Mao Zedong: Dictatorship of a Single Party State

Authors Avatar

By: Melissa D., Danise F., Prashanth R., Jonathan T.

Mao Zedong: Dictatorship of a Single Party State

1. How did Mao come to power?

a. By force, through officially legitimate channels, or by cheating peacefully?    

    A combination of these?

  • combination (force, legitimate channels)
  • 1911 revolution, Mao enlisted as soldier in local regiment in Hunan; fought along side revolutionaries
  • participated in May 4th Movement of 1919 (anti-imperialist protests)
  • introduced to Marxism at Beijing University
  • 1921, co-founded Communist Party of China (CPC)
  • 23 July 1921, Mao attended first session of National Congress of the Communist Party of China
  • 1926-1928, Northern Expedition, military campaign by Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) (KMT)
  • intended to speed up revolution against feudalism + imperialism
  • early 1927, Chinese Civil War sparked by peasant uprisings in wake of Northern Expedition
  • 1 August 1927, People’s Liberation Army formed by Zhu De
  • 7 September 1927, Autumn Harvest Uprising in Changsha, lead by Mao
  • defeated by  KMT
  • People’s Liberation Army joined CPC + Mao’s movement
  • 1931, Soviet Republic of China formed by Mao in Jianxi province
  • challenged by Jianxi branch of CPC
  • Mao suppressed them
  • 186,000 killed; Mao’s version of Red Terror
  • destroyed by KMT, 1934
  • loss of Jianxi province lead to Long March
  • large-scale retreat from KMT; westward from Jianxi, then north
  • approx. 9,600 km traversed over 370 days
  • Mao emerged as top Communist leader in CPC during march
  • gained strong peasant support for determination + persistence vs KMT
  • 1937-1945, Second Sino-Japanese War
  • CPC + KMT cease fighting civil war to fight off Japs together
  • Mao lead Communist resistance
  • 1945, end of WW2/Second Sino-Japanese War
  • Chinese Civil War resumes
  • 1 October 1949, Mao forms People’s Republic of China (PRC)
  • Chiang Kai-Shek (KMT leader) & rest of KMT flee to Taiwan

b. With or without propaganda? What was the role of the general public?

  • propaganda not used in rise to power
  • Mao + CPC relied on rural proletariat (farmers) as heavy vein of support
  • gained through perseverance of Long March

c. What role did propaganda or personal charisma play?

  • propaganda not used
  • personal charisma important
  • used his peasant upbringing to relate to other peasants
  • won support of rest of CPC + peasants during Long March

d. What key arguments or justifications were used?

  • heavily influenced by Stalin
  • realized urban proletariat unable to lead revolution b/c they only made up small % of population
  • tapped into peasant unrest caused by KMT Northern Expedition
  • accused opposition within CPC of kulakism, opportunism
Join now!

2. How did Mao consolidate his power and remain in power?

a. What was the role of the army, police, and special forces or tactics?

  • People’s Liberation Army lead by Mao on rise to power
  • Chinese Civil War vs KMT, Sino-Japanese War vs Japanese
  • during reign of power, not as significant as other dictators; People’s Liberation Army still present
  • used army to kill opposition exposed by Hundred Flowers Campaign
  • unconfirmed amount killed during Cultural Revolution
  • scholarly estimates range roughly from 750,000 – 3 mill
  • Red Guard also ...

This is a preview of the whole essay