Party Members, Party Power, and Party Struggles#
1924-1949 Chinese Nationalist Party Organizational Form
Purpose: What is a party? How to join the party? What are the assessment criteria for party members? How are departments and powers divided within the party? What is the relationship between the party and the government? What are the disputes between parties? What are the 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 - Kuomintang - Chinese Revolutionary Party - Chinese Nationalist Party
Improvement and Reorganization
Improvement: January 1, 1923, Pro-Russian, Pro-Communist
Reorganization: January 1924, First National Congress of the Kuomintang
Similarities and Differences: Both adopted the organizational structure of the Communist Party of Russia; differences in ideology and emphasis on discipline.
Grassroots organization construction: inclusiveness, equality, cohesion, and penetration.
Military construction: organizational structure and ideological beliefs.
Sun Yat-sen's ideological process: parliamentary party governance -> one-party dictatorship
Chapter 2 Intellectual Youth and the Kuomintang#
Early party members: intellectual youth
Reasons: political participation awareness awakened among young students, political parties actively propagating their doctrines among students, enormous political participation pressure caused by the abolition of the imperial examination system, new type of intellectual youth (new-style schools and studying abroad), and lagging social and economic development.
Deterioration of grassroots organizations and loose absorption of party members, how can they not fail?
Chapter 3 From "Accommodating Communism" to "Accommodating the Nation"#
Expression of the relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party:
Communist International and the Communist Party: cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party
Kuomintang: Communist Party members join the Kuomintang 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 Kuomintang in 1926, the Kuomintang officially recognized and established an equal cooperative relationship with the Communist Party in the form of a joint conference.
"Accommodating Communism" means "accommodating 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 a distinction between radicalism and conservatism, but later became a distinction between revolution and counter-revolution. The revolution became more and more radical, more and more authoritarian, 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 Party Control Struggles#
"Verbal struggle" between political factions and "armed struggle" between military groups intensify.
Hu Hanmin: "No party within the party, no faction within the party"
March 12, 1925, Sun Yat-sen's death
July 1, 1925, Establishment of the Guangzhou National Government
August 20, 1925, Assassination of Liao Zhongkai
In the same month, Hu Hanmin went to the Soviet Union for investigation and 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 Kuomintang after reorganization
January 1-20, 1926, Second National Congress of the Kuomintang held in Guangzhou
March 29 - April 10, 1926, Second National Congress of the Kuomintang 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 Nanjing-Hankou Split
Central Party Headquarters in Nanjing, Hankou, and Shanghai, and Nationalist Governments in Nanjing and Hankou
1927 April 12 Incident, July 15 Incident, Nanjing-Hankou merger, November 22 Incident
Central Special Committee ended in December 1927
January 9, 1928, Chiang Kai-shek resumed office by telegram
February 2-7, 1928, Second Fourth Plenary Session of the Kuomintang
Reorganization Faction
At the end of 1928, the Northeast changed its flag, and the Kuomintang formally unified the country.
March 15, 1929, Third National Congress of the Kuomintang
CC Faction
In 1930, local power factions and party factions united to form a separate party organization.
August 7, 1930, Beijing Expanded Conference, September 9, 1930, Beijing National Government established
February 28, 1931, Tangshan Incident
May 27, 1931, Guangzhou Extraordinary Conference, announced the establishment of the Nationalist Government
The September-Ning-Guang War was about to break out, and the September 18 Incident suddenly occurred. The October Peace Conference.
Late 1931 to the end of 1935, the period of cooperation between Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Jingwei.
In November 1935, Wang Jingwei was assassinated and fled to Western Europe. In January 1936, Hu Hanmin returned to China and died shortly after. In 1938, Chiang Kai-shek became the chairman of the Kuomintang.
Chapter 5 Transformation: From Revolutionary Party to Ruling Party#
The matter of purging the party: hurting the enemy by a thousand, hurting oneself by eight hundred.
The purge did not achieve the goal 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 talents within the party.
In February 1928, the Second Fourth Plenary Session of the Kuomintang abolished the five departments of peasants, workers, businessmen, youth, and women.
When the Kuomintang purged the party, it extremely rejected communism, disregarding the philosophical foundation, class foundation, revolutionary targets, revolutionary nature, and revolutionary means of the Three Principles of the People.
The Kuomintang attempted to establish its foundation on alliances of various classes with conflicting interests.
Chapter 6 Workers, Capitalists, and the Kuomintang#
Dispute over the San You Industrial Society, "Labor-Management Dispute Resolution Law"
Chapter 7 Party Rule and Military Rule#
The party's control over power is on the verge of rupture in power struggles, and the party's power is gradually declining due to internal consumption; military power is expanding rapidly in "maintaining internal stability and resisting external aggression". Party rule turns into military rule, party rule turns into military rule.
Chiang Kai-shek vigorously promotes militarized organization, elevates the status of military personnel, local militarization and political militarization, baojia system and New Life Movement are the aftermath.
Chapter 8 Party-Government Relationship: Operation of Party Rule at the Local Level#
After the political system transformation, the dual-track political control system has led to the expansion of bureaucratic institutions and the strengthening of political control.
Local Party Headquarters - Central Party Headquarters - Central Political Committee - Central Government - Local Government
Party-government relationship before the war: separate institutions, separate functions, separate personnel, no mutual subordination, no interference.
At the central level, the party not only monopolizes decision-making power but also key positions; while at the local level, the party cannot directly intervene in local governments, and party rule gradually becomes loose and lax. The laxity at the grassroots level is not only an organizational problem but also due to the weakness compared to the administrative system.
Chapter 9 Political Recruitment: The Degree of Party Members' Control over Political Resources#
During the revolutionary party period, party members were mostly loyal to ideology; but during the ruling party period, there were more considerations of practical interests.
Chapter 10 Party Factionalism and Factionalization of Parties#
Political factions: Western Hills Conference Faction, Reorganization Faction, CC Faction, Lixing Society, and Political Science Faction.
Party factionalism: The Kuomintang 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.
Factionalization of parties: Some factions developed into quasi-political party organizations with independence and autonomy.
Lixing Society (Blue Shirt Society): initiated by Teng Jieren and Liu Jianqun, 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, loyal members of the Chinese Nationalist Party Alliance