Counterrevolutionaries Analysis

The Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries was the first political campaign launched by the new Communist government in the beginning of March 1950. It purposes were to solidify the new government and its new rules in the whole country. Also, the campaign aimed to eradicate opposition parties, especially the Nationalist vestiges from Kuomintang. But most importantly, the Communist government was trying to bring in regime consolidation in the country. Strauss first explains to readers the reason why the Communist party chose to organize the mass urban campaign. China was “involved in a war with hostile status quo powers, and was faced with the problem of internal consolidation while engaging in external warfare” (p.83). At that time, China was facing both internal and external pressures. In order to unify all the Chinese and stabilize the regime in the country, it was seen that carrying out the campaign was an inevitable act. However, when the campaign was launched,
Millions were being killed and propaganda was used in galvanizing doses by the regime to persuade people to accept terror. In the following paragraphs, I am going to further examine the campaign and its effects in China.

Strauss mentions the Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries had three main goals, which were: “Consolidated the state-building project, eliminated the opposition parties and mobilized popular support” (p.99). When looking at the campaign itself, I would consider the Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries as a successful one as it had accomplished all its goals. The Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries was undoubtedly an intense and complex movement in China.