CHINA 1949: KEY PEOPLE

           In the Chinese revolution, two particular individuals played key roles and led to the change in government and development of various campaigns and changes. These two men were the head of opposing parties, the nationalist party and the communist party. The nationalist party was in control after the fall of the Qing dynasty; meanwhile the communist party took over control after defeating the nationalists in a long period of civil war. These two men are Mao Zedong, leader of the communists and founder of the People’s Republic of China, and Chiang Kai Shek, leader of the nationalists. Another important man who is the reason for China's huge economic success today is Deng Xiaoping, the leader of the communist party after Mao's death.  Chiang and Mao both took over control in separate revolutions and  tried to unify the country, defeat warlords, and change the social structure of China meanwhile Deng focused on improving the economy. 

Chiang Kai Shek is the head of the nationalist party (Kuomintang) who was involved in the 1911 revolution, 1928 war against Japan, and the 1949 revolution. He was involved in the 1911 revolution against the Qing dynasty and became the military leader of the nationalists in 1917. Sun Yat Sen who was the nationalist leader at the time were well-liked by the communists and the two parties cooperated until his death when Chiang started gaining political prominence and became the nationalist leader in 1925 after Sun's death where he set out to unify the country. However, he could not maintain good relations with the communists which started a civil war. Chiang faced challenges from the warlords and communists which resulted in a war that was both costly in men and money. However, he was successful in causing both groups to retreat as he decreased men in communist troops. In the war against Japan, he was forced to ally with the communists to lead China in an attempt to stop Japanese invasion which was proved to be successful. After peace talks could not be agreed after the war against Japan, the communist and nationalists were involved in a civil war which saw the nationalists being defeated and having to retreat to Taiwan where they would continue fighting China under the communists in a plan to come back into power which did not prove to be successful.

When Chiang Kai Shek was the leader of the nationalist party and head of China, he planned to make many changes. His government attempted to stabilize prices, pay off debt, build infrastructure and public institutions, reform banking and currency systems, legislate against traffic in narcotics, and increasing agricultural and industrial production. He built health and educational facilities which improved education standards and promoted standard tongue. Various campaigns and propaganda were launched to encourage Chinese nationalism and traditional culture, some western ideas, unification, Confucian moral values and personal discipline but were unsuccessful because a lack of effective central government. His government was challenged with politically by the warlords and communist party and he dealt with this by sending military troops which were costly in terms of men and money which weakened his government.

Mao Zedong was the head of the communist party and People’s Republic of China and he was a dictator. He joined the emerging communist party as a founding member in the 1920’s and following the split from the nationalist party, his men withstood five encirclement campaigns by Chiang before leading his red army on the “Long March” to reestablish their base. After 20 years of civil war with the nationalists, Mao brought the communists to victory against the nationalists in 1949 and the People’sRepublic of China was formed. Mao’s Red Army won the civil war due to their smart tactics and formation such as: attacking isolated enemy forces first, attacking enemies on the move, taking towns first before big cities, and guerilla warfare.

Mao unified his country and wasn't afraid to launch programs which would change the country’s social and economic structure. He destroyed the landlord class by taking their land and redistributing them to peasants, weakened the urban bourgeoisie, and elevated the status of peasants, workers, and women. He built public institutions such as hospitals and schools which provided basic education and increased the literacy rate extraordinarily. In his program, “The great leap forward”, he promoted technology, industrialization, merged farms and introduced new techniques. This program was a huge failure as natural disasters and farmers did not knowing how to use new technology and methods caused famines and millions of starvation and deaths. Another program, the “Iron Rice Bowl” put all Chinese workers under state control. The culturalrevolution launched by his government forced millions into manual labor which caused a massive civil unrest as people who went against his regime where also purged. Mao was also involved in political events such as being involved in the Korean War, and successfully fighting off the nationalists who wanted to return from Taiwan.

          After Mao's death, Deng Xioping took over control and was the reason for China's economic success today. He made various economic reforms which was opposite to what Mao has done but was extremely successful. His reforms includes the decollectivization of agriculture, opening up the country to foreign investments, and allowed for private businesses to take place. This caused the economy of PRC to bloom and became the foundation to China's economy today. Because of Deng's smart reforms, China today has one of the fastest and largest growing economies in the world. 

 

                When in control of the government, these three men who followed immensely different ideologies and made big changes to China. Both Chiang and Mao  took over control in a revolution which saw a shift in power and a new government being established.  Mao, Deng and Chiang made changes in China which remains today and has enormous consequences.