The consolidation of power 1949-52 Flashcards

1
Q

Why did Mao increase his efforts to irradicate opposition at the end of 1950?

A

After the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, China experienced growing national unity, but also a fear that
the revolution was under threat internally and externally. Mao used this as an excuse to justify extreme
measures of dealing with ‘counter-revolutionary elements’ within China.

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2
Q

What were the 5 mass campaigns to irradicate opposition in the years 1950-52?

A

1) The Resist America and Aid Korea campaign (1950-51).
2) The Suppression of Counter-revolutionaries campaign (1950-51).
3) The Three-Antis campaign (1951-52).
4) The Five Antis campaign (1952).
5) Thought Reform campaign (1951-52).

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3
Q

What was the Resist America and Aid Korea campaign (6)?

A

After the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, foreigners (especially Americans) became enemies of the
PRC.
1) Westerners became targets of persecution.
2) Many foreigners were arrested and charged with being spies.
3) Christian churches were closed, forcibly seized and priests/nuns expelled from China.
4) Any institution (businesses, universities, etc.) with western links came under close supervision.
5) Police searches confiscated radios and weapons.
6) Mass rallies were organised.

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4
Q

What was the significance of the Resist America and Aid Korea campaign on China?

A

By 1951, there was a frenzy of suspicion within China, with most foreigners (except those from the USSR)
having left.

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5
Q

When was the Resist America and Aid Korea campaign?

A

1950 - 1951.

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6
Q

What was the Suppression of Counter-revolutionaries campaign (2)?

A

1)Targeting ‘bandits’, those with GMD links and members of religious sects, large numbers of the population
were denounced, investigated and punished.
2) Many were executed (28,332 in Guangdong alone in less than a year), whilst the public were forced to
watch to ‘educate’ them. Mao kept a close control over the levels of executions.

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7
Q

What was the significance of the Suppression of Counter-revolutionaries campaign on the Chinese
population?

A

Many committed suicide due to fear and psychological pressures.

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8
Q

When was the Suppression of Counter-revolutionaries campaign?

A

1950 - 1951.

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9
Q

What was the Three-Antis campaign (2)?

A

1) Targeting corruption, waste and obstructionist bureaucracy, managers, state officials and Party members
were subjected to mass meetings, humiliation and investigation.
2) Using the methods of the Yan’an Rectification Campaign, those ‘guilty’ were forced to ‘rectify’ their errors
of thought/deed and self-criticise.

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10
Q

What was the significance of the Three-Antis campaign on China (2)?

A

1) Corruption, such as bribery and influence, were rooted out of businesses and administration.
2) Party members were reminded of the dangers of independent thought.

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11
Q

When was the Three-Antis campaign?

A

1951 - 1952.

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12
Q

What was the Five-Antis campaign (2)?

A

1) Targeting bribery, tax evasion, theft of state property, economic espionage and cheating on government
contracts, workers organisations were used to investigate their employers.
2) Employers were subjected to criticism sessions and mass meetings, where those found guilty were fined,
had their property confiscated, and sent to labour camps.

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13
Q

What was the significance of the Five-Antis campaign?

A

2-3 million suicides committed rather than facing more humiliation.

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14
Q

When was the Five-Antis campaign?

A

1952.

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15
Q

What was the Thought Reform campaign (2)?

A

1) Mao was suspicious of intellectuals educated abroad or in western Chinese schools due to fears of
independent thought. Thought Reform forced intellectuals to study and adopt Mao Zedong Thought.
2) Professors were forced to make confessions in front of their students, attend study sessions and make self criticisms.

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16
Q

When was the Thought Reform campaign?

A

1951 - 1952.

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17
Q

What was the role of the PLA and cadres during the ‘war of liberation’?

A

The PLA would occupy new areas, whilst the following cadres would follow and prepare the area for civilian
rule.

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18
Q

What was Mao’s 2 quotes in regards to the use of violence?

A

1) ‘Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun’.
2) ‘The Party commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the Party’.

19
Q

What was the size of the PLA in 1950?

A

5 million men - the largest army in the world.

20
Q

Why was the PLA partially demobilised in 1950?

A

Due to the enormous military size of the PLA, it took up over 41% of the State budget. At the time, China
needed to spend on economic development and also have more people participate in productive work.

21
Q

What was the size of the PLA in 1953?

A

3.5 million men - still the largest army in the world.

22
Q

How many conscripts did the PLA receive each year and how long did they serve for?

A

The PLA received 800,000 new conscripts a year, each serving for 3 years.

23
Q

What was the significance of conscription to the PLA?

A

It meant millions were trained in warfare and indoctrinated in the CCP ideology.

24
Q

What were Mao’s 4 revolutionary values, which were demonstrated by the PLA?

A

1) Self-sacrifice.
2) Discipline.
3) Perseverance against overwhelming odds.
4) Endurance.

25
Q

How were the PLA an important propaganda tool (2)

A

1)During the Sino-Japanese and the Chinese Civil War, the PLA represented the CCP and epitomised Mao’s
revolutionary values, conveying and instilling them into liberated areas.
2)The PLA were celebrated in film, plays and works of literature, especially during the Korean War (1950-
1953).

26
Q

What was the propaganda slogan regarding the PLA in the early PRC years?

A

‘Learn from the PLA’.

27
Q

What was the PLA’s role in the countryside 1949-52 (3)?

A

1) Pass on the CCP ideology - Mao Zedong Thought - to the peasants.
2) They were tasked with public work projects, e.g. rebuilding infrastructure damaged in the war.
3) Demobilised PLA units were given new roles, such as developing agricultural land or accessing untapped
mineral resources.

28
Q

How were Laogai/labour camps used to control the population (2)?

A

1) Chosen targets (often random) would be sent to labour camps, where they would perform hard physical
work in mines or fields in gruelling conditions. This generated fear and suspicion in the population.
2) By the late 1960s, there were over 1000 camps, with 27 million being worked to death, executed, or
committing suicide in them.

29
Q

Explain the quotas set by Mao for the numbers killed in an area.

A

Mao set quotas for people to be killed - with the target being around 1 in 1000 - with local officers expected
to keep track of the killing rates in their areas.

30
Q

What was the significance of Mao’s quotas for the numbers killed in an area (5)?

A

1) Officers would be chastised if too many or too few were killed.
2) Pressure to meet the quotas meant victims were often random.
3) Many officers used their power to eliminate rivals or settle old scores.
4) Many committed suicide due to the unpredictability and the phycological pressure of the quotas.
5) The suspicion and fear created isolated and divided communities.

31
Q

How did the CCP stamp out prostitution?

A

In 1953, street committees were tasked with the surveillance of brothels. Pimps and prostitutes were sent to
‘re-education’ centres as punishment.

32
Q

How did the CCP stamp out drug dealing and addiction?

A

Drug dealers were shot, and addicts had their supply of drugs withdrawn and their family made responsible
for their behaviour. The tobacco industry was made a state monopoly and smoking was encouraged.

32
Q

What 5 propaganda methods did the CCP use to increase support?

A

1) Newspaper.
2) Cinema.
3) Theatre.
4) Radio.
5) Posters.

33
Q

What was the significance of propaganda networks?

A

Led by Party cadres, propaganda networks worked through the media and non-Party organisations to mould
public opinion in favour of the CCP’s policies and to create an atmosphere of suspicion and terror by
demonising the targets of campaigns. This encouraged the public to join the campaigns.

34
Q

How did the CCP generate an atmosphere of suspicion and isolation?

A

Through propaganda, quotas, and labour camps, an atmosphere of suspicion and fear was generated, where
neighbours/colleagues/friends were encouraged to inform on one another.

35
Q

What did land reform mean now that Mao had full control of China?

A

Land reform was now the confiscation of land from landlords, and the redistribution of it to poor peasants
and landless labourers. Rent reductions were no longer a part of land reform.

36
Q

What was the Agrarian Reform Law of June 1950?

A

A law that laid out the methods and principles of how land reform was now to be implemented.

37
Q

Explain the effects of land reform campaign of 1950-1952 on landlords.

A

Teams of cadres, working with peasant associations, would parade landlords on stage, subject them to
denunciations and beatings at ‘Speak Bitterness’ meetings, and execute them.

38
Q

When did the CCP’s land reform emphasis begin and end?

A

June 1950 - October 1952.

39
Q

How did the CCP use land reform to cement their relations with the peasants 1950-1952?

A

The CCP involved the peasants in land reform, with many participating in the violence/killing and most
gaining from land redistribution.

40
Q

What replaced the now extinct landlord class in the countryside?

A

Traditional village society was now overseen by peasant associations and the political leadership of the CCP.

41
Q

What were the 3 key consequences of land reform?

A

1) 43% of land was redistributed to 60% of the rural population.
2) Between 1.5 and 2 million were killed due to land reform 1947-1952.
3) A decline in food production, as peasants were not incentivised to increase production or become wealthy.

42
Q

What was the slogan for the land reform campaign?

A

‘To be poor is glorious’.