Origin of Chinese Communism

In the mid-nineteenth century, China faced invasion and colonization from the powers in the West. Early wars in China, over opium trading, forced the country to sign treaties with the British Empire allowing the establishment of British ports and extradition of silver out of China. The second war, established more ports and British control of customs within the region. In another later war with Japan, Taiwan and Korea were colonized by the Japanese, thus leading to China having to pay out more of its resources. These invasions and humiliations of the country led to hatred and uprisings. Once again met with defeat from foreign invaders, China’s people felt a sense of collective defeat.

During this time of humiliation and repetitive defeats, the people of China took drastic measures to reform, recover, and seek a way to centralize its people. It was these drastic times coupled with feelings of anger, resentment, and hostility toward foreign invaders that China took the initial steps towards becoming a Communistic state. The establishment of the Soviet Union in Russia gave China had a model and a renewed hope for its people. Under this new system, land was redistributed to peasants, banks were nationalized, wages were increased, and the Soviet Union gained control of factories and drove out foreign invaders.

With the establishment of the Communist Party of China, and support of the Soviet Union, the government and policies of China were restructured to model those of the newly formed Soviet Union. With new ideologies and culture, the people of China were remodeled with new ideas and values based off those of the communist party. These new ideas and values were accepted among the people and society was changed to reflect these new values. Through the support of the Soviet Union, China was able to rebuild its military force and reestablish itself as a young communistic country. China now had new ideas, education, political government, organizations, a military force, and a new ally to solidify the establishment of the Communistic Party.