Conditions for the Chinese Authoritarian State’s Establishment

The Role of Leaders

despite international support, he was deeply unpopular at home and paved the way for Mao to take over
- his harsh, authoritarian rule and oppressive policies made him increasingly resented by peasants
- his inability to deliver on promises made to the people lost him valuable credibility
- lack of change created in China (foreigners still present, still beefing and losing to China) curried no favor with the populace

Chinese students who studied in Moscow University, USSR
were trained in the foremost socialist, communist and Marxist schools of thought
dedicated themselves to bringing communism to China – but they studied an adapted version of Lenin’s communism, aka Stalinism
- they brought a copy of the USSR’s playbook almost verbatim
Mao wasn’t one of the 28, but worked and supported them
- clashes in ideology surfaced; Mao thought that true communism couldn’t and wouldn’t apply to China
- despite both being communist, they vied for power within the organisation
veritably, one of Mao’s greatest threats in his rise to power, resulting in a power struggle
- he manipulated and undermined them at every turn
- the more the Bolsheviks and Mao fought for power, they spread communism
  - no matter where they went or how they fought, they were spreading communism and gaining power within the populace
  - physics in social group movements – “every action has an equal and opposite reaction”
- their actions mattered more than words; though they promoted communism in tandem, there was internal discord being sowed

worked with the 28, but also fought (political opponents)
application of his own ideas – he felt that true communism would never work in China
comes from the peasant class
- a Man Of The People
- contradicts the 28 Bolsheviks (who left China to educate themselves)
was literally Ariana Grande – his harsh upbringing led him to an “I want it, I got it” attitude
- “all power grows from the barrel of a gun” – came from Mao’s witnessing of violence against peasants as he grew up
- “a revolution is no tea party” – one of his most famous quotations, justifying Mao’s cavalier use of violence against political opponents
The Long March – 10,000km across China (including mountains, ravines, rivers, etc.)
- Mao’s fervent leadership and aggressive tactics solidified him as the primary CCP leader

system of ideas forming a basis of economic/political theory/policy
Maoism: stems from left-wing, Hitler: stems from right-wing
a blend of Marxism and Leninism
belief in class struggle/warfare – peasants v. workers & bosses
- Leninism could never work here, because China was too behind – there were little to no workers and bosses to speak of
- Mao needed economic growth and society to advance before he could enact his master plan
belief in permanent revolution
- China had to be getting better, always, and rapidly industrialise before Mao could shape it
essentially, pro-advanced Chinese nationalism

Mao himself was an intellectual of sorts – he loved reading and was an avid reader
yet, he was anti-intellectual

Mao wanted to create an economically- and politically-strong China that was self-reliant
Stage 1:
- joint revolutionary-democratic relationship
- comprised of proletarians, peasants and bourgeoises that weren’t exploited
  - the involvement of bourgeoises signals Mao’s pragmatism, as opposed to being an idealogue
    - he realised the severity of China’s problem, and was willing to ‘use’ the capitalists to grow China as opposed to bulling communism all the way through
    - the new state was meant to be a gradual change
Stage 2:
- taking private property and distributing it
  - equalised society
- resources would be collected and nationalised
  - collectivisation and nationalism, shades of Stalin coming through here
  - nationalism = patriotism (also consistent with the CCP’s behaviour during WWII)
    - they engaged the Japanese head-on, while the KMT saw the CCP as Public Enemy No.#1 rather than the actual enemies at the time
- further strengthening nationalism

class warfare is a precursor to class struggle → a justification for the use of political violence
Mao not only acknowledged the peasants’ plight, but prioritised them in his vision for a new, strong China
- no middle class to speak of, unlike Stalin
capitalised on enshrined resentment (literal dynasties’ worth) of oppression and poverty
- particularly towards landlords
economic weakness in the country – the giant inequality
- broken system in which the poor get poorer and the rich get richer
both examples below proved that peasants played a role in struggling against their bullies AND that they could change their fates through Mao
- empowered the peasants
- played off dissatisfaction and blame of class struggle

land seized from rural landlords, redistributed to peasants
- a successful retry at the first trial from 1930, in which the peasants punished and killed landlords
fulfilled Mao’s promise to the peasants → populist move, increased support
complete by 1953 with the exception of Sichuan, Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai
this is more consolidation than establishment – use the earlier example instead

3 Antis:
- anti-bribery
- anti-corruption
- anti-bureaucratic
5 Antis:
- anti-bribery
- anti-theft of state property
- anti-tax evasion
- anti-cheating on government contracts
- anti-stealing state economic intelligence
marked Stage 2 of the Two-State Revolution – marked a departure in intolerance of local capitalists
- previously tolerated as Mao sought to grew China ASAP

prevent emergency of bureaucratic class
establishment of socialist economy and state
rooted in Marxist principles – constant state of change
purity of ideology:
- purging deviations from social ideology (be humble and be equal)
- engaging in self-criticism and ensuring that there are no self-seeking allies
- Rectification Campaign – used to assert and maintain Mao’s authority over the CCP

identifying what the people want, fit it into Marxism and feed it back to the people in a manner they can understand
- 非常 pragmatic
people feel listened to = they support Mao as a Man Of The People