Describe Relations between the CCP and the GMD between:1921-1935

FIRST UNITED FRONT (1923) The Soviet Union had recognized China as a

potential ally The CCP was not regarded as suitable for revolution Fall of capitalism – a key event that had to occur

before the rise of communism – had also not taken place in China yet

The GMD was thought to be the most suitable for the revolution

FIRST UNITED FRONT 1922: Comintern finally convinces CCP

to work towards a coalition with the KMT to create a united front

Aim: Liberate the Chinese from the clutches of

foreigners and the warlords that currently ruled China

National unification and independence

Under the agreement it was stated that KMT would become the central force in the revolution

CCP would support it with the aim of removing foreign intervention entirely from the country

FIRST UNITED FRONT

FIRST UNITED FRONT An attempt to end the Warlord

Era in China The CCP joined the GMD to

expand their influence & spread communism, making use of their superiority in numbers and eventually subvert it from within

GMD however also wanted to control the communists from within

REASONS FOR COLLAPSE Both parties had

conflicting aims and the front was unsustainable

CCP favoured violent revolutions

GMD favoured gradual reforms

CCP aims and methods threatened GMD supporters

REASONS FOR COLLAPSE Sun Yat-sen’s death brought the underlying conflict to the

surface (Replaced by Chiang Kai-Shek as leader of the KMT)

As the Northern Expedition had been successful in uniting China, GMD felt it did not need the support of the CCP

Both parties hated each other and the alliance was hence not a committed one

Each party also had their own desire for political power

IMPACT Chiang Kai Shek purged the

communists from the front while the Northern Expedition was only half complete

Resulted in a Civil War Lasted until 1936 when Second United

Front was formed

NORTHERN EXPEDITION (1926-27) Chiang aimed to destroy

the power of the northern warlords by force

The CCP also wished to test their newly-recruited army of 8m

Saw the march as a chance to liberate the peasants in the north along the way in order to achieve their main goal for the coalition in the first place: to seize power over all of China

NORTHERN EXPEDITION (1926-27) As the two armies

gradually conquered China, they began their own attempts to spread their own ideologies via propaganda

Competed for the support of the people they had liberated (e.g. peasants)

Mar 1927: Shanghai had fallen and more than half of the area originally occupied by Northern warlords had been ceded to the nationalist army

NORTHERN EXPEDITION (1926-27)

SEPARATION (1927) By now Chiang had grown increasingly

wary and alarmed at the tactics and the growing support for the CCP

Encouraged workers to join trade unions to demand better wages

Labour problems hit the Chinese property-owning classes: the main supporters of the KMT

Communists also began to organize the people the CCP had liberated during their march into communist blocs

Increased fears of revolution Most of CCP’s aims & tactics contradicted

that of the KMT’s

SEPARATION (1927) KMT was moving towards closer

relations with the wealthy classes and industrialists in Shanghai as well as the KMT conservatives

Nationalisation of trade unions had still been acceptable while the KMT still required the support of the CCP

However due to the KMT’s close political ties with the rich the Communist activities became increasingly frustrating as the march progressed

Thus once China had been all but fully conquered and the two parties’ influence extended the alliance finally broke down

SEPARATION (1927)

CONFLICT IN SHANGHAI Workers in Shanghai, led by the CCP,

rebelled against the warlord who ruled the area

CCP set up a Communist council to run the city, but Chiang & his army invaded the city and eradicated all the Communists in Shanghai

CONFLICT IN SHANGHAI Later also did the same for Guangzhou

and executed all the Communists in the area, causing many others to retreat to the countryside for fear of their lives

Once the expulsion of the Communists had taken place, Chiang was in sole control of the cities & Nanjing

Now prepared to conquer rest of China

SHANGHAI MASSACRE (1927) By 1926, with the increasing power of

the CCP, the right-wing of the KMT, led by Chiang, had decided that the power of the Communists had to be cut back

1927: Chiang, determined as he was to seize Shanghai during the march north, formed a purge committee to accomplish this task

SHANGHAI MASSACRE (1927) When news of this reached Shanghai, now

in the hands of the Communists, a general strike, backed by the CCP, broke out

Chiang responded by sending out execution squads to murder suspected Communists

Uncertainty amongst the Communists both in China & SU about what the KMT wanted

Obviously had no idea what the true situation was as they had from the start forbidden any opposition to the KMT

Nonetheless, the KMT began a campaign of murder against the Communists

First United Front hence broke up

SHANGHAI MASSACRE (1927)

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