The Coming to Power of the Communists in China in 1949

The Coming to Power of the Communists in China in 1949

The leadership of China at the beginning of the 20th Century was very

different to how it is today. The Communists did not come to power

without a long and bitter struggle against the many foes that came

across their path between the time of their creation, in 1921, and

their eventual success in 1949.

The Double Tenth Revolution of 1911 overthrew the emperor of China, as

he was only a child and could not contain the ever-depleting condition

of the nation. This happened before the creation of the Chinese

Communist Party (CCP), but if it had not occurred then the CCP may not

have achieved ultimate victory. If it had happened later in the

century then the CCP may have inherited a ‘backward’ nation and the

problems the previous leadership had caused may have been

irreversible.

After the overthrow of Emperor Pu Yi, the Nationalist party was

developed and its leader Sun Yatsen was given the title of

‘Provisional President of the Republic of China’. However he never

took up the role to prevent the outbreak of a civil war.

Meanwhile, whilst a central government was being formed so was a

separate party – one with ideals at the other end of the spectrum to

the Nationalists. In 1921, the Chinese Communist Party was

established. The CCP was made up of young, middle-class people who

looked to the supposed success of the Russian Communist Revolution,

and thought the only way China could be a fair and just society was

through a Communist state. The Communists looked towards Karl Marx’s

teachings that said that this fair and just state could only be

achieved if wealth and land...

... middle of paper ...

...The Nationalist Blue-shirts

tried to control this through harsh methods but this only sent more

people on to the side of the CCP. The CCP’s victory was also down to

the fantastic military leadership of Mao Zedong, who brought his men

together and motivated them in such a manner to beat a much stronger

army at the Battle of Huai-Hai.

There is no one single reason for the Chinese Communist Party coming

to power in 1949; their success is one of great complexity and it saw

many desperately needed changes and improvements to the newly named

People’s Republic of China. In my opinion I think that the major

reason for the success of the CCP was because of the people, the

people who sided with the CCP after that’s what the CCP believed in

equality for all and the CCP not only believed in but implemented this

equality.