1 - establishing communist rule

Question 1

What were the three reunification campaigns (1949-50)?

Answer 1

• Guangdong: was the GMD heartland, but the PLA captured it within 2 weeks of the PRC being declared.
• Xinjiang: predominantly Muslim province, the CP captured it using a mix of negotiation and PLA force, and large numbers of Han Chinese were brought over.
• Tibet: PLA invaded in October 1950 and came under PRC control in May 1951, when they began a campaign to destroy Tibetan identity by bringing in large numbers of Han settlers.

Question 2

How was labelling used by the Party?

Answer 2

• Everyone was given a class label (there were 60, split into ‘good’, ‘middle’ and ‘bad’ and were then simplified into ‘red’ or ‘black’)
• Police then monitored members of the ‘bad’ classes although most professionals took ‘re-education classes’ to fit into conformist life.

Question 3

How did the Party crackdown on crime?

Answer 3

• Police were ordered to remove petty criminals by relocating them to the countryside, which was popular amongst urban residents, but lost control of the situation when PLA soldiers were demobilised.
• Criminal gangs and triads were tackled, with over 150,000 criminals arrested, 50% of them were executed.

Question 4

How were counter-revolutionaries suppressed during the Great Terror 1950-51?

Answer 4

• Mao left those below him to orchestrate terror:
  –> Tao Zhu was responsible for killing 46,000 bandits, 2.5 per 1000 people in Guangxi.
  –> Luo Ruiqing transmitted Mao’s wishes to the provincial leaders; leader of Hubei province killed 45,000 Jan-October 1951.
• By summer 1951, prisons were full and arrests had to stop, after Mao extended the targets to enemies inside the CCP.
• In March 1951 after a top-ranking military official was shot dead in Shandong, the police swept through 16 cities and arrested 17,000 people.
• Great Terror resulted in officially 710,000 deaths and encouraged people to become more isolated.

Question 5

What happened during the ‘three antis’ movement (1951)?

Answer 5

• Corruption, waste and delay was targeted in the Party, with Bo Yibo in charge.
• Mass meetings were held where managers and officials were denounced by their work colleagues (often fake accusations). Those found guilty were forced to issue humiliating confessions.
• By the end of 1952, Bo Yibo claimed to have hunted down 100,000 ‘tigers’ (large-scale embezzlers).

Question 6

What happened during the ‘five antis’ movement?

Answer 6

• The purge widened to economic crimes outside the Party, in January 1952.
• Party activists encouraged workers’ groups to accuse their employers.
• 1% of victims were shot, 1% sent to labour camps, 3% jailed for over 10 years and the rest fined. Many also committed suicide out of fear, including the Dean of Shanghai Law School.

Question 7

How was the Laogai system developed?

Answer 7

• By 1953, there were 2m prisoners, over half of them working as labourers.
• The Laogai contributed 700m yuan in industrial products and 350,000 tonnes of grain each year.
• 9 out of 10 inmates were political prisoners, and were subject to thought reform.
• 25m died in Laogai camps over Mao’s reign.

Question 8

What were the events of the Hundred Flowers campaign and its aftermath?

Answer 8

• April 1956, Mao called for an open debate about the results of the First FYP, and then repeated his speech to ‘let a hundred flowers bloom’ in February 1957.
• Frustrated with a lack of response, Mao summoned the editor of the People’s Daily to give news coverage to the debate.
• After a flood of criticism, Mao halted the debate and launched an ‘Anti-rightist’ campaign’, sending 500,000 to the Laogai.
• As a result, he lost the support of the intellectuals forever.

Question 9

What were the human and financial costs of involvement in the Korean War (1950-53)?

Answer 9

• Around 1m lives lost, most of whom were conscripts.
• Over 50% of government spending in 1951 went on the military, and the annual budget for 1951 was 75% higher than 1950.
• China had to pay for Russian expertise and military hardware.
• Food supplies were only kept up by requisitioning, leading to famine in some areas.
• Industrial development was delayed and resources diverted into the Korean War restricted the success of the First FYP, and debts reduced spending on education, healthcare, infrastructure.

Question 10

What were the international implications of Chinese involvement in the Korean War?

Answer 10

• Positives:
  –> China’s prestige boosted as it held the USA at bay.
  –> China could claim to be the most powerful communist nation as it made the sacrifices.
• Negatives:
  –> Made an enemy of the USA; CIA began plotting to undermine Chinese control of Tibet, and US imposed a trade embargo on Chinese goods in 1950 causing a 30% fall in foreign trade in the first 6 months of 1951.
  –> Relations with the USSR worsened as Mao was misled by Stalin and resented his failure to not supply air cover.

Question 11

What were the political implications of Chinese involvement in the Korean War?

Answer 11

• The War justified the use of terror against counter revolutionaries, as well as the three and five antis.
• Foreigners were pressured to leave the country, and were stripped off their assets; Americans and Christian missionaries were treated harshly.
• The war was used to promote national unity; the Party orchestrated a campaign against the USA, where mass meetings were held in the workplace and schools. These exposed people to anti-capitalist propaganda.
• People were pressured into donating their money and goods to help finance the war, and rallies were used to pressure people to volunteer for the PLA.