1. New China

2. Background World War II Civil War
Destruction
Collaborators
Civil War
Armies, inflation, refugees
→ Communist Party has to become a ruling party

3. Understanding the Transition
Why it is interesting: Transition between two very different societies
Questions to ask:
Was the new state something new, or was it a continuation of earlier 20th century practices?
Was the 1950s a golden age?
How much choice did people have in what they did?

4. The Communist Party The earliest members: Urban intellectuals
The top leadership till the 1980s
Peasant leaders from the base areas
Little education and very dependent on the party
Young intellectuals who joined in Yan’an
Strong commitment to Communist ideals
Middle class backgrounds make them too dependent on the party
Strong sense of community and strong ideals

5. Changes in the Countryside
Initial rent reduction and other limited changes
Identify potential activists
Land Reform
Give class designations eg poor peasant, landlord
Confiscate property from rich peasants and landlords and redistribute to hired labourers and poor peasants
Results
Class labels (hereditary)
Destruction of social institutions

11. Changes in the Countryside
Initial rent reduction and other limited changes
Identify potential activists
Land Reform
Give class designations eg poor peasant, landlord
Confiscate property from rich peasants and landlords and redistribute to hired labourers and poor peasants
Results
Class labels (hereditary)
Destruction of social institutions

12. Changes in the Cities Economic recovery Korean War Campaigns of 1951-2
Suppression of Counter-Revolutionaries
Three-Anti and Five-Anti
Results
Government can collect taxes effectively
Recruit activists
Class labels

13. Poster from the Korean War Long live the victory of the Korean People’s Army and the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army

14. The Questions Again
How new were the practices of the Communist state? To what extent were they a continuation of early 20th century practices?
Was the 1950s a “golden age”?
How much choice did people have in what they did? Was this a “totalitarian” state?