Revolution defeated: The collapse of the Chinese Soviet Republic

Abstract

The impressive success of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in northern China against the Japanese and the Chinese Nationalist Party (GMD) was in stark contrast to the failure of its revolution in southern China. There, the Communist Revolution ripped through the countryside, tearing down the old order and replacing it with a revolutionary regime: the Chinese Soviet Republic (CSR). The CSR withstood four massive counterinsurgency campaigns and by 1933 stood at the height of its power and influence. In 1934, however, the CSR and the Communist Revolution were defeated by the GMD. This article argues that the collapse of the CSR was a product of the CCP’s radical policies and presents new evidence showing that by 1933 the CCP’s class coalition effectively excluded most of rural society. After the Red Army’s defeat, civilians brutalized by the CCP in the CSR defected to the GMD, bringing about a collapse of the CSR.