Mohandas Gandhi

Known as 'Mahatma' (great soul), Gandhi was the leader of the Indian nationalist movement against
British rule, and is widely considered the father of his country. His doctrine of non-violent protest to
achieve political and social progress has been hugely influential.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869 in Porbandar in Gujarat. After university,
he went to London to train as a barrister. He returned to India in 1891 and in 1893 accepted a job at
an Indian law firm in Durban, South Africa. Gandhi was appalled by the treatment of Indian
immigrants there, and joined the struggle to obtain basic rights for them. During his 20 years in South
Africa he was sent to prison many times. Influenced primarily by Hinduism, but also by elements of
Jainism and Christianity as well as writers including Tolstoy and Thoreau, Gandhi developed
the satyagraha ('devotion to truth'), a new non-violent way to redress wrongs. In 1914, the South
African government conceded to many of Gandhi's demands.

Gandhi returned to India shortly afterwards. In 1919, British plans to intern people suspected of
sedition - the Rowlatt Acts - prompted Gandhi to announce a new satyagraha which attracted millions
of followers. A demonstration against the acts resulted in the Amritsar Massacre by British troops. By
1920, Gandhi was a dominant figure in Indian politics. He transformed the Indian National Congress,
and his programme of peaceful non-cooperation with the British included boycotts of British goods and
institutions, leading to arrests of thousands.

In 1922, Gandhi himself was sentenced to six years' imprisonment. He was released after two years
and withdrew from politics, devoting himself to trying to improve Hindu-Muslim relations, which had
worsened. In 1930, Gandhi proclaimed a new campaign of civil disobedience in protest at a tax on salt,
leading thousands on a 'March to the Sea' to symbolically make their own salt from seawater.

In 1931, Gandhi attended the Round Table Conference in London, as the sole representative of the
Indian National Congress, but resigned from the party in 1934 in protest at its use of non-violence as
a political expedient. He was replaced as leader by Jawaharlal Nehru.

In 1945, the British government began negotiations which culminated in the Mountbatten Plan of June
1947, and the formation of the two new independent states of India and Pakistan, divided along
religious lines. Massive inter-communal violence marred the months before and after independence.
Gandhi was opposed to partition, and now fasted in an attempt to bring calm in Calcutta and Delhi. On
30 January 1948, he was assassinated in Delhi by a Hindu fanatic.
Sun Yat Sen

Sun Yat-sen, the son of a farmer, was born in 1866. He moved to Hawaii where he was brought up by
his older brother. He studied medicine in Hong Kong and after graduating in 1892 he worked in Macao,
Guangzhou and Honolulu. Sun Yat-sen became interested in politics and established the Revive China
Society.

In 1895 Sun Yat-sen took part at Guangzhou in his first abortive uprising. Forced into exile he lived
in Japan, the United States and Britain. While in London he was kidnapped and imprisoned in the
Chinese legation. In danger of being executed the British Foreign Office got involved and obtained his
release.

The Qing dynasty was finally overthrown in the Chinese Revolution of 1911. Sun Yat-sen briefly
became president and with Song Jiaoren established heKuomintang (National People's Party). When
the party was suppressed in 1913 by General Yuan Shikai, Sun Yat-sen escaped to Japan.

Sun Yat-sen returned to Guangzhou and with the the help of advisers from the Soviet Union the
Kuomintang gradually increased its power in China. In 1924 it adopted the "Three Principles of the
People" (nationalism, democracy and social reform). He also established the Whampoa Military
Academy under Chiang Kai-Shek.

Sun Yat-sen died of cancer in Beijing in 1925.

(1) Su Kaiming, Modern China (1985)

In February 1923, Sun Yat-sen returned to Guangzhou where he immediately set up a headquarters of
a new revolutionary government. Soviet Russia sent Michael Borodin (1884-1951) and some military
advisers to help him, and a provisional central committee of the Kuomintang which included a number
of Communists was organized.

The Chinese Communist Party held its Third National Congress in Guangzhou in June 1923, and the
question of forming a revolutionary united front with the Kuomintang was discussed. The congress
affirmed Sun Yat-sen's contribution to the Chinese revolution and resolved to help him in reorganizing
the Kuomintang and establishing cooperation between the two parties.

The gap between Sun Yat-sen and the West continued to widen. When he threatened in December to
seize the customs revenues in the port of Guangzhou, the powers staged a naval demonstration to
preserve the status quo. Thwarted, Sun angrily stated, "We no longer look to the Western powers.
Our faces are turned toward Russia."

In January 1924, Sun Yat-sen called the First National Congress of the reorganized Kuomintang in
Guangzhou. Among the Communists who attended were Li Dazhao, Mao Zedong and Qu Qiubai (Chu
Chiu-pai, 1899-1935). The congress adopted the anti-imperialist, anti-feudal policy advanced by the
Communists, agreed to absorb individual Communists and Socialist Youth League members into the
Kuomintang, and decided to reorganize the Kuomintang into a revolutionary alliance of workers,
peasants, the petty-bourgeoisie and national bourgeoisie. In this way, new blood was infused into the
ranks of the Kuomintang and Sun Yat-sen became the leader of a revitalized revolutionary movement.

(2) Qi Wen, China (1979)

In 1923, the Chinese Communist Party decided to establish a revolutionary united front. It helped Sun
Yat-sen reorganize the Kuomintang (the old Tong Meng Hui was reorganized into the Kuomintang after
the Revolution of 1911). With the formation of the Kuomintang-Communist united front, the Chinese
Communist Party mobilized the masses on a broad scale, and the revolutionary situation developed
vigorously. It continued to rise after the death of Sun Yat-sen in 1925. Organized and energized by
the Party, the revolutionary forces swept away the reactionary forces in Guangdong, and in 1926 the
Northern Expeditionary War began. Supported by the masses, the revolutionary army defeated the
counter-revolutionary armies of the Northern warlords and occupied central and south China. The
worker-peasant movement grew rapidly throughout the country.

Seeing that the warlord regime they supported was tottering in the sweep of the revolutionary tide,
the imperialist forces hastily looked for new agents and finally picked Chiang Kai-shek who had
worked his way into the position of Commander-in-Chief of the National Revolutionary Army". In April
1927, at a crucial moment in the forward advance of the Northern Expeditionary War, Chiang staged,
with the active support of the big bourgeoisie and landlord class, a counter-revolutionary coup d'etat
against the Chinese Communist Party and the revolutionary people.

(3) Sun Yat-sen, letter to the Kuomintang (1925)

For 40 years I have devoted myself to the cause of the people's revolution with but one end in view:
the elevation of China to a position of freedom and equality among the nations. My experience during
these 40 years has convinced me that to attain this goal we must bring about an awakening of our
own people and ally ourselves in common struggle with those people of the world who treat us as
equals.

(4) Sun Yat-sen, letter to Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Communist Party (1925)

I leave behind me a party which, as has always been my wish, will be bound up with you in the
historic work of the final liberation of China and other exploited nations from the imperialist order. By
the will of fate, I must leave my work unfinished and hand it over to those who, remaining true to the
principles and teachings of the party, will show themselves to be my true followers.

Taking leave of you, dear comrades, I want to express the hope that the day will come when the
U.S.S.R. will welcome a friend and ally in a mighty, free China, and that in the great struggle for the
liberation of the oppressed peoples of the world, both these allies will go forward to victory hand in
hand.

Chiang Kai Shek

Chiang Kai-shek, the son of a wine merchant, was born in Fenghua, China, on 31st October 1887. His
father died when he was a child leaving the family in extreme poverty. He was sent to live with
relatives but he ran away and joined the provincial army.
Chiang was a good soldier and he was eventually sent to the military academy in Paoting. In 1907 he
attended the Military State College in Tokyo. During this period he became a supporter of Sun Yat-sen,
the leader of the Kuomintang(Nationalist Party). During the 1911 revolution Chiang led a regiment
that captured Shanghai. After the counter-revolution that followed, Chiang returned to Japan.
With the help of advisers from the Soviet Union the Kuomintang gradually increased its power in China.
In 1924 Chiang became head of the Whampoa Military Academy.
Sun Yat-sen died on 12th March 1925. After a struggle with Wang Ching-Wei, Chiang eventually
emerged as the leader of the Kuomintang. He now carried out a purge that eliminated the communists
from the organization.
In 1926 Chiang commanded the army which aimed to unify China. He defeated the communist army
and forced the survivors to make the famous Long March to Shensi in North West China. Chiang
eventually established a government in Nanjing. Major financial reforms were carried out and the
education system and the road transport were both improved. Chiang also established the New Life
Movement in 1934 which reasserted traditional Confucian values to combat communist ideas.
When the Japanese Army invaded the heartland of China in 1937, Chiang was forced to move his
capital from Nanking to Chungking. He lost control of the coastal regions and most of the major cities
to Japan. In an effort to beat the Japanese he agreed to collaborate with Mao Zedong and his
communist army.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Chiang and his government received considerable financial support
from the United States. General Joseph Stilwell, head of American Army Forces in China, Burma and
India (CBI), disagreed with this policy, arguing that Chiang was an inept leader and was ignorant of
the fundamentals of modern warfare. Stilwell was accused of being pro-communist and in October
1944 Stilwell was recalled to the United States and was replaced by General Albert Wedemeyer.
During the Second World War the communist guerrilla forces were well led by Zhu De and Lin Biao. As
soon as the Japanese surrendered, Communist forces began a war against the Nationalists. The
communists gradually gained control of the country and on 1st October, 1949, Mao Zedong announced
the establishment of People's Republic of China.
Chiang and the remnants of his armed forces fled to Formosa (Taiwan). His autobiography, Summing
up at Seventy, was published in 1957. Chiang Kai-shek died on 5th April 1975.

Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-Tung), the son of a peasant farmer, was born in Chaochan, China, in 1893. He
became a Marxist while working as a library assistant at Peking University and served in the
revolutionary army during the 1911 Chinese Revolution.
Inspired by the Russian Revolution the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was established in Shanghai
by Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao in June 1921. Early members included Mao, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De and Lin
Biao. Following instructions from the Comintern members also joined the Kuomintang.
Over the next few years Mao, Zhu De and Zhou Enlai adapted the ideas ofLenin who had successfully
achieved a revolution in Russia. They argued that in Asia it was important to concentrate on the
countryside rather than the towns, in order to create a revolutionary elite.
Mao worked as a Kuomintang political organizer in Shanghai. With the help of advisers from the Soviet
Union the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) gradually increased its power in China. Its leader, Sun Yat-
sen died on 12th March 1925. Chiang Kai-Shek emerged as the new leader of the Kuomintang. He
now carried out a purge that eliminated the communists from the organization. Those communists
who survived managed to established the Jiangxi Soviet.
The nationalists now imposed a blockade and Mao Zedong decided to evacuate the area and establish
a new stronghold in the north-west of China. In October 1934 Mao, Lin Biao, Zhu De, and some
100,000 men and their dependents headed west through mountainous areas.
The marchers experienced terrible hardships. The most notable passages included the crossing of the
suspension bridge over a deep gorge at Luting (May, 1935), travelling over the Tahsueh Shan
mountains (August, 1935) and the swampland of Sikang (September, 1935).
The marchers covered about fifty miles a day and reached Shensi on 20th October 1935. It is
estimated that only around 30,000 survived the 8,000-mile Long March.
When the Japanese Army invaded the heartland of China in 1937, Chiang Kai-Shek was forced to
move his capital from Nanking to Chungking. He lost control of the coastal regions and most of the
major cities to Japan. In an effort to beat the Japanese he agreed to collaborate with Mao Zedong and
his communist army.
During the Second World War Mao's well-organized guerrilla forces were well led by Zhu De and Lin
Biao. As soon as the Japanese surrendered, Communist forces began a war against the Nationalists
led by Chaing Kai-Shek. The communists gradually gained control of the country and on 1st October,
1949, Mao announced the establishment of People's Republic of China.
In 1958 Mao announced the Great Leap Forward, an attempt to increase agricultural and industrial
production. This reform programme included the establishment of large agricultural communes
containing as many as 75,000 people. The communes ran their own collective farms and factories.
Each family received a share of the profits and also had a small private plot of land. However, three
years of floods and bad harvests severely damaged levels of production. The scheme was also hurt by
the decision of the Soviet Union to withdraw its large number of technical experts working in the
country. In 1962 Mao's reform programme came to an end and the country resorted to a more
traditional form of economic production.
As a result of the failure on the Great Leap Forward, Mao retired from the post of chairman of the
People's Republic of China. His place as head of state was taken by Liu Shaoqi. Mao remained
important in determining overall policy. In the early 1960s Mao became highly critical of the foreign
policy of the Soviet Union. He was for example appalled by the way Nikita Khrushchev backed down
over the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Mao became openly involved in politics in 1966 when with Lin Biao he initiated the Cultural Revolution.
On 3rd September, 1966, Lin Biao made a speech where he urged pupils in schools and colleges to
criticize those party officials who had been influenced by the ideas of Nikita Khrushchev.
Mao was concerned by those party leaders such as Liu Shaoqi, who favoured the introduction of
piecework, greater wage differentials and measures that sought to undermine collective farms and
factories. In an attempt to dislodge those in power who favoured the Soviet model of communism,
Mao galvanized students and young workers as his Red Guards to attack revisionists in the party. Mao
told them the revolution was in danger and that they must do all they could to stop the emergence of
a privileged class in China. He argued this is what had happened in the Soviet Union under Joseph
Stalin and Nikita Khrushchev.
Lin Biao compiled some of Mao's writings into the handbook, The Quotations of Chairman Mao, and
arranged for a copy of what became known as the Little Red Book, to every Chinese citizen.
Zhou Enlai at first gave his support to the campaign but became concerned when fighting broke out
between the Red Guards and the revisionists. In order to achieve peace at the end of 1966 he called
for an end to these attacks on party officials. Mao remained in control of the Cultural Revolution and
with the support of the army was able to oust the revisionists.
The Cultural Revolution came to an end when Liu Shaoqi resigned from all his posts on 13th October
1968.Lin Biao now became Mao's designated successor.
Mao now gave his support to the Gang of Four: Jiang Qing (Mao's fourth wife), Wang Hongwen, Yao
Wenyuan and Zhange Chungqiao. These four radicals occupied powerful positions in the Politburo after
the Tenth Party Congress of 1973.
Mao Zedong died in Beijing on 9th September, 1976.