Modern China: violence in 20th century

The first half of the 20th century was a period of utter chaos in China, with several different forces vying for power in the wake of the Qing dynasty. Intellectuals were on a mission to discover or create a new philosophy that would replace Confucianism while warlords continued on with their quest to gain imperial power. Leader of the Nationalist party, Chiang Kaishek was determined to destroy, with as much violence as possible, the growing Communist influence and the power of the northern warlord. In March of 1926, after someone had unsuccessfully attempted to kidnap him, Chiang quickly fired all of his Soviet advisers, and imposed severe restrictions on the Chinese Communist Party. The Soviet Union, still trying to preserve peace, ordered Communist underground activities to facilitate the Northern Expedition, which Chiang launched from Guangzhou in July 1926.

In early 1927 there was a great upheaval within the revolutionary ranks, primarily due to left wing leaders deciding to relocate the headquarters of the Nationalist government from Guangzhou to Wuhan. But Chiang, whose Northern Expedition was going smoothly, ordered his troops to destroy the Shanghai Chinese Communist Party and established an anti-Communist government at Nanjing in April 1927. Consequently, China now had three different capitals, in Beijing, Wuhan and Nanjing. The latter remained the Nationalist capitol for the next decade.

At the same time, the acceleration of the Chinese Communist Party was causing a growing dissension among those who focused on urban revolt and believed victory relied on their ability to unite the countryside. By the 1930's Chinese leader, Mao Zedong had collected an army of over 40,000 soldiers and had established a firm presence for his forces in the mountains of Jinggangshan. At this point in time the Chinese Communist Party and the "Red Army" were controlled by what was known as "The 28 Bolsheviks", a faction which was comprised primarily of young, Moscow-trained revolutionaries whose roots were mainly in urban centers. Chiang launched extermination campaigns against the Communists on four separate occasions, each time resulting in victory for the Communists. Some historians blame the loss of Chiangs troops on their "short attack" strategy which they used to replace the traditional full-scale battles of the past. Others say they simply brought too much excess baggage with them, which slowed them down so much that it cost them their victory. Chiang's fifth campaign against the Communists was almost successful, however due to a last-minute change in strategy, the effort failed. The Communist successes under the leadership of Mao Zedung propelled Mao into legendary status as leader of the Chinese Communist Party, having proved that under the proper leadership, his people could march to victory.

In the fifties and sixties, Mao Zedong acted as leader of the both the Chinese revolution and the Chinese Communist Party. Distraught at the present state of his country, whose fruits of victory were being to sour, he became determined to launch a second revolution with an objective of a socialist utopia. The Mao was suspicious almost to the point of paranoia, fearing that those who had sworn loyalty to him were turning against him in droves. He also had an ingrained distrust for the intellectuals whose interests were slowly turning from the ideological to the technological. He feared that the increasing professional bureaucracy he had witnessed taking place in the Soviet Union was destined to occur in his own country as well. During this time period Marxism was fast becoming an intriguing alternative for many Chinese intellectuals, with Communism appealing directly to their growing fears of the ongoing dissension within Chinese society. China’s intellectuals realized that they were no longer standing high moral ground, and became confused about what their purpose was in relation to the state. The Chinese people were also growing weary of Mao's ideologies and were even beginning to question whether the implementation of those ideologies had done more harm than good. This was something he could not tolerate.

In response, the Mao launched two failed efforts: "The Great Leap Forward" and the "Socialist Education Movement", both of which backfired terribly. Thus he began to become increasingly less important in Chinese Government, acting almost solely as a figurehead. The one place where Mao's influence had not yet diminished, however, was within the People's Liberation Army. Mao used the influence he had over its governing Defense Committee to instigate The Cultural Revolution, which lasted from 1966 to 1976. The Cultural Revolution was an attempt to draw attention away from Mao's failures and reshape his image by illuminating him in the spotlight of his dynamic personal presence. It was also an attempt to eliminate certain enemies from the hierarchy of the Communist Party. Mao organized the “Red Guard” and exploited his popularity with the general public in order to confront party officials whom he thought were not loyal enough nor passionate enough to help his cause. But by 1968 Mao had turned against the Red Guards, blaming them for creating enormous levels of chaos. Mao Zedong's called for the arrests of several of the Red Guard's prominent leaders, and the eventual suppression of the movement altogether.

In 1973 the government was restructured under Premier Zhou Enlai, in which he made good use of Mao's younger revolutionaries. This was the same year of Mao Zedung's death. The economy endured another political and economic crisis when "extremists" led by Mao's widow Jiang Qing and her "gang of four" were defeated by the "moderates". In general, however, violence had significantly waned.

While political wars are the primary cause of violence in China's modern history, the war against crime and drugs has contributed as well. Punishment for criminals in China has historically consisted of everything from the mandatory treatment of drug abusers and execution of dealers, to the suspension of certain constitutional rights and restructuring of the Chinese prison system.