China’s Transformation: Revolution to Economic Reform
The Communist Revolution in China, Asian Decolonization, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict
China, the world’s most populous country (1.35 billion in 2005), was characterized in the 19th century by a feudal monarchical and imperial structure. It had a strong centralized government and bureaucracy. The social base consisted of a vast, dispossessed rural population (80%), subjected to a semi-slavery land tenure system under the rule of a noble minority. Unlike Europe, dramatic population growth did not lead to advancements in cultivation methods or agricultural productivity. Due to European pressure, the imperial court ceded Hong Kong to the UK and Macao to Portugal, allowing foreign trade in strategic towns. This occurred in 1842 after the Opium War, which China lost to the United Kingdom, forcing it to allow free opium trade.
China also suffered from Japan’s Meiji-era expansionist ambitions, resulting in the Sino-Japanese War of 1895 and the loss of Beijing. Consequently, China ceded Korea and Formosa (now Taiwan) to Japan.
Japanese Invasion and Civil War
In 1937, Japan captured Beijing, Shanghai, and Nanking. By 1939, the Kuomintang established their capital in Chungking. World War II led to a temporary alliance between Nationalists and Communists against the Japanese invaders. The Communist united front, led by Mao Zedong, expanded its influence from the north, initiating a rural and egalitarian revolution. Chiang’s troops endured severe attacks. From Chungking, General Chiang Kai-shek maintained contact with the British and Americans, receiving economic and military aid from Burma until 1942 to fight Japan.
After World War II, American General Marshall was sent to China to organize the war-torn country and reconcile Chiang Kai-shek with the Communists under Mao. On January 29, 1947, the U.S. formally renounced intervention in the Chinese conflict, which escalated into a national civil war. Mao initiated a guerrilla war of attrition, ordering his followers to withdraw from cities and strengthen their rural presence. Ultimately, Mao’s Communists, less well-armed but more ideologically driven, defeated Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang in Manchuria and gained control over much of central China.
In January 1946, Nationalists and Maoists signed a ceasefire and began negotiations to form a joint government. However, the agreement soon collapsed, and by late 1946, the struggle for territorial control, particularly over Manchuria (the richest region, recently vacated by Soviet troops), resumed. By 1949, Mao’s troops had almost complete control of the country. In January 1949, a Kuomintang army surrendered in Beijing after the PLA defeated Chiang’s defenses in central China in December 1948.
On October 1, 1949, the People’s Republic of China was proclaimed under a communist socio-political and economic model. The new state’s priority was establishing good relations with the USSR. In early 1950, Mao traveled to Moscow to:
- Apply for financial aid
- Create a military alliance with the USSR
- Request the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Manchuria and Mongolia, which Stalin still controlled
The Soviet leader viewed the PRC as a subordinate member of his sphere of influence, a notion Mao rejected. Stalin feared Mao becoming another Tito, losing power and influence in the region.
Mao’s Era and the Great Leap Forward
In foreign policy, from 1950 to 1953, China intervened in the Korean War, aiding North Korea against the U.S., which it declared its primary enemy. In February 1950, China signed a treaty of friendship and cooperation with the USSR and began the conquest of Tibet. Soviet aid, following the 1950 treaty, helped establish industrial enterprises during the First Five-Year Plan (1953-1957). This led to the Great Leap Forward (1958-1961).
Between 1956 and 1958, collectivization into large production units and rural community training resulted in a social militarization of the population. The Great Leap Forward aimed to rapidly create a perfect communist society through interpretations of Mao’s speeches and the writings of Marx and Engels. Huge farming communities were attached to light industry and local construction projects.
The Great Leap Forward was marked by severe repression (executions, summary trials) by Mao against dissent, and the imposition of an official cult of personality, supported by large public demonstrations. The shift to communes drastically reduced agricultural production. The drive to produce steel at any cost led to the construction of blast furnaces nationwide, destroying arable land and yielding only low-quality steel unusable for industrial purposes. This economic disaster led Mao to resign as head of state, a position assumed by Liu Shaoqi.
The Cultural Revolution
Mao imposed a mandatory cult of personality in December 1964. Premier Chou En-lai announced the launch of the Cultural Revolution in 1966, imposing Maoist principles and attacking the “new bourgeoisie” represented by Chou and his colleagues. This revolution, influential in the West (particularly in France, contributing to the May 68 events), led to the destruction of art and books deemed counter-revolutionary, causing irreparable cultural loss.
It is estimated that the Cultural Revolution cost 80 million lives, with widespread killings, human rights violations, and even instances of cannibalism. The revolution targeted party officials and intellectuals accused of betraying revolutionary ideals. It allowed Mao to regain political power lost after the Great Leap Forward’s failure.
Sino-Soviet Split and Opening to the West
From the 1960s, China initiated a confrontation with the Soviet Union, claiming border territories seized by Russia in the 19th century. The press in both countries fueled tensions: Soviet media portrayed Mao as a new Hitler or Genghis Khan, while Chinese media denounced the “new czars” and Brezhnev’s “neo-fascism.” This escalated to armed clashes along the Ussuri River (a tributary of the Amur) between 1967 and 1969.
The Socialist International Brotherhood fractured, violating Marxist dogma. For the first time, two communist countries engaged in armed conflict.
In 1971, the U.S. consented to China’s entry into the UN. Shortly after, President Nixon and Mao initiated a thaw in Sino-U.S. relations. Mao died on September 9, 1976.
In December 1978, Deng Xiaoping, a former victim of the Cultural Revolution, took power, ousting Hua Guofeng. Deng initiated the most significant economic transformation in contemporary history, the “socialist market economy.”