People's History of Ideas Podcast

We conclude our close reading of Mao’s January 5, 1930 letter to Lin Biao. In this episode, Mao discusses his method for understanding the possibilities for revolution in China, as well as the particular tactics to be employed by the Red Army. He also conducts a minor self-criticism.Further reading:Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949Mao Zedong, “A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire”Some names from this episode:Lin Biao, commander of the first column of the Fourth Red ArmyLu Diping, general who ruled Hunan from 1928–29 and Jiangxi from 1929-31Episode artwork:Envelope from a different letter that Mao wrote to Lin BiaoSubscribe on Substack: peopleshistoryofideas.substack.comSupport the show

We begin our close reading of Mao’s January 5, 1930 letter to Lin Biao.Further reading:Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949David Apter and Tony Saich, Revolutionary Discourse in Mao’s RepublicMao Zedong, “A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire”Some names from this episode:Lin Biao, commander of the first column of the Fourth Red ArmyLi Lisan, leading CommunistHe Long, leader of a soviet in the Hunan-Hubei border regionLi Wenlin, leader of Donggu base areaFang Zhimin, leader of Northeastern Jiangxi sovietEpisode artwork:Picture of a prairie fire (in Illinois)Subscribe on Substack: peopleshistoryofideas.substack.comSupport the show

This interview with Dr. Aminda Smith of Michigan State University touches on topics including why good PRC history is left history; thought reform, reeducation through labor, and brainwashing; the veracity of the propaganda produced for a global audience during the Mao years; and the Maoist legacy in China today.Further reading and watching:Aminda Smith, Thought Reform and China’s Dangerous Classes Aminda Smith, “The Maoism of PRC History” Aminda Smith, “Brainwashing and World Revolution” Aminda Smith, “The Legacies of 'Brainwashing': Cold War Ideology and Modern Chinese History” (the content of this talk is similar to the paywalled book chapter on brainwashing)Stephen Andors, China’s Industrial RevolutionPositions Politics website H-PRC website Brian DeMare, Land Wars: The Story of China's Agrarian RevolutionRichard Wolin, The Wind From the East: French Intellectuals, the Cultural Revolution, and the Legacy of the 1960s Philosophy is no Mystery Mao Zedong, “On Contradiction” Jonathan Spence, The Search for Modern ChinaZheng Yangwen, Ten Lessons in Modern Chinese History Maurice Meisner, Mao's China and AfterJonathan Spence, The Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Chinese and Their Revolution Rebecca Karl, Mao Zedong and China in the Twentieth-Century World: A Concise History Yueran Zhang, “Leninists in a Chinese Factory: Reflections on the Jasic Labour Organising Strategy” “Seeing through Muddied Waters, Part 1: Jasic, Strikes & Unions” “New Alliance of Students-Workers in Struggle of Union Formation: The Case of Jasic Conflict” “Longing for the Cultural Revolution in China Today” Rae Yang, Spider Eaters: A MemoirSupport the show

The story of how the co-founder and first General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party became a Trotskyist.Further reading:Gregor Benton, China’s Urban Revolutionaries: Explorations in the History of Chinese Trotskyism, 1921-1952 Gregor Benton, Prophets Unarmed: Chinese Trotskyists in Revolution, War, Jail, and the Return from Limbo Lee Feigon, Chen Duxiu: Founder of the Chinese Communist PartyChang Kuo-t’ao [Zhang Guotao], The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party (2 volumes) Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party Jane Price, Cadres, Commanders, and Commissars: The Training of the Chinese Communist Leadership, 1920-1945Some names from this episode:Chen Duxiu, co-founder of the Communist Party of ChinaLi Dazhao, co-founder of the Communist Party of ChinaZheng Chaolin, Chinese TrotskyistLi Lisan, leading CommunistYin Kuan, resigned as Provincial Secretary in AnhuiPeng Shuzhi, resigned as Provincial Secretary in ZhiliWang Zekai, Chinese TrotskyistLiu Bojian, former Provincial Secretary in HubeiRen Xu, Chinese TrotskyistXiang Ying, Jiangsu Provincial Secretary following the 6th Party CongressCai Zhende, member of Jiangsu Provincial CommitteeZhou Enlai, head of the Organization Department of the Central CommitteeWang Ruofei, sent to work in a factory in Moscow as punishment for Trotskyism before recantingQu Qiubai, top leader of Communist Party from the summer of 1927 until the Sixth CongressZhang Guotao, leading Communist Episode artwork:Chen Duxiu with Peng Shuzi in 1932Support the show

Responding to listener queries about the evidence behind this common assertion regarding the KPD’s underestimation of the fascist threat.Further reading:Jane Degras, ed., The Communist International, 1919-1943: Documents, vol. 3: 1929-1943 International Press Correspondence Communist International journal (1933) Documents from the 13th Plenum of the ECCISome names from this episode:Chen Duxiu, co-founder of the Communist Party of ChinaHermann Remmele, leading KPD Reichstag memberHeinrich Brüning, German Chancellor from 1930-1932Osip Piatnitsky, leading Comintern figureWilhelm Pieck, leader of KPD from 1934Episode artwork:Autonome Antifa (M) poster from 1991Support the show

The 1920s that is. The Comintern lets the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee know how the objective conditions in China are ripening for revolution.Further reading:Nikolai Bukharin, “On the International Situation and the Tasks of the Chinese Communist Party”Nicholas Kozlov and Eric Weitz, “Reflections on the Origins of the ‘Third Period’: Bukharin, the Comintern, and the Political Economy of Weimar Germany”Robin Kelley, Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists during the Great DepressionTheodore Rosengarten, All God’s Dangers: The Life of Nate ShawSebastian Haffner, Failure of a Revolution: Germany 1918-1919Chen Jian, Zhou Enlai: A LifeJane Degras, ed., The Communist International, 1919-1943: Documents, vol. 3: 1929-1943 So Wai-chor, The Kuomintang Left in the National Revolution, 1924–1931Some names from this episode:Nikolai Bukharin, general secretary of the executive committee of the Comintern (1926-1929)Rosa Luxemburg, German communist leader murdered in 1919Karl Liebknecht, German communist leader murdered in 1919Li Lisan, leading CommunistStalin, StalinFeng Yuxiang, northwestern warlord who turned on Chiang Kai-shek during Sino-Soviet warWang Jingwei, the overall leader of the Guomindang LeftChen Gongbo, main ideologue of the Reorganization Comrades AssociationChen Duxiu, co-founder of the Communist PartyHe Long, leader of a soviet in the Hunan-Hubei border regionEpisode artwork:Li Lisan with familySupport the show

How the Chinese Communist Party tried to turn war into revolution in Manchuria in 1929.Further reading:Bruce A. Elleman and Stephen Kotkin, eds., Manchurian Railways and the Opening of ChinaMichael M. Walker, The 1929 Sino-Soviet WarChong-Sik Lee, Revolutionary Struggle in Manchuria: Chinese Communism and Soviet Interest, 1922-1945“Japan Moves Town to Reach Coal Vein”Some names from this episode:Miles Lampson, British minister to ChinaYang Jingyu, Fushun special branch secretary of the CCPLiu Shaoqi, Communist labor organizer and secretary of the CCP’s Manchurian Committee from June 1929 to March 1930Ting Chün-yang, veteran communist sent to ManchuriaMeng Yongqian, veteran communist sent to ManchuriaEpisode artwork:Postcard of a Fushun coal mine from the early 1940sSupport the show

The final Soviet offensive, and some details on Chiang Ching-kuo’s activities as a student in Moscow.Further reading:Bruce A. Elleman and Stephen Kotkin, eds., Manchurian Railways and the Opening of ChinaMichael M. Walker, The 1929 Sino-Soviet WarJay Taylor, The Generalissimo's Son: Chiang Ching-Kuo and the Revolutions in China and TaiwanSome names from this episode:Zhang Xueliang, Manchurian warlordFeng Yuxiang, northwestern warlord who turned on Chiang Kai-shek during Sino-Soviet warJoseph Stilwell, United States military attaché in ChinaMikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and political head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang during the first Communist-Guomindang united frontChiang Ching-kuo, son of Chiang Kai-shekZhou Enlai, leading CommunistVasily Blyukher, commander of the Special Far Eastern ArmyAleksandr Cherepanov, commander of the 39th Rifle Division in the Soviet Far EastEpisode artwork: Picture of a young Chiang Ching-kuoSupport the show

Some basic military history of the beginning of the war.Further reading:Bruce A. Elleman and Stephen Kotkin, eds., Manchurian Railways and the Opening of ChinaMichael M. Walker, The 1929 Sino-Soviet WarJohn Erickson, The Soviet High Command: A Military-Political History, 1918-1941Some names from this episode:Vasily Blyukher (née Gurov, aka Galen), commander of the Special Far Eastern ArmyGebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Prussian general in Napoleonic warsAleksandr Cherepanov, commander of the 39th Rifle Division in the Soviet Far EastAndrei Bubnov, head of the political administration of the Soviet Red ArmyFeng Yuxiang, warlord close to both the USA and the Soviet UnionA. I. Traynin, captain of the Soviet warship SverdlovMok Yiuming, captain of the Chinese gunboat LishuiFedor Vulahov, lead petty officer of the SverdlovR. I. Yuanzem, commander of the Soviet warship Red EastI. I. Nikitin, captain of the Soviet warship Sun YatsenI. A. Onufriev, the commander of the 2nd “Amur” Rifle DivisionEpisode artwork:Photo of Soviet soldiers with captured Guomindang bannersSupport the show

The Guomindang moves to seize Soviet assets in Manchuria. Also, subscribe to the new substack at https://peopleshistoryofideas.substack.com/.Further reading:Bruce A. Elleman and Stephen Kotkin, eds., Manchurian Railways and the Opening of ChinaMichael M. Walker, The 1929 Sino-Soviet WarSome names from this episode:Li Lisan, Chairman of Central Committee Propaganda DepartmentChen Duxiu, Co-founder of the Chinese Communist PartyLi Dazhao, Co-founder of the Chinese Communist PartyLev Karakhan, Soviet deputy commissioner for foreign affairs in 1919 and acting commissioner in 1929Zhang Zuolin, Manchurian warlord killed by Japan in 1928Zhang Xueliang, Manchurian warlord, son of Zhang ZuolinMartemyan Nikitich Ryutin, Bolshevik leader of Harbin soviet in 1917Episode artwork: Flag of the Chinese Eastern RailwaySupport the show