In this podcast, Matthew Rothwell, author of Transpacific Revolutionaries: The Chinese Revolution in Latin America, explores the global history of ideas related to rebellion and revolution. The main focus of this podcast for the near future will be on the history of the Chinese Revolution, going all the way back to its roots in the initial Chinese reactions to British imperialism during the Opium War of 1839-1842, and then following the development of the revolution and many of the ideas that were products of the revolution through to their transnational diffusion in the late 20th century.
https://peopleshistoryofideas.com/
Gesamtlänge aller Episoden: 2 days 4 hours
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episode 95: “Why Is It that Red Political Power Can Exist in China?” (October 1928)
A close reading of the portion of the resolution of the Border Area Party Congress of October 4 to 6, 1928, which later became a key early text in the Maoist canon.
Further reading:
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol...
episode 94: The August Defeat (Part 2): The Communists Strike Back (August to November 1928)
The Communists fight to regain lost territory, and ethnic tensions explode among the peasants in the base area.
Further reading:
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol...
episode 93: The August Defeat (Part 1)
The 29th Regiment goes against Mao’s orders and decides to stay in Hunan, with disastrous results for the Communists.
Further reading:
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]
Jurgen Domes, Peng Te-huai: The Man and the Image
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol...
episode 92: The Yongxin Joint Conference and Mao’s July 4, 1928 Report to the Hunan Provincial Committee
Mao explains his refusal to comply with orders from the Hunan Provincial Committee.
Further reading:
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol...
episode 91: Clandestine Transcripts of Revolutionary Globalization: The Shining Paths of Late Cultural Revolution Maoism
A talk that I recently delivered at the University of Hamburg, focused on the development of a new socialist political economy late in the Cultural Revolution and how this influenced the Communist Party of Peru...
episode 90: Nuclear War and Communist Revolution
In light of the Ukraine crisis, a historical look at communist thinking on the connection between a third world war and revolution.
Further reading:
Sergei N. Goncharov, John W...
episode 89: The Beginning of the Midyear Crisis (June 1928)
The Hunan Provincial Committee decides that Mao must obey its authority...
episode 88: Land Revolution and Communist Party Growth: The High Tide of the Jinggangshan Base Area (Summer 1928)
In the wake of their military victories in late Spring 1928, the Communists carried out a major land redistribution and a mass recruitment drive. There were some unforeseen complications.
Further reading:
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol...
episode 87: Beating Back Suppression Campaigns and Expanding the Jinggangshan Base Area (May to June 1928)
Mao Zedong and Zhu De learn warfare through warfare as they face continuing onslaughts from Guomindang forces.
Further reading/watching:
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol...
episode 86: The Jinggangshan Junction of Forces: Mao Zedong and Zhu De Unite (April to May 1928)
The unification of Mao Zedong’s and Zhu De’s forces. Some discussion of the problems involved in unifying the Communist armed forces.
Further reading:
Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]
Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol...