China Peasants Land and Power | Generated by AI
The Land Revolution was a crucial period in Chinese Communist Party (CPC) history, roughly spanning 1927-1937, also known as the “Agrarian Revolutionary War” or “Second Revolutionary Civil War.” This period fundamentally shaped the CPC’s ideology, strategy, and eventual rise to power.
Historical Context
After the collapse of the First United Front between the CPC and Kuomintang (KMT) in 1927, when Chiang Kai-shek launched violent purges against communists in Shanghai and other cities, the CPC was forced to completely reorient its strategy. The party, which had previously focused on urban workers, shifted to rural areas where the vast majority of China’s population—impoverished peasants—lived under exploitative landlord systems.
Core Principles and Goals
The Land Revolution centered on mobilizing peasants through land redistribution. The CPC promised to confiscate land from landlords and redistribute it to landless and poor peasants. This resonated deeply in a country where rural inequality was extreme: a small percentage of wealthy landlords controlled most arable land, while the majority of peasants rented land at extortionate rates, often falling into debt bondage.
The slogan “打土豪，分田地” (Strike down the local tyrants, divide up the land) captured the revolutionary appeal. The CPC conducted “land reform” campaigns in areas under their control, which involved public trials of landlords, redistribution of property, and establishment of peasant associations.
Key Developments
Soviet Base Areas: The CPC established rural revolutionary base areas, the most famous being the Jiangxi Soviet (1931-1934), where Mao Zedong experimented with guerrilla warfare tactics and land reform policies. These soviets functioned as mini-states with their own governments, laws, and military forces.
Guerrilla Warfare: Mao developed his theory of “people’s war,” emphasizing mobile guerrilla tactics, winning peasant support, and avoiding direct confrontation with superior KMT forces until conditions were favorable. His famous dictum was “The enemy advances, we retreat; the enemy camps, we harass; the enemy tires, we attack; the enemy retreats, we pursue.”
The Long March (1934-1935): Facing KMT encirclement campaigns, the Red Army undertook a strategic retreat of approximately 9,600 kilometers from Jiangxi to Shaanxi. Though devastating in casualties, the Long March became a founding myth of the CPC, demonstrating resilience and cementing Mao’s leadership.
Yan’an Period: After the Long March, the CPC established its headquarters in Yan’an, Shaanxi province, where it would remain until 1947. This became the center for developing communist ideology adapted to Chinese conditions.
Ideological Significance
The Land Revolution period marked the “Sinification” of Marxism. Mao argued that China’s revolution must be peasant-based rather than worker-based, contradicting orthodox Marxist-Leninist theory that emphasized the urban proletariat. This adaptation would prove crucial to the CPC’s eventual success and would influence revolutionary movements throughout the developing world.
The period also established mass line politics—the practice of “from the masses, to the masses”—where party cadres would learn from peasants, formulate policies, and then return to implement them, creating a participatory revolutionary culture.
End of the Period
The Land Revolution phase effectively ended with the Second United Front (1937-1945), when the CPC and KMT temporarily allied against Japanese invasion. However, the organizational structures, military tactics, peasant base, and ideological frameworks developed during this period would prove decisive in the CPC’s ultimate victory in the Chinese Civil War (1945-1949).
The Land Revolution transformed the CPC from a decimated urban party into a mass peasant movement with military capacity, setting the foundation for the eventual establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.