The circumstances leading to the Chinese Revolution of 1949

The Chinese Revolution of 1949 was an important episode in the history of China.

The revolution carried by the Communist Party took place after long years of internal fighting with the Koumintang Party (KMT). The situation was also marked by foreign interference. As the most populated communist country, China and its communist revolution left an abiding mark in the contemporary world history.

The Chinese revolution of 1949 was shaped by certain socio-economic and political circumstances that existed in the first half of the twentieth century. Chinese society was marked by highly inequities structure. The society was characterized also by sharply defined hierarchical set-up.

The Confucius ideals based on respect and hierarchy had considerable sway in the contemporary social thinking. The social structure as present in China offered little opportunities for mobility. Downward mobility was easy though-upward only after the group left the place and settled elsewhere.

Chinese economy was marked by dominance of agriculture. The agriculture was carried upon by primitive tools and techniques. The life of the peasantry was pitiable in the extreme. His produce supported the entire society. But he was burdened with heavy taxation and groaned under them.

Besides agriculture, certain crafts also existed in China, but like agriculture, these again were practiced with primitive techniques. The modern industry had its beginning in the second half of the nineteenth century in China, but the condition of workers there was miserable. They had to work for long hours and were paid quite low wages. Moreover, they did not enjoy right of strike or forming unions.

China also underwent considerable economic exploitation at hands of Western countries. The colonial powers had divided China into spheres of influence. They had invested heavily in China and protected their investment. They enjoyed counter- guarantee on their investment in China. Further, the Chinese emperor guaranteed their investment against any losses.

Also, China was undergoing a period of foreign interference, civil war and disintegration in the nineteenth century. Powerful groups and warlords emerged in different regions controlling economy and life of the people. These warlords fought with each other to expand their areas of influence.

Thus, there was no security of life and property in China at the beginning of the 20^th century. Further, European powers had begun penetration into China and secured their territories of influence in China. As a result Japanese victory in Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05, China lost more territory to Japan. The Manchu dynasty proved hopeless in such circumstances. The foreign exploitation reached nadir when the Japan following the World War I served upon China her demands.

In the meanwhile was formed the Kuomintang Party (KMT) or National Party by Dr. Sun Yat Sen in 1912. He wanted to build a modern, united and democratic China. Another important development around this time was the formation of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921 by Li and Chen with Mao and Chou-en-Lai as its members.

Initially, the communist party led by Mao formed united front with Kuomintang party led by Sunyat Sen, However, after death of Sunyat Sen in 1925, both parties drifted apart Chiang Kai Shek who succeeded Sunyat Sen as the President of the KMT party hated communists.

Moreover, the corruption and inefficiency had become hallmarks of the KMT party. The party had little to offer by way of reform, spent too much time looking after the interests of industrialists, bankers and landowners, and made no effective attempts to organize mass support. This provided the main opportunity for Mao & the communists to win support. Moreover, the KMT put up no effective resistance to the Japanese.

The Japanese had occupied Manchuria in 1931. It was only after Siou incident that Chiang agreed to form the united front with the Communist Party against Japanese. However, when full scale war broke out in 1937, the KMT forces were quickly defeated and most of the eastern China was occupied by Japanese.

This enabled the communists, undefeated in Shanghai, to present themselves as patriotic nationalists, leading an effective guerilla campaign against the Japanese in the north. This won them massive support among peasants.

The communists continued to win popular support by their restrained land policy, which varied according to the needs of the particular areas: some or all of a landlord’s estate might be confiscated and redistributed among the peasants. The communist armies were well-disciplined and communist administration was honest with the KMT a civil war and emerged victorious in 1947.

The Chinese revolution of 1949 was a highly significant event in the history of the world. Firstly, it led to the birth of a communist state in China. This revolution also had impact on the cold war politics in the second half of the 20^th century. The success of communist ideology in establishing a socialist state gave stimulus to freedom movements in various parts of Asia and Africa. The establishment of a socialist state in China with its controls and planning led to resurgence of Chinese economy in the post- revolutionary period. Being a communist state, China began to take independent policies in international relations. When offered the permanent membership of the United Nations, China started influencing international relations to a great extent.

Thus, the success of Chinese Communist Revolution ushered in a new era of economic property in China and added to the strength of communist movement in the contemporary world.