People's History of Ideas Podcast

Mao explains his refusal to comply with orders from the Hunan Provincial Committee.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: 1893-1949Some names from this episode:Du Xiujing, Inspector sent to the Jinggangshan by the Hunan Provincial Committee in May 1928 and who returned in JuneYuan Desheng, Representative of the Hunan Provincial Committee in the JinggangshanYang Chisheng, Guomindang commander defeated by the Communists in June 1928Wang Zuo, Bandit leader who joined with Mao ZedongYuan Wencai, Bandit leader who joined with Mao ZedongWang Jun, Guomindang military commander in JiangxiShang Chengjie, Guomindang military commander in HunanXu Kexiang, Guomindang military commander in HunanWu Shang, Guomindang military commander in HunanSupport the show

A talk that I recently delivered at the University of Hamburg, focused on the development of a new socialist political economy late in the Cultural Revolution and how this influenced the Communist Party of Peru.Further reading:Alessandro Russo, Cultural Revolution and Revolutionary CultureFabio Lanza, The End of Concern: Maoist China, Activism, and Asian StudiesAntonio Díaz Martínez, China: La revolución agrariaCatalina Adrianzén, “Semblanza de Antonio Díaz Martínez”Peer Moller Christensen and Jorgen Delman, “A Theory of Transitional Society: Mao Zedong and the Shanghai School”Stephen Andors, China's Industrial Revolution: Politics, Planning, and Management, 1949 to the PresentSome names from this episode:Catalina Adrianzén, Peruvian anthropologist in China from 1974-1976Antonio Díaz Martínez, Peruvian agronomist in China from 1974-1976Zhang Chunqiao, Leading figure on Maoist left in ChinaJiang Qing, Leading figure on Maoist left in ChinaSupport the show

In light of the Ukraine crisis, a historical look at communist thinking on the connection between a third world war and revolution.Further reading:Sergei N. Goncharov, John W. Lewis, and Xue Litai, Uncertain Partners: Stalin, Mao, and the Korean WarDavid Holloway, Stalin and the BombEdward Wilson, “Thank you Vasili Arkhipov, the man who stopped nuclear war”Mao Zedong, “On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People”Mao Zedong, “Speech at a Meeting of the Representatives of 64 Communist and Workers’ Parties”M. Upshaw, “Considerations on a Revolutionary Situation in the United States: Likely Triggering Factors, Potential Political Contours”Some names from this episode:Vyacheslav Molotov, Soviet foreign ministerVasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov, Soviet submarine officer who averted nuclear war during the Cuban Missile CrisisSupport the show

The Hunan Provincial Committee decides that Mao must obey its authority.Further reading:Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base AreaElizabeth Perry, Anyuan: Mining China’s Revolutionary TraditionSome names from this episode:Wang Meisheng, Courier between Anyuan and the JinggangshanDu Xiujing, Inspector sent to the Jinggangshan by the Hunan Provincial CommitteeYuan Desheng, Sent to work in the Jinggangshan by the Hunan Provincial CommitteeYang Kaiming, Sent by Hunan Provincial Committee to replace Mao as secretary of the Jinggangshan special committeeYuan Wencai, Bandit leader who joined with Mao ZedongSupport the show

In the wake of their military victories in late Spring 1928, the Communists carried out a major land redistribution and a mass recruitment drive. There were some unforeseen complications.Further reading:Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base AreaPang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930Marcia Ristaino, China’s Art of Revolution: The Mobilization of Discontent, 1927 and 1928Some names from this episode:Wang Zuo, Bandit leader who joined with Mao ZedongYuan Wencai, Bandit leader who joined with Mao ZedongSupport the show

Mao Zedong and Zhu De learn warfare through warfare as they face continuing onslaughts from Guomindang forces.Further reading/watching:Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base AreaPang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949China: A Century of Revolution documentaryCommunist Party of Nepal (Maoist), “Experiences of the People’s Warand Some Important Questions”Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), “Advance in the Great Direction of Creating Base Areas!”Mao Zedong, “Problems of Strategy in China’s Revolutionary War”Name from this episode:Sunzi [Sun Tzu], Ancient Chinese generalSupport the show

The unification of Mao Zedong’s and Zhu De’s forces. Some discussion of the problems involved in unifying the Communist armed forces.Further reading:Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base AreaPang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930Some names from this episode:Zhu De, Communist military commanderWang Zuo, Bandit leader who joined with Mao ZedongYe Ting, Commander of the 4th Army during the Northern ExpeditionChen Yi, Leading Communist who served with Zhu DeYuan Wencai, Bandit leader who joined with Mao ZedongHu Shaohai, Communist from South HunanLin Biao, Communist military officerSupport the show

Discussing pay for professional revolutionaries, the role of servants in the lives of Communist leaders, and the Comintern in Shanghai.Further reading:Patricia Stranahan, Underground: The Shanghai Communist Party and the Politics of Survival, 1927-1937Elizabeth Perry, Shanghai on Strike: The Politics of Chinese LaborWang Fan-hsi [Wang Fanxi], Memoirs of a Chinese RevolutionaryGavin McCrea, Mrs. EngelsFrederick Litten, “The Noulens Affair” Anna Belogurova, “The Civic World of International Communism: Taiwanese communists and the Comintern (1921-1931)”Onimaru Takeshi, “Shanghai Connection: The Construction and Collapse of the Comintern Network in East and Southeast Asia”Jospehine Fowler, “From East to West and West to East: Ties of Solidarity in the Pan-Pacific Revolutionary Trade Union Movement, 1923-1934”Josephine Fowler, Japanese and Chinese Immigrant Activists: Organizing in American and International Communist Movements, 1919–1933Frederic Wakeman, Policing Shanghai, 1927-1937Some names from this episode:Liu Shaoqi, Leading CommunistHe Baozhen, Communist cadre and wife of Liu ShaoqiLi Dazhao, Co-founder of Chinese Communist PartyQu Qiubai, Top Communist leaderWang Fanxi, A member of the Central Committee Organization BureauZhang Guotao, Leading CommunistPeng Shuzi, Leading Communist expelled in 1929Support the show

How did the Communist Party try to protect itself in Shanghai? We discuss the compartmentalized party organization and the creation of the Special Services Division.Further reading:Patricia Stranahan, Underground: The Shanghai Communist Party and the Politics of Survival, 1927-1937Timothy Cheek, “Making Maoism: Ideology and Organization in the Yan’an Rectification Movement, 1942-1944”Mao Zedong, “Combat Liberalism”Xuezhi Guo, China's Security State: Philosophy, Evolution, and PoliticsSome names from this episode:Qu Qiubai, Top Communist leader from mid-1927 to mid-1928Wang Shiwei, Cadre expelled during Yan’an rectification campaignGu Shunzhang, Zhou Enlai’s deputy in the Special Services DivisionHe Zhihua, Zhu De’s former lover from Germany, who betrayed the Communist PartySupport the show

The Communist Party Center remained underground in the dangerous city of Shanghai during the late 1920s and early 1930s.Further reading/watching:Patricia Stranahan, Underground: The Shanghai Communist Party and the Politics of Survival, 1927-1937China: A Century of Revolution documentaryJosephine Fowler, Japanese and Chinese Immigrant Activists: Organizing in American and International Communist Movements, 1919–1933Chang Kuo-t’ao [Zhang Guotao], The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party (2 volumes)Wang Fan-hsi [Wang Fanxi], Memoirs of a Chinese RevolutionaryChristina Gilmartin, Engendering the Chinese Revolution: Radical Women, Communist Politics, and Mass Movements in the 1920sFrederic Wakeman, Policing Shanghai, 1927-1937Some names from this episode:Deng Yingchao, Communist Party activist and wife of Zhou EnlaiZhang Guotao, Leading CommunistLin Zhuhan, Leading CommunistLi Weihan, Head of CCP Organizational DepartmentGong Yinbing, CCP treasurerHe Shuheng, Communist cadreLi Lisan, Leading CommunistLiu Shaoqi, Leading CommunistHe Baozhen, Communist cadre and wife of Liu ShaoqiWang Yizhi, Communist cadre and widow of Zhang TaileiZhang Tailei, Leader of Guangzhou CommuneChen Yannian, Chair of Jiangsu Provincial Committee for a very short time until his arrestChen Duxiu, Co-founder of Communist PartyZhu De, Communist military leaderHe Zhihua, Zhe De’s embittered lover from GermanyQu Qiubai, Top Communist leader from mid-1927 to mid-1928Wang Fanxi, Member of Organization bureauXu Baihao, Communist union leaderSupport the show