Why is the birth of the Communist Party of China a "major event"

The birth of the Communist Party of China has been called "an epoch-making event". The interpretation of such a major event cannot be simplified, let alone fragmented. Since the reform and opening up, there have been many breakthroughs in the study of this period of history. The academic community has a more comprehensive and accurate understanding of the background, process and details of the founding of the CPC. This helps us to understand the historical inevitability of the birth of the Communist Party of China.

Deepening the three backgrounds of cognition

In the traditional narrative of the birth of the Communist Party of China, there are three main factors in the background part: one is the change in the nature of Chinese society after the Opium War and the emergence of the national crisis at the turn of the century; the second is the new cultural movement and the "May 4th Movement" that emerged after the Revolution of 1911. The third is the Russian October Revolution and the spread of Marxism. The research over the past 30 years has placed these three factors within a broader historical framework, broadening and deepening people's understanding of the background of the founding of the Communist Party of China.

New research highlights changes in class structure and social structure. The "New Deal" in the late Qing Dynasty failed to change the fate of the Qing Dynasty, but opened the door to the development of national industry and Western-style education. The establishment of various industrial and commercial enterprises and the establishment of chambers of commerce have strengthened the political power of the national bourgeoisie and rapidly expanded the ranks of the working class. The abolition of the imperial examination system and the establishment of new schools led to the formation of a new type of intellectual community. In response to this, the development of the newspaper publishing industry provides a powerful tool for the dissemination of new ideas and concepts. This change in social structure and class structure contributed to the emergence of nationalism in modern China, and also prepared the material, talent and ideological foundation for the coming great revolutionary era.

The new research enriches the understanding of the Revolution of 1911 and the New Culture Movement, and more comprehensively reveals some of the prerequisites for the birth and birth of the Communist Party of China. For the Revolution of 1911, the new research provides a number of supplements. There are two more important points: one is to set off the first wave of party politics in modern China; the other is to accelerate the economy, culture and ideology, lifestyle, code of conduct, Changes in value judgments, customs and habits, etc. As for the new culture movement, there are two basic contents in the early stage: one is to advocate democracy and science; the other is to advocate new literature, oppose old literature, carry out literary revolution, and replace classical Chinese with vernacular Chinese. The traditional narrative focuses on the former, which makes sense, but new research shows that the role of the latter cannot be underestimated. The organic connection between innovative literature and innovative politics makes the New Culture Movement a far-reaching enlightenment movement.

New research shows that the direction of China's advanced elements to save the country and the people's exploration has changed around 1920. It is the result of the interaction of a series of major events, such as the domestic political turmoil, the first World War, the New Culture Movement, the Russian Revolution, including the February Revolution and the October Revolution, and the May 4th Movement. Among them, China's diplomatic failure at the Paris Peace Conference, and the Soviet Union announced that it would give up all the rights and interests it had seized from China through unequal treaties, further prompting the Chinese ideological circle to quickly turn to socialism. The former triggered the "May Fourth Movement" and aroused a wave of nationalism in China; the latter won the Chinese people's favor with Soviet Russia.

go through three important links

The period from 1919 to 1922 was a crucial stage in the founding of the Communist Party of China. During this period, three important links have been experienced: one is to choose Marxism-Leninism as the party's guiding ideology; the other is to form a unified national party from the early organization of the party; the third is to propose China's first clear anti-imperialist and anti-feudal democratic revolution Program.

First, after preliminary comparison and practice, Marxism-Leninism was chosen. After the May 4th Movement, the theory of socialism began to become the mainstream of the new trend of thought. However, the socialist theories spread at that time were very complicated, including Marxist scientific socialism, anarchism, syndicalism, new village doctrine, Kilt socialism and other schools of thought under the banner of socialism. The reason why China's advanced elements finally chose Marxism Leninism was that it provided the ideological weapon urgently needed by Chinese society at that time, that is, to carry out class struggle to carry out social revolution, to fight against imperialism and colonialism for national independence, and to establish a revolutionary party with a high degree of organization and discipline.

Second, the completion of the process from gestation to establishment in a relatively short period of time is inseparable from the activities of Soviet Russia and the Communist International in China. Historically, in the wave of world revolution, it is a common phenomenon that revolutionaries of various countries support each other. Recent studies have confirmed that, on the one hand, the guidance and funding of the Soviet Union and the Comintern played an important role in the process of the establishment of the Communist Party of China; on the other hand, the Soviet Union's policy towards China at that time was to "step on a few boats." the main object of its work and the focus of assistance are not the Communist Party of China but the Kuomintang.

Third, the program of the Communist Party of China is based on China's actual political needs. Through the analysis of China's economic and political situation, the Second National Congress of the Communist Party of China revealed the semi-colonial and semi-feudal nature of Chinese society, and put forward the party's highest and lowest programs. The minimum program is to overthrow the warlords, overthrow the oppression of international imperialism, and unify China into a true democratic republic. this is highly consistent with the historical tasks facing the chinese nation. The highest program is to realize socialism and communism, which coincides with the traditional Chinese thought of "equalizing the rich and the poor" and "great harmony.

Fourth, the Communist Party of China showed distinct class attributes in its initial revolutionary activities. At the beginning of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the number of Party members was very small, almost all intellectuals and young students. However, the Communist Party adopted a method that no other political party has ever adopted, that is, to go deep into the bottom of society, integrate with workers and peasants, and launch the worker-peasant movement. The Chinese Communists sincerely believe that they are the representatives of the Chinese working class, the Chinese people and the Chinese nation. This makes them have a strong sense of justice and mission. They are not afraid of hardships and dangers, go forward one after another, and fight bravely for the independence of the Chinese nation and the liberation of the Chinese people.
 

Think about three major issues

From the beginning of 1922 to the beginning of 1923, the Communist Party promoted and led the first upsurge of the workers' movement. The experience of this round of struggle made the party realize the important role and significance of establishing a revolutionary united front. Subsequently, with the help of the Comintern, the Communist Party of China cooperated with the Kuomintang and set off a vigorous revolutionary movement.

Although the Great Revolution failed, it was very important to the growth of the Communist Party of China. During this period, although the activities of the Communist Party of China were mostly under the banner of the Kuomintang, the labor movement and the peasant movement were almost entirely in the charge of the Communists; although the Communist Party did not directly control the army, the political work of the army was basically in the charge of the Communists; the northern warlord ruled areas The underground work is basically undertaken by young Communists. It was the experience of these three aspects that gave the Communist Party a comparative advantage in the long-term struggle against the Kuomintang. At the same time, a series of major problems faced by the Chinese revolution have also initially emerged, mainly the issue of revolutionary leadership, the issue of the united front and the issue of armed struggle. Although these problems could not be solved at that time, they forced the Communist Party to think and accelerated the maturity of the party.

The failure of the great revolution shows that it is impossible for the Chinese revolution to rely on the command of the Communist International, and it is also impossible to take the city as the center. After setbacks and groping, the Communist Party of China finally found a revolutionary road in line with China's national conditions and began to take root in China. Looking further, opening up the road of armed struggle and encircling cities with rural areas actually involves three key issues:

The first is to "fight the local tyrants and divide the fields", carry out the agrarian revolution and establish rural revolutionary bases. This set of methods met the demands of the poor peasants and enabled the Communist Party to solve the problem of how to survive and gain a foothold in China and how to integrate with Chinese society.

Second, the branch was built on the company, which solved the problem of the party's absolute leadership over the army. The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army became a reliable political tool of the Party, serving as both a fighting force and a task force. It was originally unthinkable that the army could pay no pay, but the Communist Party did it by relying on the vanguard and exemplary role of party members and cadres, on revolutionary idealism, and on the equality of officers and soldiers.

The third is to solve the problem of maintaining the party's advanced nature and discipline, and educating, mobilizing and organizing the broad masses to participate in the revolutionary process when farmers account for the vast majority of party members.

It can be seen that the choice of China's revolutionary road is not only related to the political situation, but also closely integrated with China's economic foundation, social situation and class situation. On the basis of finding the correct path to win the revolution, the Communist Party of China gradually has the ability to lead the Chinese revolution independently.
 

Source: People's Daily Online