Summing Up Failures, or Playing the Blame Game? The November 1927 Politburo Meeting in Shanghai
The Politburo meets to decide whether the leadership’s overall policy was wrong, or whether all the cadres carrying out the policy are just bad. Further reading: Marcia Ristaino, China’s Art of Revol...
12 Aug 202128min
Sedan Chairs, Tired Intellectuals, and Indifferent Masses: The Denouement of the Nanchang Uprising/Southern Expedition (August to October 1927)
We follow the Southern Expeditionary force from Ruijin in Jiangxi province to Shantou in Guangdong. Further reading: Marcia Ristaino, China’s Art of Revolution: The Mobilization of Discontent, 1927 a...
5 Aug 202124min
Hearts, Minds, and a Head on a Spike: The Unification of People and Forces in the Jinggangshan
How Wang Zuo and Yuan Wencai’s forces were brought into the Red Army, and Mao cemented the loyalty of the locals by marrying the Two-Gunned Girl General. Further reading: Stephen Averill, Revolution ...
29 Juli 202128min
Secret Agent for International Maoism: José Venturelli, Chinese Informal Diplomacy and Latin American Maoism
A podcast version of an article published a few years back. The Chilean artist José Venturelli was a supporter of Maoist China. This article, a brief political biography of Venturelli, shows how he ac...
22 Juli 202149min
Two Incursions, One Betrayal, and Six Points for Attention: The Red Army in Chaling and Suichuan (October 1927 to January 1928)
The early progress of the Red Army in expanding Soviet power in the Jinggangshan region. Further reading: Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area Pang Xianzhi and...
15 Juli 202126min
Alliances, Discipline, and an Army to Serve the People: The Beginning of the Jinggangshan Base Area (October 1927)
Mao forges an alliance with Yuan Wencai and Wang Zuo, and the Revolutionary Army builds its capacity as a political force. Further reading: Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jingg...
8 Juli 202124min
The Early Jinggangshan Revolutionary Movement
How the Chinese revolution came to the Jinggangshan, and how the revolution and counter-revolution developed up until Mao’s arrival in October 1927. Further reading: Stephen Averill, Revolution in th...
1 Juli 202128min
Mao’s Bandit Comrades: Wang Zuo and Yuan Wencai
The stories of Wang Zuo and Yuan Wencai before they joined up with Mao Zedong.Further reading:Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base AreaSome names from this episode:W...
24 Juni 202121min
