How the Communists won (1946–1952)
After Japan was defeated in 1945, two Chinese parties fought for power: the Nationalists (GMD) led by Jiang Jieshi and the Communists (CCP) led by Mao Zedong.
- Why the CCP won: peasant support (land promised), good guerrilla tactics, strong discipline. The GMD suffered from rising prices, corruption and low morale.
- 1 October 1949: Mao announces the People's Republic of China. The GMD retreats to Taiwan.
- Taking control: land reform (1950) gave land to about 300 million peasants; many landlords were killed. Campaigns such as the Three-Antis and Five-Antis (1951–52) targeted corruption and private business. Fear and propaganda kept people loyal.
- Abroad: a friendship treaty with the USSR (1950); Chinese troops fought in the Korean War (1950–53); the army took control of Tibet (1950).
Building socialism: plans, the Great Leap and famine (1952–1962)
- First Five-Year Plan (1953–57): copied the Soviet model; steel, coal and power grew quickly.
- Collectivisation: farmers were pushed into cooperatives and then large collectives.
- Hundred Flowers (1956–57): people were invited to criticise the party; critics were then punished in the Anti-Rightist Campaign.
- Great Leap Forward (1958–62): huge people's communes, backyard steel furnaces, unrealistic targets. Officials reported fake harvests; the state took too much grain. The Great Famine (1959–61) killed an estimated 30 million or more.
- Society: the 1950 Marriage Law banned forced marriage and gave women the right to divorce; literacy campaigns and simplified characters spread reading.
- Foreign affairs: tension with the USSR grew; Soviet experts left in 1960 (the Sino-Soviet split). A border war with India took place in 1962.
Reform, then the Cultural Revolution (1962–1976)
1962–66: Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping let peasants farm private plots and sell some crops. The economy recovered. Mao felt pushed aside and worried China would copy Soviet "revisionism".
Origins of the Cultural Revolution: Mao wanted to regain power, renew revolutionary spirit and remove rivals. Lin Biao built a cult of Mao in the army (the "Little Red Book").
- Development: in 1966 students formed Red Guards; they attacked the "Four Olds" (old ideas, culture, customs, habits), teachers and officials. Liu Shaoqi died in prison; Deng was sent away.
- Order restored: the army was used from 1967–68; millions of young people were "sent down" to the countryside.
- Later years: Lin Biao died in 1971 after a failed plot; the radical "Gang of Four" (including Mao's wife Jiang Qing) gained power.
- Economy: schools and universities closed for years; industry was disrupted, though farming kept going.
- Foreign affairs: border clashes with the USSR (1969); China took the UN seat (1971); US President Nixon visited (1972).
China under Deng Xiaoping (1976–1997)
- Mao's legacy: Mao died in 1976; the Gang of Four was arrested. In 1981 the party said Mao was "70% right, 30% wrong".
- Economic reforms ("reform and opening up", 1978): the household responsibility system let families sell surplus crops; Special Economic Zones (Shenzhen 1980) invited foreign investment; the Four Modernisations (agriculture, industry, science and technology, defence). Growth was about 9–10% a year.
- Politics: no democracy. The one-child policy (1980) controlled family size. In June 1989 the army crushed protests in Tiananmen Square. Deng's 1992 "southern tour" sped up market reforms.
- Global power by 1997: big trading nation, nuclear power, UN Security Council member; Hong Kong returned in 1997.
Try it: build a cause-and-effect chain
Open the free-play step. Set the year to 1957, then 1960. Write one line: what caused the economy bar to fall? Now set 1978, then 1997. Write one line: why did it rise, and why did the control needle stay high? You have just written the outline of an essay comparing Mao and Deng.
Key formulas and definitions
- CCP: Chinese Communist Party, led by Mao Zedong
- GMD (Guomindang/Kuomintang): the Nationalist party of Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek)
- PRC: People's Republic of China, founded 1 October 1949
- Collectivisation: joining small farms into big shared farms run by the state
- Great Leap Forward (1958–62): plan to industrialise fast through communes; caused famine
- Cultural Revolution (1966–76): Mao's campaign against "old" culture and rivals
- Household responsibility system: families farm land and keep or sell the surplus
- Special Economic Zone (SEZ): area with low taxes and open rules for foreign firms
Worked examples
1. Give three reasons why the Communists won the civil war.
1) Peasants supported them because of land reform. 2) Their army was disciplined and used guerrilla tactics well. 3) The Nationalists were weakened by price rises, corruption and low morale.
2. Explain why the Great Leap Forward led to famine.
Step 1: Farmers were moved to steel-making and big projects, so fewer worked the fields. Step 2: Officials, afraid of punishment, reported fake high harvests. Step 3: The state took grain based on these fake figures, leaving villages with too little. Step 4: Bad weather and poor methods made it worse. Result: famine, 1959–61.
3. How did Deng's China differ from Mao's China? Give one change and one continuity.
Change: the economy used markets, private farming and foreign investment instead of communes and strict state plans. Continuity: the Communist Party kept total political power and crushed opposition, as shown in 1989.
Common mistakes
- Thinking the Cultural Revolution was about art only. It was a political campaign to renew revolution and remove Mao's rivals.
- Saying Deng brought democracy. He reformed the economy, not politics; one-party rule continued.
- Mixing up the GMD (Nationalists) and the CCP (Communists).
- Saying the famine was only due to bad weather. Policy choices and fake reports were the main causes.