Essay Example in History: Revolution in China

'May 4th Movement' was an event that was resulted by the failure of 1911 revolution that aimed at establishing a republican government. Since then, a series of events emerged in and around China to Mao Zedong's ultimate victory in 1949. These events marked the progress and turning point of China and how it handled diverse regimes and movements. The paper will thus outline the series of events from the May fourth movement to Mao's victory in 1949. The paper will also analyze Mao's movement and how it emerged from the bloody struggle among Kuomintang, Japan, and Mao's own movement. After the victory of Mao and his rule in China, other junior partners were affected that included North Korea and Vietnam. The paper will, therefore, analyze how these junior partners were affected.

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May Fourth Movement, 1919

This was a cultural, political, and anti-imperialist movement that entailed students' participation and demonstration against the Chinese government. The demonstrations primarily emanated from Shandong, where the Japanese received territories that Germans surrendered.

Birth of Chinese Communism, 1921

The birth of Chinese Communism was established in 1921 by Chen Duxiu and Li Daxao. The party was a ruling political movement that marked the United Front of China.

Chinese Civil War, 1927

This was a war that was fought between the Chinese Communist Party and Kuomintang (KMT). The war started in August 1927 and ended in 1950 when the two hostile groups ceased.

Second Sino-Japanese War, 1937

The second Sino-Japanese war was a military conflict between the empire of Japan and the Republic of China from 1937 to 1945. The war was caused by the Japanese Imperialist Policy that aimed at expanding and securing the economic activities.

Mao Zedong's Movements up to 1949

Mao Zedong was a communist revolutionary who led several communist forces from 1927 to its ultimate victory in 1949. He led China's Communist Party to its victory during the struggle against the Kuomintang. However, Mao Zedong's movement entailed the foundation of revolutionary parties, civil wars, and the collaboration with other communists. In early 1927, Mao wrote a seminal journal that was named the "Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan." He had foreseen how the peasant masses would rise up and sweep the old system of land ownership that oppressed and discriminated the nation. Consequently, he formed China's Communist Party that aimed at restoring the political and economic strategies of China. During then, there were diverse political parties that were against communism in China. These parties formed their new alliance and initiated policies that contradicted the policies and strategies of the Chinese Communist Party.

During the years 1922 to 1927, Mao collaborated with Kuomintang. Mao was elected as one of the Central Executive Committees who played diverse roles in decentralizing powers in the republic. He continued to serve the party until the leader died in the year 1925. After then, Kuomintang was succeeded by Chiang-Kai Shek. Mao continued to support the Revolutionary Army of Chiang until the period when the party turned against communism, killing fifteen thousand members of Chinese Communist Party. This was the end of the collaboration between Mao and Chiang-Shek's Kuomintang.

After the massacre of the Chinese Communists, the remaining members were forced to find refuge in the province of Jiangxi (where Mao was born and raised). Therein, Mao was elected as a chairman of the new communist group that was formed in the province. Although the party lost power after its foundation, Mao did not hesitate to struggle for the communism and formed a strong Chinese Communist Party in 1927, which was the competitor of the Chaing-Shek's Party and Japanese military troop.

However, the conflict between the Mao Zedong's Movement and the Japanese military troops emerged during the Sino-Japanese war in the year 1937 to 1945. This was the period that the civil war broke out in China, involving the three parties namely the China's Communist Party, Chiang-Shek's Party, and the Japanese Military troops. Each group fought for its policies, precisely the political and economic aspects. Even though the Chinese Communist Party led by Mao Zedong initiated a collusion with the aim of weakening the Kuomintang forces, the party did not fully collaborate because they had the aim of betraying them after the Kuomintang had been weakening. This would make them emerge the powerful party in the entire country.

Mao Zedong continued with the mission of restoring the nation and the struggle to rule over the North and South of China despite the favorable odds. Besides the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Mao also formed another movement that was named the Red Army. Red Army was later renamed the People's Liberation Army that struggled to overthrow the nationalists and win the battle.

During then, Mao had a number of roles that he played in the movements that he initiated starting from the Chinese Communist Party to the People's Liberation Army. One of the roles that led to his success and victory is that he was a prominent leader who understood the nation's strategies and how to deal with both nationalists and communists. Moreover, he understood all the military actions in the country, since he led the Red Army that fought against Kuomintang group. Even though he faced the critical political challenges during his start of the movement in 1927, he restored China and all its economic and political aspects from the hands of Japanese and nationalists.

Therefore, Mao Zedong's movements emerged from the bloody and complicated struggle to restore China through various strategies that were employed. At the end of the war, Mao Zedong established another party that was named the People's Republic of China. This was after his victory over the three groups that fought against each other. The party was established and associated with the phrase "The Chinese people have stood up." This was because of the victory that the Chinese had in the Chinese Communist Party.

Effects of Mao's Movement to its Junior Partners

On the other hand, Mao Zedong's movement affected its junior partners in Vietnam and North Korea in diverse ways. Since the Mao's movements emerged powerful and victorious over other movements and parties, other junior nations arose powerfully as a result of the aids from Mao's movements. For instance, the capitalists emerged in North Korean soon after the success and victory of China. According to the research, China and North Korea became the trading partners reflecting back their union and partnership during the cold war. Since the North Korea and Vietnam were the junior partners of China during the Mao's movement, communism developed in both countries. This was because of the Mao's influence and the competency of ruling the nations powerfully. The retreat and defeat of Japan led to the growth of North Korea and Vietnam in terms of economy and military power. Initially, North Korea had a nuclear plant that threatened both China and Japan. After the defeat of Japan, China became the close republic that partnered with North Korea. But because North Korea had weak troops as compared to the Mao's, North Korea became the junior partners of China, surrendering the nuclear plant. This shows that Mao's movement was powerful and significant to the Republic of China.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Mao played significant roles during his struggle of victory in China. He created the Chinese Communist Party that aimed at restoring the country's political and economic power. Since the establishment of the movement in 1921, Mao continued to play diverse roles in strengthening the movement despite the outside forces that included Japan and Kuomintang. But he managed to win the struggle at the end of the war in 1949, and restored China's regime that affected the junior partners that included North Korea and Vietnam.

Bibliography

Meisner, Maurice. Mao Zedong: a political and intellectual portrait. Vol. 1. Polity, 2006.

Cheek, Timothy. "Mao Zedong and China's Revolutions." New York: Bedford/St. Martin's (2002).

Shambaugh, David L., and Joseph J. Brinley. China's communist party: atrophy and adaptation. Univ of California Press, 2008.

Karl, Rebecca E. Mao Zedong and China in the twentieth-century world: A concise history. Duke University Press, 2010.