People's History of Ideas Podcast

Mao and the Fourth Red Army break the encirclement of the Jinggangshan and retreat across southern Jiangxi with the Guomindang in hot pursuit.Link to map of Jiangxi province: https://www.chinamaps.org/china/provincemaps/jiangxi-province-map.htmlFurther reading/watching on the difficulties of finding good maps of China:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restrictions_on_geographic_data_in_Chinahttps://www.reddit.com/r/Maps/comments/b6qnvc/just_blew_my_mind_every_map_of_china_is/https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/7pju2c/why_is_google_maps_coverage_of_china_slightly_off/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: 1893-1949Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 4: The Rise and Fall of the Chinese Soviet Republic, 1931-1934Some names from this episode:Chen Yi, Political commissar for the 28th regiment of the Fourth Red ArmyLin Biao, Battalion commander in the 28th regimentWu Ruolan, Communist cadre and Zhu De’s wifeSupport the show

Answering a listener question on the Great Leap Forward famine.Further reading:Mobo Gao, The Battle for China’s PastUnited Nations, “Losing 25,000 to Hunger Every Day”Minhaz Merchant, “Churchill’s Bengal Famine”Karl Marx, CapitalMike Davis, Late Victorian HolocaustsFrederick Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in EnglandSupport the show

We wrap up our discussion of the Sixth Congress with a discussion of the political line coming out of the congress, and some related issues.Further reading:Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist PartyChang Kuo-t’ao [Zhang Guotao], The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party (2 volumes)Daniel Kwan, Marxist Intellectuals and the Chinese Labor Movement: A Study of Deng Zhongxia, 1894-1933Various 6th Party Congress documents in Chinese Studies in History vol. 3, #4 through vol. 5, #1Yueh Sheng, Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow and the Chinese Revolution: A Personal AccountA Basic Understanding of the Communist Party of ChinaSome names from this episode:Nikolai Bukharin, general secretary of the executive committee of the CominternQu Qiubai, Named head of provisional politburo at August 7, 1927 Emergency ConferenceZhang Guotao, Leading CommunistPavel Mif, Top Comintern China specialistLi Lisan, Leading CommunistZhou Enlai, Leading CommunistXiang Zhongfa, Trade unionist and new general secretary of the CPXiang Ying, Leading CommunistSupport the show

Qu Qiubai’s report and proposal are disputed, and the Comintern intervenes to restore order.Further reading:Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist PartyChang Kuo-t’ao [Zhang Guotao], The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party (2 volumes)Daniel Kwan, Marxist Intellectuals and the Chinese Labor Movement: A Study of Deng Zhongxia, 1894-1933Qu Qiubai, “The Past and Future of the Chinese Communist Party”Various 6th Party Congress documents in Chinese Studies in History vol. 3, #4 through vol. 5, #1Some names from this episode:Nikolai Bukharin, general secretary of the executive committee of the CominternQu Qiubai, Named head of provisional politburo at August 7, 1927 Emergency ConferenceChen Duxiu, Co-founder and first general secretary of the Communist PartyZhang Guotao, Leading CommunistPavel Mif, Top Comintern China specialistChen Shaoyu, Protégé of Mif (better known as Wang Ming)Shen Zemin, Sun Yat-sen University student who translated at the 6th party congressSupport the show

Our third (and last) close look at Bukharin’s speech at the 6th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, held in Moscow in the summer of 1928.Further reading:Nikolai Bukharin, “On the International Situation and the Tasks of the Chinese Communist Party”Lenin, “Speech at the First All-Russia Congress of Working Women”Some names from this episode:Nikolai Bukharin, general secretary of the executive committee of the CominternPeng Dehuai, Guomindang colonel who was secretly a Communist and who launched an uprising in July 1928Support the show

Bukharin articulates a vision of the Chinese Revolution at the 6th Party Congress which is highly colored by the non-revolutionary Marxism of the 2nd International.Further reading:Nikolai Bukharin, “On the International Situation and the Tasks of the Chinese Communist Party”Andre Gunder Frank, World Accumulation, 1492–1789Immanuel Wallerstein, The Modern World-System, vol. I: Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European World-Economy in the Sixteenth Century Mao Zedong, “The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party”Vladimir Lenin, “Two Tactics of Social-Democracy in the Democratic Revolution”Vladimir Lenin, “Once Again on The Trade Unions: The Current Situation and the Mistakes of Trotsky and Bukharin”Hung Hsueh-ping, “The Essence of ‘Theory of Productive Forces’ is to oppose Proletarian Revolution”Some names from this episode:Nikolai Bukharin, general secretary of the executive committee of the CominternChen Duxiu, Co-founder and first general secretary of the Communist PartyMikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang during the period of the first united frontSupport the show

Nikolai Bukharin kicks off the party congress with a very long speech.Further reading:Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist PartyChang Kuo-t’ao [Zhang Guotao], The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party (2 volumes)E. H. Carr, Foundations of a Planned Economy, vol. 3Nikolai 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”Theodore Rosengarten, All God’s Dangers: The Life of Nate ShawRobin Kelley, Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists during the Great DepressionSome names from this episode:Nikolai Bukharin, general secretary of the executive committee of the CominternZhang Guotao, Leading CommunistQu Qiubai, Top leader of the Chinese Communist Party from the August 7, 1927 emergency meeting until the 6th Party CongressEugen Varga, Hungarian communist economistSupport the show

The decision to hold the Sixth Party Congress in Moscow, and some of the political debate inside the Communist Party of China leading up to that Congress.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 1930Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist PartyPatricia Stranahan, Underground: The Shanghai Communist Party and the Politics of Survival, 1927-1937Daniel Kwan, Marxist Intellectuals and the Chinese Labor Movement: A Study of Deng Zhongxia, 1894-1933Chang Kuo-t’ao [Zhang Guotao], The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party (2 volumes)E. H. Carr, Foundations of a Planned Economy, vol. 3Organization of Communist Revolutionaries, “The CP, the Sixties, the RCP, and the Crying Need for a Communist Vanguard Party Today: Summing up a century of communist leadership, organization, strategy, and practice in the United States so that we can rise to the challenges before us”Some names from this episode:Qu Qiubai, Top leader of the Chinese Communist Party from the August 7, 1927 emergency meeting until the 6th Party CongressZhang Guotao, Leading CommunistChen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist Party until summer 1927Zhou Enlai, Leading CommunistSupport the show

Potentially explosive guidance arrives in the Jinggangshan from the 6th Party Congress of the Communist Party, and plans are laid to break out of the enemy encirclement.Further reading:Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base AreaStuart 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: 1893-1949Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist PartyMao Zedong, “Combat Liberalism”Some names from this episode:Peng Dehuai, Guomindang colonel who was secretly a Communist and who launched an uprising in July 1928Wang Zuo, Bandit leader who joined with Mao ZedongYuan Wencai, Bandit leader who joined with Mao ZedongWang Shouhua, President of the General Labor UnionChen Yi, Political commissar for the 28th regiment of the Fourth Red ArmyLong Chaoqing, secretary of the Ninggang County Committee of the Communist PartyWang Huai, secretary of the Yongxin County Committee of the Communist PartyHe Changgong, important Fourth Red Army cadreSupport the show

The national Guomindang center takes note of the Communists’ resilience, and takes charge of organizing a new suppression campaign, which is preceded by a tight economic blockade. Peng Dehuai makes his way to the Jinggangshan.Further reading:Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base AreaStuart 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, “The Struggle in the Chingkang Mountains”Edward Dreyer, China at War: 1901-1949James Sheridan, China in Disintegration: The Republican Era in Chinese History, 1912-1949Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]Peng Dehuai, Memoirs of a Chinese MarshallSome names from this episode:Chen Yi, Political commissar for the 28th regiment of the Fourth Red ArmyWang Zuo, Bandit leader who joined with Mao ZedongHe Zizhen, Communist cadre known as the “Two-Gunned Girl General”Peng Dehuai, Guomindang colonel who was secretly a Communist and who launched an uprising in July 1928Teng Daiyuan, Fifth Red Army leading cadreHe Changgong, important Fourth Red Army cadreSupport the show