Party Members, Party Power, and Party Struggles#
Organizational Forms of the Chinese Nationalist Party from 1924 to 1949
Purpose: What is a party? How to join a party? Criteria for assessing party members? Division of departments and powers within the party? Relationship between the party and the government? Disputes between parties? Composition and sources of funding for parties?
Weak Dictatorial Government: The desire for dictatorship is often present, but the power for dictatorship is often lacking.
Unlimited democracy, fearless dictatorship.
Chapter 1: Learning from Russia#
Revive China Society - Revolutionary Alliance - Chinese Nationalist Party - Chinese Revolutionary Party - Chinese Nationalist Party
Improvement and Reorganization
Improvement: January 1, 1923 - Cooperation with Russia, tolerance towards communism
Reorganization: January 1924 - First National Congress of the Chinese Nationalist Party
Similarities and Differences: Adopted the organizational structure of the Communist Party of Russia; differences in ideology and emphasis on discipline.
Construction of grassroots organizations: Inclusiveness, equality, cohesion, and infiltration.
Military construction: Organizational structure and ideological beliefs.
Evolution of Sun Yat-sen's thoughts: Parliamentary party governance - One-party dictatorship
Chapter 2: Intellectual Youth and the Nationalist Party#
Main body of party members in the early stage: Intellectual youth
Reasons: Political participation awareness awakened among young students, active promotion of party ideology among students, immense political participation pressure caused by the abolition of the imperial examination system, emergence of a new type of intellectual youth (new-style schools and foreign studies), and lagging social and economic development.
Deterioration of grassroots organizations and loose admission of party members, how can they not fail?
Chapter 3: From "Tolerating Communism" to "Tolerating the Nation"#
Expression of the relationship between the Nationalist Party and the Communist Party:
Communist International and the Communist Party: Cooperation between the Nationalist Party and the Communist Party
Nationalist Party: Communist Party members join the Nationalist Party as individuals, the Communist Party is an international organization, a branch of the Third International, not a domestic political party.
At the Second Second Plenary Session of the Nationalist Party in 1926, the Nationalist Party officially recognized the establishment of an equal cooperative relationship between the two parties through a joint conference.
"Tolerating Communism" means "tolerating communist elements"; "Uniting with Communism" means "uniting with the Communist Party"
The magic of the Communist Party's slogans: Strong propaganda of the Communist Party's ideology.
Communist Party → Small and medium-sized intellectual youth → General public
Left-wing and right-wing, Confucianism adheres to the middle way, the Communist Party's ideology leans left rather than right. Left and right were originally distinctions between radicalism and conservatism, but later became distinctions between revolution and counter-revolution. The revolution became increasingly radical and dictatorial, while also containing a considerable degree of arbitrariness and ambiguity.
Party within the party and party above and below
Chapter 4: Fission: National Congress and Struggle for Party Leadership#
Increasingly intense "verbal battles" between political factions and "physical battles" between military groups.
Hu Hanmin: "No party within the party, no factions within the party."
March 12, 1925 - Sun Yat-sen's death
July 1, 1925 - Establishment of the Guangzhou National Government
August 20, 1925 - Assassination attempt on Liao Zhongkai
Same month - Hu Hanmin's visit to Soviet Russia for investigation and medical treatment
Late November 1925 - Western Hills Conference Faction
December 14, 1925 - Establishment of the Central Party Headquarters in Shanghai
Central Political Council, Central Executive Committee, Central Standing Committee (Central Executive Committee of the Chinese Nationalist Party)
First formal split of the Nationalist Party after reorganization
January 1-20, 1926 - Second National Congress of the Nationalist Party held in Guangzhou
March 29 - April 10, 1926 - Second National Congress of the Nationalist Party held in Shanghai
March 18, 1926 - Zhongshan Warship Incident
Liao Zhongkai was assassinated, Hu Hanmin was exiled, Xu Chongzhi was forced to leave (affected by the Liao case), Wang Jingwei left in anger, and eventually Chiang Kai-shek rose to power.
1927 - Split between the Ninghan factions
Central Party Headquarters in Ningbo, Hankou, and Shanghai, and Nationalist Governments in Ningbo and Hankou
1927 - April 12 Incident, July 15 Incident, Ninghan reunification, November 22 Incident
Special Central Committee ended in December 1927
January 9, 1928 - Chiang Kai-shek resumed office through a telegram
February 2-7, 1928 - Second Fourth Plenary Session of the Nationalist Party
Reorganization faction
By the end of 1928, the Northeast changed allegiance, and the Nationalist Party formally unified the country.
March 15, 1929 - Third National Congress of the Nationalist Party
CC faction
In August 1930, local power factions and party factions united to establish a separate party organization.
August 7, 1930 - Beijing Expanded Conference, September 9, 1930 - Establishment of the Beijing National Government
February 28, 1931 - Tangshan Incident
May 27, 1931 - Guangzhou Extraordinary Conference, announcement of the establishment of the Nationalist Government
Imminent outbreak of the Ning-Guang war, September 18 Incident suddenly occurred. October Peace Conference.
Late 1931 to the end of 1935 - Period of cooperation between Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Jingwei.
November 1935 - Wang Jingwei was assassinated and fled to Western Europe. January 1936 - Hu Hanmin returned to China and died soon after. 1938 - Chiang Kai-shek became the Chairman of the Nationalist Party.
Chapter 5: Transformation: From Revolutionary Party to Ruling Party#
The matter of purging the party: Injuring the enemy by a thousand while harming oneself by eight hundred.
The purge did not achieve the desired effect of purifying the party's ranks, strengthening the party's organization, and enhancing the party's combat effectiveness. Instead, it led to party splits and the reverse elimination of party talents.
February 1928 - Second Fourth Plenary Session of the Nationalist Party abolished the five departments for peasants, workers, businessmen, youth, and women.
During the purge of the Nationalist Party, extreme rejection of communism led to the neglect of the philosophical foundation, class foundation, revolutionary targets, revolutionary nature, and revolutionary means of the Three Principles of the People.
The Nationalist Party attempted to establish its foundation on alliances of various classes with conflicting interests.
Chapter 6: Workers, Capitalists, and the Nationalist Party#
Dispute over the San You Industrial Society, "Labor-Management Dispute Resolution Law"
Chapter 7: Party Governance and Military Governance#
The party's power was on the verge of rupture in power struggles, and the party's influence was declining due to internal conflicts; military power was expanding rapidly in "maintaining internal stability and resisting external aggression". Party governance evolved into military governance.
Chiang Kai-shek vigorously promoted militarized organization, elevated the status of military personnel, militarization of local areas and political-military affairs, and the aftermath of the "Baojia System" and the "New Life Movement".
Chapter 8: Party-Government Relationship: Operation of Party Governance at the Local Level#
After the political system transformation, the dual-track political control system created the expansion of bureaucratic institutions and the strengthening of political control.
Local Party Committees - Central Party Committees - Central Political Committee - Central Government - Local Government
Party-government relationship before the war of resistance: Separate institutions, separate functions, separate personnel, no mutual subordination, no interference with each other.
At the central level, the party not only monopolized decision-making power but also key positions; while at the local level, the party could not directly intervene in local governments, and party governance gradually became loose and fragmented. The fragmentation at the grassroots level is not only an organizational problem but also due to the weakness compared to the administrative system.
Chapter 9: Political Appointments: The Degree of Party Members' Control over Political Resources#
During the revolutionary party period, party members were mostly loyal to the ideology; but during the ruling party period, there were more considerations of practical interests.
Chapter 10: Party Factionalism and Factional Partyization#
Political factions: Western Hills Conference Faction, Reorganization Faction, CC Faction, Lixing Society, and Political Science Faction.
Party factionalism: The Nationalist Party's party machine gradually transformed from a core power organization guiding national politics and military affairs during the Northern Expedition period into a power tool monopolized by a single political faction.
Factional partyization: Some factions developed into quasi-political party organizations with independence and autonomy.
Lixing Society (Blue Shirt Society): Initiated by Teng Jieren and Liu Jianqun, it was initially an organization involved in decision-making, but later evolved into an organization specializing in espionage, intelligence, and assassination.
CC Faction (Central Club): Qingbai Tuan (Youth White League), loyal alliance of Chinese Nationalist Party members.