Name:"Tristan"O'Brien"
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School:"UWCSEA"(East)"
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Title:"The"Communist"Evolution"
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Question:"An"analysis"of"how"the"formative"experiences"of"the"Chinese"
Communist"Party"caused"the"Maoist"deviation"from"orthodox"Marxism."
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Synopsis:"Chairman"Mao"remains"a"controversial"figure"in"the"western"world"as"
well"in"many"communist"circles."The"reason"for"this"stems"not"only"from"his"
controversial"governing"style"and"‘humanitarian’"policies,"but"also"from"his"
unique"interpretation"of"communism."Somewhat"finalized"after"a"reflective"
period"in"Yan'an"and"in"the"initial"years"of"the"People's"Republic"of"China,"
Maoism"dominated"the"livelihoods"of"over"500,000"for"a"quarter"of"a"century"and"
was"described"by"Mao"himself"as,""Marxism"adapted"for"Chinese"circumstances"."
While"there"is"considerable"debate"as"to"exactly"how"Maoism"deviated"from"
Marxism"and"MarxismRLeninism,"this"paper"will"focus"on"the"question"of""why""
this"divergence"existed."To"do"this,"it"will"look"into"four"notable"differences;"a"
belief"that"rural"peasants"could"take"part"in"the"revolution,"a"focus"on"reforming"
agricultural"areas"rather"than"the"city,"an"effort"in"allowing"grassroots"decision"
making"and"a"lack"of"interest"for"spreading"communism"internationally."For"each"
of"variations,"the"effect"of"the"Communist"Party's"formative"experiences"will"be"
analyzed,"before"taking"into"account"other"factors"that"might"have"caused"each"
alteration."It"will"be"made"clear"that"while"Mao's"government"tried"to"emphasize"
the"effect"of"China's"communist"roots"in"shaping"policies,"in"reality"the"
Communist"Party's"rise"had"little"bearing"on"Maoism's"digression"from"Marxism."
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The!Communist!Revolution!!
Tristen!O’Brien!!
UWCSEA!East!Campus!
INTERNATIONAL)YOUNG)HISTORIANS)CONFERENCE)
)
UNITED)WORLD)COLLEGE)OF)SOUTHEAST)ASIA)(EAST))
)!!!!!!
To!what!extent!did!the!formative!experiences!of!the!Chinese!Communist!Party!cause!the!
deviation!of!Maoism!from!Marxism!and!Leninism?!
During!the!recent!120Byear!anniversary!celebrations!of!Mao!Zedong's!birth,!Xi!
Jinping,!the!Chinese!President,!commented!that,!"revolutionary!leaders!are!not!Gods".!
This!falls!in!contrast!with!the!government's!official!line!for!the!last!half!centaury;!that!
the!bravery!and!heroism!shown!during!the!Communist!Party's!rise!to!power!was!pivotal!
in!the!shaping!of!the!nation.!Given!revolutionary!influence!is!being!contemplated!within!
China!at!the!moment,!it!seems!appropriate!to!reflect!upon!the!true!legacy!of!the!
Communist!Party's!rise.!To!achieve!this,!the!extent!to!which!the!Chinese!Communist!
Party's!(CCP)!formative!experiences!caused!Maoism's!deviation!from!MarxismBLeninism!
will!be!considered.!Although!there!is!considerable!debate!as!to!the!specific!differences!
between!the!ideologies,!this!paper!will!consider!four!of!the!most!widely!acknowledged;!
the!belief!that!the!peasants!rather!than!the!proletariat!could!participate!in!the!
revolution,!that!individuals!and!role!models!are!of!importance!to!communism,!an!
isolationist!foreign!policy!instead!of!actively!spreading!communism!abroad!and!focusing!
government!policies!on!rural!areas!rather!than!within!cities.!For!each!of!these,!the!
significance!of!nonBCCP!factors!will!first!be!analysed,!and!then!subsequently!reasons!for!
the!deviation!relating!to!the!CCP's!rise.!!
With!regards!to!his!desire!for!a!rural!revolution,!it!seems!as!if!Mao!had!made!up!
his!mind!before!his!major!revolutionary!activities!started!in!the!midB1920's.!In!some!
ways!this!was!due!to!the!nature!of!Mao's!childhood;!obviously!the!fact!he!grew!up!in!the!
rural!province!of!Hunan!would!have!played!an!influence,!but!so!did!the!readings!that!
Mao's!father!encouraged.!Mao!himself!claimed!he!was,!"much!influenced!by!such!books",!
with!particular!reference!to!the!historical!novels!Romance!of!the!Three!Kingdoms!and!
Water!Margin.!Both!books!glorify!peasant!revolutionaries!and!position!readers!to!view!
the!periods!they!are!set!in!as!driven!by!rural!uprisings.!George!Lichtheim!in!his!1971!
book!Imperialism!argues!this!is!the!source!of!Mao's!"peasant!populism".!But!while!
historical!and!literary!influences!might!have!shaped!Mao's!initial!thinking,!it!is!unlikely!
he!would!have!solidified!his!views!at!such!an!early!age.!It!was!most!probably!the!state!of!
China's!urban!areas!that!Mao!encountered!while!working!at!Peking!University!that!
confirmed!his!initial!beliefs.!Put!frankly,!Mao!discovered!an!economically!backward!
China!that!refused!to!industrialise!and!modernise!with!the!rest!of!the!world.!However!
more!importantly!for!his!communist!leanings,!Mao!was!likely!underwhelmed!by!the!size!
of!the!proletariat!class!and!the!exploitation!they!experienced.!Such!conditions!
contrasted!the!revolutionary!picture!painted!by!Marx,!which!focused!on!exploited!urban!
workers!uniting.!Spurred!on!by!his!early!intellectual!influences!of!the!1910's,!it!was!
perhaps!only!logical!for!Mao!to!conclude!that!a!pure!Marxist!revolution!was!not!
probable!in!the!China!he!was!familiar!with,!so!in!order!for!Communism!to!take!root!in!
China!some!sought!of!uprising!in!the!countryside!was!necessary.!Therefore,!by!the!time!
Mao!joined!the!CCP!in!1921!he!was!of!the!mindBset!that!peasants,!rather!than!the!
proletariat,!should!be!the!driving!force!behind!any!revolution.!
It!might,!however,!seem!unfair!to!disregard!the!experiences!of!the!CCP!in!Mao's!
decisionBmaking!process!given!that!there!was!much!internal!CCP!debate!over!the!cityB
country!split.!One!could!argue!that!Mao!never!truly!confirmed!his!beliefs!in!a!rural!
revolution!until!it!became!official!party!dogma.!That!is!to!say!it!took!until!Mao's!initial!
resistance!in!Jiangxi!against!the!Encirclement!Campaigns!proved!successful!and!city!
based!Communists!to!be!undermined!and!targeted!for!Mao!to!decide!that!he!would!
abandon!the!idea!of!an!urban!resistance.!!But!this!view!fails!to!take!into!account!that!
Mao!was!one!of!the!loudest!voices!calling!for!rural!Communist!strongholds,!in!some!
respects!leading!one!side!of!the!debate.!With!this!in!mind,!it!seems!as!if!the!events!of!the!
early!1930's!only!reBconfirmed!views!that!Mao!already!held!rather!than!fundamentally!
changing!them.!However!there!is!an!earlier!incident!in!the!CCP's!existence,!the!April!
12th!1927!Shanghai!Massacre,!which!seems!more!likely!to!have!had!an!effect!on!Mao.!
The!fact!that!hundreds!of!Communist!supporters!were!massacred!and!thousands!more!
were!declared!missing!might!well!have!left!Mao,!along!with!other!Communist!leaders,!
worried!for!there!safety!while!living!in!major!cities!that!the!Nationalist!forces!had!
significant!control!over.!But!one!must!remember!that!the!majority!of!Communist!leaders!
decided!to!continue!to!operate!out!of!cities,!casting!doubt!over!how!seriously!this!threat!
was!taken.!Coupled!with!the!fact!that!he!had!opinions!on!the!issue!prior!to!1927,!it!
seems!as!if!the!Shanghai!Massacre!also!acted!only!as!a!confirmation!of!Mao's!belief!that!
the!revolution!should!have!a!rural!focus.!Because!of!this,!the!experiences!of!the!CCP!only!
reaffirmed!Mao's!support!for!a!rural!revolution!rather!initiated!it.!
Another!area!of!Maoist!thought!that!is!mostly!independent!from!the!CCP!is!the!
use!of!role!models,!both!during!and!after!the!revolution.!In!some!respects!this!is!due!to!
the!nature!of!Chinese!history,!with!strong!leaders!often!needed!to!change!dynastic!rule.!
Such!historical!traditions!were!engrained!into!the!Chinese!psyche!through!literary!
classics!with!determined!revolutionary!leaders,!many!of!which!were!on!Mao's!reading!
list.!Robert!Ruhlmann!adds!weight!to!these!influences!by!arguing!in!his!1960!book!
Traditional!Heroes!in!Chinese!Popular!Fiction!that!in!China,!"hero!worship!is!a!
touchstone!for!the!social!historian".!However!it!is!unlikely!these!novels!wholeheartedly!
convinced!Mao,!and!a!more!academic!appreciation!for!the!use!of!role!models!comes!
from!two!of!Mao's!intellectual!influences.!The!first!of!which!is!neoBKantian!German!
Philosopher!Friedrich!Paulsen.!It!is!known!that!Mao!read!many!of!Paulsen's!books,!and!
while!having!never!expressed!direct!approval!of!Paulsen's!ideas,!Mao!wrote!in!the!
margin!of!one!such!book,!"The!goal!of!the!human!race!lies!in!…!developing!our!physical!
and!mental!capacities!to!the!highest!degree".!Mao!goes!on!to!write!that!the!only!way!to!
achieve!such!a!goal!is!for!the!masses!to!gain!"consciousness".!These!ideas!that!Mao!
developed!through!reading!were!furthered!by!the!academic!and!CCP!founding!member!
Li!TaBchao.!Li!argued!that!in!order!to!cause!this!"consciousness"!academics!would!have!
to!go!out!to!the!masses!and!awaken!them!to!their!"historic!responsibility".!This!of!course!
lies!in!total!contrast!to!the!ideas!of!Marx!and!Engels,!whom!claimed!that!the!spread!of!
communism!would!resemble!a!natural!process,!rather!than!individuals!manipulating!the!
course!of!history.!While!Mao!took!notice!of!Li's!opinion,!it!is!debatable!whether!he!
accepted!his!superior's!opinions!in!totality!in!1919,!but!Stuart!Schram!in!his!1969!book!
The!Political!Thought!of!Mao!TseBtung!conveys!the!opinion!that!almost!all!of!Mao's!
Communist!ideas!come!from!the!teachings!of!Li.!Even!if!Mao!was!not!as!convinced!by!Li!
as!Schram!claims,!his!subsequent!actions!of!relocating!to!the!heart!of!what!he!hoped!to!
be!his!political!power!base!showed!that!he!was!willing!to!try!and!make!himself!a!role!
model!in!the!way!Li!described.!Therefore,!Mao!endorsed!the!concept!of!role!models!in!
the!revolution!before!his!involvement!with!the!CCP.!
There!is!evidence!to!suggest!that!Mao's!ideas!surrounding!role!models!
developed!further!during!the!CCP's!rise!to!power.!Not!only!did!Mao!learn!of!the!
consequences!of!not!appealing!to!a!wider!audience!through!the!disintegration!of!the!
First!United!Front!during!the!Northern!Expedition,!causing!him!to!create!a!strict!code!of!
ethics!for!Communist!leaders,!but!he!was!also!heavily!influenced!by!his!fellow!
communists!during!the!1933!B!1935!Long!March.!It!can!be!easy!to!underestimate!the!
level!of!interaction!between!Mao!and!his!subordinates!during!this!period!given!the!often!
deepBrooted!view!of!politicians!as!disconnected!from!society,!but!during!the!Long!March!
Mao!was!with!his!forces!day!in!and!day!out.!Even!Mao,!depicted!by!popular!culture!as!
cruel!and!calculating,!would!have!gained!at!least!some!emotional!connection!with!those!
who!were!willing!to!travel!across!the!harshest!of!terrain!with!him.!Along!with!the!
widespread!support!that!resulted!from!the!goodBwilled!nature!of!Mao's!forces,!this!had!a!
significant!influence!on!how!Mao!viewed!the!function!of!role!models!once!the!CCP!came!
to!power.!Far!beyond!the!deviation!from!Marxism!and!Leninism!that!Li!proposed!to!
facilitate!a!revolution!in!China,!Mao!perpetuated!the!use!of!role!models!into!government!
policy,!such!as!the!exaggerated!propaganda!surrounding!the!Luding!Bridge!Incident.!
One!could!look!at!this!with!scepticism,!as!Mao!only!used!revolutionary!leaders!as!a!
political!tool!to!consolidate!and!maintain!power,!but!nevertheless!Mao's!firstBhand!
experiences!in!his!rise!to!power!affected!his!governing!policy.!For!these!reasons,!while!
the!formative!experiences!of!the!CCP!had!essentially!no!bearing!on!the!use!of!role!
models!in!the!revolution,!it!did!cause!their!continued!use!in!Mao's!government.!!
The!underlying!conditions!in!China!played!a!role!in!Mao's!nationalistic!and!
isolationist!foreign!policy.!Colonialism!in!China!had!been!government!endorsed!for!
decades!and!the!1911!revolution,!among!other!thing,!tried!to!bring!an!end!to!this.!Many!
in!China,!including!Mao,!were!disenfranchised!by!foreign!powers!appealing!to!warlords!
for!influence!over!economic!and!political!affairs,!often!ignoring!the!wishes!of!the!people.!
While!Mao!fought!a!political!party!that!is!called!in!English!the!"Nationalist!Party",!Mao!
was!in!no!way!himself!antiBnationalist.!While!he!was!at!university!the!Treaty!of!
Versailles!was!signed,!with!widespread!condemnation!within!China!for!granting!the!
Chinese!mainland!territory!of!Shandong!to!Japan.!Amid!what!was!touted!as!a!new,!just!
and!fair!political!order,!Mao!would!have!experienced!what!he!considered!old!style!
colonialism.!Moreover,!Mao!may!have!lost!trust!in!what!he!would!have!regarded!the!
rhetoric!of!the!major!powers.!These!thought!were!perhaps!only!confirmed!when!the!
supposedly!liberalBminded!US!initiated!its!"Open!Door!Policy",!effectively!endorsing!and!
formalising!foreign!influence!in!China.!James!Gregor!and!Maria!Chang!argue!in!their!
1978!paper!Maoism!and!Marxism!in!Comparative!Perspective!that!Mao!saw!himself!as!
"oppressed!by!the!international!inferiority!suffered!by!China".!This!argument!is!
evidenced!in!the!fact!that!Mao!never!travelled!overseas!before!he!ruled!China,!although!
he!was!presented!with!multiple!opportunities!to!do!so.!Therefore,!colonialist!policies!
towards!China!shaped!Mao's!nationalistic!thoughts.!
But!while!colonialism!in!China!can!explain!Mao's!nationalism,!it!does!little!to!
show!why!Mao!was!so!disinterested!in!the!Marxist!goal!of!creating!a!global!Communist!
revolution.!The!reason!for!this!can!instead!be!found!in!the!CCP's!relationship!with!Soviet!
Russia!and!Mao's!relationship!with!the!Kremlin.!Mao's!initial!resentment!towards!
China's!northern!neighbour!was!the!result!of!the!posting!of!Comintern!agent!Otto!Braun!
to!Mao's!forces!in!Jiangxi!Soviet.!Braun!was!supposed!to!be!an!advisor,!but!quickly!
moved!to!the!centre!of!power!and!convinced!key!advisors!to!abandon!Mao's!guerrilla!
tactics!and!instead!confront!Nationalist!forces.!In!effect,!Braun!sideBlined!Mao!from!the!
decision!making!process,!which!was!sure!to!bring!personal!humiliation.!However!of!
course!Braun's!plans!failed!during!the!Fifth!Encirclement!Campaign,!and!as!a!result!Mao!
was!once!again!respected!as!a!CCP!leader.!Nevertheless,!this!USSR's!intervention!would!
likely!have!had!a!lasting!impact!on!Mao.!Likewise,!just!over!ten!year!later,!when!Mao!
was!entering!into!a!civil!war!after!the!collapse!of!the!Second!United!Front,!he!was!not!
pleased!by!Soviet!actions.!In!fact,!the!USSR!decided!to!support!his!opponents,!the!
Nationalists,!due!most!likely!to!a!Kremlin!belief!that!the!CCP!was!not!in!a!position!to!be!
able!to!win!the!war.!This,!of!course,!was!not!the!case,!and!by!the!time!Mao!was!in!power!
he!had!experienced!ineffective!Soviet!foreign!policy!and!antiBCommunist!Soviet!foreign!
policy.!With!experiences!such!as!these,!it!would!seem!unlikely!that!one,!even!if!a!
believer!of!Marxism,!would!adopt!a!foreign!policy!similar!to!the!USSR.!As!a!result!of!
these!Russian!actions!that!affected!his!rise!to!power,!Mao!abandoned!any!significant!
attempts!to!push!for!a!global!Communist!revolution.!
Mao's!focus!on!reforming!rural!areas,!as!opposed!to!cities,!is!in!some!respects!
due!to!the!nature!of!the!Chinese!countryside.!Growing!up!in!Hunan!province,!Mao!was!
critically!aware!of!the!role!of!regional!warlords!within!China.!Many!previous!Chinese!
governments,!including!the!Nationalist!government,!did!not!have!full!administrative!
control!of!China,!but!instead!had!to!work!through!a!combination!of!warlords!to!advance!
their!policy!agenda.!Mao!was!always!opposed!to!warlord!rule,!and!new!that!only!a!
unified!China!could!advance!his!foreign!and!domestic!policy!ambitions.!Moreover!Mao!
was!aware!of!the!economic!elite,!the!rural!landlords.!While!Maoism!and!Marxism!both!
agree!that!the!economic!elite!had!to!be!ousted,!Mao!called!for!this!to!happen!in!the!
countryside!rather!than!in!cities.!Mao's!investment!in!rural!areas!could!have!been!due!to!
past!experiences!with!landlords!and!warlords,!in!order!to!return!political!control!to!a!
central!government!and!ensure!that!class!divides!did!not!remain!in!pockets!of!China.!
Therefore,!by!the!time!he!joined!the!CCP!Mao!would!have!already!had!some!thoughts!on!
the!importance!of!managing!China's!complex!rural!power!structures.!
However,!it!seems!likely!that!the!real!reason!for!Mao's!rural!policies!was!due!to!
his!time!in!the!CCP.!One!of!the!first!times!that!Mao!really!experienced!the!impact!of!the!
landlords!on!rural!politics!was!when!he!led!the!1927!Autumn!Harvest!Uprising.!Mao!
failed!to!end!what!he!saw!as!landlords!oppressing!peasants!due!to!the!large!government!
support!his!opponents!received,!and!this!most!probably!entrenched!Mao's!dislike!of!
rural!power!structures.!But!in!addition!to!this!early!experience,!Mao's!successful!miniB
state!is!likely!to!have!also!played!a!role!in!his!subsequent!government!policies.!In!
Yan'an,!Mao!endeavoured!to!create!the!ideal!Communist!state,!both!economically!and!
ethically.!During!the!Second!United!Front!word!of!Yan'an!and!of!Communist!ideals!in!
practice!spread!around!China.!Mao!would!have!hoped!that!the!Yan'an!model!could!have!
been!replicated!around!China.!Although!perhaps!wishful!thinking,!this!seems!to!be!the!
focus!of!the!three!sets!of!Agrarian!reform!and!the!wider!CCP!power!structure.!While!the!
Chinese!government!now!seems!very!stable,!Mao!would!have!feared!another!revolution!
might!have!risen!up!against!him,!and!in!a!similar!way!created!its!own!miniBstate.!
Because!of!this,!Mao's!focus!on!rural!policies!was!likely!due!to!his!CCP!experiences!and!
the!hope!that!his!revolutionary!successes!in!the!countryside!would!perpetuate!into!
government.!
Overall,!the!glorification!of!the!CCP's!rise!to!power!in!China!might!well!be!
unjustified!given!the!true!impact!it!had!on!shaping!Maoism's!deviation!from!traditional!
communism,!but!that!does!not!mean!that!the!CCP!did!not!influence!Mao's!thinking!
whatsoever.!The!impact!of!the!CCP!was!shown!to!be!very!limited!in!influencing!the!
decision!for!a!peasant!rather!than!proletariat!revolution.!Also,!the!CCP's!rise!was!shown!
to!impact!the!use!of!role!models!and!focus!on!rural!areas!while!in!government,!but!these!
seem!to!be!more!a!perpetuation!of!previously!conceived!revolutionary!strategies!rather!
than!brandBnew!policies.!However,!in!terms!of!foreign!policy!the!CCP!had!a!large!impact!
on!Mao's!decision!to!not!actively!peruse!global!Communism.!So!while!it!might!appear!
logical!to!presume!that!the!revolution!fundamentally!changed!the!course!of!Chinese!
history,!the!CCP's!formative!experiences!impacted!the!evolution!of!Maoism!in!only!
certain,!and!perhaps!more!predictable!areas,!and!for!these!reasons!the!struggles!of!the!
CCP!did!little!to!shape!China!beyond!putting!Mao!in!power.!
!