Taking "Preparation for Major Incident" as the Basic Policy-How Our Party Answers the Question of Where Post-War China Is Going on the Eve of the Seventh National Congress

　　When the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held in Yan'an from April 23 to June 11, 1945, it was the eve of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War and China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and a "major incident" concerning the destiny of the country, nation, and people was about to appear. Re-studying the documents of the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China, we can clearly see that at the important juncture of the historical turning point, Mao Zedong was far-sighted, judged the situation, took "preparing to deal with major incidents" as the basic policy, scientifically answered the question of where China was going after the war, and strategized., Well prepared to meet various difficulties and challenges, with a high degree of strategic thinking, leading the formation of seven correct lines, programs, and laid a solid foundation for the victory of the war of resistance against japan and the victory of the new democratic revolution throughout the country.

　　pay close attention to the international and domestic situation and regard "being prepared to deal with major incidents" as the basic guideline
Mao Zedong paid close attention to the changes in the international and domestic situation, foresaw the coming of the "major incident" before many people were aware of it, and made strategic judgments and plans. On May 21, 1944, Mao Zedong said in his work report at the Seventh Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China: "Our party must be prepared to deal with major events in the future." This meeting discussed and adopted the "Instructions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Urban Work" drafted by Mao Zedong on June 5, 1944. The "Instructions" require leaders at all levels to "must regard urban work and base work as their two equally important tasks", "with a view to achieving significant results in the second half of this year and the first half of next year, and preparing to cooperate with major events in the world".
Mao Zedong was deeply aware that the "Great Incident" would bring rare opportunities and severe challenges. He believes that only when the whole party makes preparations in advance can it take the initiative in the current situation and strive for victory in the revolution. On March 31, 1945, he pointed out at the Seventh Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee: "Now is a time of greater hope. We should put forward an appropriate program at this time and mobilize the people of the whole country to realize it."
At the opening ceremony of the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Mao Zedong made the opening speech of "the fate of two Chinas", which more clearly expressed the idea of dealing with the "great incident. He pointed out that the significance of this congress "is a congress that concerns the destiny of the entire Chinese 450,000,000 people" and that "there are two roads before the Chinese people, the road of light and the road of darkness. There are two kinds of Chinese destinies, the destiny of a bright China and the destiny of a dark China". He explained that the bright destiny is to build an independent, free, democratic, unified, prosperous and strong China after the war; the dark destiny is to remain a one-party dictatorship of the Kuomintang after the war, and to continue to maintain a semi-colonial, semi-feudal, divided, poor and weak China. In the face of such two roads and two destinies, the choice of the Communist Party of China is to "strive for a bright future and a bright destiny with all its strength, and oppose another dark future and a dark destiny".
Mao Zedong deeply analyzed the international and domestic situation and believed: "China has the possibility of becoming an independent, free, democratic, unified, prosperous and strong China this time, which is the only one in the past hundred years, since the May Fourth Movement, and since the establishment of the Party." In response to the upcoming "major incident", the Party Central Committee with Comrade Mao Zedong as the core put forward seven major lines in due course: let go of mobilizing the masses, strengthen the people's power, and under the leadership of our party, defeat the Japanese invaders and liberate the people of the whole country. Establish a new democratic China.
It can be seen that in the process of preparing and convening the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Mao Zedong always focused on the upcoming changes and took dealing with "major incidents" as the basic policy of the conference.

　　Put forward a comprehensive program and strategy to deal with the "big incident", and point out the ways and means to strive for a bright future.
In order to strive for a bright future and destiny after the victory of China's Anti-Japanese War, it is necessary to put forward a plan to solve China's problems in political, economic, cultural and other aspects. Mao Zedong put forward the political proposition of establishing a new democratic country in his article "On New Democracy" written in 1940, and determined it as the general program of the Communist Party of China. In 1945, Mao Zedong's theory of new democracy was enriched and developed. In his written report "On the Coalition Government" submitted to the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China, he emphasized that China cannot and should not establish a bourgeois dictatorship, but it cannot directly become a socialist country. "We advocate that after the complete defeat of the Japanese invaders, Establish a national system of democratic alliance of the united front based on the absolute majority of the people in the country and under the leadership of the working class, we call this state system a new democratic state system". Mao Zedong made a new comprehensive interpretation of the new democratic politics, economy and culture, and formed the basic strategy of building a new democratic country.
In view of the most realistic problems in China at that time, Mao Zedong put forward a series of specific programs of the Communist Party of China at that time in "on the coalition government. Among these specific programs, the most important is to "abolish the one-party dictatorship of the Kuomintang and establish a democratic coalition government". This was the political prerequisite for solving all the problems in China at that time. Mao Zedong proposed two steps to end the one-party dictatorship of the Kuomintang: the first step is to establish a provisional coalition government through the agreement of all parties and representatives of non-party and non-party factions; the second step is to convene a national assembly through free and unfettered elections. Establish a formal coalition government. The political slogan of the Communist Party of China "to establish a coalition government" was put forward in the negotiations between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. The Kuomintang tried to eliminate this slogan through the so-called coordination of the US government. By the time the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held, in the face of the "major incident", the Party Central Committee with Comrade Mao Zedong at the core prominently played this political slogan in the form of the party's program, which had a more extensive and far-reaching impact.
Mao Zedong also proposed two strategic changes, namely, the method of combat from guerrilla warfare to mobile warfare, and the focus of work from the countryside to the city. Regarding mobile warfare, he said: We must have this preparation and have a clear mind in advance to reduce differences of opinion in the transition. "Now we must concentrate more troops to fight where the enemy is weak with more and less." "In addition, we must turn to regularization". Regarding the shift to cities, he said: "Now to finally defeat Japanese imperialism, we need to use a lot of power to transfer to cities, prepare to seize big cities, prepare to work in cities, and master big railways, factories, and banks." Although these are not immediate practical problems, "we in the General Assembly have pointed out that this is tomorrow's matter, a large number of universal things. It would be great if we made mistakes on this issue. If we fail to solve the industrial problems, the problems of the big cities, the economic problems, and the regularization of the army, the Communist Party will perish".
With regard to the Northeast issue, Mao Zedong believed that it was an extremely important area to strive. He said that if the Northeast can be under our leadership, we will gain a large and entire base area, so that we can change the long-standing passive situation of scattered revolutionary base areas and no industry, and we will have heavy industry and mechanized troops. The victory of the Chinese revolution in the country has a solid foundation.

　　Be prepared for the worst of the "big deal".
Although Mao Zedong made an optimistic judgment on the direction of the current situation, he still warned the whole party: "Don't think that our cause, everything will be smooth and wonderful. No, it's not, the fact is that there are two possibilities for good and bad, both good and bad futures."
At the preparatory meeting of the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Mao Zedong analyzed the unfavorable conditions: "We have not yet won, our strength is still small, and there are still difficulties ahead. We have more than 900,000 troops, but they are not concentrated, but are divided, fighting sparrow wars; our base area has a population of more than 90 million, but it is not a whole piece, and it is also divided; our enemies are still very Strong, there are powerful Japanese imperialism, and the Kuomintang. These two enemies are not of the same type, one guarding our front door and the other guarding the back door."
When he made the conclusion report of the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China on May 31, 1945, Mao Zedong particularly stressed the need to "be prepared to suffer losses" and talked about 17 difficulties such as being scolded by foreigners, cursed at home, and the outbreak of civil war. To be prepared to suffer losses is not to be pessimistic and disappointed about the future, but to overcome difficulties and strive for victory. Mao Zedong went on to talk about eight reasons for "must win", such as: temporary loss, final victory; failure here, victory there. These eight are all coexisting with difficulties, or forced out by difficulties. It seems to be saying "must win", but it is actually talking about how to strengthen confidence, which direction to work in, and how to find a way.
Some of the 17 difficulties mentioned by Mao Zedong later appeared and some were partially encountered, but the eight reasons for victory were fulfilled respectively, and the whole party was not caught off guard, so it was able to make rapid strategic adjustments and reasonable responses.
The world today is undergoing major changes unseen in a century, and our country is in a critical period of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Although the situation and tasks we face today are very different from those 75 years ago, Mao Zedong's thinking and working methods in dealing with the "major incident" still have valuable ideological enlightenment and spiritual inspiration, which is worth exploring, learning and developing under the new historical conditions.

Source: Beijing Daily