Mini extended essay
Olle Ljungdahl
IB06b
23/05/2007
The Soviet Union and Communist China
By
Olle Ljungdahl
Contents
Abstract........................................................................................................................................ 2
Introduction.................................................................................................................................. 3
Definitions................................................................................................................................. 3
The Soviet Union and Communist China........................................................................................ 4
Underground Organizations....................................................................................................... 4
Mao-Tse Tung and the Soviet Union........................................................................................... 5
The Propaganda......................................................................................................................... 6
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................... 7
Bibliography................................................................................................................................. 8
Appendices................................................................................................................................... 9
Abstract
In this essay I will discuss the influence that the Soviet Union had on Communism in China. It is very interesting to see how severely a country can influence another country, which has a completely different culture and background. To clearly show my thesis and idea, I have decided to concentrate on a few things which show clearly how the Soviet Union influenced Chinese communism; the upbringing of communism in China which was helped by underground Soviet organizations, how Mao was connected to the Soviet Union, and the Soviet propaganda in China. In fact, China was very much influenced by the Soviet Union, to such an extent that if it was not for the Soviet Union, communism in China might never have occurred. The way of Communism, the leader of the party, the development, the propaganda, the occupations and much more was very much influenced by the Soviet Union, and has led to what China looks like today.
Introduction
China today is under communist leadership by the Communist Party of China, which I from now on will refer to as the CPC. There are many ways to describe what could have led to this way of leadership, the peoples will, development and industrialization and so on. But where did the sprout of communism come from? And how could it have such a strong effect on China? The Soviet Union started spreading communist ideas to many countries that were in struggle of civil war during the early 20th century and even begun developing underground organizations in foreign countries, including China. The research question of this essay is; to what extent did the Soviet Union contribute to the development and way of communism in China? The Soviet Union started by infiltrating political parties in China and from there on the Soviet Union financed, guided and assisted the CPC through their entire rise to power in 1949. Furthermore, the CPC looked at the Soviet Union as a role-model for China in many ways throughout development of China into a communist state, in Peking, a portrait of Stalin was hung up in an eminent situate, and it was not removed until the early 1980s.[1]
Definitions
In this essay I will be using a few terms that I would like to define so that my statements do not cause any misunderstanding.
Dictatorship: A country led by one single person who is responsible only to his party (example: Mao and the CPC).
Communism: All property is owned by the state, no private ownership of estates or businesses and a planned economy, (Opposite of capitalism).
Democracy: When the will of the people is given by voting for a certain party or direct question of the society.
CPC: Communist Party of China.
Soviet Union: Russia under the communist rule, including occupied territories, (I am referring to the ruling government of the Soviet Union as I mention it in the text).
The Soviet Union’s Influence on Chinese Communism
Underground Organizations
Most countries that have had communist leadership for some time or still have today have been influenced by the Soviet Union in some way or another. This was accomplished in many different ways, but mainly through economic aid and underground organizations which were created by committees of the Soviet Union. 1919 Lenin decided to create an international committee which would infiltrate and spread communism in foreign countries. In many countries at this time civil wars were breaking out and it was this committee’s responsibility to help organize and build up communist underground organizations worldwide, infiltrating the political side of the revolution that would favor the spread of communism. The committee had twenty-one conditions to follow, and the third clearly illustrates my point:
“In almost all countries of Europe and In America, the struggles of the social classes are creating conflicts and civil wars. The communists cannot rely on the non-socialists laws under these circumstances. It is there duty, to beside the legal organization, create an underground organization, an organization which in time can fulfill its duty towards the revolution”[2]
What this condition really meant was that by the time civil wars would break out in foreign countries, the Soviet Union would be involved to help or start, socialistic and communistic movements. That it would “help” or “support” could be anything from organizing and supplying weapons, to education of warfare.
The committee made several tries to get a foothold in countries in Europe, but could not accomplish much, in 1921 a revolution led by Soviet government took place in Germany, but it was soon brutally stopped by police forces. After more failures in countries like Estonia and Bulgaria, the committee was forced to look in a different direction. The new target was a country that was being ruined by civil wars and social conflict, China.
The Communist Party of China was at this time in cooperating with the current and much more powerful Nationalist Party. There was no real power in the communist party at all, with members not even exceeding a 100 by 1920, and so the Soviet Union’s committee decided that the best way to go about it was infiltrating the Nationalist Party. This way the communists created a “left wing” in the Nationalist Party and could strengthen their position with the nationalists by infiltrating the party itself. The communists were later kicked out of the Nationalist party by their leader Chiang Kai-shek, but they had already gained more followers and the Soviet Union and Stalin was now behind the Chinese communists to help and support them in every possible way. This way the CPC was from the start very much influenced by the Soviet Union. Financial support and other things made sure that the CPC was dependent on help from the Soviet Union; otherwise the CPC might not ever have made it all the way to being the leading party of China.
The Propaganda
One of the ways the Soviet Union greatly influenced China was through the propaganda of the CPC. This way China was very much like the Soviet concerning government, economics, industries and so on. As the CPC advanced on towards their leadership of China, they took a lot of benefit using mass propaganda[3]. Most of this propaganda came from the Soviet Union whom was to be a role-model for China. As the CPC struggled for power, they gained a lot of experience concerning their propaganda, and could use it as one of their main sources for gaining the will and support of the people. Most of the propaganda would tell people about the Soviet Union, and what the Chinese people could learn from it, promoting the great neighbor who had brought communism to China. After the CPC had become the leaders of China in 1949, the mass propaganda really got going. There were Russian songs and dances that were allowed (most other songs were forbidden), and everywhere posters promoting Stalin and the Soviet Union could be seen. China followed exactly in the Soviet Union’s footsteps concerning the industrialization and mass production as well as manipulating the people using propaganda. There were teachers, professors, scientists and labor workers from the Soviet Union to teach the Chinese people the Russian technology and promote learning from the Soviet Union. This brought the Russian language to become a second language in China, and in every school Russian was taught as a second language. The Soviet Union was almost a part of the CPCs government, in the way they influenced and brought their way of communism into China.
The five year plan that occurred in the Soviet was now also being organized in China. It was planned that the five-year plan was to be attempted from 1953-1957 but it was officially announced in 1955. The Soviet model of the five-year plan was followed and the production of mass industries begun. They also started using more and more modern technology for farming, producing more in a shorter time. China was becoming a modern country and catching up with modern technology, but soon the failures of the five-year plan were obvious. As in most communist countries when industries are producing a lot of products, the estimations of the quantity needed are often slightly wrong. When the mass production of large industries then proved less successful, and conflicts between China and the Soviet Union started coming up during 1959, they broke their close friendship in 1960, for the first time the CPC were standing alone without the Soviet Union to guide them, but the communism, the knowledge, and the ideas were left behind and much of that still resides in China today.
Conclusion
So did the Soviet Union influence the communism in China? I think that after this investigation we can clearly state the answer to be, “yes”. I have only looked at a few of the ways the Soviet Union influenced China, and there is probably a lot more that I have left out, but this will at least gives an idea of what actually caused the communism and the way of communism in China. The CPC was financed, infiltrated, taught by and assisted by the Soviet Union. So to answer my essay question in a short sentence, the CPC was influenced by the Soviet Union to a very large extent, the people in charge, the underground Soviet organizations, all the teachings of the Soviet and so on. But what was the point of all this, if the Soviet Union influenced China so greatly, what was the purpose of all this? Maybe the Soviet needed a political ally, but anyhow they made a great effort to help the CPC throughout their struggle towards leadership, and with success, although we might never know if the Soviet Union got what they wanted in the end as China today (as far as we know) is an independent government.
References
Ø Stephane Coutios and Jean Panne, 1999, Kommunismens svarta bok
Ø Tom Hart, 1998, Politiska utländska system
Ø Sven-Eric Liedman, 1985, Från Platon till Reagan
Ø John Gittings, 1991, Kina i förändring
Ø Stephen G. Haw, 1999, Historisk Guide till Kina
Ø Jung Chan, John Halliday, 2006, Mao: den sanna historien
Ø Yu Minling, June 2005, Learning from the Soviet Union: CPC Propaganda and its Effects, http://www.php.isn.ethz.ch/publications/areastudies/documentations/sinosov/minling.pdf
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