People's History of Ideas Podcast

Tensions come to a head between Chiang Kai-shek, Wang Jingwei and General Kuibyshev, as a Soviet plot backfires spectacularly.Further Reading:C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927Wu Tien-wei, “Chiang Kai-shek's March Twentieth Coup d'Etat of 1926”Barbara Tuchman, Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-1945Some names from this episode:Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the GuomindangWang Jingwei, Leader of Guomindang government in Guangdong in late 1925 and early 1926Dai Jitao, Right-wing Guomindang ideologueNikolay Kuibyshev, Soviet general and head of military mission in Guangdong in late 1925 and early 1926Victor Rogachev, Soviet general and adviser to Chiang Kai-shekLi Zhilong, Communist in Guomindang navyHu Hanmin, Leader of Guomindang right-wing, spent a period of exile in the USSRAndrei Bubnov, Headed Soviet military inspection mission to ChinaGeneral V. A. Stepanov, Headed Soviet military mission after Kuibyshev left and before Blyukher returnedVasily Blyukher, Soviet general whose return was requested by Chiang Kai-shekChen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist PartySupport the show

An oral history interview with Monica Shay (née Newbold, aka Kathryn) about her experience in China in 1971-72.Some names from this episode:William Hinton, author of Fanshen and other books on ChinaJiang Qing, leading radical during Cultural Revolution and wife of Mao ZedongRevolutionary Union (RU), pro-China communist group in the US in early 1970sDazhai, model agricultural communeSupport the show

The song "New China" by the band Prairie Fire, from the 1976 album Break the Chains. This song will be referenced in our next episode.Support the show

Mao’s first major statement on the need for a strategic reorientation toward mobilizing the peasantry.The chart cited in the episode is now on the podcast website (as of 8-24-20): https://peopleshistoryofideas.com/episode-33-the-beginning-of-maoism-mao-zedongs-analysis-of-all-the-classes-in-chinese-society/.Further Reading:Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927Philip C. C. Huang, “Mao Tse-Tung and the Middle Peasants, 1925-1928”Some names from this episode:Chen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist PartyLi Dazhao, Co-founder of Communist PartySupport the show

Mao as acting head of propaganda for the Guomindang.Further Reading:C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927Some names from this episode:Wang Jingwei, Leader of Guomindang government in Guangdong in late 1925 and early 1926Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the GuomindangChen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist PartyGregory Voitinsky, Comintern representative in China at various pointsDai Jitao, Right-wing Guomindang ideologueSupport the show

The Hong Kong strike, the assassination of Liao Zhongkai, and the Second Eastern Expedition.Further Reading:C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927John Erickson, The Soviet High Command: A Military-Political History, 1918-1941Some names from this episode:Chiang Kai-shek, Japan-trained military officer, close confidant of Sun YatsenDeng Zhongxia, Communist labor leader, involved in Hong Kong strikeWang Jingwei, Potential heir apparent to Sun Yatsen as leader of GuomindangLiao Zhongkai, Potential heir apparent to Sun Yatsen as leader of GuomindangHu Hanmin, Potential heir apparent to Sun Yatsen as leader of Guomindang (further to Right than the other two)Chen Jiongming, Southern warlord, ally and then enemy of Sun YatsenMikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the GuomindangZhou Enlai, Communist head of the Whampoa Academy political department, leading commissar on Second Eastern ExpeditionVictor Rogachev, Soviet general and adviser to Chiang Kai-shekSupport the show

The National Revolutionary Army battles the warlords for supremacy in Guangdong, while the British and French escalate tensions by massacring supporters of a strike which shut down Hong Kong.Further Reading:C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927Some names from this episode:Chiang Kai-shek, Japan-trained military officer, close confidant of Sun YatsenVasily Blyukher, Soviet general who led military mission to aid GuomindangZhou Enlai, Communist head of the Whampoa Academy political departmentWang Jingwei, Potential heir apparent to Sun Yatsen as leader of GuomindangLiao Zhongkai, Potential heir apparent to Sun Yatsen as leader of GuomindangHu Hanmin, Potential heir apparent to Sun Yatsen as leader of Guomindang (further to Right than the other two)Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the GuomindangSun Zhongshan/Sun Yatsen, leader of the Guomindang, died in March 1925Chen Jiongming, Southern warlord, ally and then enemy of Sun YatsenSupport the show

The first year of the Soviet military alliance with the Guomindang, including the creation of the Whampoa Military Academy, the formation of the National Revolutionary Army, and the crushing of the Merchant Corps.Further Reading:C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927John Erickson, The Soviet High Command: A Military-Political History, 1918-1941Some names from this episode:Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the GuomindangChiang Kai-shek, Japan-trained military officer, close confidant of Sun YatsenChen Jiongming, Southern warlord, ally and then enemy of Sun YatsenDeng Zhongxia, Leading Communist labor organizerGregory Voitinsky, Comintern representative in China at various points, much more wary of Sun Yatsen and the Guomindang than BorodinSun Zhongshan/Sun Yatsen, leader of the GuomindangSupport the show

Mao gets sick of all the BS in Shanghai and returns to his hometown of Shaoshan, where he discovers a militant peasantry.Further Reading:Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927Yokoyama Suguru, “The Peasant Movement in Hunan”Some names from this episode:Li Lisan, Communist leader of the Shanghai General Labor UnionLiu Shaoqi, Communist leader just below Li Lisan in the Shanghai General Labor UnionLiu Hua, Union activist executed for leading role in May 30 MovementLiu Bolun, Stood in for Mao at a meeting of the Committee for Common People’s EducationWang Xianzong, Hunanese Communist murdered by a local warlord for organizing peasantsWang Jingwei, Head of Guomindang government in Guangzhou in late 1925 when Mao arrived from HunanHan Suyin, early biographer of Mao for a western audienceLiu Shaoqi, Leading Communist labor organizer in the 1920s, later targeted as a capitalist roader in the Cultural RevolutionDeng Xiaoping, Chinese leader targeted as a capitalist roader in the Cultural RevolutionSupport the show

A podcast version of a recently published article which discusses what the leader of Peru's Shining Path, Abimael Guzmán, has to say about the time he spent in Maoist China.The article can be read on the podcast website.Support the show