theme 1: Establishing communist rule 1949-57

Question 1

when was the Qing dynasty defeated and what was the situation afterwards

Answer 1

1911, after rival warlords threw china into chaos

Question 2

who were the GMD and CCP?

Answer 2

GMD was the nationalist party of china

CCP was the communist party in china

Question 3

why did GMD and CCP form a united front

Answer 3

Japan invaded in 1937

Question 4

why did japan surrender

Answer 4

America dropped bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 (surrender that year)

Question 5

when was there a civil war

Answer 5

1946-49 communist won

Question 6

why was there goodwill towards communists after civil war

Answer 6

they had ended years of conflict

Question 7

how did the civil war help maos position

Answer 7

civil war consolidated his power as he showed his ability as a military commander

Question 8

how was the economy crippled after civil war?

Answer 8

nationalist scorched-earth tactics worsened situation
food supply critical due to requisitioning
agricultural methods were primitive and unproductive
industrial development hampered by underinvestment and non skilled workforce

Question 9

inflation rate after civil war

Answer 9

1949 inflation rate at 1000%

Question 10

population 1949 and 1953

Answer 10

540 million 1949

590 million 1953

Question 11

cost of civil war in terms of lives

Answer 11

approx 20 million

Question 12

in 1949 what did CPPCC do

Answer 12

appointed the Central Peoples government
drafted new constitution
passed laws
approved common programme

Question 13

what was the common programme

Answer 13

1949 - 54
a temporary constitution to steer china through next 5 years. gave a wide range of personal freedoms such as gender equality but in reality gave police and army the right to supress any counter-revolutionary activity

Question 14

what was the CPPCC?

Answer 14

Chinese people political consultative conference
passed laws, chose state symbols.
acted as prov gov until 1954

Question 15

what was china split into?

Answer 15

6 regions with 4 communist officials in charge of each region 2 of which were military, sometimes 1 person held all posts such as Gao Gang in Manchuria
1954 new constitution subdivided them into 21 provinces

Question 16

what happened in new constitution 1954

Answer 16

6 regions subdivided into 21 provinces with 2 urban centres shanghai and Beijing
china confirmed a communist country
National People’s congress became new legislature
despite democratic appearance communist party controlled elections

Question 17

relationship between PRC and communist party

Answer 17

PRC run by com. membership of communist party reserved for those who could prove ideological commitment. out of 500 million population 4.5 million were members

Question 18

what did every employed citizen have to be in

Answer 18

a work unit (danwei)

Question 19

did the government encourage mass participation in party groups

Answer 19

yes, groups such as youth league and womens federation

Question 20

PLA role

Answer 20

1950 largest army with 5 million men. consumed 40% state budget. reduced to 3.5 mill in 1953 and 2.7 million in 1957 under defence minister peng duhai
as it became smaller it was more technically advanced

Question 21

when was the new code of conduct and what did it say

Answer 21

1956 meant PLA helped peasants on farms

Question 22

when did mao become party leader and how

Answer 22

1943 after rectification campaigns in 1941 that got rid of opposition

Question 23

when did mao become head of state

Answer 23

1949

Question 24

what were maos main ideas

Answer 24

1 -Nationalism: wanted to free china from history of foreign exploitation. for this reason wanted Chinese communism to differ from soviet communism
2 -continuing revolution: thought everyone had responsibility to look out for enemies, resulting in periodic purges of CCP and struggle sessions
3 -listening to the people: debatable if he truly believed this
4- mass mobilisation: thought population was chinas greatest asset

Question 25

when and where the reunification campaigns?

Answer 25

1949-50 in Guangdong, xinjiang, Tibet

Question 26

how did the communists take control of Guangdong

Answer 26

previously GMD headquarters so had to deal with nationalist supporters. PRC had control 2 weeks after civil war

Question 27

how did the communists take control of xinjiang

Answer 27

80% Uyghurs (Asian ethnic group muslims). became security buffer for PRC large numbers of han bought in to work on construction projects

Question 28

how did the communists take control of Tibet

Answer 28

had announced resistance to communist conquest but british and UN to busy or not interested to protect Tibet so conquest was relatively straight forward. PRC launched campaign to destroy Tibetan identity

Question 29

how did communists use labelling

Answer 29

danwei gave every citizen label based off their family background,social status and occupation. labels determined the persons fate

Question 30

describe crackdown on crimes

Answer 30

police aimed to 'clean up' cities targeting beggars and prostitutes and other criminals. over 150,000 criminals arrested over half of which were executed

Question 31

when was the great terror and what happened?

Answer 31

1950-51 designed to remove opponents and deter others, same time as korea war killings threatened to get out of hand mao suggested as acceptable target, killing 1 in every thousand. (Actually what the fuck though is that not mad tallula?) so many arrested in summer 1951 when Rao Shushi suggested extending killings to inside CCP that there was a bottleneck in prisons

Question 32

what were young party activists force to endure?

Answer 32

forced to watch mass executions to immerse them in revolutionary experience

Question 33

results o great terror

Answer 33

several million sent to labour camps or subject to surveillance system of informers created atmosphere of mistrust and fear

Question 34

three antis campaign

Answer 34

``` 1951 against Corruption Obstructionist bureaucracy Waste (COW) caused arrest of two high ranking members of CCP charged of embezzling large amounts ```

Question 35

who was in charge of the 3 and 5 antis?

Answer 35

bo yibo

Question 36

what techniques used in 3 antis and 5 antis

Answer 36

mass meetings were colleagues denounced eachother those accused endured humiliating confessions under 5 antis denunciation boxes opened to speed up the process many had to rewrite confessions until they were believable enough

Question 37

5 antis campaing

Answer 37

``` 1952 (Bo Yibo) Bribery Evasion of tax Economic info stealing Corruption Theft of state property (BEECT) introduced denunciation boxes ```

Question 38

what measures were taken to prevent suicide of the anti campaign victims

Answer 38

nets place under high buildings | high surveillance of victims

Question 39

describe laogai system

Answer 39

``` awful conditions sleep deprivation used hard labour poor diet though reform where inmates endured self-criticisms and indoctrination meetings ```

Question 40

how many more where added to camps because of re-education through labour?

Answer 40

1957 | added 300,000 inmates

Question 41

prison numbers 1949-76

Answer 41

estimated 25 million died in these camps

Question 42

hundred flowers campaigns

Answer 42

``` 1957 mao wanted open discussion about first five year plan. initially no one said anything due to previous purge of intellectuals. eventually comments became floods of criticisms of policies and leaders Mao switched (June) labelled them rightist and launched anti-rightist campaign. lost good will of intellectuals forever ```

Question 43

what did the Korean war (1950-53) give mao an excuse to do

Answer 43

promote nationality with "resist America, aid korea" campaign

Question 44

how did people have to contribute to Korean war (1950-53)

Answer 44

people pressured into donating to war effort conscripted men but formally called "volunteers" so America could not invade china with good reason if north korea lost taxes raised and crops were requisitioned

Question 45

what were the man power losses caused by the Korean war (1950-53)

Answer 45

killed 1 million. scale of loss similar to Britain and france in ww1 but in a shorter space of time. mao unfazed as population was so large. maos own son was burnt to death in American air raid

Question 46

military spending in Korean war (1950-53)

Answer 46

annual military budget in 1951 was 1/2 government spending and 75% bigger than 1950

Question 47

how did Korean war put china in debt and what did that mean

Answer 47

whilst Russia provided military hardware china still had to pay for it little to invest into education, healthcare, communications and economic infrastructure

Question 48

how did America worsen chinas debt

Answer 48

imposed a trade embargo on china in 1951, in the first 6 months foreign trade fell by 30%

Question 49

how did Korean war cause industry and agriculture to suffer

Answer 49

- concentration on military production slowed industrial development. - vital resources given to war effort and not industry - food requisitioning from countryside to feed soldiers caused severe deprivation and famine in some areas

Question 50

how did Korean war improve chinas international prestige and cause issues with foreign policy

Answer 50

- bought prestige as china had kept USA at bay but meant USA was now an enemy - worsened relations with ussr as mao resented stalin for not providing air cover for pla and not getting directly involved with fighting - stalins death worsened relations and mao did not respect khrushchev

Question 51

what did America do to china following the civil war

Answer 51

- CIA began plotting to undermine Chinese control of Tibet - pledged to keep Taiwan out of Chinese hands - prevented china from joining UN, allowed to join in 1972 when relations thawecd

Question 52

when was the Korean War?

Answer 52

1950 - 1953

Question 53

when was the anti - rightist campaign

Answer 53

1957 - 59

Question 54

how many people labelled "rightists" in 1957

Answer 54

300,000