Question

Chiang Kaishek lost support of the peasantry and the women, but Mao Zedong rose to power with their support. Elaborate the statement.

Answer 1

Instructions: Draw a comparison between the strategies of Chiang Kaishek and Mao Zedong. Explain how Chiang and his party ignored the peasantry and never focused on regulating capital and equalising land. Add how Mao Zedong did the exact opposite and based his revolutionary programme on the peasantry.

Solution: Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rose to power due to the reforms they promised to the people.Unlike Chiang Kaishek who had a traditional mindset and could not implement the ideas of land redistribution and resources, Zedong Mao based his entire revolutionary programme on the peasantry.

• Mao mobilised the peasants to fight against landlordism and built an army of peasants.
• He also organised a strong peasants’ council (soviet), aimed at the confiscation and redistribution of lands of the landlords.
• Chiang, on the other hand, tried to suppress the trade unions to encourage factory owners. Thus, he failed because of his narrow social base and limited political vision.
• Unlike Chiang who imposed a military style of leadership and restricted the rights of women, Mao Zedong encouraged rural women associations, banned the sale and purchase of marriage contracts, and also simplified divorce.