Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-1970

Abstract

The twentieth anniversary of the assumption of state power by the Chinese Communists is a convenient occasion to take stock of the many dramatic events that have taken place since that first day in October of 1949, when Mao Tse-tung proclaimed the new People's Republic of China. The anniversary, however, is more than a fortuitous product of the Western calendar. It lies close to one of those convulsive periods that have jolted China from time to time and have caused major changes in the Chinese state and society. The creation of the People's Republic twenty years ago was one such period. The Great Leap Forward of the late fifties was another, and the recent Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution may have been a third. Each of these events has substantially reshaped the state or society or both. From a historical point of view, the next major event that may well come shortly after the twentieth anniversary is the death of Mao Tse-tung and other co-founders of the Communist state. This anniversary, therefore, offers an opportunity to reassess the record of the Chinese Communists since 1949 with a view toward understanding the setting and the problems that the post-Mao leadership will soon inherit.

Publication Title

World Politics

Volume

22

Issue

4

First Page

541

Last Page

581

Required Publisher's Statement

Published by: Cambridge University Press

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2009650

Subjects - Topical (LCSH)

Communist leadership--China; Communists--China--History--20th century

Geographic Coverage

China--Politics and government--1949-

Genre/Form

articles

Type

Text

Language

English

Format

application/pdf

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Included in

Asian History Commons

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