Emergence of Mao and Communist China

Unit: Authoritarian States IB History11

Crisis during early 20th Century• In the early 20th Century people in

China were not unified, the government was unstable, and foreign countries had a strong influence in the country.

• A Nationalist Government was founded in 1912, but China remained un-unified and politically unstable.

• The government only maintained control over parts of Chinese territories, with regional war lords controlling areas of the country until 1928.

Rise of Mao and the Communist Party• The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was

established in 1921, and collaborated with the Nationalist Government of China until 1927.

• After 1927 the CCP began to establish their own military bases and took control of areas of China.

• By1935 Mao Zedong emerged as the leader of the CCP and began to implement his ideas as policy throughout the party and in the areas of China the CCP controlled.

• From 1945-1949 the CCP fought and won a civil war against the Nationalist Government and established the People’s Republic of China as a communist country.

Mao and Communist Ideology• Mao’s Communist Ideology was based on

the following principles:

• He believed that Chinese communism was based on improving the lives of peasant farmers.

• He also believed that a two-stage revolution of the peasant farmers would happen:

• first peasant farmers would rise-up against wealthy land/business owners

• then others would volunteer to join the peasants in the fight

Mao’s China was Communist • Mao’s government was based on the Chinese

Communist Party (CCP).

• Communism is a form of government and economy that tries to create social equality through: (1) government ownership of all wealth, (2) redistributing the wealth equally, (3) having only one political party, the Communist Party.

• For instance, Mao believed that deep social inequalities existed in China, especially amongst the peasant farmers. His policies were intended to improve the standard of living for peasant farmers.

• However, he used any power necessary to implement his policies, eventually destroying the standard of living for many Chinese people.

Research Simulation• The standard of living of Chinese

poor peasant farmers was the motivation for Mao to establish a communist government in China.

• If you were a middle or upper class Chinese person would you support Mao’s effort to improve things for poor peasant farmers in China or would you be afraid that your standard of living would be suffer?