Source Collection: Communism
Document 1
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Author |
Mao Zedong (1893–1976) |
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Date and location |
1967, People’s Republic of China |
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Source type |
Primary source – political speech |
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Description |
Chairman Mao Zedong was the founding leader of the People’s Republic of China. He often spoke about the need to establish a “people’s democratic dictatorship” that spanned “from the countryside to the city,” bringing together rural peasants and urban workers. The following is an excerpt of a speech from May 1949 where he discusses this goal after his victory. |
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Citation |
Mao, Zedong. Selected Works of Mao Tse-Tung. Foreign Languages Press, 1961. |
… The center of gravity of the party’s work has shifted from the village to the city.... Attention must be given to both city and village... to link closely urban and rural work, workers and peasants, industry and agriculture.... In the cities we must learn how to wage political, economic, and cultural struggles against the imperialists, the Guomindang, and the bourgeoisie...
On whom shall we rely in our struggles in the cities?... We must wholeheartedly rely on the working class, unite with the rest of the laboring masses, win over the intellectuals and... the national bourgeois elements and their representatives...
Very soon we shall be victorious throughout the country. This victory will breach the eastern front of imperialism and will have great international significance. To win this victory will not require much more time and effort, but to consolidate it will. The bourgeoisie doubts our ability to construct. The imperialists reckon that eventually we will beg alms from them in order to live....
We must guard against such a situation. To win country-wide victory is only the first step in a long march.... We are not only good at destroying the old world, we are also good at building the new. Not only can the Chinese people live without begging alms from the imperialists, they will live a better life than that in the imperialist countries.
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Glossary Bourgeoisie: the middle class in society; especially people who own businesses and property |
Document 2
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Author |
Multiple photographers |
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Date and location |
1958–1962, People’s Republic of China |
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Source type |
Primary source – photographs |
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Description |
The Great Leap Forward (1958–1962) was a plan by the Chinese Communist Party to industrialize rural areas of the country. For the first ten years, Chinese communists followed a centralized economy under the Soviet model and received Soviet funds. Mao Zedong eventually shifted the focus away from urban centers and toward the peasant proletariat. One way he did this was through the Great Leap Forward, which involved collective agricultural communes and small factories in the countryside. |
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Citation |
Image 1: “50 km from Beijing, near the Great Wall of China. A general view of the construction works of a dam.” January 1, 1958. Getty Images. |
Construction of a Dam in China
China – January 01: 50 km from Beijing, near the Great Wall of China. A general view of the construction works of a dam. This was wanted by Mao Zedong in his Great Leap Forward policy. This was a dam, 600 m long, 30 m high and 160 m wide. It was aimed to contain 80 million tonnes of water and to water 20,000 kilowats of electricity. 400,000 Chinese were employed for this giant work’s construction. (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images.)
Irrigation in a Rice Paddy in China 1958
China – July 24: On July 24, 1958, During the “Great Leap Forward” Campaign, Chinese Peasant Women Belonging To A Cooperative In The Soochow Region Admire Their Irrigation System In Their Fields, Which Thereby Turned Them Into Rice Paddies. (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/ Getty Images)
Building a Water Reservoir in China 1958
China – February 01: In February 1958, During The “Great Leap Forward”, Inhabitants Of The City Of Yand-Kula In Shantung Province, China, Toil Away At Building A Water Reservoir To Irrigate And Drain The Fields. (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images)
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Glossary Irrigation: system for supplying water to crops to help them grow |
Document 3
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Author |
Liu Shaoqi (1898–1969) |
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Date and location |
1958, People’s Republic of China |
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Source type |
Primary source – government report |
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Description |
Liu Shaoqi was Chairman of the Peoples’ Republic of China between 1959 to 1968. He was an important member of the Chinese Communist Party. He is most well-known for developing new economic policies for China. In the excerpt below, Liu reports on the Great Leap Forward. |
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Citation |
Judge, Edward H. Langdon. The Cold War: A History through Documents. Prentice Hall, 1999. |
... [T]he spring of 1958 witnessed the beginning of a leap forward on every front in our socialist construction. Industry, agriculture and all other fields of activity are registering greater... rapid growth.
... The total value of industrial output for the first four months of this year was 26 percent higher than... last [year]... construction work has already started on thousands of medium and small-sized coal mines, power stations, oil refineries, iron and steel plants, nonferrous mines, chemical fertilizer plants, cement plants, engineering works, and agricultural and animal products processing plants.... The rapid growth of the local industries is one of the outstanding features....
In agriculture, the most striking leap took place in the campaign of the cooperative farmers to build irrigation works... the irrigated acreage throughout the country increased by... more than the total acreage brought under irrigation in the thousands of years before liberation...
... the following are the basic points of our general line... to build socialism:
To consolidate and develop socialist ownership, that is, ownership by the whole people and collective ownership...
To carry out the technical revolution and cultural revolution step by step, while completing the socialist revolution on the economic, political and ideological fronts;
To develop industry and agriculture simultaneously while giving priority to heavy industry
... to build our country... into a great socialist country with a modern industry, modern agriculture, and modern science and culture....
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Glossary Socialist construction: a term used to describe building a society based on socialist principles like shared ownership and equality |
Document 4
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Author |
Unknown British Diplomat |
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Date and location |
1959, Iran |
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Source type |
Primary source – diplomatic report |
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Description |
The Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi from 1941 until the monarchy was overthrown in 1978, started a series of modernizations called the White Revolution. This was done through economic and political policy changes, with land reform as one of the key areas of modernization. The excerpt below is from a British Diplomat who describes the impact of the changes. The diplomat also offers their opinion on the reforms’ effectiveness. |
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Citation |
Amin, Camron Michael, Benjamin C. Fortna, and Elizabeth Brown Frierson. The Modern Middle East: A Sourcebook for History. Oxford University Press, 2006. |
15 January 1959
The practical aim of land reform in Iran... must be to turn an indigent peasantry into an independent and self-reliant yeomanry, and... to increase production...
... [T]he Iranian government are unlikely to resist the trend of the times and the example of other countries... The shah himself... claims the distribution of land to peasant proprietors as the most important of his benefactions... [H]e has probably in mind that by diminishing the holdings of the great landlords he can reduce their political powers, which are of course substantial and could be used against him.... whatever the dangers of trying to readjust the basis of the economy of an agricultural society, it cannot be denied that the abject poverty of the majority of the Iranian peasantry... demands a remedy.
... In political terms, the sale of Crown lands is generally acknowledged to be a contribution to social justice and a beginning of reform... The shah’s opponents argue also that in fact His Majesty is giving nothing away but is selling property which is not his to sell or was illegally acquired by his tyrannical father...
It is commonly argued... that unless the big landowners shed some of their properties with good grace they will be found hanging before long from their own trees... in the meantime private landowners uncertain of the future of their interests will restrict the development of their lands...
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Glossary Indigent: extremely poor |
Document 5
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Author |
Vilma Lucila Espín Guillois (1930–2007) |
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Date and location |
1961 and 1974, Cuba |
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Source type |
Primary source – report |
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Description |
Vilma Espín was a Cuban revolutionary, feminist, and chemical engineer who was a key figure in the Cuban Revolution. Espín helped found the Federation of Cuban Women and promoted equal rights for Cuban women in all spheres of life. This document features excerpts from two accounts by Espín about women’s roles in the revolution, from 1961 and 1974. |
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Citation |
Stone, Elizabeth, ed. Women and the Cuban Revolution: Speeches & documents by Fidel Castro, Vilma Espin & others. Pathfinder Press, 1981. |
[1961 account]
With Batista’s coup in 1952, a brutal and bloody tyranny began, which... provoked... rebellion...
Women were present... They also participated... in the war that the Cuban people... waged... against Batista’s dictatorial government that was subservient to imperialism.
... Women... participated... in the armed insurrection and in the underground...
... Women... took up vanguard positions; carrying out formidable mass actions, protest demonstrations, strikes; making unheard-of efforts to obtain the unity of all the opposition forces in common action against the tyranny.
[1974 account]
How many mothers lost their [children]? Twenty thousand martyrs gave their lives to make Cuba the first free territory in America!
That’s why Cuban women... came out to cheer the march of the victorious Rebel Army.... It was an army of peasants and workers symbolizing the revolutionary victory and the end of more than a half century of pain.
What did the triumphant revolution offer our women? A new life, filled with possibilities and prospects... the opportunity to study and to work... economic security... health care... social security. For women, the revolution meant the opportunity to attain human dignity....
The single, all-encompassing women’s organization was founded, and Fidel provided the name: Federation of Cuban Women... [which] helped bring supplies to the first-aid posts, managed one hundred kitchens and three hospitals... the federation mobilized women to replace militiamen who went into combat.
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Glossary Tyranny: cruel or oppressive rule |
Document 6
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Author |
S. Dharmarajan (1934–2012) |
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Date and location |
1970, India |
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Source type |
Primary source – newspaper article |
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Description |
When India achieved independence, it still had a semi-feudal farming system, with a few landlords owning most of the land. Since then, many state-sponsored land reforms have taken place, most notably in West Bengal and Kerala. Below is a newspaper article from The Times of India News Service about the Kerala land reforms. |
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Citation |
Dharmarajan, S. “NO INTERMEDIARIES IN KERALA: Radical Land Reforms.” The Times of India (1861–2010), June 18, 1970. |
The new land reform law... will bring about far-reaching changes in the countryside....
About two and a half million tenants and half a million hutment dwellers are to receive full ownership rights over the land they till or live on...
... It ends landlordism and forbids tenancies...
The new law confers property rights on those who actually till the land and forbids evictions.... Anyone who has been cultivating a piece of land for two years prior to 1967 automatically becomes its owner. He does not have to produce any written record to prove that the land had been given to him on lease.
Oral lease
The legislation... protects farmers who have been cultivating land on the basis of oral leases. This is important because... many landlords had over the years refused to put down anything in [writing]. The result had been that tenants facing eviction proceedings were not able to produce any deeds to prove their claims. But under the new act[,] actual possession of the land is now enough to establish ownership rights.
Tenant freed
With the vesting of the rights to all leased out lands in the government, the tenant has been freed from any obligation to pay rent... He has to remit only the land revenue. The government assigns the rights vested in it to tenants....
The government is at present concentrating on the assignment of ownership rights to homestead dwellers... landless agricultural workers or village artisans....
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Glossary Tenant: a person who rents land or property from someone else |
Document 7
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Author |
Nguyễn Chấn, known as Trần Văn Trà (1918–1996) |
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Date and location |
1975, Vietnam |
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Source type |
Primary source – press conference via radio broadcast |
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Description |
The following is a radio report of a press conference given by General Trần Văn Trà on June 3, 1975, in Vietnam. In April 1975, Trà had become the Deputy Commander of the A75 headquarters during the final assault on Saigon. This led to the capitulation of the South Vietnamese government. This press conference was broadcast on domestic radio. The excerpt begins after the general has stated that he and his army have “liberated” Saigon as well as the southern portion of Vietnam. |
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Citation |
Van Tra, Tran. “Radio Reports Tran Van Tra’s 3 June Press Conference.” Press Conference, Saigon, June 4, 1975. Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive, Douglas Pike Collection, Texas Tech University. https://vva.vietnam.ttu.edu/repositories/2/digital_objects/175328 |
... We have just recorded a great victory and... have completely liberated Saigon-Gia Dinh... and then completely liberated all of the south... We can never forget the assistance and encouragement given to us by all our comrades and friends throughout the five continents....
After the liberation of Saigon... there has not been an interruption in the activities of Saigon-Gia Dinh.... All of this had been undertaken voluntarily by the Saigon-Cholon people in coordination with the liberation armed forces. The workers at the enterprises managed their enterprises and protected their machinery. That is why... utilities... have been maintained without any interruption....
As... for relieving starvation... for the poor who are greatly suffering from starvation, we have sent out about 300,000 people with thousands of tons of rice....
We still must provide employment for many jobless people. We have allowed and will allow some banks to resume operation and will encourage and guide enterprises to reopen... to provide jobs... We have encouraged personnel and civil servants of the puppet administration to resume work... and have established a fixed scale of salaries and allowances...
... We have received aid in the form of grain and food, fuel, raw materials, and medicines from many fraternal socialist countries, including the Soviet Union, China and others...
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Glossary Liberation: the act of setting someone free from control or oppression |