Abstract This paper compares and contrasts the personalities of MaoZedong and ChiangKai-Shek. The paper discusses the characteristics and actions of both men and their relationship with each other. After providing examples from their lives, the paper concludes that while their personalities appear to have had some similarities, particularly that both men were resolute, Mao was a far more ruthless and intolerant man.
From the Paper "On the other hand, the most outstanding aspect of Chiang's personality appears to have been his fixity of purpose. This fixity of purpose played no small part in the fact that Chiang's Kuomintang party became the official government of China in the early 1930's. However, his army was defeated by Mao's army in 1949, clearing the way for Mao to found the PRC. While Mao went on to be dictator of China, Chiang was able to become the dictator of the Republic of China on the island of Taiwan for 26 years. Thus, one thing the two men certainly had in common was that they both came from relatively humble beginnings to eventually be dictators for decades - no mean feat, and certainly a testament to the very strong characters of both of them."
Tags: China, dictator, ruthless, liberator, communist
Abstract The paper discusses how many attribute MaoZedong's successes to the fact that he was a brilliant tactician who could turn defeat to failure, citing the Long March as a classic example. The paper argues, however, that Mao was indeed relentless, ruthless, and self-confident, but he was no miracle-worker. The paper reveals that on the contrary, when it came to the Long March, Mao was simply the right man in the right place at the right time, a classic example of how good luck can catapult a person to the centre of the historical stage.
From the Paper "Few figures in history inspire quite such extreme reactions as Mao Zedong. Some people revere him, while others revile him as a mass murderer. Whatever your point of view, there can be no doubt that Mao was one of the most influential people of the 20th century. He was revered by millions of Chinese as a supreme hero, and sometimes referred to as "the red sun rising in the east." Without him, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Peoples' Republic of China would not have been the same, and the latter might not have existed at all. As has been said of him, although his origins were commonplace, his education episodic at best, and his talents arguably unexceptional, nevertheless "he possessed a relentless energy and a ruthless self-confidence that led him to become one of the world's most powerful rulers"."
Abstract This paper discusses the political motives behind the marriage of Generalissimo ChiangKaiShek and Soong Mei Ling and the advantages it held for both parties. It analyzes how whatever Soong Mei Ling's motives may have been, there is no doubt that her marriage to ChiangKaiShek had a distinct influence on national politics. It evaluates how it united the young soldier with the influential Soong family and its wide ranging contacts, raising his status in China. It looks at how Soong Mei Ling introduced Chiang to Western culture and thought and how her fluency in English was highly beneficial to him. It examines how as a husband and wife team, their effects on national politics are seen even today as Taiwan remains an autonomous and capitalist area, a result of their long term anti Communist attitudes.
From the Paper "Coupled with her understanding of the West, and her fluent English Madame Chiang was an essential aid to the Generalissimo. She was translated documents and English news, giving him instant access to any developments in the West, and of course translated his writings into English, as well as writing her own essays in both Chinese and English. As an example, she supplemented his paper ?A fortnight in Sian,? with her own, "Sian; A coup d"Etat.? She also translated all his essays on the New Life Movement, among many others. Some critics have claimed that she used her skill in translation to influence people according to her will; that is a matter which requires closer investigation, although it cannot be entirely overruled. In short, Mei Ling was Chiang's extremely glamorous connection to the western world."
Abstract The paper weighs the issues of violence vs. non-violence and shows the lives and histories of Mao Tse Dung of China and Gandhi of India as examples. The paper discusses these two leaders who dealt extensively in their lifetimes with the struggle between violence and non-violence. It shows that on the surface, Chairman Mao espoused violence and used it as a tool to defeat an army of four million, gain power over a country with a trillion dollar economy and hold power for 25 years, and that Gandhi rose to "power" while leading a peaceful revolution among the 600 million Indian citizens -- Hindus and Muslims alike -- that resulted in tens of thousands of Indian deaths, very few British deaths, but eventually in Indian independence and creation of the largest democracy in the world.
From the Paper "But indeed, Gandhi knew there was a place for violence as well. In a much forgotten move, Gandhi essentially postponed India's peaceful revolution at the onset of World War II. He recognized Nazi Germany as a much more malevolent force than the British Empire, in all their imperial misery, could ever be. As a result, he led the movement for Indians not only to stop resisting the British during World War II, but to actually comply with their orders. In fact, India entered the war itself and was particularly helpful to Britain in the North African campaigns."
Tags: Communist, party, Chiang-Kai-Shek, British, Empire, Martin, Luther, King, Jr
Abstract Discusses U.S. economic & military support of ChiangKai-Shek. Factors that contributed to the victory of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) over the Nationalist regime of Chiang in 1949. Growing tensions between the U.S. and the People's Republic of China. Korean War policy decisions. Historical background of Nationalist-Communist struggle.
From the Paper "KOREA AND AMERICAN SUPPORT OF CHIANG KAI-SHEK: SETTING THE PATTERN OF POST-1949 CHINESE-AMERICAN CONFLICT
This research paper traces and analyzes the factors which contributed to the victory in 1949 of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) over the Nationalist (Kuomintang) regime of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (Chiang) and to the worsening tensions between the United States and the People's Republic of China (PRC) between 1949 and the end of the Korean War.
Many indigenous and exogenous factors influenced the outcome of the Chinese civil war of 1946-1949. The most important of these were the chaotic conditions which prevailed within China and the Japanese invasion and occupation of the mainland. The CCP achieved in the early postwar period decisive military and political superiority over a weakened and corrupt Nationalist ..."
Abstract The communist revolution in China crystallized and intensified the hostility between Washington and Peking. This was because the Americans had supported the Nationalist regime of ChiangKaiShek, who had alienated the Chinese masses. The corruption of Chiang, therefore, had played a big role in fuelling the momentum of the communist revolution, which had no choice but to take on an anti-American disposition. The Korean War, which followed subsequently, solidified the antagonism between Chinese communism and the United States.
Abstract This paper discusses how there are many different terms which have been used to describe MaoZedong, including champion of the poor, visionary leader and brutal tyrant. The question remains as to whether Mao was truly a heroic leader of the revolution, or an evil tyrant oppressing the Chinese people to meet his own ends. While it may be argued that he could be both depending on the perspective of the individual it is important to understand why there remain very different views of Mao as a leader. The paper presents the different achievements of Mao during the Chinese revolution, along with the actions of Mao which have led to many portraying him as the villain of the people of China.
Outline:
Introduction
Hero
Villain
Conclusion
From the Paper "By 1921 Mao had become a fully fledged Communist as a result of many factors which had impacted upon his life until that time. At 27 years old he led a team from Hunan to the first meeting of the Chinese Communist Party in Shanghai. It was here that he took his first political steps, and was declared secretary of the Hunan branch of the Chinese Communist Party. Mao quickly began to unionize the manual workers in the area, such as the railroad workers, carpenters and coal miners. Seen as a visionary, even at this early stage, Mao quickly rose up through the ranks of the Communist Party. In 1925 Mao was put in charge of the Nationalist Party's propaganda department, at a time when Sun Yat-sen was attempting to reunify China through cooperation between Communist and Nationalist parties. "
Abstract This paper examines MaoZedong's rise to power in the Communist Party of China and focuses, in particular, how the Long March, in which Mao led some 130,000 men and women across 6,000 miles of China's countryside, actually promoted and solidified Mao's leadership.
From the Paper "Mao Zedong's leadership of 20th Century China has a heroic, almost mythic appeal to modern Communists, yet Chairman Mao cemented the majority of his power in the mid-1930s through a series of dramatic, forceful decisions. The greatest of these was a spectacular military campaign known as The Long March, in which Mao led some 130,000 men and women across 6,000 miles of China's countryside, losing nearly 120,000 of his soldiers to starvation and disease in the process. But by a magnificent twist of fate, instead of decimating him, the Long March proved his perseverance. It primarily created a mythology of Mao as Hero, but on more pragmatic terms it established a vital base of operations outside of the Kuomintang centers of power. It also strengthened his remaining army and roused support from a disgruntled peasant class who were later instrumental in shaping his mighty career."
Abstract This undergraduate level paper is an exploration of the life of MaoZedong. It focuses on his political leadership in China, his origins, and the nature of his rule. It concludes that, in the overall view, Mao's charisma was no match for his failures as a leader, which left China as little more than a barely industrialized Third World nation.
Abstract The paper questions how MaoZedong managed to take control of the Chinese Communist Party, establish the Peoples' Republic of China and rule the most populous nation in the world with an iron fist until his death when he came from commonplace beginnings. The paper examines this question from the point of view of Freudian psychoanalytic theory. The paper explains that Mao dreamt of death and destruction as much as he dreamt of life and liberation, making him an extraordinary man. The paper maintains that this explains to some extent how this commonplace boy was able to change the world.
From the Paper "The only thing these two responses have in common is passion. Anyone who can inspire such very different responses is clearly a most remarkable person. Another authority refers to Mao's megalomania, his reckless fearlessness, and his "idiosyncratic self-assertion [which] became deeply ingrained in the collective experience of the CCP and ... profoundly shaped the communal awareness of the Chinese intelligentsia as a whole" (Wei-Ming, 1996, p. 156). Moreover, as we know, the CCP on which Mao stamped his personality was collectively responsible for millions of deaths, to the point that one authority sees the "destruction of lives, property, institutions, and values" as "a defining characteristic of modern Chinese history" (Wei-Ming, 1996, p. 149). As far as "motiveless malignities" go, Mao had Iago hopelessly outclassed."
Abstract Critical analysis of Chang and Halliday's book, "Mao: The Unknown Story", emphasizing the Great Leap Forward. Gives the views of three other authors to determine and evaluate Mao's role in the Great Leap.
From the Paper "No one can deny that Mao Zedong was of enormous significance in shaping the history of China in the modern era or that he was equally significant an actor on the international ..."
From the Paper "Any comparison between Mao Zedong's and Chiang Kai-shek's differing approaches to International Law should start with a comparison between their different conceptions of nationalism. In turn, these different conceptions were born out of a distinct ideological, and, at times, different practical approach to the needs of modern Chinese society and, more specifically, to what steps were to be taken to solve them. These distinct ideologies determined Mao's and Chiang Kai-shek's vision of China as a sovereign state, but only in part.
In many ways, Mao and Chiang Kai-shek were both children of the 1911 Revolution and both of them found inspiration in the thinking of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the chief ideologist of that revolution. Dr. Sun Yat-sen's first and foremost aim was the elevation of China to a ..."
Abstract This paper compares Madame ChiangKai-sek's view of socio-economic evolution as expressed in her description of the "New Life Movement" with Mao Tse-Tung's view of socio-economic evolution. The paper explains why the two views are entirely at odds.
From the Paper "The descriptions of the communist revolution and the "New Life Movement" by Mao Tse-Tung and Madame Chiang Kai-shek respectively demonstrate two very different and opposing views of socio-economic evolution. Tse-Tung's view looks to the peasant class for a revolution from below while Mme Chiang's "New Life Movement" seeks to impose authority on the peasant class for a revolution from above. In his report Mao Tse-Tung describes a revolution as an uprising, an act of violence whereby one class overthrows another. He is specifically..."
Abstract The paper describes how Chinese cultural traditions shape and transform the lives of each of the main characters in Chang's work, "Wild Swans", influencing them to adopt political loyalties that eventually end up destroying their lives and true cultural traditions. The paper examines how the author reviews the political upheaval occurring in China during the 20th century, suggesting that cultural traditions impacted not only individuals' mentality and political loyalties, but were also manipulated by the government to worship someone who would ultimately destroy any semblance of culture and tradition. The paper concludes that Chang accurately reflects the obstacles faced by Chinese women living during this time as a reflection in part of cultural traditions.
Outline:
Introduction
Communism Under Mao Conclusion
From the Paper "Suffering is considered in Wild Swans to be the norm rather than the exception to the rule, a cultural tradition that endures through three generations in Chang's work. Through suffering each of the women believes that they are fulfilling their obligation to their leaders and the communist party. The first generation of woman represented by Chang is the concubine of a warlord. Her daughter is the second woman surveyed by Chang, and then the third the daughter again, who reflects the author's life and circumstances. Chang begins her work in the 1920s telling the tale of the grandmother who following multiple traditions and customer becomes a concubine, bound to her leader and warlord out of a sense of duty. Chang focuses much of her attention on her mother however who as a teenager becomes a communist."
Tags:Mao, feudal, Chiang, Kai-shek, Cultural, Revolution, western
Abstract This paper examines how Mao's early writing shows his theoretical attraction to Marxist analysis in elaborate class descriptions and how the campaign against the Nationalists of 1927-8 had shown him that a Communist revolution would involve strategy, long-term planning, and much political groundwork, in advance. This paper discusses two papers by Mao, plus the contrasting views of Sinologists Maurice Meisner and Mary C. Wright.
From the Paper "Two 1920s papers by Mao Zedong indicate his better understanding of Chinese society after the failure of the campaign in 1927-1928 in the Hunan-Kiangi border region, especially, in the Communists' efforts to move further from Hunan, as the campaign continued. Mao's shift of focus, on account of his forces' defeat is interesting to examine in the light of two also different Western scholarly opinions as offered by Maurice Meisner and Mary C. Wright. "
