From Rebel to Ruler: One Hundred Years of the Chinese Communist Party

Description

On the centennial of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, the definitive history of how Mao and his successors overcame incredible odds to gain and keep power. Mao Zedong and the twelve other young men who founded the Chinese Communist Party in 1921 could hardly have imagined that less than thirty years later they would be rulers. On its hundredth anniversary, the party remains in command, leading a nation primed for global dominance. Tony Saich tells the authoritative, comprehensive story of the Chinese Communist Party―its rise to power against incredible odds, its struggle to consolidate rule and overcome self-inflicted disasters, and its thriving amid other communist parties’ collapse. Saich argues that the brutal Japanese invasion in the 1930s actually helped the party. As the Communists retreated into the countryside, they established themselves as the populist, grassroots alternative to the Nationalists, gaining the support they would need to triumph in the civil war. Once in power, however, the Communists faced the difficult task of learning how to rule. Saich examines the devastating economic consequences of Mao’s Great Leap Forward and the political chaos of the Cultural Revolution, as well as the party’s rebound under Deng Xiaoping’s reforms. Leninist systems are thought to be rigid, yet the Chinese Communist Party has proved adaptable. From Rebel to Ruler shows that the party owes its endurance to its flexibility. But is it nimble enough to realize Xi Jinping’s “China Dream”? Challenges are multiplying, as the growing middle class makes new demands on the state and the ideological retreat from communism draws the party further from its revolutionary roots. The legacy of the party may be secure, but its future is anything but guaranteed. Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Contents Abbreviations Introduction: Welcome to the Party Part One: How the East Was Won 1. The End of the Empire 2. Origins, Alliance, and Failure, 1920–1930 3. Wanderings in the Wilderness, 1930–1940 4. Victories at Last, 1940–1948 5. The Chinese Communist Revolution Part Two: How the East Is Ruled 6. Consolidating the Revolution, 1948–1956 7. Radicalizing the Revolution, 1956–1969 8. Charting a Way Forward, 1969–1981 9. Reform, Rebellion, and Restoration, 1982–1993 10. Renewed Reform and the Roots of Wealth, 1993–2002 11. The WTO World and China’s Rise, 2002–2012 12. Creating the China Dream, 2012–2021 Conclusion: Legacies from the Past, Challenges for the Future Notes Acknowledgments Illustration Credits Index