ON THIS DAY ·
Chinese Soviet Republic
7 Nov 1931 — In a Hakka market town, the CCP proclaims the Chinese Soviet Republic. It has a currency, a land law and conscription, and three million people live under red administration. Land redistribution wins support among the poor. The record also includes terror against “rich peasants” and internal enemies, including the Futian purges.
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The moment in context
On 18 September 1931 officers of Japan’s Kwantung Army blew up part of their own railway outside Mukden (the ●), blamed China and used the incident to begin a conquest. They acted against Tokyo’s instructions, but received widespread applause in Japan. Within about five months they had overrun Manchuria. In March 1932 they proclaimed “Manchukuo,” installing Puyi, the last Qing emperor, as its figurehead.
From Jiangxi Soviet and the encirclements, chapter 6 of China in Revolution, 1911–1949 (1934).
The place: Chinese Soviet Republic — map and full story →
Teach this in 5 minutes
- Why it happened — An army makes foreign policy. The conspirators around Ishiwara expected Tokyo to ratify a successful seizure, and it did. They had grounds for confidence: the murder of Zhang…
- The turn — Guangchang, April 1934. Mukden had the wider international consequences. For the war around the soviet, Guangchang was a critical episode: in April 1934 a costly fixed…
- What it changed — The breakout becomes the Long March. In October 1934 the Ruijin column took much of its government with it, carrying printing presses, archives and an arsenal on poles. The convoy…
Then ask the room: Did land reform win peasant support for the Jiangxi Soviet, or did coercion hold it together? What evidence would help us decide? The argued answer is on the chapter page →
The atlas that shows it
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