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History – 2hr 1945-53 - The Origins of the Cold War 7 How did the CCP change China in the period 1945-53?

What problems did the Communists face on coming to power in 1949 and how did they deal with them? In 1949, China's economy and its people were exhausted after years of war and conflict. China had been through decades of internal conflict culminating in the Civil War of 1946-9. In addition to this there had been eight years of war against the Japanese occupation. These years of conflict had left a damaging legacy for the new government: As peasants had been taken away from their farms to fight in these wars, agricultural production had fallen and food shortages were a serious problem in urban areas. Industrial production had also fallen. The nationalist Guomindang government had left a legacy of soaring inflation and the financial situation had been made worse by Guomindang officials taking all of China's reserves of foreign currency with them when they fled to Taiwan. In the short-term, the priority for the new government was to stabilise the economic and political situation and extend its control. It did this in a number of ways:      

Inflation was brought under control through strict regulation of the economy; public expenditure was cut, taxes were raised and a new currency - the renminbi - was introduced. The property of Guomindang supporters who had fled to Taiwan was confiscated by the State. All foreign assets in China, apart from those of the Soviet Union, were confiscated. The banks, gas and electricity supply and transport industries were nationalised. In three 'reunification' campaigns in 1950 and 1951, the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) established central government control in three regions: Xizang (Tibet), Xinjiang and Guangdong. A new system of government was established in which the dominant position of the Communist Party was legitimised.

Within three years the new government had an impressive record of achievements. By the end of 1952 the gross output of industry and agriculture had risen by 77.5 per cent, back to pre-war levels. Coal production was up to 63.5 million tons, steel to 1.3 million tons, while grain production was ten per cent up on that of 1936, the best pre-war year. The railway system had been restored and expanded to 24,000 kilometres of track.

How was political control established? Repression and terror were key weapons in the CPC's struggle to control the population of China after the formation of the People's Republic in 1949. At first Mao pursued a cautious policy in order to build and maintain a broad coalition of support. By the end of 1950, however, the outbreak of the Korean War engendered both a heightened sense of national unity and a feeling that China's revolution was under threat from both internal and external forces. The machinery of repression used by the State included propaganda campaigns to isolate and shame the chosen targets, the police, the courts (although these were increasingly replaced by Communist Party committees), imprisonment and executions. A large network of forced labour camps (known as lao-gai, meaning 'reform through labour') was set up, much as had been done in the Soviet Union under Stalin. Under Mao's direction, repression and terror in China involved the whole population, using the same methods as those employed in the public health campaigns and land reform. A nationwide network of work units, street and neighbourhood committees was established to assist the CPC in its efforts not only to identify and punish all those suspected of counter-revolutionary crimes but also to exert control over the whole population. There were four mass campaigns in the years 1950-2 through which Mao and the CPC pressed down on Chinese society.  

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The Resist America and Aid Korea campaign - After China and the USA become involved in the armed conflict in Korea in October 1950, foreigners in general. The Suppression of Counter-revolutionaries campaign - Launched in October 1950 and lasting for over a year, this campaign focused on the internal threats to the Chinese revolution. In Shanghai, for example, the authorities claimed to have uncovered evidence against 40,000 people; in Guangdong 52,620 'bandits' and 89,701 other criminals were caught, resulting in 28,332 people being executed in less than a year. The Three-Antis campaign - This campaign was started in Manchuria in late 1951 and was then extended to the rest of the country. Its targets were corruption, waste and bureaucracy and those in the firing line were managers, State officials and Party members. The Five-Antis campaign - Launched in January 1952, this campaign was directed against the bourgeoisie. It targets were bribery, tax evasion, the theft of State property, cheating on government contracts and economic espionage. It has been estimated that as many as 2 to 3 million took their own lives rather than face further humiliation.

How was China transformed socially, economically and culturally? Land reforms Before 1949, in areas controlled by the Communists, land reform was the essential means by which the Communist Party had gained the support of the peasants. Once the CPC had taken control of the whole of China, land reform was extended to the whole country. Once the Communists were in power, land reform meant nothing more nor less than the confiscation and redistribution of land to poorer peasants and landless labourers. In the period 1947-52 land reform spreading across China during and after the civil war is calculated to have taken 40 per cent of China's arable land from 4 per cent of the people and redistributed it to 300 million peasants. Similarly tools, draught animals and housing were redistributed. The former landlords were denounced at 'speak bitterness' meetings. The number of landlords executed has been variously estimated from 800,000 (government figure) upward to about 2 million. Social reforms: The emancipation of women In traditional Chinese society, obedience to 'proper' authority, whether in the family or in society at large, was a fundamental duty for all Chinese citizens. For women this meant that as daughters they owed obedience to their fathers, as wives to their husbands and as widows to their eldest sons. Despite the efforts of the Qing emperors to stamp it out, the practice of foot binding (see left) of women was widespread by the early 20th century. Arranged marriages, often involving the payment of a dowry, were common. Rich and powerful men kept concubines (mistresses) as well as wives. Before the 20th century, few Chinese women were able to receive any kind of education. The lives of peasant women were particularly harsh. As well as bearing the burden of child rearing and household work, they were expected to labour in the fields and carry on handicraft work at home. The revolution of 1911 had brought some changes for women but not equality. The Communists had a better record of promoting equal rights for women. With the Marriage Law, 30 April 1950. the new regime set out to remove women from their traditional inferior position. The new law prohibited polygamy, concubinage and child marriage. Wives were allowed to start divorce proceedings and young people were supported if they rejected an arranged marriage. Women were allowed to inherit property. Women were also given the right to vote and Mao stipulated that at least one quarter of those elected to representative bodies had to be women. Improvements In education Emphasis in the early years of communist rule was placed on the development of primary education. A priority was to increase literacy, in a population in which less than 20 per cent could read and write. Whereas in 1949 24.4 million attended primary school, by 1953 the figure was 51.1 million. For secondary school the increase in the same period was from 1.27 million to 3.13 million. By 1956, less than half of children aged between 7 and 16 were in full-time education. Some 20 years later, the proportion of primary-age children enrolled in schools had reached 96 per cent. Higher education was expanded and universities were remodelled to concentrate more on technical and scientific subjects, reflecting the country's need for more trained specialists. Large numbers of students were also sent to study at universities in the USSR until the late 1950s. Improvements in public health The communist regime placed the emphasis in health care on a preventative rather than a curative approach. This was done largely to compensate for a lack of hospitals and trained doctors. Health reform in the new China mainly took the form of mass campaigns. Using street and neighbourhood committees to mobilise the people, the Communist Party started campaigns such as the Patriotic Health campaign to improve sanitation and hygiene and thereby reduce the incidence of endemic diseases such as cholera, typhoid and scarlet fever. The campaigns produced some improvement as death rates gradually declined. Particular emphasis in these campaigns was placed on improving the quality of drinking water by digging deep wells and on the treatment of human waste. The practice of using 'night-soil' as a source of fertiliser for the fields was a major cause of disease in rural areas and efforts were made to encourage peasants to store the waste in pits away from habitation or mix it with chemicals to make it safe. Activity Prepare a one page revision diagram ready for an oral examination – table, bubble diagram, mindmap etc- that answers the three key questions on this sheet.