Red Dawn Over China

1. The Chinese Communist Party's Marginal Origins and Soviet Foundation

Almost every European country, with the exception of Nazi Germany, boasted a larger number of Communists as a proportion of their overall population than any province in China.

Limited early appeal. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was founded in 1921 with minimal popular support, remaining a marginal force in China for decades. Its membership was strikingly low compared to Communist parties in other nations, even those where the party was illegal. For instance, in 1929, the industrial city of Wuxi, with over 100,000 workers, had only twenty-five Party members.

Decisive Soviet intervention. The Comintern, established by Moscow in 1919 to promote global revolution, played a crucial and continuous role in the CCP's formation and early development. Soviet emissaries like Gregori Voitinsky and Henk Sneevliet provided:

• Financial backing
• Organizational guidance
• Ideological direction
• Recruitment of key figures like Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu

Strategic alliances. Moscow also cultivated the Nationalist Party (KMT) under Sun Yat-sen, offering men, money, and munitions in exchange for allowing Communists into their ranks. This "United Front" was a tactical maneuver, not a genuine ideological alignment, designed to advance Soviet interests and the CCP's influence.

2. Systematic Violence and Red Terror as Core Revolutionary Tools

Communism was never popular in China, no more so than in Finland or in the United States, and it was brought to the population at the barrel of a gun.

Imposition by force. The CCP's expansion was not driven by popular appeal but by a willingness to inflict extreme violence. From its early days, the Party engaged in systematic looting, burning, and killing of "class enemies" to seize property and resources. This often led to widespread suffering and economic breakdown in areas under its control.

Brutal purges and terror. In the "soviets" established in rural areas, such as the Hailufeng Soviet led by Peng Pai, a "red terror" was unleashed. This involved:

• Mass murder of "landlords" and "rich peasants"
• Public executions, often involving torture and dismemberment
• Forced conscription of villagers into the Red Army or labor units
• Destruction of property and infrastructure to eliminate "feudal" traces

Economic collapse and flight. These tactics, including arbitrary confiscation and heavy taxation, devastated local economies, leading to famine and mass desertion by villagers. The violence was so extreme that even some Communist cadres questioned its senselessness, and populations often fled Communist-controlled areas.

3. The Long March: A Decimated Retreat, Not a Triumphant Epic

The Long March was later explained as an attempt by the Communists to get closer to the territories occupied by the Kwantung Army, but the country which had invaded all of the north was not brought up even once at the Zunyi conference in January 1935.

Disastrous military defeat. The Long March, often romanticized as a heroic epic, was in reality a desperate, poorly organized retreat from the Nationalist encirclement campaigns against the Jiangxi Soviet. The Red Army suffered catastrophic losses, with numbers plummeting from over 80,000 to a mere 6,000 by its end.

Aimless wandering and attrition. The march was characterized by aimless wandering, constant desertion, and devastating battles, such as the Xiang River crossing where the Red Army lost thousands. Nationalist forces, under Chiang Kai-shek's evolving strategy, pursued them relentlessly, using attrition tactics to wear them down. The famous Luding Bridge crossing, often depicted as a heroic battle, was, according to contemporary accounts, largely unopposed.

Internal power struggles. Amidst the chaos, Mao Zedong skillfully maneuvered to consolidate his leadership at the Zunyi Conference in January 1935, sidelining rivals like Otto Braun and Bo Gu. This internal power shift occurred while the army was in disarray, highlighting Mao's focus on political control even during military disaster.

4. Deceptive United Fronts and Nationalist Modernization Efforts

The Communists did not wait until victory in 1949 to expunge the record and control the narrative.

Tactical alliances. The CCP's participation in "United Fronts" with the Nationalist Party was a strategic deception, aimed at survival and expansion rather than genuine cooperation. During the First United Front (1923-1927), Communists infiltrated KMT ranks, and during the Second United Front (1937-1945) against Japan, they prioritized territorial expansion over direct combat.

KMT's modernization drive. While often portrayed as corrupt and backward by Communist propaganda, the Nationalist government under Chiang Kai-shek was actively engaged in a colossal modernization program. This included:

• Building extensive road and railway networks
• Establishing schools, hospitals, and public works
• Negotiating the abolition of unequal treaties and extraterritoriality with foreign powers
• Developing a modern army with German military advisers

Propaganda and narrative control. The CCP consistently controlled its narrative, presenting itself as the sole legitimate force for national salvation and democracy. This involved:

• Expunging records and censoring alternative voices
• Portraying the KMT as "fascist" and "reactionary"
• Using foreign journalists to spread a romanticized image of their movement

5. Mao's Consolidation of Power through Purges and Personality Cult

Mao Zedong Thought is China’s Marxism–Leninism, China’s Bolshevism, and China’s communism.

Rectification Campaign. In Yan'an, Mao launched the brutal "Rectification Campaign" (1942-1944) to eliminate rivals and consolidate his absolute authority. This involved:

• Public denunciations and forced confessions
• Interrogations, torture, and executions of suspected "spies" and "traitors"
• Humiliation of intellectuals and "Red Professors" who challenged his ideological line

Cult of personality. The campaign culminated in the establishment of an unlimited cult of personality around Mao. His "sinification of Marxism" meant that his writings became the sole ideological guide, replacing traditional Marxist-Leninist texts. Leaders like Liu Shaoqi and Zhou Enlai engaged in "nauseatingly slavish" praise, proclaiming Mao as a "great revolutionary helmsman" and "saviour."

Control over thought and art. Mao declared that "art must serve the revolution," suppressing creative freedom and forcing writers and artists into ideological conformity. This ensured that all cultural output reinforced the Party's narrative and Mao's supreme leadership.

6. Exploiting the Sino-Japanese War for Communist Expansion

There must be a difference between what we say we do and what we actually do.

Strategic inaction against Japan. Despite publicly committing to a United Front against Japan, Mao's primary directive to the Eighth Route Army was to "preserve and enlarge the Red Army" by holding back from direct confrontation. The CCP deliberately exploited the war to expand its territory and weaken the Nationalist government.

Expansion behind enemy lines. As Nationalist forces bore the brunt of Japanese attacks, the CCP sent small detachments behind enemy lines to fill power vacuums. They systematically:

• Attacked and absorbed local partisan units and KMT-aligned armed forces
• Established new administrations and Party organs
• Engaged in "dispersed guerrilla warfare" to consolidate control in the countryside

Clashes with KMT forces. The CCP frequently clashed with government troops, even during the war against Japan, rather than focusing solely on the foreign invader. This led to accusations from KMT generals that the Communists were "lending a helping hand to the enemy" and acting as "vanguards for the aggressors."

7. Economic Devastation and Opium Trade in Communist-Controlled Areas

The result of land seizure was greater poverty for all, as farmers with even the slightest portion of wealth were forcibly dispossessed, scaring the others into hiding their assets and producing no more than the strict minimum required to survive.

Economic collapse. Communist economic policies, particularly land confiscation and heavy taxation, led to widespread economic devastation in areas under their control. Villagers, fearing dispossession and requisitioning, reduced production, leading to food shortages and famine.

Inflation and forced labor. The CCP's issuance of its own unbacked currency caused rampant inflation, further impoverishing the population. Forced conscription of men into the army and women into support units left fields untended, exacerbating food scarcity.

Opium as a lifeline. To survive economic ruin and finance its operations, the CCP resorted to large-scale opium cultivation. In 1943, opium production contributed 40% of Yan'an's total revenue, effectively saving the Communists from collapse. This practice, initially prohibited, was reintroduced and expanded.

8. International Misperception Fueled by Communist Propaganda

For all their scholarship [they] would seem never to have heard of the Trojan horse.

Effective propaganda. The CCP skillfully manipulated foreign opinion, presenting itself as a democratic, agrarian reform movement rather than a doctrinaire Communist party. Edgar Snow's "Red Star Over China" was a pivotal work, introducing Mao as a charismatic, democratic leader.

Misled foreign observers. Many foreign journalists and officials, including American figures like Evans Carlson, Joseph Stilwell, and Vice-President Henry A. Wallace, were swayed by CCP propaganda. They praised Yan'an as a "Chinese Wonderland City" and an "agrarian democracy," often without witnessing the reality of purges, economic hardship, or lack of freedom.

Soviet complicity. Moscow actively contributed to this deception, with Stalin and Molotov dismissing Chinese Communists as "Margarine Communists" or mere "rural reformers" to American envoys. This maneuver successfully pressured Washington to push for a coalition government in China, despite the CCP's true intentions.

9. Civil War Victory through Attrition, Soviet Aid, and Human Waves

The Communist Party referred to its conquest of the country as a ‘Liberation’.

Decisive Soviet intervention. The CCP's victory in the Civil War (1945-1949) was heavily reliant on massive Soviet military aid, particularly in Manchuria. After Japan's surrender, Soviet troops:

• Handed over vast quantities of captured Japanese weapons and arsenals to the CCP
• Provided training and logistical support
• Blocked Nationalist forces from entering key Manchurian cities, allowing the CCP to entrench itself

Ruthless attrition warfare. The CCP employed a brutal strategy of attrition, besieging cities and cutting off supplies to starve populations into submission. The siege of Changchun, where at least 160,000 civilians died of hunger and disease, exemplified this disregard for civilian life.

Human wave tactics. The People's Liberation Army (renamed in 1947) frequently used "human wave" tactics, overwhelming Nationalist defenses with sheer numbers of conscripted villagers. This exhausted enemy ammunition and morale, as witnessed in battles like the Huaihai Campaign, where millions of civilians were forced to provide logistical support or act as human shields.

Last updated: March 15, 2026