1. By
David William Magee
8th Annual Student History Conference
DePaul University
April 27, 2012

2. Chinese
Communist
Party (CCP)
capital
Guomindang
(GMD) capital

3. Mao Zedong (毛泽东) – Leader of the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP; 共产党)
Jiang Jieshi (蒋介石)– Leader of
the Guomindang (GMD; 国民党)

4. Exploitation of the “brutal policies”
of the enemy
Jiang’s actions equated with GMD
policy

5. Lack of
attention paid
to Mao’s
background
Conscious
exploitation of
GMD “brutal
policies”
Propaganda
tactic
Mao’s rhetoric
from 1944-47
 tactical
application of
propaganda
principle
CCP
propaganda
not
happenstance

6.  Scholarship
• Propaganda subsumed by other issues
 Sources
• 毛泽东选集 – Mao Zedong Xuanji [Selected Works
of Mao Zedong]
 Originally published for purposes of educating CCP
members about Mao Zedong Thought (毛泽东思想）

7. Jiang as an ambivalent dictator
• “…traitors fabricating stories to make trouble…”
Jiang as an active collaborator
• “Japanese Imperialists” had offered sacrifices
at Jiang’s “ancestral tomb”
Jiang’s desire for civil war
• “Jiang Jieshi, under this compilation of policies,
sent troops to suppress so-called ‘rebellions’”

8. Jiang’s designs for
civil war
• Attacks on CCP during the
war against Japan were to
be developed into a “civil
war of national scope”
Expansion upon
rhetoric from 1944
• Jiang “dropped hints” that
the CCP would serve as
excuse for hostilities

9. Mao fused the CCP
and the nation
together as partners
in the same struggle
• Because of “…the
correct policies of my
party and the resistance
of the nation, [civil war]
was not realized.”

10. Jiang as a tyrant and a traitor
- “…traitorous government…”
- “…policies of Fascism and
dictatorial rule…”
Mao’s 1944
article
- GMD
“leadership’s
magnate
dictatorship…”
Mao’s 1945 speech
- Jiang was “an
extremely brutal and
extremely insidious
tool” of the landlords
and bourgeoisie

11.  The student protests of May, 1947
• “…the sharp struggle between the great and just student
movement and the reactionary government of Jiang Jieshi.”

12. Oppressive GMD
policies mobilized the
population into a
“struggle for life and
death”
Mao’s 1944 article
- Jiang’s desire to destroy
opposition
- “…finding the basis for
civil war…”
Mao’s 1945 speech
- The “correct policies”
of the CCP and the
people’s opposition
prevented civil war

13. Consistent pattern in rhetoric
Purposeful choosing of emotive phrases
Recognition of CCP propaganda strategy
sheds new light on mobilization efforts

14.  Zedong, Mao. "Jiang Jieshi zhengfu yichu zai quanmin de baowei
zhong [The Government of Jiang Jieshi has been Surrounded
by the Entire Population]." May 30, 1947. In Mao ZedongXuanji
[Selected Works of Mao Zedong]. Volume 4, 1224-28. Beijing:
People's Publishing House, 1994.
 -------. "KangRi youjizhanzheng de zhanlue wenti [The Strategic
Problems of Guerrilla Warfare in the Struggle Against
Japan]." May, 1938. In Mao Zedong Xuanji. Volume 2, 404-38.
Beijing: People's Publishing House, 1991.
 -------. "KangRi zhanzheng shengli hou de shiju he women de
fangzhen [The Current Political Situation and Our Guiding
Principles after Victory in the Anti-Japanese War of
Resistance]." August 13, 1945. In Mao Zedong Xuanji. Volume
4, 1123-34. Beijing: People's Publishing House, 1994.
 -------. "Ping Jiang Jieshi zai shuang shijie de yanshuo [Assessment
of Jiang Jieshi's Speech on Double Ten Day]." October 11, 1944.
In Mao Zedong Xuanji. Volume 3, 1007-1010. Beijing: People’s
Publishing House, 1991.

15.  Slide 2: Map taken from:
• http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/V/USMC-V-V-1.html
 Slide 3 :
• Photo of Mao taken from: http://www.notablebiographies.com/Lo-
Ma/Mao-Zedong.html
• Photo of Jiang taken from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/chiang_kaishek.shtm
l
 Slide 8:
• Photo of Mao taken from: http://knol.google.com/k/aloke-kumar/mao-
zedong/1x4qvbqoz9orn/67#
• Photo of Jiang taken from:
http://www.generals.dk/general/Jiang_Jieshi/_/China.html

16.  Slide 9:
• Picture of Mao taken from: http://www.paulnoll.com/China/Red-
Books/Chairman-Mao-Posters.html
 Slide 10:
• Photo of Jiang taken from: http://history.cultural-
china.com/en/46History7126.html
 Slide 11:
• Photo of student protests taken from:
http://www.wst.net.cn/history/5.20/1.htm
 Slide 12:
• Photo of GMD executions taken from:
http://tuku.news.china.com/history/html/7525/7537/7545/7525-7537-
7545-8136_1.html