To what extent was the CCP able to develop as a significant political force in the years 1927 to 1945?
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was a revolutionary movement led by Professors Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao, who emerged from the May Fourth Movement, challenging the traditional Confucian Chinese ideas and were influenced by the ideas of Karl Marx. When the CCP was first founded, in 1921, it contained only 50 members. However, throughout the years 1927 to 1945 it went through horrific defeats by the Nationalists and their leader Chaing Kaishek, but still survived, eventually triumphing by the late 1940’s. This essay will identify to what extent the CCP was able to develop as a significant political force in the years 1927 to 1945, …show more content…
They accused Mao of ‘defying the will of the party’ as he wasn’t following a ‘Stalinist line’ in his approaches to the peasants. Mao felt that the peasants must unleash their potential, and that urban Communists had become out of touch with the real situation in China. Mao survived the accusations as he was an outstanding general in the party, the CCP could not cope without his military skills, his field research with peasants and the Nationalist threat to Jiangxi was so important that it took over party policy issues.
However, although Mao emerged as a strong, potential leader, the situation in Jiangxi had turned threatening. Chiang Kaishek adopted a series of encirclement campaigns, that denied resources of the Reds until they broke, through the means of aerial bombing and pillboxes, manning blocks on the roads and waterways. The siege worked; and by 1934 the triumph of the opposing GMD resulted in Mao to agreeing with the collective decision to breakout. This led to the Reds departing on the Long March, they fled their southern base and retreated up north to meet with Communist forces in Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia.
The Long March is the event that truly shows the loyalty and amount of followers that the CCP had gained. Lasting approximately 368 days, covering around 6,000 miles, it began in Jianxgi on October 16th 1934 and ended at the caves of Yenan. It crosses 24