Weekly Thoughts #2: GMDs, Commies and the Betrayal

Like any fairytale, history shows a force, and a polar opposite of it, during the same time period. As their differences suggest - polar opposites - they usually aren't very nice to one another. During the Russian Revolution, there were the Loyalists and the Bolsheviks, and from this piece of history we can learn that one side is eager to see themselves prevail at the expense of the other.

China was no exception. Following the fall of the Qing dynasty, patriotic sentiments stirred as people rallied against China's shameful treaties with the West and what appeared to be the inferiority of the Chinese people in the areas of military prowess, and expressed concerns over the question of preservation of culture and modernization. Amidst calls for unity, however, China was far from being together. Warlords and generals have already carved up land for themselves, and competitions between enemy landlords caused turmoil and widespread poverty in China.

In harsh times, society needs heroes to look up to. Just as the giant of a nation felt leaderless, two parties made their entrance into Chinese history - one, the Nationalist (KMT) Party, and the other the CCCP (Communist party). Two distinct parties, they believed that China should be unified in the face of the common enemy, Imperial Japan and the Western powers. Thus began the alliance - or 1st United Front - between two parties putting forth very different ideologies. The Communists believed in radical reform and the doing away of old systems and traditions that restricted certain groups; The Nationalists under Chiang Kai-Shek were Confucians who believed in self-cultivation and many morals straight of the Analects. The alliance, nevertheless was successful, and China was once again (somewhat) united.

As if the United Front was nothing but a dream, Chiang Kai-Shek turns his back on the Communists. Rounding up any Communist Party members and soldiers they could find, he ordered his troops to summarily execute them. In the bloody year of 1927, the Chinese Communists lost at least 300 people ranging from officials to people who received support from the party. The event, which would send Communism in China under siege, is known as the Shanghai Massacre.

Chiang Kai-Shek's War on Communism, 1927. Public executions and Purges were widespread, and brutal.

However, would this GMD victory provide the basis for a Communist take over of China two decades later? Continued persecution of the Communists forced Mao Zedong to lead a Long March, which helped him gain the respect of many. Soon after the massacre, Chiang Kai-Shek's corrupt government made many turn to Mao and the Communist party, and following a reluctant 2nd United Front against the Japanese, Chiang Kai-Shek was forced to flee to Taiwan. Perhaps, the Betrayal didn't provide the foundation for Chiang's China, it helped Mao's instead.