1.1 The historical wave rider
The Communist Party of China was born in 1921, though it may date back to even earlier if the historical background of its establishment is to be explored. After 1840, the Western capitalist countries gradually opened the door of China through wars and unfair treaties, and forcefully took China into the capitalist world system. China is an ancient civilization which had been topping in the world's civilizations till the 17th century. After that, it lagged behind the development of world industrialization. Since the mid 19th century, in the exchanges and encounters with Western capitalist countries, the Chinese people with lofty ideals felt keenly about the backwardness of the Chinese society and institution and the shames thus brought to China, strived to find a way out for China, and dreamed of rejuvenating the Chinese nation in the new era. Revitalizing China through industry,and education, launching political reforms and revolutions, among other trials of different dimensions appeared on the stage of history in succession. Though they were somewhat effective, they all failed to usher China to a road of independence and prosperity
Since the second half of the 19th century, Western modern ideas, which were totally different from the traditional Chinese cultural structure and contents led by Confucianism and co-constructed by Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, were introduced to China. The orientalization of Western learning became increasingly popular. By translating foreign books, the evolution theory, social contract, among a series of achievements made in the West in politics, the economy, culture and technology, these Chinese people with great vision sought good prescriptions for curing the real problems existing in China. In the course, The New Youth, a magazine established in 1915, upheld the banner of democracy and science to lavishly attack the traditional Chinese culture, becoming the vanguard and flag of the new culture and new ideas and winning great supports from the vast young intellectuals.
Internationally, the outbreak of the famous “October Revolution” in 1917 which led to the establishment of the world's first socialist country and opened up a new era for exploring the socialist road, greatly shocking the capitalist countries, and encouraged the oppressed peoples' national liberation movements in colonies and semi-colonies. The success of “October Revolution” encouraged the Chinese people with vision. Living in a country neighboring Russia and searching the road of national salvation so hard, yet unsuccessful, they began to shift their attention from Europe and the United States to the East. Marxism received unprecedented attention and was viewed as an important ideological weapon which had been tested in practice by the Chinese intellectuals.
In late World War I, China joined the Allied Group. In 1919, as one of the victorious nations, it sent a delegation to attend Paris Peace Conference held after the war, only to be greatly disappointed. It failed to take the chance to put an end to the privileges enjoyed by the Western imperialist powers in China like the right of stationing troops and to leasing territory and manipulating the consular jurisdiction. Even its claim to take back the leased areas and railroads taken by Germany by force in Jiaozhouwan and the other privileges enjoyed by Germany in Shandong was refused, and all these rights and privileges were transferred to Japan. The humiliating diplomatic failure stimulated the Chinese students' patriotism. They went on the street on May 4, 1919 to request the Chinese government to refuse to sign the treaty at Paris Peace Conference. It's the famous “May 4th Movement”. Starting from Beijing, it gradually spread to other cities in China. Initially led by students, the movement was extensively attended later by workers, businessmen, citizens, etc., with a massive power and lasting for over a month. It once again manifested the eager wish of the Chinese people to struggle for independence and prosperity after having suffered long humiliations.
The New Youth
The New Youth presented a distinct applauding stance over the revolution breaking out in Russia and upheld the “May 4th Movement”. Before and after the movement, especially after it, The New Youth published more and more articles to introduce the Russian October Revolution and publicize Marxism. Many earlier members of the Communist Party of China accepted Marxism through The New Youth before embarking on the revolutionary road. The New Youth later became the official newspaper for the Communist Party of China at the initial stage of its founding.
The Communist Party of China was founded exactly against the above historical background, and how to grasp and adapt to the trend of the times became crucial for its survival and development. Members of the Communist Party of China held that past trials had proved the infeasibility of a variety of roads of national salvation, while the success of the Russian October Revolution in 1917 was a clear manifestation of the great power of the workers, the laborers and the masses, and a declaration of the victory of socialism as a social system. Therefore they believed that the Communist Party of China should follow the example of the Russian revolution, and rely on the workers, the laborers and the masses to topple the ruling of imperialism in China, bring down the feudal warlords, the agents of imperialism in China, and build a new country belonging to the vast public. The then members of the Communist Party of China were a group of young people who had inherited the awareness of pursuing independence and prosperity, summarized the experience of national salvation from the past practices, and highlighted the new dynamics and trends in the international community. Their grasp of the impulse of the times served as an important reason for their being able to resist pressures, develop and become increasingly stronger, and finally succeed.
Soon after the founding of the Communist Party of China, it made the judgment that the Chinese society was semi-colonial and semi-feudal, clarified that the primary task of the Chinese revolution was to fight against imperialism and feudalism and achieve national independence and liberation. Based on the above judgment and task, it cooperated with another national party the Kuomintang to promote the Chinese revolution. They mobilized the workers to strike, students to stop attending classes and businessmen to stop doing businesses in cities so as to resist the imperialist powers in China. In the meanwhile, they formed a revolutionary army to launch the Northern Expedition to eliminate the reactionary warlords in North China who had seriously influenced the unity, democracy and prosperity of China.
In 1927, the two parties divided because of political divergences. the Kuomintang wantonly arrested and killed Communist Party members, forcing the Communist Party of China to retreat to the rural areas. In the decade that followed, the Communist Party of China upheld the banner of workers' and peasants' revolution, and established bases of revolution in the countryside through armed battles to revolt the one-party authoritarian rule of the Kuomintang.
On September 18, 1931, Japan invaded the three provinces in Northeastern China, after which it attempted to take Northeastern China as the diving board to further separate North China from the territory of China. Different from the “nonresistance” and “pacification of the domestic situation first, resistance of foreign aggression second” policies followed by the ruling party of China, i.e., the Kuomintang, the Communist Party of China believed that national conflict had become the primary conflict compared to the conflict and war between both parties, proposed “brothers quarrelling at home join forces against attacks” and called for “stopping the civil war to resist the Japanese invaders together” accordingly. On December 12, 1936, “Xi'an Incident” broke out, shocking both China and the world. Patriotic the Kuomintang generals Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, dissatisfied with the passive anti-Japanese policies hold by Chiang Kai-shek, launched an armed remonstrance, and put Chiang Kai-shek under house arrest before negotiating with the Communist Party of China. In face of the conflict and war which had lasted for a decade, the Communist Party of China was able to admit and grasp the reality that the conflict between the Chinese and the Japanese peoples had become the primary one, confronted the necessity and possibility that both parties joined hands to resist Japanese invasion, made a gesture and efforts to turn hostility into friendship, and facilitated the peaceful solution of Xi'an Incident. After that, it held substantial negotiations with the Kuomintang, positively and actively, and contributed to the second cooperation between the two parties.
Zhou Enlai returned to Yan’an after Xi’an Incident
During the 8-year-long anti-Japanese War from 1937 to 1945, the Communist Party of China mobilized the locals in the vast rural areas in North China, East China, etc. occupied by the Japanese troops to establish bases of revolutions, fight against the Japanese invaders heroically, and set its image as the national tower of strength. After the anti-Japanese War succeeded, the Kuomintang expected to continue its one-party authoritarian rule, but the Communist Party of China proposed to end the one-party rule and form a democratic coalition government composed of the Kuomintang, the Communist Party of China, each and all democratic parties and non-party figures so as to achieve peace, democracy and unification. The proposal was extensively supported by the democratic parties, social elites, intellectuals and the vast general public. In the political negations with the Kuomintang and the gaming with other political forces thereafter, the Communist Party of China revealed its image as a party giving top priority to national and state interests and making great political concessions, even sacrifices for the bright future of China post the war, winning political initiative and praises. Even if after the outbreak of the Civil War between the Communist Party of China and the Kuomintang, the Communist Party of China had always emphasized on winning the intermediate political forces between the two parties. After winning the initiative on the battlefield, it called, on April 30, 1948, all democratic parties, people's organizations and social elites to sit down together with it to hold a political consultative conference, and discuss the grand plans for state building and for the establishment of a democratic coalition government. The effort was backed up by the intermediate political forces, and further expanded the political advantages of the Communist Party of China while Kuomintang was in full military and political passive. The Communist Party of China grew up in numerous tests in history and finally became an outstanding wave rider in the development of the times.