People's History of Ideas Podcast

When the enemy advances, Mao and Zhu retreat from Fujian into Jiangxi province, drawing the Guomindang’s joint suppression force deep in after them, only to later circle back around and defeat it. In this episode we discuss how Mao conducted propaganda directed at enemy troops in order to win them over to join the Red Army. Further reading: Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power , vol. 3: From th...

We conclude our close reading of Mao’s January 5, 1930 letter to Lin Biao. In this episode, Mao discusses his method for understanding the possibilities for revolution in China, as well as the particular tactics to be employed by the Red Army. He also conducts a minor self-criticism. Further reading: Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power , vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of th...

We begin our close reading of Mao’s January 5, 1930 letter to Lin Biao. Further reading: Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power , vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930 Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography , vol. 1: 1893-1949 David Apter and Tony Saich, Revolutionary Discourse in Mao’s Republic Mao Zedong, “A Single Spar...

This interview with Dr. Aminda Smith of Michigan State University touches on topics including why good PRC history is left history; thought reform, reeducation through labor, and brainwashing; the veracity of the propaganda produced for a global audience during the Mao years; and the Maoist legacy in China today. Further reading and watching: Aminda Smith, Thought Reform and China’s Dangerous Clas...

The story of how the co-founder and first General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party became a Trotskyist. Further reading: Gregor Benton, China’s Urban Revolutionaries: Explorations in the History of Chinese Trotskyism, 1921-1952 Gregor Benton, Prophets Unarmed: Chinese Trotskyists in Revolution, War, Jail, and the Return from Limbo Lee Feigon, Chen Duxiu: Founder of the Chinese Communist Pa...

Responding to listener queries about the evidence behind this common assertion regarding the KPD’s underestimation of the fascist threat. Further reading: Jane Degras, ed., The Communist International, 1919-1943: Documents, vol. 3:  1929-1943 International Press Correspondence Communist International  journal (1933) Documents from the 13th Plenum of the ECCI Some names from this episode: Chen Duxi...

The 1920s that is. The Comintern lets the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee know how the objective conditions in China are ripening for revolution. Further reading: Nikolai Bukharin, “On the International Situation and the Tasks of the Chinese Communist Party” Nicholas Kozlov and Eric Weitz, “Reflections on the Origins of the ‘Third Period’: Bukharin, the Comintern, and the Political Eco...

How the Chinese Communist Party tried to turn war into revolution in Manchuria in 1929. Further reading: Bruce A. Elleman and Stephen Kotkin, eds., Manchurian Railways and the Opening of China Michael M. Walker, The 1929 Sino-Soviet War Chong-Sik Lee, Revolutionary Struggle in Manchuria: Chinese Communism and Soviet Interest, 1922-1945 “Japan Moves Town to Reach Coal Vein” Some names from this epi...

The final Soviet offensive, and some details on Chiang Ching-kuo’s activities as a student in Moscow. Further reading: Bruce A. Elleman and Stephen Kotkin, eds., Manchurian Railways and the Opening of China Michael M. Walker, The 1929 Sino-Soviet War Jay Taylor, The Generalissimo's Son: Chiang Ching-Kuo and the Revolutions in China and Taiwan Some names from this episode: Zhang Xueliang, Manc...

Some basic military history of the beginning of the war. Further reading: Bruce A. Elleman and Stephen Kotkin, eds., Manchurian Railways and the Opening of China Michael M. Walker, The 1929 Sino-Soviet War John Erickson, The Soviet High Command: A Military-Political History, 1918-1941 Some names from this episode: Vasily Blyukher (née Gurov, aka Galen), commander of the Special Far Eastern Army Ge...

The Guomindang moves to seize Soviet assets in Manchuria. Also, subscribe to the new substack at https://peopleshistoryofideas.substack.com/. Further reading: Bruce A. Elleman and Stephen Kotkin, eds., Manchurian Railways and the Opening of China Michael M. Walker, The 1929 Sino-Soviet War Some names from this episode: Li Lisan, Chairman of Central Committee Propaganda Department Chen Duxiu, Co-fo...

Mao discusses problems in party organization and how to fix them. Further reading: Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power , vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930 Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography , vol. 1: 1893-1949 “On the Revolutionary “Three-in-One” Combination ” Episode artwork: May 1967 poster “Resolutely Protec...

We continue our textual analysis of the Gutian Resolution. Further reading: Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power , vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930 Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography , vol. 1: 1893-1949 Mao Zedong, “On Correcting Mistaken Ideas in the Party” “Bury the Slave Mentality Advocated by China’s Khrush...

On the importance of the Resolution, and a beginning discussion of the actual text. Further reading: Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power , vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930 Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography , vol. 1: 1893-1949 Mao Zedong, “On Correcting Mistaken Ideas in the Party” Episode artwork: Photo of th...

We look at two letters written by Mao on November 28, 1929, and introduce our discussion of “On Correcting Mistaken Ideas in the Party” and the other parts of the Gutian Resolution. Further reading: Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography , vol. 1: 1893-1949 Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power , vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-...

The Communists take the fortified city of Shanghang in southwestern Fujian. Further reading and watching: Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De] The Battle for Dien Bien Phu Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography , vol. 1: 1893-1949 Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power , vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July...

The Central Committee turns out to support centralized leadership. Also, the Comintern publishes Mao’s obituary. Further reading: Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography , vol. 1: 1893-1949 Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power , vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930 Joseph Fewsmith, Forging Leninism in China: Mao and the...

The line struggle continues and does not go Mao’s way. Plus, comments on the historiography. Further reading: Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography , vol. 1: 1893-1949 Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power , vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930 Joseph Fewsmith, Forging Leninism in China: Mao and the Remaking of the Chi...

We continue our close reading of Mao’s letter to Lin Biao. In this episode, Mao discusses the roving rebel band mentality and the organizational state of affairs in the army, party, and mass organizations. Further reading: Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography , vol. 1: 1893-1949 Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power , vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jia...

The Party Center’s intervention in the Fourth Red Army combines with a string of military victories to bring a simmering dispute between Mao and Zhu to a head. Further reading: Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography , vol. 1: 1893-1949 Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power , vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930 Joseph F...

The conquest of Yudu, Xingguo, Ningdu, Longyan, and Yongding counties by the Fourth Red Army. Zhu De reminisces. Also, poetry. Further reading: Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography , vol. 1: 1893-1949 Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power , vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930 Peng Dehuai, Memoirs of a Chinese Marshal...

Mao’s April 5, 1929 reply to Zhou Enlai. Further reading: Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography , vol. 1: 1893-1949 Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power , vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930 David Apter and Tony Saich, Revolutionary Discourse in Mao’s Republic Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Pa...

A close look at Zhou Enlai’s February 7, 1929, letter to Mao Zedong and Zhu De. Further reading: Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography , vol. 1: 1893-1949 Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power , vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930 E. H. Carr, Foundations of a Planned Economy , vol. 3 Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of t...

Mao plans to expand guerrilla warfare, and meets up with Peng Dehuai in Ruijin. Further reading: Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography , vol. 1: 1893-1949 Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power , vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930 Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area Peng Dehuai...

Some reflections on the experience of Shanghai capitalists after 1949 prompted by the ‘Notice to Merchants and Intellectuals’ that Mao issued after taking Changting in 1929. Further reading: Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power , vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930 Yao Wenyuan, “On the Social Basis of the Lin Piao Anti-Party Clique”...