RISE OF THE CCP AND MAO ZEDONG'S CONTRIBUTION
The Chinese communist party or the CCP was formed in 1920 by intellectuals who were influenced by the western ideas of Marxism and anarchism. They were inspired by the Bolshevik revolution of 1918 which took place in Russia as well as the May Fourth Movement which swept across China at the end of the First World War. It was formed at a time when China was governed by a number of warlords and the nationalist party or the Kuomintang was the most popular party in the region. The KMT at this time was headed by Chiang Kai Shek.
The founding members of the CCP were Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu who came into contact with one another during the latter's tenure as a Professor at the University of Beijing where the former worked in the library, reading important Marxist works. Their association revolutionized the landscape of the Chinese Marxism, which at that time was just coming up.
Generalissimo and Madame Chiang Kai-shek with Gene...
Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek with United States ...
English: National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in...In The meanwhile, Mao Zedong, who went on to successfully establish the Chinese republic in 1949, was working at the Normal school in Hunan. Belonging to peasant family, Mao grew up respecting traditional Chinese values and Confucian ideals which later on helped him evolve his own interpretation and application of Marxism. 1911 saw the fall of the Qing dynasty and Mao around this time was coming into contact with the revolutionary writings of the time. The Confucian ideal of "Datong" provided upcoming thinkers like Mao the direction and the understanding of the ideas of anarchism.
The year 1918 saw the Bolshevik revolution achieve success in Russia and it was around this time that Mao came to Beijing and had a meeting with Dazhao and Chen and joined their Marxist Research Society. The May Fourth...