Topic 1 - Establishing Communist Rule - The New Power Structure

Question 1

When was democratic centralism introduced?

Answer 1

1954

Question 2

What was the National People’s Congress and how often do the meet?

Answer 2

National People’s Congress = elected legislator that represented the wishes of the people - met once per year to make laws and amend the constitution

Question 3

Official powers of the National People’s Congress (3)

Answer 3

• Electing the Chairman of the PRC
• Deciding on issues of war
• Setting out national economic policy

Question 4

What was the CPPCC, how many delegates did it have, and what did it create?

Answer 4

CPPCC = Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress - 662 delegates - created the Common Programme

Question 5

Were delegates of the CPPCC representative?

Answer 5

Yes, delegates represented a wide cross section of social and political perspectives – only 16 of them were formal members of the CCP Democratic league

Question 6

What did the new gov consist of?

Answer 6

Interwoven branches between the CCP, Central People’s Republic and PLA

Question 7

What was the Common Programme aimed to do?

Answer 7

Common Programme introduced to act ad a provisional constitution to provide the legal basis for the new republic from 1949 to 1954

Question 8

Fill in the blanks - “All except ______ would enjoy freedom of _____ (12)

Answer 8

“All except political reactionaries would enjoy freedom of thought, speech, publication, assembly, association, correspondence, person, domicile, moving from one place to another, religious belief, and freedom to hold processions and demonstrations’

Question 9

What did the Common Programme emphasise in terms of the structure of gov?

Answer 9

Common programme emphasised the role of the CCP but accepted the role of a multiparty system within which 8 political parties received legal status

Question 10

What did the Common Programme recognise with regards to property and entrepreneurship?

Answer 10

The Common Programme recognised the right to own private property and supported entrepreneurship and the mutually beneficial relations between workers and employees

Question 11

What did the Common Programme say about women and education?

Answer 11

Supported equal rights for women and universal education

Question 12

What was the Common Programme’s economic provisions?

Answer 12

Soviet style economic planning was a goal – program urged that the development of the economy be ‘centred on the planned, systematic rehabilitation of development of heavy industry’ though this was a long term obj

Question 13

Who did the Common Programme name head of state?

Answer 13

Mao named head of state

Question 14

How many members did the CCP have just after the war?

Answer 14

4.5 million members after the war - structurally impossible to run the country

Question 15

How many members did the CCP have by the end of 1950?

Answer 15

5.8 million members by the end of 1950

Question 16

What did the CCP coordinate (1) and organise (3)?

Answer 16

CCP coordinated the government and organised education, legal system and military

Question 17

Where did political power rest?

Answer 17

Political power rested with the Party and therefore Mao as Chairman

Question 18

How many members in the CCP central committee, Politburo and Standing Committee?

Answer 18

49 members in the central committee in 1949, 25 in the Politburo, 5 in the Standing Committee

Question 19

What were all members of the Standing Committee?

Answer 19

All members of the Standing Committee close revolutionary colleagues of Mao

Question 20

What was the problem when Mao first took power?

Answer 20

PRC lacked effective means of national control - “all political power lies in the barrel of a gun”

Question 21

When was the conscription law passed and what did it do?

Answer 21

Conscription law passed in 1955 led to 800,000 new recruits per year

Question 22

What was the ‘big university’?

Answer 22

Big university saw education in the PLA - recruits learned to read and write which benefited the poor and uneducated

Question 23

What was ‘learning from the PLA’?

Answer 23

PLA exemplified discipline, bravery, resourcefulness, incorruptibility and commitment to communism

Question 24

What was the PLA’s economic role?

Answer 24

PLA worked on cooperative farms with work teams of soldiers - week of free labour each year for construction projects, teaching, etc

Question 25

What was the composition of the regional bureau posts with regards to the PLA?

Answer 25

Half of the four regional posts were filled by members of the PLA