun would later then ally with the Soviets and model his government model after theirs.
Communist Party of China, Resolution on CPC History, (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1981), 13 http://www.marxistarkiv.se/kina/engelska/on_cpc_history.pdf
China, along with most every country in history, has long had conflicts which caused new governments to take power. However, China’s civil war of the 1940’s was the first that caused a non-dynastic government to come to power in China. The Communist and Nationalist parties struggled over who would finally take control of the fledgling government. The Nationalist party represented more traditional Confucian values, as well as (oddly enough) democracy. In contrast, the Communists wished to dismantle the traditional social hierarchies and establish a socialist state. The Nationalist army was less trained for war than the Communists after they avoided battle in the recent Japan-China War. Perhaps the most important cause of this conflict, millions of peasants became disillusioned with the system that had caused their crushing poverty, and wanted the control of their own fates that Communists promised. They would not take control easily.
Eventually, in 1949, after a grueling civil war, the Communists took the leadership of China, starting the new era of “the People’s Republic of China”. Mao led the PRC with ambition, and made many sacrifices, both himself and as a nation. Although Mao’s ambition and sacrifices did lead to the better China that is known today, there are many that question the necessity of the harsh choices he made during his rule over the PRC. One can even question the morality of the decisions made by Mao, both direct and indirect for his nation. During the “Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution” of China, countless Chinese bourgeoisie were persecuted with almost no logical reason. His powerful and stern leadership turned into an iron fist. Mao in the long run did improve China, but many of his actions were unnecessary and actually hindered the progress of his
Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of China and its national party, embarked on a bloody civil war between the nationalists and the newly formed CCP. The Communist party was defeated in 1927, but came back strong with an improved army in the early thirties, namely the People’s Liberation Army. The CCP, lead by its chairman Mao Zedong, successfully recovered with this powerful army and social unification for a better China for the masses. Maoism, the socialist theories of Mao, soon moved from the cities to the countrysides and a victory against the Chinese nationalists was forged in 1949.
Communist had a long history during the 20th century, and communism was very influential. Almost all of Asia and East Europe became Communist. From the start of the theory then many civil wars in Russia affected the whole world. Communist defined the idea of itself in many different ways, it helps many nations came together formed a party fought wars, but it also made many countries became really poor, and the economy in most of the countries got pushed back about 10 years. Communism is an economic and political system that sought to create an egalitarian society; it collapsed because of personal interest and government’s corruption.
Ancient China was one of the earliest places of human civilization. The country’s history could be described as a series of dynasties each ruled by emperors. The Han dynasty set the pattern for Chinese history by causing growth in the economy and the promotion of Confucianism as the state philosophy. The Qing dynasty was ruled by Empress Wu, but a rebellion during this dynasty ended the dynasty reign. This led to China in the 20th century which includes the Treaty of Versailles, the People’s Republic of China, and, most importantly, Communism. Sun Yat-Sen, who created the Republic of China in 1912, entered alliance with the new Comm...
... a leader that had ideas for an organized government system. Although Communism controls most aspects of people’s lives, some feel it is a better form of organization than the Chinese Nationalistic Party called for. Mao Zedong also encouraged agricultural and industrial output. Even though the ‘Great Leap Forward’ slowed this down for China, it was able to recover. China is now the home of one of the most powerful and important economies and manufacturing centers in the entire world. If Mao Zedong had never come to power, China may have never become unified.
The introduction of communism in China continued to have a large disparity in wealth and powe...
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.
It can also be argued that the political activities of Chairman Mao’s Communist China were more of a continuation of traditional Imperial China, based heavily in Confucian values, than a new type of Marxist-Leninist China, based on the Soviet Union as an archetype. While it is unquestionable that a Marxist-Leninist political structure was present in China during this time, Confucian values remained to be reinforced through rituals and were a fundamental part of the Chinese Communist ...
Mao resigned as president of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) in April 1959 , after the Great Leap Forward, planning for Chinese production to “overtake Britain in 15 years”, failed and caused a widespread famine in China, where 20-30 million people starved. President Liu and General Secretary Deng began to restore China , while Mao remained ceremonial head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Liu and Deng introduced many liberal and effective policies , which involved stepping back from communist ideals. Collectivisation and communal cafeterias were abandoned and peasants recommenced private, “capitalist” farming. They even rehabi...