The GMD CCP Alliance China notes 2 13 18 PDF

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Notes verbatim from Bendecks total war class. I got an A in the course and the only information used were these notes. They were written very meticulously. ...

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The GMD/CCP Alliance 1. The Chinese Communist Party a. Vladimir Lenin – the Comintern i. In 1919, the Russians began to send advisors to the New Culture Movement. ii. Under the Comintern (Communist International), they were seeking to help form and promote the creation of communist organizations and communist revolutions. iii. Marxist-Leninism was a Leninist modification of Marx’s ideas. iv. Russia at the time was not very industrialized and had a small proletariat. v. Lenin’s modification meant that the revolution could skip the capitalist stage and enter the socialist stage. vi. Instead of true equality under Marx’s vision, the Communist party would have to guide the people through revolution. vii. The Comintern encouraged the Chinese to create a communist party and begin efforts to induce communist revolution. viii. China, less developed than Russia at the time, was advised to skip the capitalist stage under the Marxist-Leninist model. b. Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao i. Lenin began advising Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao. ii. In 1921, the two men formed the Chinese Communist Party. iii. Chen Duxiu served as the first general-secretary of the CCP. iv. The Soviets encouraged the CCP to send its members to Moscow, to receive a true Marxist-Leninist education. v. In 1922, there were only 200 members of the CCP, by 1923 just 300. vi. The party was way too small to attempt a real communist revolution, especially as warlords proliferated the country, and foreign imperialist presence was still strong. vii. These problems led them to form a coalition with the GMD in 1922.

viii. The Soviets were working with both parties and actively encouraged the coalition. 2. The GMD a.k.a. Nationalists a. Sun Yatsen i. After Yuan Shikai’s death, Sun Yatsen returned from exile in Japan to his native Canton, with a goal to revive the GMD. By 1919, he was recognized as the leader of the GMD. ii. His goal was to initiate a second revolution, since the first October Revolution did not achieve his aims. iii. The goals of the second revolution were to expel the warlords and deal with the foreign imperialists. iv. The GMD was technically considered a Leninist, democratic, centrist party. v. These ideologies were actually Sun Yatsen’s actual ideology. He is seen as the “Father of Modern China”, even by the CCP, because of his diversereaching views. b. Formation of the Nationalist (Opposition) Government (1921) i. He oversaw the formation of the Nationalist government in 1921, which was an opposition government based in Canton. c. Whampoa Academy – Chiang Kai-shek i. They began to build an armed force, leading to the establishment of the Whampoa Academy, for elite officer training, in 1924. ii. Comprising both GMD and CCP members, the academy was known as the West Point of the East. iii. Chiang Kai-shek, protégé of Sun Yatsen, led the academy. iv. It created an elite army, the National Revolutionary Army, which was used to defeat some of the Chinese warlords. v. Like the communists, Sun Yatsen had the full support of Lenin.

vi. Both proved to be natural allies, with Sun Yatsen praising Lenin for the Bolsheviks’ success in revolution. vii. Lenin believed the Western capitalist powers kept their capitalist stage going through reliance on their colonies. Denial of access to colonies would force the West out of their capitalist stages and initiate the socialist stage and communist revolution. d. Alliance with CCP e. Mikhail Borodin i. Mikhail Borodin was one of Russia’s main advisors sent to China, and encouraged the GMD and CCP to work together to achieve their common goals. ii. But some members of the GMD were very right-wing, while some in the CCP were very left-wing. iii. As long as Sun Yatsen was alive, however, he could keep the two sides together. f.

Three Principles of the People i. Sun Yatsen’s vision for the future of China was embodied in his Three Principles of the People. ii. He gave a speech in 1923 outlining his Three Principles for the first time. iii. Embellished with Western liberalism, Sun Yatsen’s speech was inspired by Abraham Lincoln’s words of “government of the people, for the people, by the people.” iv. Sun Yatsen’s first principle dealt with nationalism and conflicted with the New Culture Movement’s vision of China as a weak, old man. v. His solution was that China was not weak, just divided, and to gain back its strength, the people needed to unify behind a common national identity. vi. While ideological movements were popular among students and workers, the vast majority of people (peasants) had no national identity.

vii. Sun Yatsen hoped to bring a sense of national pride to the people to rally them against the warlords. viii. Sun Yatsen’s second principle was democracy; he wanted to see elections, separation of powers, a constitution with guaranteed rights, and the ability for citizens to have recourse against their government. ix. The people would need to be educated in democracy and the responsibilities of a democratic citizen. x. The third principle has been interpreted in different ways between the GMD and CCP. xi. The GMD’s view concerned people’s livelihood, hoping to create economic growth and better welfare. xii. But Sun Yatsen was not in favor of Western capitalism. Therefore, his third principle can be interpreted as a call for socialism. xiii. He believed he who worked the land should own the land. g. May 30, 1925 i. Sun Yatsen died of cancer in March of 1925. ii. Very shortly after his death, on May 30, 1925, a major incident in Shanghai erupted when workers from the Japanese concession zone went on strike. When they returned to work, they discovered they were barred from entering. iii. The Japanese began protesting, and Chinese workers began to join in solidarity. iv. As the protests grew, the Shanghai Municipal Police, comprised mainly of foreigners, arrived and shot and killed 11 workers. v. This outraged the rest of China, and workers began striking en masse. vi. In Canton alone, the strike lasted 16 months, with 52 workers killed after being fired upon by police. vii. Unfortunately, the GMD/CCP alliance began to unravel as right and left began to clash.

viii. Sun Yatsen’s successor, Chiang Kai-shek was a very right-wing member of the GMD. ix. The Soviets continued to pressure both groups to work together as the second revolution had not come about. x. Therefore, the coalition was technically still intact, even as a rift developed between the two sides. xi. For their part, the Nationalists concentrated on amassing power in the cities. xii. Meanwhile, the CCP spread throughout rural China to appeal to the huge Chinese peasant population, though they also had a strong foothold in Shanghai. 3. The Northern Expedition (1926-1928) a. The First Unified Front i. In 1926, the GMD/CCP came together against the warlords in the Northern Expedition. ii. It was called the First United Front because it was the first time both the GMD and CCP came together to fight against the warlords. b. National Revolutionary Army i. The National Revolutionary Army was put together, over 130,000 strong, headed by Chiang Kai-shek. ii. On November 1, 1926, the Northern Expedition began. iii. They fought their way through to Nanjing and proclaimed it the revolutionary capital. iv. The army gained support from the people who lived under the warlords, who were known to be brutal and cruel. c. Two Problems i. April 12, 1927 1. Things began to stall in Nanjing for two reasons.

2. A wing of the army that fought along the coast began to attract Chinese who would attack the foreign concession zones on their own. 3. Additionally, the communist elements of the army worried the Westerners economic interests. 4. Chiang Kai-shek made efforts to assure the Westerners this was not just another Boxer Rebellion. He also called out to the Chinese people not to attack the Westerners. The West was appeased, but worries of communism persisted. 5. On April 12, 1927, Chiang Kai-shek launched a major attack on the communist in Shanghai, resulting in the deaths of 12,000 Shanghai communist. 6. He continued his campaign and over a year he killed approximately 100,000 communists in a reign of terror. 7. The First United Front, along with the GMD/CCP officially came to an end on April 12, 1927. 8. He also began a civil war that would only end in 1949. 4. Nationalist Government (October 10, 1928) a. After dealing with the communist and appeasing the West, he continued his Northern Expedition. b. He made it to the capital of Beijing and formed an alliance with the Zhang warlord who ruled it. c. He then proclaimed the Nationalist government, ending the warlord area and opening China to further reforms....