The New Power Structure Flashcards
(11 cards)
The different roles of the Communist Party
Peng Dehuai was the minister of defence and also the commander-in-chief of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Party Cadres helped enforce the Party’s policies: they controlled schools and the legal system and they monitored the PLA and the civil service.
The cadres monitored work units called Danwei - all employees belonged to one.
They controlled permits needed for travel or marriage, access to housing or food.
Mass organisation
All-China Federation of Democratic Youth - helped to indoctrinate the young.
All-China Federation of Women - mobilised women in support of the regime’s campaigns on issues such as birth control and divorce rights.
The government
In September 1949, the Communist Party organised the Chinese People’s Political Consultive Conference (CPPCC) to meet in Beijing.
It appointed the ministers who formed the new government, the Central People’s Government.
This was a temporary constitution until a full constitution could be written.
What did the CPPCC do?
It set out a range of rights including gender equality, educational opportunity and protection of religious beliefs - it also emphasised the leading role of the CCP, gave powers to the PLA and police to crush opponents of Communism and made Mao the Head of State.
The Politburo
The CPPCC did what it was told by the Politburo, which was made up of important Communist leaders.
The Politburo had 14 members, but the key decisions were made by the 5 man standing committee: what they decided became the law.
Mao was the chairman of the standing committee, which also included his close colleagues Zhou Enlai and Liu Shaoqi.
The bureaucracy
The CCP needed a large number of bureaucrats to help establish the new regime and impose the Party’s control.
Bureaucracy was needed to introduce land reform, run the cities and introduce a centrally planned economy.
The number of state officials increased rapidly from 720,000 in 1949 to 7.9 million 10 years later.
The PLA
The PLA played a vital role in helping the CCP establish its control.
Mao famously said ‘all political power grows out the barrel of a gun’.
The PLA was used to round up bandits and criminal gangs - these groups had terrorised many Chinese people, so attacking them was a good way to increase public support.
The armed forces attacked Xinjiang and Buddhist Tibet and also chased the remaining GMD out of China.
The economic role of the PLA
Played a key part in building popular support for the Communist regime through economic assistance.
They rebuilt China’s shattered infrastructure: soldiers built bridges, roads, rail links and canals.
The propaganda role of the PLA
During the Korean War, the PLA fought against the combined might of the UN.
Their struggle gave rise to heroic tales of model soldiers that publicised the values of sacrifice, discipline and commitment to Mao.
There was as many as 800,000 new recruits every year that were indoctrinated with Communist propaganda.
Mao’s dominant position within the government
As the leader who led the Communists to victory in the Civil War, he held massive personal prestige and influence.
It was his ideas, Mao Zedong Thought, which became the guiding principles of the new government.
The growth of democratic centralism
The CCP called the new system of government ‘democratic centralism’.
It was meant to be democratic because local level villages and town councils would elect representatives.
These representatives travelled to regional congresses to represent their views - in turn the regional congress elected representatives and this process carried on up a hierarchy of organisations until the views of the lowest councils were heard.
