Chinease History. Theme 1 - Government
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- Created on: 31-03-18 16:43
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- Chinese History: Theme 1 - Government
- Problems Facing the PRC
- Aftermath of the 1946-49 Civil War
- Goodwill generated to the Communists, who showed they were capable of effective organisation
- Greatly strengthened Mao's position
- Mao intended to restore stability by making political opposition impossible
- More cities started to fall under Mao's authority as the Reds expanded
- Goodwill generated to the Communists, who showed they were capable of effective organisation
- State of industry, agriculture and infastructure
- Short term
- Industrial output dropped to only 25% of its pre-war level due to Japanese seizure of productive areas, and Nationalists scorched-earth tactics
- Lack of any food supply due to the conscription of peasants
- Hyperinflation by 1945, devastating finances
- Long Term
- China was mainly an agricultural country with outdated machines and tactics
- China was yet to industrialise, and their most advanced industrial areas in Manchuria were under Soviet control
- The economic infrastructure was underdeveloped, and devastated by bombing raids and little maintenance
- Short term
- Aftermath of the 1946-49 Civil War
- Creation of a political system
- Government Organisation
- Common Program
- Approved by the newly established Supreme state body Central People's Government in 1949
- Temporary constitution to guide China through the next 5 years
- Declared that China had transformed into a new society, with a wide range of personal freedoms
- They gave the army and the police the right to suppress counter-revolutionary activities
- Declared a transition period of co-operation between the working class and the Bourgeois, as China wasn't ready for Socialism
- 1954 Constitution
- Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)
- Advisory body to the NPC
- National Peoples Congress (NPC)
- New legislature that rubber-stamped Politburo decisions
- State Council
- Took over functions of the Central Peoples Government (CPG)
- Drafted and Approved oonsitutions
- Passed laws
- Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)
- Common Program
- Role of the Party and PLA
- Communist Party
- Leading CCP members held key positions in the state and the army
- Zhou Enlai was State Council premier from 1949
- Mass participation was encouraged so that ordinary people play a role in the party
- Employed citizens belonged to a work unity (danwei) ran by a Party cadre
- Leading CCP members held key positions in the state and the army
- Peoples Liberation Party
- Worlds largest army, with 5 million men in 1950 and using over 40% of state budget
- The size reduced over time, and with it it became more professional, advanced and less egalitarian
- A means of enforcing government control in the regions, achieving a Great Power status for China
- Communist Party
- Mao's Position in the Party
- Mao became party leader in 1943 as a result of the rectification campaign, and then head of state in 1949
- This gave him great power, but due to the collective leadership it it wasn't absoulute
- Set the pace and direction of key policies
- Main Ideas
- Nationalism - free China from foreign exploitation that had undermined stability
- Continuation of the revolution through each generation
- Involve the ordinary people in discussing policies
- Mass Mobilisation of the people to achieve economic targets
- Democratic Centralism
- Democratic element was theoretical, as the CCP controlled elections at lower regions
- Decisions made at top levels by senior officials
- Government Organisation
- Dealing with Opposition
- Reunification Campaigns 1949-50
- Guangdong
- Coastal Province and GMD heartland during last months of civil war
- Capitulated to PLA within 2 weeks
- XinJiang
- GMD subdued by conquest and negotiation
- Long March Veteren to run local CCP and army unit
- Tibet
- Intended to resist Communism, despite Britain having little interest to protect it
- Took 6 months to conquer, after PRC began a campaign to destroy Tibetan identity by bringing in Han settlers and promoting Chinese lifestyle
- Guangdong
- Terror against opponents
- Labelling
- Every citizen was given a class label based on their background, determining their fate
- 60 labels divided into good, middle and bad, soon simplified into red and black
- 1950-51 Great Terror
- Korean War gave Mao an excuse to attack those in China who stood in their way
- Suggested that killing 1/1000 of local populations in each area was an acceptable target
- March 1951 - killings were extended to enemies within the CCP
- Young Party Activists were forced to watch mass executions to immerse them in the revolution
- Death toll as high as 2 million
- Labelling
- 1951-2 The 3 and 5 Antis movement
- Three Anti's
- Targeted corruption, waste and delay in the government and party
- Mass meetings to denounce managers and officials were held, and if found guilty they were issued humiliating confessions
- Small-scale crimes were referred to as flies, while large-scale corruption referred as tigers
- Five Anti's
- Widened in 1952 to include bribery, tax evasion, theft of state property, fraud and economic espionage
- Denunciation boxes sped up process of finding suspects
- The majority of victims were fined, which was a way of destroying the old business class by removing their wealth
- Three Anti's
- Laogai system
- Soviet experts brought in to manage the new labour camp
- 2 million prisoners by 1953, half of which were forced labourers
- Had economic value, contributing 700 million yuan in industrial products
- 9/10 were political prisoners
- Prisoners underwent 'thought reform' which put them through self-criticism and indoctrination meetings
- Hundred Flowers Campaign 1957
- Mao called to 'let a hundred flowers boom, and a hundred schools of thought content' in 1956
- Mao called for an open debate, influenced be de-Stalinisation and to win over intellectuals
- There was a lack of response, till Mao engaged on a tour to engage with the peasants. Afterwards, floods of criticism came in
- Mao soon halted the debate, accused the critics as Rightists who intended to destroy the revolution, and launched an Anti-Rightist campaign
- Mao's grip on the CCP tightened, but he lost support from the intellectuals forever
- Reunification Campaigns 1949-50
- Korean War 1950-53
- Enhancing CCP control
- National Unity
- Promoted national unity through propaganda campaigns against the USA
- Press took to create anti-American paranoia
- Zhou Enlai organised student demonstrations and patriotic parades
- Party Control
- Fear of an invasion of the US justified further measures to tighten CCP control
- The Great Terror was launched in 1950 after the outbreak of war
- Suppressing Opposition
- Force foreigners to leave the country once they have been stripped of their assets
- Americans and Christian missionaries were branded as counter-revolutionaries and suffered vilification
- National Unity
- The Cost of War
- Manpower
- At about one million casualties
- Most of the losses were conscripts/volunteers
- Mao saw this as unimportant as the losses would soon be made up due to China's vast population
- Economy
- Despite Russia providing hardware and expertise, China had to pay for it all
- Overh alf the government spending during the war as on the military
- Forced requisitioning was used to feed the PLA
- Vital industrial resources were being diverted to the war, which delayed industrial growth, restricting the success of the 1st FYP launched in 1952
- Manpower
- China's International Prestige
- enhanced China's prestige due to the PLA holding off the USA for 3 years
- Presevation of Communist North Korea gave China greater security
- Now seen as the enemy of the US, who began to plot against them in Tibet and Vietnam
- Relations with the USSR suffered due to Stalin's failure to supply air cover to the PLA and get more involved in the war
- Enhancing CCP control
- Problems Facing the PRC
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