Emergence of Mao Zedong

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Emergence of Mao Zedong
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Maos Early Life

• His father was a farmer and was fairly well off
• Mao was expelled from or asked to leave from at
  least three schools for being disobedient
• He was widowed at 16
• After being widowed, Mao went to a teacher
  college in 1911
• It was there that Mao got caught up on the
  readings of Marx
• After college, Mao worked as a part-time history
  teacher in a primary school

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China As Mao Was Growing Up Problems With the
Manchu Dynasty

• The emperors were not strong leaders, which
  trickled down to other government officials, who
  were incompetent
• Heavy taxes were put on the people
• Large disparity between the rich and poor
• Widespread poverty
• Govt officials accepted money and gifts for
  political appointments
• Foreign countries had spheres of influence where
  they dominated

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Manchu Dynasty Begins To Fall

• Puyi, a 3 year old boy was the last emperor
• A small group of revolutionary soldiers in
  Wuchang in central China started the rebellion in
  October 1911
• The central government had become so weak that
  province after province declared its independence
  from the central government
• A military general named Yuan Shikai ruled from
  1912-1916

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Mao Becomes Communist

• There were a number of foreign spheres of
  influence in Changsha, Maos home province
• Radical students, including Mao, wanted to oust
  the provincial warlord who collaborated with the
  foreigners and went to Peking to unsuccessfully
  lobby the government

The Imperial Palace was called the Forbidden City
b/c it was so large no one could enter w/o the
emperors permission
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Becoming Communist
A young Zedong

• On his way back, he encountered communists who
  were forming a Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
• In 1920, Mao was given the assignment of opening
  a bookshop in Changsha to sell Party literature
• In 1921, Mao became provincial Party leader
• Mao did not inspire a passionate following
  through his oratory, or ideological appeal
• He simply sought willing recruits among his
  immediate circle people who would take orders

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Sun Yat-sen Forms the Nationalist
Party(Kuomintang)

• After struggling for power with a Shikai, Sun
  Yat-sen becomes president in 1916
• His main goal is to get rid of the foreign
  influences in China and unite the country (many
  provinces were run by warlords)

Sun Yat-sen
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Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Gains Power

• The Comintern (Soviets) urges the Chinese
  Communist Party (CCP) to join the Nationalists
• The Soviets wanted to help the Nationalists get
  rid of the spheres of influence in China (since
  they were dominated by Western nations)
• The Nationalists accepted the CCP because they
  hoped it would help strengthen their party

Chiang Kai-shek
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Mao Gains Influence in the CCP

• Since most Communists hated the Nationalists and
  didnt want to work with them, Mao saw
  opportunity
• Mao worked hard for the Nationalists and rose in
  power in the Communist party
• In 1925, Sun Yat-sen died. Chiang Kai-Shek now
  led the Nationalists

Mao Zedong
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Split of the Nationalists and CCP

• In April 1927, the Peking authorities raided
  Russian premises and seized documents that
  revealed Moscow trying to overthrow the Peking
  government and there were Soviet links with the
  Chinese communists
• The Nationalists needed to take action to
  dissociate themselves with the Russians and CCP
  or else they could be seen as part of the
  conspiracy to turn China into a Soviet satellite
• Chiang Kai-shek organized massacres of members of
  the CCP

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CCP Flees From the Nationalists

• Mao fled to the countryside (Jiangxi), where he
  established independent soviets and the Red Army
• From 1930-1936, Chiang Kai-shek led military
  campaigns against the Communists, while the
  communists defended themselves with guerilla
  tactics

Chiang Kai-shek
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CCP Flees From the Nationalists Long March

• Long March 1934-35
• Red Army retreated using twisting, unpredictable
  patterns
• Split into smaller units that were harder to find
• Out of 87,000 men, less than 10,000 survived the
  9,000 km march
• In December 1936
• The communists settled in Yanan in Shanxi
• A truce occurred to help protect the country
  against the Japanese

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Shanxi
Jiangxi
The Communists fled from Jiangxi to a city called
Yenan in the province of Shanxi
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Mukden Incident

• In September 1931, the Japanese army plotted to
  seize Manchuria by force
• Manchuria was land that was rich in mineral and
  coal reserves as well as good for planting barley
  and soy
• During the night of the 18th and 19th, the
  Japanese blew up the tracks of the South
  Manchurian Railway just outside Mukden. The
  Japanese blamed it on the Chinese and so they
  attacked the Chinese and occupied Mukden

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Chinese Resistance

• Chiang Kai-sheks government was too weak to
  oppose the Japanese army by force (they were also
  fighting the civil war against the CCP)
• Resistance against Japan would be hopeless unless
  China could first be effectively united, and this
  became Chiang Kai-sheks first priority
• He concluded a truce with the Japanese in May 1933

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Marco Polo Bridge Incident

• In July 1937, a clash of local Chinese and
  Japanese troops on the Marco Polo Bridge outside
  Peking became the Japanese excuse for launching a
  full-scale war on China that lasted until 1945

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Sino-Japanese War and the CCP Build-Up

• From 1937-1945, the communists
• Expanded their military forces from 500,000 to 1
  million
• Established political control over as many as 90
  million people
• Were given weapons by the U.S. to help fight the
  Japanese
• Nonetheless, the Nationalists did most of the
  fighting

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Relationship Between Leadership and the Masses

• Mao developed a program of contact with the
  masses that became known as the mass line. The
  process includes
• Investigating the conditions of people
• Learning about and participating in their
  struggles
• Gathering ideas from them
• Creating a plan of action based on these ideas
  and concerns
• It was a powerful tool of propaganda. By 1945,
  the communists had reached 100 million people and
  the mass line was carried to the people by 1
  million members

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Chiang and the Nationalists

• Chiang and the Nationalists were set back by
• Corruption
• Brutality
• Incompetence
• Inefficiency
• Hyperinflation
• Sino-Japanese War
• Arms that the U.S. gave to the Nationalists, but
  the Red Army captured them
• People lost confidence and longed for an end to
  famine, death, and civil war

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Nationalist shooting Communists the signs
accuse them of crimes