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short essay china's history
Political life in china
short essay china's history
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Thesis:
In viewing China’s political background, as well as the current state of affairs, it is reasonable to predict that China will eventually become a democracy.
History
Looking back in history, one of the most dominant figures in Chinese politics in the 1930’s was Mao Zedong. Mao is very well known as the leader of the CCP as well as a dictator. Mao was inspired by revolutionary potential of peasantry and wanted to create a revolutionary strategy that would rely on their strength. During the First Five-Year Plan, a period between 1953 and 1957, some of the goals of the communist Chinese government were to increase heavy industrial production, collectivize light industry and retail enterprises, and create agricultural communes. These goals seemed to be set forth to create a more collectivized culture with a single ideology. And although there was resistance, most of these goals were achieved by 1957. But once those goals were realized, moderates within the CCP were beginning to grow tired of Mao and his ideas, and wanted to overthrow him. Mao fought back his opponents with the Hundred Flowers Campaign.
The idea of the campaign, was intended to calm down his challengers by allowing free speech, as the campaign stated “let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend.” This lasted for a very brief period of time, because soon after, Mao went after those who had seized this opportunity to criticize the government, party and policies, and imprisoned them. Because of the failure of the 100 Flowers campaign, Mao introduced the “Great leap forward.”
A young Chinese student regarding his parents stated, "They would often bring up the topic of the Great Leap famine and tell how bad things were during that ...
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...hts Foundation). But it isn’t enough to rely merely on theory. Some strategies seem to have already placed a seed for the birth of democracy.
Strategies already taking place…
One of the strategies to democratize China relies on moving China’s democratization efforts in Asia. Asia Times, points out that the main drive for democratization in China lies in the hands of activists. Japan has helped become a part of this movement by hosting and holding a number of China-related democracy activities such as the GSDCA as pointed earlier. Currently, much of the “support” for China-related democracy activities comes from individuals in Non-governmental Organizations (NGO’s) governments, and parliaments (Dr. Gomez). With more continued support in Asia and China’s close surrounding areas, it is quite true to believe that democracy does in fact have a place in China.
After millions of years under imperial rule in China, nationalist rebellions made the government unstable eventually making way for communist ideas. For over twenty years the nationalist struggled to keep democratic power in the country. The Xinhai revolution was a civil war between the nationalists and the communists. The Communists were led by Mao Zedong and they emerged victoriously. In September 1949, two good things happened. It was the celebration of the communist victory and the unveiling of the communist regime that would subsequently rule over China. Mao and his communist supporters had been fighting against a corrupt and abandoned Nationalist government in China. Mao denounced that those who opposed the communist government are imperialistic and domestic reactionaries. Mao also declared that communi...
Throughout, 1900- 1950 there were a number of changes and continuities in China. From the fall of the dynasties to the rise of the Communist Party, these changes shaped China’s government and society. Although, many political changes were made multiple continuities were held constant such as, consistent rebellions and the lack of democracy.
Although it has been argued that Deng was leading a totalitarian regime, historians tend to overlook the idea that the Chinese have different ideologies and morals than people in the west. Chinese intellectuals who looked to the west as a model for democracy absorbed themselves into the western culture, and believed that everything that China stood for was ‘backward.’ This view of the Chinese society forced the people to hold resentments against Deng, which led to Democratic uprisings and movements. Deng simply wanted to create a better economy for the Chinese people to live in according to Chinese values, but the society did not see it this way as an inflow of western attitudes and beliefs had been embedded into their minds. Deng knew that China’s problems were coming from within the political system, and he attempted to solve these problems, but when he realized that these problems could not be solved, he resorted to more of an authoritarian rather than a democratic regime.
...e up with his Five Year Plan to try to create more of a world power by increasing China’s industry. At the beginning of the Revolution, China had been receiving money from the Soviet Union because they signed the Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance. This money allowed China to start to actually modernize its industries. Mao’s Five Year Plan’s main goal was to create better industry but also create more and better production of steel, coal, and iron. TO achieve these goals factories and mines were given specific goals to achieve and if they did not meet these goals, the factory believed they were failing its own people. Because of Mao’s Plan, the economic growth rose and most of the goals set were accomplished. The only problem was that the success of it was because there were a lot of Soviet Union advisers that helped China through the Plan.
In 1966 a socio-political movement known as the Cultural Revolution swept across the People’s Republic of China and resulted in astounding changes whose effects are still being felt by the nation today. The Cultural Revolution changed nearly every aspect of traditional Chinese culture, politics, and psychology, and replaced it with Maoist ideology. To change the paradigm of a nation with deep historical roots, immense size, and a greatly distributed population, such as China, in a course of ten years is a feat most commendable. Responsible for this mind boggling change is, at the heart of it, a single man, Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong was born in 1893 to humble beginnings in the countryside, the world itself oblivious to the future of this man (Spence). Mao’s rebellious nature came from events in his youth such as the destruction of the Quing dynasty, the political wars he played with his father, and the exposure to literature, especially that of Marx and Lenin (Clements).
...) and bring China under uniform thought as well. Thus, in his attempt to accomplish his goals he placed less emphasis on freedom and more on developing a sturdy political backbone. Deng, on the other hand, wanted to thrust China in the global community for economic fortune at the expense of everything Mao had established. In the process, he brought a freedom and wave of democracy to the People's Republic, endowing the Chinese citizens with dreams of wealth and prosperity that were never even considered in the time of Mao. As China, progresses further into the twenty first century, its role seems quite unclear. A return to Post-revolutionary authoritarian communism seems unlikely, as does the institution of a true democracy but perhaps a new form of stability will arise to grant greater liberty to individuals or possibly even another Tiannenmen lurking in the future.
Mao shifted his emphasis from the peasants and focused on the youth of China. 2 He urged a mass movement of youth and fight against the “four olds”: old customs, old culture, old thinking, and old habits.2 As a result, the Red Guards were created. This youth group would assault those whom they believed were followers of the old culture in China. It seemed as if Mao Zedong was going against the plan of building a “strong socialist state” because he still believed in the need for state power. Buildings, museums, homes, and colleges were burned if they represented any elements of the four olds.2 Furthermore, intellectuals, Mao’s old support group, were forced into hard labor in remote villages. Pandemonium had entered the country of China. This chaos messed with farm production and closed down all factories.2 Surprisingly, Mao Zedong admitted that the Cultural Revolution needed to conclude and it ultimately hindered China’s growth. After Mao assigned Zhou Enlai and Xiaoping to help save this revolution, he believed that they were threatening to end the whole revolution.3 This lead to more minor violent movements and Mao Zedong’s eventual decline. The Cultural Revolution had bad written all over it as soon as Mao and the country of China entered
In 1985 one fifth of the worlds population was living under military controlled governments (Harper's Index Book), and it may around half now since China so brutally squashed its citizens' move toward democracy (Harper's Index Book). The reunificat...
Overview the history timeline, Mao Zedong made the cultural revolution because he wanted to remove all capitalism in the country to consolidate his party. In other words, he tried to firm his stage and power in the country, remove capitalism maybe just is an excuse of his hunger. Because a lot of evidences show that before he made this revolution, a lot of people was not side with him. Furthermore, his party do not had a lot of fund to support the party work well. Red Guard may could be considered as the way to obtain more money to build up the party (Knight). In the Western, Religion leaders also wanted people to be loyal. They were fear someone would overthrow them. To prevent it happen, Mao abuse the violent and punishment to firm communism. It caused by personal desire. Nevertheless, this way could control people in short time but not forever. Moreover, people’s beliefs also can determine the fate of a country. Because of that, Chinese leaders spent a lot of energy to unity people’s mind. First, they print out “Mao Zedong’s Quotation” and require everyone must read it and study it (Knight). It is the reason why no one tried to say no to Mao’s direction. Second, the party controlled all kind of publication, that make people can just obtain the information that the party want people to get (Princeton University). A good modern
The question posed is best explored through the lens of Modernization Theory, which partly originated with Lipset's 1959 formulation that the prospects for democracy to thrive within a country are directly correlated to its level of economic development. Przeworski has elucidated Lipset's theories as hypothesizing that economic affluence dovetails with democracy because wealth reduces the intensity of group or individual conflicts over the distribution of resources. Democracy – which through representative rule is perceived as the most egalitarian form of government – is widely taken to be the fundamental criterion of what makes a country or nation-state 'modern'. Lipset proposes that economic development sets off a series of profound social changes, such as increased urbanization, education and communication, that in turn precipitate larger middle classes and greater social equality. All of these elements combined, Lipset contends in his 1963 award-winning book, Political Man, provide the necessary framework for the emergence of democratic institutions. Today China maintains all such socio-economic elements. Thus, we are presented with a conundrum of sorts. Either we must construe that Modernization theory is dead, or according to its principles, that China’s democratization is latent, and will materialize at a later date.
The declaration of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 by the Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong signified a revolution in China that brought an end to the costliest civil war in Chinese history between the Nationalist Party or Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that had lasted a period of 22 years from 1927 to 1949. The Chinese revolution of 1949 signified the beginning of an era of Communist Chinese rule ushered in by the popular Chinese Communist Party at the expense of the Nationalist Party. According to historian Michael Lestz, the Communist victory was an inevitability that was aided by the actions of the preceding Nationalist government (Lestz, 2010). Lestz states that the weakness and administration ineptitude displayed by the Nationalist Party in economic, military and civil affairs created an environment that was conducive for the Communist Party to prosper. Author John King elaborates that the Nationalist party did more to lose the peasants’ support than the Communist party did to gain the peasants’ favor (King, 2006). Therefore, this paper will focus on the failures of the Nationalist Party in the Civil War and World War II coupled with the consequences. It will compound the various issues that harbored the Nationalist Party such as corruption and the failure of the government to accommodate or abate Communist dissent. The paper will also cover the failed efforts by Nationalist Party to integrate Western policies into China.
As it’s known around the world, Chinese political system is Communism. Some may say that communism is good and bad. Well it all began when Mao Zedong came into power, his ideas influenced Chinese people and how the true way of living is. The introduction of communism into China changed how people perceived each other. One of his first ideas was “The Great Leap Forward,” which a lot of historians considered as a failure because its initial goals were never met. The Chinese society was losing faith in Mao, and not loyal to him. In desperate needs, Mao came up with the “Cultural Revolution” or also known was “The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution”. Mao main goal was to turn all people to follow the idea of communism, but not in the way like Russia did. Even though a huge amount of people died and harmed the future image of China. Mao did whatever it took to make people to follow his ideas, he didn’t matter what the consequences were, and he was willing to kill anybody who was a “counter revolutionary.” Well, was his idea successful? it mostly depends on your point of view. According to Dictionary.com, successful mean achieving or having success. This revolution has impacted everybody, with witnessed accounts during the Mao’s rule. At last, did it work? In the following essay, Mao’s ideas how people view communism as a form of a government than the abuse of power.
The topic of democracy in China is a highly controversial topic. Although China has not democratised, it has done well in the global situation amongst its democratic competitors. Since the path to democracy is different for each country, we cannot expect that China would follow the same path or same model of democracy as the western nations. This essay will look at what democracy is and how it can be placed in a Chinese context as well as looking at the proponents and opponents of democracy in China. It will also look at whether China is democratising by focusing on village elections, globalisation and the emergence of a civil society. These specific topics were chosen because they will help provide good evidence and arguments to the topic of democratisation in China. The main argument in this essay will be that although China is implementing some changes that can be seen as the beginning of a road to democracy, there contribution should not be over estimated. China still has a long way to go before it can be considered that it is democratising. The small changes are good but China still has a long road ahead of itself to achieve democracy.
This essay has critically analysed and examined the effect of Communism on the Chinese Society during the period of 1946-1964. The overall conclusion that can be drawn is that the Chinese Communist Party managed to defeat the Kuomintang (Nationalist) Party and achieve victory in the Civil War, in spite of alienation by the Soviet Union and opposition from the U.S. This was primarily because of the superior military strategy employed by the Communists and the economic and political reforms introduced by this party which brought more equality to the peasants in the form of land ownership and better public services. This increased China’s production and manufacturing which not only boosted the country’s economy but also provided a more sustainable supply of food, goods and services for the Chinese people.
In 1966, Mao mobilized the Chinese youth to initiate the “Cultural Revolution”, a violent process eliminating old Chinese culture, customs, thoughts and habits, purging “counter-revolutionary” party members, and heightening Mao’s personality cult. I will summarize evidence collected from textbooks, official documents, biographies and eyewitness reports about the events between 1959 and 1966. I will describe the failure of the Great Leap Forward, Mao’s resignation as president, his power struggle with Liu Shoaqi and Deng Xiaoping and the propagating of his personality cult. Then I will identify how these events may have given Mao reasons for launching the Cultural Revolution, and whether his motives were of an ideological or selfish nature. After carrying out a Source Evaluation of the “16 Point Directive on the Cultural Revolution” and Jung Chang’s “Mao: The Unknown Story” and analysing my evidence, my essay will answer the question: To what extent were Mao’s motives for starting the Cultural Revolution ideological?